Page 41 of The Thief

Just then, there’s a knock at the door, and Goran sticks his head in. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but Lucia Petrucci is here to see you.”

She is? She must have gotten my gift. I get to my feet, my mood improving immediately. “We’re done for the day. Goran, please show Lucia in.”

My lieutenants file out, and Goran ushers Lucia in. “Little thief,” I greet her. She glares at me, and my smile widens. “This is an unexpected pleasure.”

“Sorry I interrupted your meeting,” she says through clenched teeth, polite even when she’s seething.

“No need to apologize, tesoro,” I assure her. “I always have time for you. Would you like a drink?”

“No.” She thrusts the box she’s carrying into my hands. “You sent me lingerie at work. The department assistant handed this parcel to me and all but demanded to know who the sender was. What the fuck, Antonio?”

I close in on her. “Did you like it?” She smells of lavender and roses, soft and subtle, and her eyes radiate pure fire.A woman of dazzling contradictions.

“That’scompletelyirrelevant.”

“I disagree. I think it’s the only question that matters.” I lift the slip out of the box and hold it up. “It matches the color of your eyes.” I tug her to me and turn her around so her back is pressed against my chest. “Try it on,” I whisper into her ear.

“Are you out of your mind?”

Holding her like this, my erection presses insistently against her ass. “You know you want to.”

“You know nothing of the sort,” she says with a toss of her head. “I told you to leave me alone.”

“Not exactly.” I kiss her neck, and she sucks in a breath. “You told me not to call you.” I nibble her earlobe. “You told me not to drop by the museum unannounced. I followed your wishes to the letter.”

“That’s a technicality, and you know it.”

I kiss her again. “You could have ignored my gift, but you didn’t. Instead, you marched over here to throw the lingerie in my face.” Her nipples are hard, and her breathing is shallow. Her body betrays her. A gentleman would pretend he didn’t notice, but nobody ever accused me of being one. “Admit it, little thief. You want me.”

“Not even if you were the last man in Venice,” she retorts defiantly.

She is spitting fire at me, her eyes flashing like emeralds and her voice as hard as a diamond. But I didn’t bring her here, and I’m not holding her captive. She’s free to walk out any time.

My little thief likes the chase.

“Now, now,” I murmur into her ear, my hand wrapping around her neck. “Is that any way to talk to me?”

She inhales sharply.

“You barge in here unannounced,” I continue. Her hair is up in a prim knot, and I pull the hairpins out, one by one, dropping them on the floor until her glorious tresses hang free. “Interrupt my meeting.” I kiss the beating vein at the side of her neck and lick that silky spot. “Throw my gift back in my face.” I nudge her jacket aside and cup her breast through her sweater. “You’ve been a bad girl, Lucia. Do you know what happens to bad girls?”

“What?”

Her voice is a whisper threaded with need, and when I hear her breathy arousal, my cock gets even harder.

“They get punished.” I glide my thumb over her lower lip. “Did you like the lingerie?”

“Yes,” she breathes.

“Good girl.” I reach into the box for the panties and hold them up in front of her face. “Try it on.”

“Why?” she challenges. “Are you going to give me the Titian if I do?”

I chuckle. No one could argue that Lucia loses focus. “No, little thief. I’ll do better. I’ll sit you on this desk and spread your legs apart.” I move her until her ass hits my desk, and then I hoist her up on the wooden surface and pull her thighs apart. “And lick your pretty little pussy until you come.”

She flushes and bites her lower lip. “And if I don’t obey?”

“You leave here without an orgasm.”

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