CHAPTER EIGHT: The Price of Wanting You28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡESC4MiODeH
(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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX0lSt6luWu
Cooking for her.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡopMkdTcRjj
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…28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDoyYny3BHC
he wanted her for a lifetime.
Then the knock came.
Firm. Impatient.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpI8f4sQb7e
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzycPXlmA4h
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.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpk2c16X7ms
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…”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZdtqG0hHW9
Her voice dropped.
“You know what happens when you choose someone.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡltjKW2wcMx
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.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjNy7pc73y4
Then her voice turned cold.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS7ihk8r8vK
“But don’t think the people you’ve crossed will stay quiet.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9FGLaO9Zir
You want to play house, Matteo?28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXN7LMXGMep
Then be ready to bury it when they come.”
She left. Just like that.
But her words stayed.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeee0Wsu0Ex
Like acid on his skin.
That night, when she texted him “goodnight” with a little heart emoji…28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB9HXiWBiKy
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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