Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27953 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 140(@200wpm)___ 112(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27953 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 140(@200wpm)___ 112(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
"Not that I want to talk about."
"Then, I'll leave you to it." He's being honest. I'll take that for now. He also hasn't gotten into another brawl.
Emma is waiting when I enter the house. “Which room?”
“We need to talk.” She steps in front of me.
“Not now.”
“Yes, now.” I can tell she’s pissed. “It’s about Mona.”
“I know it is.”
“Strippers?”
“Jesus Christ.” This shit again?
“Matteo,” Emma snaps at me. Her tone almost takes me back to my adolescent days. “I don’t question your decisions. I have always thought of you as a good man, but you're going to destroy that girl."
The irony. Mona has done just that to me. “I’m going to fix it.”
“You have to be here to do that.”
“She wanted space.”
Emma rolls her eyes. “Don’t be dense.”
Sergio coughs to cover his laughter.
“She didn’t want space.” How the fuck am I supposed to know this? Everyone, including Mona, is acting as though I have experience in this department.
“What room?”
“Which room is the farthest from yours?” If I wasn’t irritated about her leaving our bedroom to begin with, I might laugh. Instead, I head up the stairs to find her. When I go to turn the knob, it’s locked.
I pull out my knife and pop it, letting myself right in. I find Mona lying on the bed, her eyes closed. I stand there and stare at her for a long moment. How have I managed to stay away from her?
It doesn’t matter now. I go to the closet, seeing all of her things hanging up. She put them away. The little brat. I start grabbing everything. At some point, Mona wakes up. I don’t look at her. Not yet. I’m too goddamn mad at the sight of her things not in my space. I need to focus on getting them back to where they belong. I know if I look into her eyes, I’ll be distracted. The same way I always am when she turns those emerald jewels my way.
“What are you doing?” I can see her out of the corner of my eyes, sitting up in bed.
“You know what I’m doing.” I take the first load of clothing out of the room and head straight down the long hallway to the opposite side of the estate. I don’t stop until I’m back in my closet, dropping everything onto the floor to return for the next load. When I get the rest, I'll put them away.
When I make it back to the bedroom, she’s standing in the doorway as if she can block me, her hands on her hips. She looks pissed. Well, that makes two of us. Are her cheeks fuller?
“You stop it right now.” She presses against my chest.
“You’re going back to our bedroom.”
“That’s your bedroom.”
“It’s our bedroom.” I bend down and scoop her into my arms. She lets out a small scream.
“Put me down.” She wiggles her adorable ass in my face. I give it a smack. “Matteo!” Mona gasps. I kick my bedroom door shut behind me, not stopping until I put her down on the bed. “You’ll have to tie me to it.” I lift a brow. I’ve never been one to shy away from a challenge. “That’s not what I mean!” She throws her hands up. “You can keep watching. I’ll move again.”
“Then I’ll move you back.” Her shoulders drop, and so does her head. All that red hair comes tumbling forward to hide her from me. “Don’t cry.” She doesn’t respond. “Rabbit.” I try again, gritting my teeth. “Mona.”
“You can't order me not to cry.” The cracking of her voice almost brings me to my knees.
“I can’t seem to order you to do fucking anything,” I admit. Never in my life have I had someone defy me as much as she has. I mean besides Emma, but she goes about it in a more indirect way. Mona does it outright.
“You always get what you want?” she mutters while still hiding from me.
“If I got what I wanted, your little ass wouldn’t have run that first night.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Stop saying that!” I bark, making her jump. I take a deep breath. She is the last person I want to be scared of me. Another new fucking thing for me. “The strip club. Is that the problem? Why don't you want me touching you?”
“Where have you been?” She snaps her head up. There's my girl. I love her innocence, but I also love her fire when you go too far for her liking. “I’ve been stuck in this house for no reason while you’re out doing whatever.”
“You wanted your space,” I remind her. This woman is maddening.
“So you go what? Stay with the strippers while you still sneak in here and do what you want to me?” Mona’s cheeks start to pinken. The sight goes straight to my dick, which has been hard since I saw her laid out in bed. My mouth waters to get back on her.