Page 69 of Forbidden Arrangement

“Who’s that?”Stefano asked.

“I don’t know,” I said as I pressed my lips together.Was that Connor?Was that the hedge fund manager who Hamilton was trying to hook her up with?

“Looks like they’re … good friends,” Sergio said.Stefano just looked back at me with a concerned expression on his face.

“I’m sure it’s nothing.She and I have plans tonight.”I pulled out my phone and called her.It rang three times before she answered.

“Hey, what’s going on, Sam?”

“Hey, Valentina.I was just wondering if you were still at dinner or if you were ready to head over.”

“Oh, I’m still at my dad’s place,” she said in a rushed voice.“I’m not sure when I’ll be done, actually.Maybe I can get a rain check?”

“You want a rain check,” I said, licking my lips.

“Yeah, is that okay?I didn’t expect the dinner to go so long.”

“So you’re still at your dad’s house in New Jersey?”

“Yeah … He had his cook make beef Wellington.It’s absolutely delicious.And then we’re going to have lemon meringue pie!”She paused.“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” I said gruffly.“You enjoy your dinner.”I hung up before she could say anything else and looked out the window.I saw her staring at her phone and then putting it back into her handbag.Stefano looked at me and gave me a wry smile.

“Well, well, well.That is not what I expected.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”I snapped.

“Well, I mean, you’re normally the player.I didn’t expect the player to get played.”

I stared at him for a few seconds and shook my head.I hadn’t expected Valentina to do that to me either.So she’d used me for sex.I didn’t know why it hurt so much.I didn’t know why I’d thought she and I shared a connection.Here I was, feeling like shit because she was just a job, but she was lying to me already.Dating someone else, someone more appropriate in Daddy’s eyes.Maybe her father had offered to pay the rent on the lease for the property that she really wanted.If she dated Connor and she’d accepted, she knew my broke ass couldn’t help.I clenched my fists.

“Shall we go for that drink?”I said gruffly.

“Yeah,” Sergio said as he started the car.“I know a bar we can go to.We can just hang out.”

“Okay.”I sat back, closed my eyes, and tried to forget the pounding of my heart.

I wanted to ignore it all.I wanted to get rid of this awkward, weird feeling that had me frustrated and anxious inside.I had not felt this way since I was a little kid.All of a sudden, the pain and rejection that I’d felt when I was younger came flooding back.Not being enough, not being loved, not being special.

“Hey.You okay, Sam?”Stefano interrupted my thoughts, and I blinked as I looked at him.

“Yeah.Why?”

“I asked if you wanted to get some pizza.”

“Sure,” I said.“Whatever you guys want.”

“Okay,” he said.I could see from the look on his face that he was concerned and worried about me, but I had nothing I wanted to share with him.There was nothing I wanted to share with anyone else.I’d made a mistake by getting too close to Valentina.

I wouldn’t allow anything like that to happen to me again.I wouldn’t allow anyone to interfere with my emotional state of mind.It didn’t matter, anyway.She was just a job.It wasn’t like I loved her or anything.I didn’t care that she was with a man her father approved of more than me.We were never meant to be.The Valentina Fords of this world weren’t with the Sam Valentis of this world.I just had to remember that.I just had to find another woman for another twenty-nine days and move on with my life.It had worked for me thus far and would work for me for the rest of my days.

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