ANMELDENPOPPYGrey was already gone when I woke up. Smiling wryly, I smoothed his side of the bed, finding it cold. He couldn't have slept for more than three hours before rushing to work. A part of me wished he could have stayed longer. I was starting to get used to sleeping in his arms. Sometimes, it felt as if I'd belonged there…I shook my head and clasped my cheeks. I knew it was dangerous to think that way. This could easily lead to feelings, and having feelings toward Grey could end in disaster. Then again, keeping my guard up around him was next to impossible, not to mention that even trying to control myself was beyond exhausting. I wanted to trust him. I wanted no secrets between us. And tonight, I was going to reveal the heaviest secret I'd been carrying.Perhaps this wasn't the best time, since things around Grey had been rather intense lately, but I believed I was ready to tell him the truth. Going to this party and using my skills to help Grey had been liberating. He'd had faith
GREY“You have a very wise woman by your side, Maledetti,” said Moore as he made himself comfortable on the sofa in my office.It had been Poppy who had managed to convince me I should talk to him. Honestly, I had a few other ideas for how I wanted to spend my evening… or rather night, since it was long after midnight.Poppy had wanted to be a part of this conversation, but she also knew that it wasn't entirely safe for her. Even if I trusted that Moore was a decent guy who simply hated my guts, I would rather not have him asking Poppy questions about her identity…Inviting him wasn't without a risk for me either. Even if I'd made sure he wasn't wearing a tap and didn't try to record our conversation, it would have been safer not to talk to him at all. But I couldn't help but be curious, and a part of me admired his courage to come here.“Drink?” I tossed, mainly because I sure as fuck needed one.“I'm off duty,” he muttered.I nodded. “Drink it is.” I walked to the cabinet and quickl
POPPYMy heart pounded wildly long after we'd left the Rossa Di Ferro. I knew I should have been proud of myself, but the adrenaline buzzing in my veins kept me too agitated to truly savor that feeling.Luca, our driver, swiftly maneuvered the Bentley through the road, taking us back to the mansion. Lanzo was sitting at the front while Grey and I were at the back. My hand rested on Grey's lap, covered by his hand. His knuckles were slightly red after punching Giulio, and I couldn't stop thinking about everything that had happened in Rinaldi's office. Of course, the moment right before the guards barged inside swirled in my mind, too, sending waves of heat and making me clench my thighs. Not to mention that I couldn't ignore the fact that I was missing the bottom part of my lingerie…“What are you thinking about, Sunshine?” His sensual purr caused me to jolt in my seat.I looked at him and smiled. “You.”He licked his lips and leaned closer. “I bet you regret we couldn't stay longer in
GREYI stood by the door watching Poppy sit behind Giulio Rinaldi's desk and open his laptop. A smirk pulled at my lips. Giulio truly was an idiot. He couldn't even install a decent alarm in his office inside this hotel. This might not have been his main office on the top floor of Rinaldi Real Estate, but he still had his computer here, one with access to all company files. Again: the guy was an idiot.The simple device my specialists had made for me was able to jam all signals and disarm simple alarms within seconds. Turning them back was possible, but it required rebooting the entire security system… which was what Rinaldi's tech guys were currently trying to do.Rebooting would take roughly two minutes, and it would take them another minute to locate us. In the meantime, Lanzo kept the guards busy activating a few alarms and setting the laundry on fire. That should have given us an additional minute or two. Now, I could only hope that Poppy would manage to log in to Giulio's comput
Tension pooled throughout my body within a second. A knot formed in my throat, and all I did was stare at the man who had reminded me of Ardian in the worst way. Heat rushed to my neck and face, making me brutally realize that he hadn't been wrong, not entirely. Grey had bought me for five million, and I was his possession.“You could have been mine, you know?” Giulio crooned, leaning over me. “I would have fucked you good. You would have begged me for—”“Such a poor loser, aren't you, Giulio?” Grey released my hand and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me to his side. Then he turned to me. “You know, Giulio offered a million for you. He clearly underestimated your value.”Giulio huffed. “And you admit that she's got the skills to make her worth five million?”Anger and embarrassment coiled in my guts, and yet, I couldn't find the courage to speak. Once again, I'd been treated like a thing, an object with a price tag. I thought I'd been prepared for this. I'd known that some of
I was standing in front of the body-length mirror, staring at my reflection. When Abigail had brought that gown for me, I'd hesitated, wondering if I should wear it. My old habits had kicked in, forcing me to look for anything that had made me look more… angelic. Ardian had always made me dress in bright colors, turning me into his Angel. For three years, each time I had worn a gown, it had been either white, creamy, or light blue—nothing darker than that. I couldn't recall if any of those dresses had survived without being stained with blood. Sometimes I'd thought that he'd wanted me to be his Angel only so he could break my wings over and over again.Now, as I looked at the mirror, there surely wasn't an angel staring back at me. I felt as if someone had stripped me of my dumb feathers and turned me into a sexy femme fatale. Honestly, I loved it; I loved myself this way.The gown I was wearing was all black and gold. It began with a golden collar on my neck, then fell smoothly, embra







