“I don’t like it. Can’t you see how suffocating it feels?”
His face hardened.
I walked up closer to him and grabbed his hand. “Please don’t do this. Please don’t ruin the one good thing I finally managed to carve out for myself.”
“Is he so fucking weak that he would walk away with a little hardship? Does this relationship really not mean that much to him?”
I shook my head. I didn’t know. Sometimes, it felt like maybe he could love me. That he did. But there were other times, especially when I wasn’t physically with him, that the doubt started to creep in.
And Valentino could see that doubt on my face.
He pulled his hand away from mine and headed out the door. “Where are you going?” I shouted after him.
He didn’t answer me.
“Valentino!”
“Stay here and don’t leave,” he said before walking out the door and closing it behind him.
Fucking hell.
24
ELIO
I pushed Chiara away,glaring down at the girl.
She was the woman reported in Massimo’s office. I didn’t fucking know why she was in there. Perhaps as some ploy to get my attention after I rejected the marriage proposal. Or perhaps she was there to do her father’s bidding, snooping around and hoping for any useful information.
I didn’t fucking know. Thankfully, she wasn’t able to log into the computer, and I doubted she found anything in there. Massimo wasn’t sloppy. He didn’t keep important shit in the office.
But it was still a fucking headache that I even had to come here in the first place for this.
I should have let Matteo handle it himself.
I didn’t know what I was thinking.
Actually, I did.
This was the excuse I needed to get out of my conversation with Valentino. But now, I had to deal with Chiara, who had been looking at me since the moment I showed up, like I had trampled all over her heart.
How could I possibly have done that when we were nothing more than strangers to each other?
I didn’t pay attention to Valachi's daughters beyond the fact that they were his.
We were outside the Rockwood Casino. Around me, tourists and locals walked about, taking in the bright, shining sun and all the attractions Las Vegas had to offer.
Matteo stood behind, thoroughly enjoying the “show” as I shot a glare at Chiara.
“You need to stay here until your father’s men come by to take you home. And don’t think I have let this go. The fact that you were in Massimo’s office uninvited is a big problem.”
“I told you. I stumbled in there by mistake,” she said, pouting at me. Did she think that would work?
“And you stayed there for a good fifteen minutes after?” I asked. “Don’t try to deny it. We got you on video camera.”
She blanched. I felt no sympathy for her. I crossed my arms over my chest, leaving my expression neutral.
She tried a different tactic. She moved in closer to me. I looked down at her without showing any reaction as she ran her hand up and down my arm.
