CHAPTER EIGHT: The Price of Wanting You16Please respect copyright.PENANAGavDVdm3Z9
(Matteo’s POV)
He didn’t touch another client that week.
Not a single one.
He rescheduled them all. Blocked off hours. Told his assistant he was resting.
But Matteo wasn’t resting.
He was watching her sleep.16Please respect copyright.PENANAZQBeJqpweS
Cooking for her.16Please respect copyright.PENANATRpZmqaxQd
Washing her wine glass in his sink and folding her cardigan when she left it on the couch.
He told himself it was temporary.
That this quiet intimacy was just borrowed time.
But every hour she stayed…16Please respect copyright.PENANAPzLXKJFvFQ
he wanted her for a lifetime.
Then the knock came.
Firm. Impatient.16Please respect copyright.PENANAlUziTWuOYY
Familiar.
Matteo opened the door—shirt half-buttoned, still tasting her goodbye kiss from that morning.
And there she was.
Evangeline.
Long black hair. Killer heels. Blood-red lips.16Please respect copyright.PENANAxYAP65Rqca
The woman who once called his bed her throne.
“Matteo,” she purred, leaning against the frame like she owned his air.
He didn’t flinch. “Why are you here?”
“You forgot who taught you how to touch women, darling?” she smiled darkly. “I built this version of you. I own it.”
“I’m not yours anymore.”
“You never stopped being mine.”16Please respect copyright.PENANAsAFCJIgE27
She stepped in uninvited.
Matteo didn’t stop her, but his hands curled into fists.
“What do you want?”
Evangeline ran a sharp finger down the glass table, looking around.
“Who is she?”
He froze.
“I smelled her,” she said, grin widening. “She’s been here. In your sheets. In your mouth.”
Silence.
“You fell, didn’t you?” she laughed, low and cruel. “You stupid, soft idiot. You fell for one of them.”
“She’s not like the others.”
“Oh, Matteo…”16Please respect copyright.PENANA7W8OHDmQ6Y
Her voice dropped.
“You know what happens when you choose someone.16Please respect copyright.PENANAGfWty55cFQ
They take her. They break her.”
He moved before she could blink.
Shoved her against the wall—not with lust, but rage.
“Don’t touch her. Don’t even say her name.”
Evangeline only smirked.
“She’s yours now. Fine.”16Please respect copyright.PENANAbFFuHIcFbR
Then her voice turned cold.16Please respect copyright.PENANAYAZUYbdESK
“But don’t think the people you’ve crossed will stay quiet.16Please respect copyright.PENANAhLnLY60L4o
You want to play house, Matteo?16Please respect copyright.PENANA2HzWhtJDP3
Then be ready to bury it when they come.”
She left. Just like that.
But her words stayed.16Please respect copyright.PENANAJ7g6rYE69F
Like acid on his skin.
That night, when she texted him “goodnight” with a little heart emoji…16Please respect copyright.PENANA8juqDi6rj7
He stared at it for a long time.
Because loving her was no longer a secret.
Now, it was a risk.
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