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Luna’s name flashes across the screen with an incoming message, but I decide to get dressed and check everything on my laptop before I circle back to it.
I reach for my suitcase sitting just inside the walk-in closet and lift it onto the bed. There are a pair of yoga pants, a white tank top, and a red-and-black-checkered flannel shirt on top that I choose. Grabbing a white lace bra and panty set along with it, I pick out some thick black socks and zip the case back up.
Dried and dressed in minutes, I relax in comfy clothes that I’ve found a new appreciation for. Once upon a time, when I’d been ruled by my mother, I wore nothing but skimpy outfits and revealing clothes. Fuck, I’m sure she bought the outfit I wore last night. I was never able to wear what I wanted or express myself in a way that suited me. Everything was about the bigger picture—theirpicture, to be more specific—but now? Now I get to be whoever the fuck I want to be, and this bitch has a new obsession with comfortable clothes.
Reaching for my laptop, I take a seat on my bed, my back pressed against the headboard as I use the pillow as a lap desk. I take a few minutes checking the surveillance camera I installed outside of my room, followed quickly by the tracker for the business card I handed over to Enzo.
It really does look like a thick piece of cardstock, but inside is the thinnest tracking sheet I’ve ever seen. It’s undetectable, not something they’re going to notice on them. After what happened last night, it was definitely the safer option between the two devices I had.
It flashes The Ritz-Carlton Central Park’s location, and a grin spreads across my face. They kept it. That’s a good sign. Or they at least waited until they got back to their hotel to discard it.
A mixture of guilt and pride ripples through me. Pride in the sense that for once in my life, I’m doing what people with actual decent morals do. Well, as far as Featherstones go anyway, which is questionable on its own. But compared to working for my mother, the head of Featherstone Academy, and my father, Totem, the villain in everyone’s story, it feels like a breath of fresh air.
Yet, at the same time, I feel some kind of connection to the De Luca brothers. The lie about my name twists in my gut, the fact that we’re tracking them weighs heavy on my chest, and I don’t know why. Guilt isn't an emotion I’m familiar with, not really, and I have no idea why I feel it after only spending such a short amount of time in their presence.
Fuck.
I can’t delve further into that. Not until my next shower at least. For now, I need to see what Luna has to say. Reaching for my cell, I click on the notification, but before the message appears on my screen, it’s interrupted by an incoming call from an unknown number.
Well, it says unknown, but the way my heart skips a beat, I know exactly who it’s going to be. Or I’ve at least narrowed it down to one of three.
Taking a deep breath, I let it ring a few more times before I lift it to my ear and answer. “Hello?”
“Stellina, I was worried you weren’t going to answer the call and this was some fake number.” Matteo’s deep voice drips through the line, a hint of teasing in his tone catching me by surprise and making me beam all at once.
My teeth sink into my bottom lip, my thighs clenching together as I attempt to muster a response. “What can I say, Matteo? You left me on the edge of wanting more last night,” I say with a smirk playing on my lips as he huffs.
“I believe it was you who left us wanting,Bellissima.” Vito’s statement sends a jolt through my body.
“I offered more, you declined,” I state, short and sweet, and I can tell the chuckle that rings in my ears belongs to Enzo before he even speaks.
“Bella,we were being gentlemen,” he soothes, and this time, it’s my turn to huff.
“I don’t recall meeting any of those last night. Thank God, because that’s not what I’m looking for.” My desire for the three of them takes over once more, no matter how hard I try to fight it. Subconsciously, the thoughts and words are just there and my filter has completely disappeared.
Silence greets me for a moment, like there’s a private conversation going on between the three of them, before Matteo finally speaks. “I’m glad you said that, Ava, because I was hoping you would be free again tonight.” My stomach twists, anticipation and excitement coursing through me as I try not to just scream yes. But before I can respond, Matteo continues, “If you only have two more nights left in the city, we want to be a part of your plans,Stellina.”
Fuck.
Luna and everything I have going on with Featherstone plays in the back of my mind. The thought that this might be something for them has me balancing between saying yes or no, even though the intoxicating hold they have on me has me desperate to say yes.
“It isn’t an offer,Bella, it’s a demand,” Enzo states, a hint of a grin flitting through the phone too. This motherfucker remembers every damn word I said last night. Including the fact I want a man to take the decisions away, and this is him doing just that.
“Give me a time and a place.” My voice comes out huskier than usual.
“We will pick you up at seven, just tell us where to be.” Vito, this time, and I immediately shake my head like they can see me.
“I like my own company, remember?” I force a smile to my lips, hoping it will convey through the phone. “I’ll be wherever you need me to be, but no requirement to collect.”
My eyes squeeze shut, worried they may push back and I’ll have to relent, but thankfully Matteo hums in response. “At The Ritz-Carlton at Central Park,Stellina. Seven p.m. sharp,” he barks before the call ends.
Holy fuck.
I know I’m playing with fire, but it seems I’m more than happy to get burned.
5
VITO
