Born in Blood Collection Volume 1 - Cora Reilly Page 0,268

didn’t try to pull away, which surprised me, and again raised my suspicions, but I blamed her demureness on the long day both of us had had. It had been more than twenty-four hours since I’d slept.

Still, I fought off sleep until I heard Gianna’s breathing deepening and her body softening against me. I didn’t trust Gianna, not after what she’d done. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever trust her completely. I knew she’d run the moment I let her out of my sight. I wouldn’t give her another chance to evade me. I didn’t care what I had to do to keep her in New York.

Luca had thought I’d lose interest in her once I’d fucked her. Part of me had hoped for it, but I could already tell that it wasn’t the case. I still wanted her, probably more than before.

I was completely and utterly screwed.

Gianna

The next morning I woke to Matteo moving around in the bedroom. I didn’t give any indication that I was awake, instead I listened to his sounds. I didn’t want to face him. He’d be smug about last night, definitely intolerable. Before a long shower and a strong coffee I wasn’t in the mood for that particular kind of confrontation. When his steps finally moved away and the door clicked shut, I exhaled and opened my eyes. The skyline of New York was hung with heavy clouds. Maybe I could simply stay in bed, but I had a feeling Matteo might try to join me if I did. My traitorous body tingled with excitement at the idea of having his hands on me again, maybe even allowing him to go down on me for real.

I quickly sat up, slid out of bed and hurried into the bathroom to splash cold water into my face. I winced at the burning in my lip. I peered at myself in the mirror. My lower lip was swollen dramatically and the skin below it was bruised. I looked like I’d been in a fight, which wasn’t that far from the truth. I opened my mouth to take a look at the stitches. Disgusted, I quickly snapped it shut again. The events from yesterday flashed through my mind.

I hadn’t even had nightmares about what happened to Sid. I still felt horrible for his cruel death, but my dreams had been empty, a black void of nothingness. Maybe I did belong into this world after all.

My eyes slid down to a spot on the side of my neck where Matteo had left a hickey. The bastard had marked me like I was his property, and to him that was probably the case. I touched the bruise.

Grimacing, I turned away from my reflection, and took a quick shower. When I returned to the bedroom, I found my bags on the floor. Matteo must have carried them in while I was getting ready. Sneaky bastard. How could he move so quietly?

I quickly put my clothes into the drawers that Matteo must have cleared for me. Somehow it annoyed me that he’d made space for me as if he’d known all along that I’d eventually move in. He must have done it long ago. There hadn’t been any time last night or this morning. Putting away the clothes that I hadn’t worn in six months also made me realize that I desperately needed to go shopping. My old clothes felt like a relic from an old life. In our rush to leave my apartment in Munich, I hadn’t been able to grab any of my new clothes.

Afterward, fully dressed I headed out of the bedroom, pausing briefly to listen for Matteo. It was silent in the apartment and as I walked through the living room toward the open kitchen I didn’t encounter anyone, not even a bodyguard. Suspicion flared in me. Matteo would never leave me unsupervised after what I’d done. My eyes scanned the ceiling, the corners and every other possible place for security cameras, but I found none. I hesitated in the middle of the kitchen for a moment, eyes darting to the massive coffee maker. Screw it. I needed caffeine. If Matteo wasn’t there, for which I was grateful, I’d pretend this was my home.

And I didn’t even need to pretend. This was my home now, or it was supposed to be. Of course it didn’t feel like it. It had been a long time since any place had felt like home. In the last few months of my