CHAPTER EIGHT: The Price of Wanting You54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3Sk08V907
(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.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIGdNc1QoIA
Cooking for her.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqlwMem9Nrp
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…54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQtPV7NI9pu
he wanted her for a lifetime.
Then the knock came.
Firm. Impatient.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOrsD25u2J9
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.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIxbBSARJZY
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.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpIqNDyd5Ie
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…”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkCCRaks3TV
Her voice dropped.
“You know what happens when you choose someone.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡivx2bNslEx
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.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1305ob14W4
Then her voice turned cold.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAUV953zz9H
“But don’t think the people you’ve crossed will stay quiet.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHBmjdid74F
You want to play house, Matteo?54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyTAwqdDjZ3
Then be ready to bury it when they come.”
She left. Just like that.
But her words stayed.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5HuAEYUyhy
Like acid on his skin.
That night, when she texted him “goodnight” with a little heart emoji…54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWIY27ES2Pc
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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