Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Matteo
Was it possible to explode with happiness? Because it sure felt that way. The last two days had proven to me beyond a reasonable doubt that we were meant to be together.
Sure, our relationship would never be traditional. She could never be my wife, but Sophia had my heart, and that was something no other woman could have.
I would marry for convenience and alliances, but I would keep Sophia in my life because she was what made me happy, and if the smile on her face was anything to go by, I made her happy as well.
The smile never left her face these days, and now was no exception. She sat opposite me, watching me as I shoveled her chocolate cake into my face.
“This is really good,” I said, licking the back of the spoon. Her eyes widened, and heat tinged her cheeks pink. I knew exactly why.
Ever since I had woken up with my mouth and hands on her pussy, I had taken every possible moment I could to drop to my knees and worship her with my tongue.
Her chocolate cake was amazing, but I was addicted to the taste of her pussy and the cream it spilled onto my lips.
“I’m glad you think so.”
“You cook well now. I remember when you couldn’t even boil an egg,” I joked.
She gave a sheepish shrug. “I didn’t have much chance to learn. Everything was always done for me.” She grinned. “I was a spoiled little princess, completely sheltered.”
Again, I let my eyes wander over her body. It wasn’t that she was wearing anything particularly revealing or sexy, but that didn’t really matter when it came to her. She could wear a trash bag and I would want her.
“Well…” Reluctantly, I placed the spoon in the dish and leaned back. This time, I made sure there was no doubt about what I wanted to happen next when I looked at her. “You were sheltered until I got my hands on you.”
The two pink dots on her cheeks deepened. I loved that I could still make her blush even though she was an adult now.
“How about you come over here?” Scraping my chair back, I tapped the table top with both hands. “And let me eat dessert.”
“Matteo.” She rolled her eyes. “You’ve just eaten a giant piece of cake. Surely that’s dessert enough?”
“And it was delicious, but I’m in need of something extra sweet and creamy.
” Crooking my finger, I motioned for her to come to me.
“So be a good girl and come here, sit your pretty ass on the table, and let me eat you out.” Grinning, I watched her move.
She stood, smoothing her skirt down her thighs.
“And by the time you can’t take anymore, I should be able to fuck you until you don’t remember your own name. You want that, don’t you?”
I could tell by the look on her face that she did.
Another step, and then she paused. A frown marred her smooth forehead.
“You do want that, don’t you, Sophia?”
Again, she didn’t answer me. Instead, she glanced down, the frown turning into confusion.
“Sophia.” Jumping up from the chair so quickly that it toppled backward with a crash, I rushed toward her. It was only then that she lifted her eyes to me.
“Sophia, what’s wrong?”
Her smile was forced. “It’s nothing.” She brushed off my hands.
It wasn’t nothing. At least she didn’t pull a believable, “it’s nothing” face. Catching her arm, I yanked her to my chest.
“Talk to me,” I urged. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.” I couldn’t help it. My voice was frantic. “Are you in pain?”
Slowly, she lifted her eyes to me. “Not yet,” she said cryptically. “I think my period has started early.”
Her period? I let out a rapid sigh of relief. A period I could handle. That was normal and not something I had to worry about.
“Oh.”
“I’ll just go and clean up.” Reaching up, she brushed her lips to my cheek. “I’m sorry.” She went to walk away, and I caught her arm and pulled her back into me.
“Don’t be sorry about something so natural, Sophia. Although I’m a little sorry that you got it.”
She looked at me with wide-eyed confusion. “Sorry, I don’t think I heard you properly.”
It was my turn to look confused. Had I said that out loud? Before I could stop myself, I pressed a hand to her stomach. Sophia’s eyes widened into saucers
“I just wouldn’t mind very much if you missed one or several.” I chuckled before I could stop myself. “Because that would mean I’ve put a baby in your belly.”
The bewilderment turned to terror, and she looked like I had pulled a gun on her. “You want,” she stuttered, “you want a baby?”
“I’ve never really thought about it until you came back, but yeah, I think we would have an amazing child, a little boy…”
“What if it was a girl?” There was a note in Sophia’s voice that I had never heard before.
I pressed a kiss to her nose. “I’ll love that child, Sophia. It doesn’t matter if it’s a girl or a boy.” I cracked a smile as she continued to stare up at me with that unreadable look. “Although if it’s a girl, then she will never ever be allowed around men like me.” I chuckled.
Sophia’s lips curved upward in a smile. “Yeah, because that worked out so well for me, didn’t it?”
“Go.” Another kiss this time on her lips. “Shower. I will get you some fresh PJs and then…”
She was looking at me strangely, like she had never seen me before. I paused.
“What?”
I shook my head.
“It’s like we are a real couple, Sophia. Finally, we are a couple and…” I shook my head. “Go and clean up. I’ll leave the things in the bathroom for you. When you are done, join me on the sofa.”
I followed after her as she walked away. My eyes were glued to her ass as it swayed. Even under that thick wool skirt, it was impossible to look away from it.
I waited outside until she was in the shower and the door was closed. Not because I didn’t want to see her naked, but because she deserved some privacy. It was only when I heard the rush of water that I went inside, taking some soft flannel PJs in with me, and placing them on the vanity.
Bending down, I pulled her box of sanity products out of the cupboard. She would need those as well. I wasn’t sure what else she would need, but I had heard somewhere that ice cream or chocolate was a good idea.
Would she want those things? She had just eaten after all.
“So…” I began to call her name and froze as something fell from the box and onto the floor. It was wrapped in tissue paper, but it had shattered anyway, and liquid was seeping onto the floor.
I stared at it, completely confused, and then, without thinking reached down and touched my fingertips to one of the droplets.
I sniffed and recoiled.
Almonds.
It smelled like almonds.
Stumbling backward, I fell onto the toilet. Sophia’s clothes went sprawling onto the floor.
It smelled like damn almonds, and she had hidden it where she thought I would never look. There was only one reason.
It was poison.
Cyanide to be exact.
This woman, who I had begun to trust again, had hidden cyanide in the home we shared, and it didn’t take a genius to realize why.
I had wondered what her and her brother's game was, and now I knew.
She was going to poison me. No wonder she had been so adamant that she cook for us. It was all part of their plan right from the beginning, and like a lovesick fool, I had fallen for it.
I had let her manipulate me. And because I still had feelings for her, I hadn’t taken the proper precautions.
Jumping up, I smashed my fist into the vanity mirror. The sound of shattering glass was louder than even the shower.
The water turned off, and the door opened a crack. “What happened?” Sophia’s eyes darted from me to the mirror and then to the floor.
Every ounce of blood drained from her face. “Matteo.” She stepped out of the shower, naked and dripping, only this time when I looked at her, I wasn’t overcome with lust.
Turning on my heel, I walked away, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw her reach for a towel.
“Matteo, please let me explain,” she called out after my retreating back.
I ignored her. I didn’t hurt women. I’d never been that much of a monster, but I knew that if I stayed in the same room as her, I wouldn’t be able to control myself.
What a moron I’d been. An absolute joke. I’d been so sure that what she had been hiding had been in London that I hadn’t even thought to wonder why she was here sharing my bed.
This was her plan all along. She wanted me dead.
It wasn’t enough for her to snatch out my heart six years ago. Now she was here to finish the job, only this time she wanted my heart to stop beating.
Coming to a stop by the great floor-to-ceiling windows, I stared out into the city that never slept.
Jesus, only a few minutes ago, I had been so in love with her. I’d even told her I wanted to fill her belly with my baby. In my head, we had made plans, and this entire time—
My breath shuddered in my chest.
“Matteo, let me explain,” Sophia said in the smallest voice I had ever heard.
All this time, she had been playing me.
Just like she had six years ago.
In the dark reflection of the glass, I caught her eyes, and she stopped dead.
“Explain, then.”
She bit her lip. “It’s not—"
“It’s not poison? Cyanide, if I’m not mistaken. Do you really think I’m fool enough to believe anything you say, Sophia?” My hand clenched into a tight fist
She remained silent. “You don’t understand.”
Her voice was so quiet that I barely heard it. “What don’t I understand, Sophia?” Whirling around, I speared her to the spot with my eyes, and she shrank back. “Did you or did you not bring poison into my home to poison me?”
She opened her mouth and then snapped it shut. Her eyes darted away guiltily, and it was all the answer I needed.
“I wouldn’t have done it,” she whispered. “I didn’t want…”
She froze mid-sentence, like she had just realized what she had said.
“You didn’t want to? Who put you up to this, Sophia?” Not that I needed her words to know.
Gio was behind all of this. For all of his words about friendship and treaties, he had sent his own sister in here to whore herself out and kill me.
“Gio…” I shook my head.
A wild, desperate look flickered into her eyes. “No, Matteo. It wasn’t.” She rushed toward me. “I don’t expect you to understand.”
“Then explain it to me.” My voice was calm, too calm. She stopped dead in her tracks.
“I can’t…”
“You mean you won’t.” I met her in the middle of the rug. My hand closed around her slender throat, and I dragged her to me. “Let me tell you how things are going to be from now on, Sophia, so you know that you will not be able to manipulate me ever again. I’m going to keep you.”
Her eyes widened.
“Now,” I laughed coldly, “don’t think for a second that it means I forgive you.
Or that I will ever allow myself to love you.
In fact, forget anything I’ve ever said to you that’s made you smile.
” I drew her closer still. My lips nipped at her ear.
“I am so glad you didn’t have my child, Sophia. Any kid born from you would be cursed.”
She sucked in a startled, pained breath. “You don’t mean that.”
Throwing my head back, I laughed. “Don’t I?
Sophia, I am going to keep you, I am going to use you.
And,” I dragged the last words out, “I am going to make you watch as I destroy your family. Every single drop of your family’s blood will be wiped from the face of the earth. All of it. It ends with you.”