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And for whatever goddamn reason, I found that sexy as Hell.
I tugged the curtains closed quietly, slipping into my boxer briefs and stepping out of my bedroom. Making my way downstairs, I headed for my office. I'd put her phone on the nightstand before I slipped into the shower. I knew having it would comfort her, delude her into thinking it offered her any protection from me.
The truth was, I could do whatever I wanted to Ivory, and there wasn't a person on this Earth who would dare to stop me. Her endless bag of shit sat on my desk, and a quick glance confirmed that her phone wasn't sitting next to it conveniently. I had no choice but to dig into the monstrosity. It was a first for me, but I'd heard horror stories of what men found in their women's purses.
As soon as I opened it, I realized it wasn't on top of the pile of shit.
That would be too easy.
Rummaging through, my hand grasped a medicine packet. My heart leapt into my throat. Her file had shown no illnesses, so I tugged it out with growing horror. I should have been relieved to see the birth control. From any other woman, I'd demand it. But knowing that Ivory was protected from pregnancy didn't fill me with any relief.
A pregnancy was one more way to ensure that she was mine, completely.
In a way that no one would ever have with her.
I lifted my phone, snapping a picture of the front and the back of the packet before replacing it in her purse. It didn't matter that it burned me to do it. When I found her phone, I turned and went back to my sleeping woman, suddenly determined to experience my first morning sex ever.
Thirteen
Ivory
I'd been in a daze all morning. After Matteo had woken me up with his mouth between my legs, he fucked me until all I'd wanted to do was curl back up in his bed and sleep for the rest of the day. With a sexy as hell chuckle, he reminded me that I probably had work to do. Though he made it clear he didn't object to me staying in his bed all day.
I wanted to slap myself. I'd let him touch me, let him have me again, let him finish inside me without a condom. I didn't understand what it was about Matteo that turned me into an incoherent mess who couldn't string together two letters to say 'no.'
I was so distracted that I'd had to turn the stove off and walk away, because I would get nothing pretty enough to photograph unless I found an outlet first. I'd taken to cuddling with Smaug, running my finger over his scales and watching with amusement as he closed his eyes in contentment. He really was the weirdest, most affectionate lizard I'd ever seen. While I'd never really thought of myself as a reptile person, I melted the second I saw him at the pet store and brought him home.
Even if he ate mealworms and crickets.
Blech.
The knock on the door seemed like a welcome reprieve, even as I wondered who would drop by. Duke was pissed that I'd gone out with Matteo again and not answered my phone for nearly twelve hours, and I couldn't keep bothering Sadie with my emergencies while she was working at the gym. So, I hadn't told her about my sleepover yet.
The courier standing on my front porch wasn't someone I'd ever received deliveries from before, and I squinted my eyes at him in the bright sun. "Can I help you?"
"Miss Torres?" he asked, and I nodded. "Sign here."
I took the clipboard, scrawling my signature quickly and then accepted the small box. Carrying it over to my trusty island, I shrugged at Smaug's look of curiosity as he peered down at the box. With a sigh, I peeled back the gold wrapping paper.
A note rested on top, and I picked it up, reading the handwritten words with growing horror.
It reminded me of you.
Exquisite.
Adrian
His phone number completed the note that I set to the side like it was diseased.
It probably was.
My trembling fingers lifted the white gold necklace out of the gift box. I may not have known much about jewelry, but I knew the stones in that necklace were diamonds. Fifteen of them in a Y shape that would dangle between my breasts.
I swallowed nervously, dropping the necklace back into the box and then wincing. That thing probably cost more than my car. The note followed, before I folded the box back up as best as I could.
Even if I'd been interested, I had no use for jewelry like that. But I wasn't even remotely interested in a man that would corner me in a bathroom and terrify me.
Picking up the box, I strutted my way outside to where Scar sat on guard duty in his car. He rolled down the window, looking on edge when he took in my bare feet. "You should go inside, Ms. Torres. It's cold."
