The Temporary Wife: Luca and Valentina's Story(87)

He bursts out laughing and buries a hand in my hair. “What? The markers and sticky notes? The pens, the paperclips? The meeting notes you’d hand me printed on pink paper?”

I undo his trousers and grab his cock, delighted to find him already hard for me. I lick my lips and rest the tip of his cock against my mouth. “I only did it because I know how much you despise pink. I’m sorry, babe. I definitely deserve punishment for deceiving you that way, don’t I?”

“Yes,” he says as he guides his cock into my mouth. “You do.”

He grabs a fistful of my hair as I take him deeper, my tongue teasing him endlessly. Knowing how badly he wants me has my own desire rising rapidly. There’s something special about being truly wanted.

“My beautiful little liar,” he murmurs, pulling his cock all the way out of my mouth. I groan in disappointment, and he smirks as he rises to his feet, until I’m at eye level with his cock. He grabs it, his wedding ring a beautiful sight as he curls his fingers around it. “I’m going to fuck your face and punish you for the torment you put me through.”

He holds onto my hair as he gently pushes his cock back into my mouth, holding me still as he uses my mouth. He’s the only one I’ll ever submit to, and he knows it, revels in it.

“I fucking love you,” he groans as he thrusts a little harder, a little faster, but never enough to make me gag or choke. I look up at him to find him staring at me with utter devotion, and I suck down on him even harder.

I didn’t think I had a heart left to give, but perhaps that’s because he stole it long before I realized it.





Chapter Fifty-Four





Luca

I glance at my pocket watch and smile at the photo of Valentina inside it. My father once told me he’d hand it down to me if I ever got married, and that I should put a picture of my wife in it then. I didn’t think I could ever bear to replace the old, faded photo of my mother, but I understand it now.

I get why my dad told me to put a photo of my wife in this pocket watch. It gives me perspective and reminds me what I’m doing this all for. It reminds me that every second not spent efficiently is a second I could’ve spent with her — which is why I’m even more annoyed to be sitting here.

“The price you offered is fair, I have to say,” Jessica tells me.

I snap my watch closed and sigh. “Then why did you insist on meeting with me instead of just accepting our offer?”

She glances at my ring every few minutes, her expression unreadable. I know she wants to ask if it’s a wedding ring, but surprisingly, she hasn’t. It annoys me to look at her, but even more so, it annoys me that Valentina told me to attend this meeting at all.

I know why my wife did this. She’s trying to show me that she truly is giving our marriage a chance and that she’s choosing to trust me despite her insecurities. She’s trying to prove that she won’t let our private life interfere with our business goals, but that’s not what I want.

I want her to lose her cool over me, the way I do with every single man that comes near her. I want her to act jealous and irrational, because she can’t control herself when it comes to me. Every once in a while, I want her to act as crazy as I do. I need to know that she loves me the same, that I drive her insane.

“Do you truly not know why I asked you to meet with me in person?”

I sigh and run a hand through my hair. “No, and to be honest, I don’t care either. I genuinely couldn’t care less if you decline our offer. It wasn’t my decision to acquire Metric, anyway. I’m literally only here because I was told to.”

I just want to go home already. I’ve sat through half an hour of this shit, and I want to see my wife. At first, I was certain she’d show up, that she wouldn’t let me sit through a dinner with my fucking ex, but she hasn’t. Every second that she isn’t here adds to the frustration I feel.

I’m still uneasy around Valentina, scared that she’ll change her mind, or that she doesn’t really feel the way I do. It annoys me that she can so easily separate work and our private life, when I absolutely can’t. I’d let my whole fucking company collapse if it made her happy, but she won’t even pass up one acquisition, going as far as to send me out for dinner with my goddamn ex.

“What do you mean?” Jessica asks. “If it wasn’t your decision, whose was it?”

“Mine.”

I sit up, a smile slowly spreading across my face as my heart starts to race. Valentina’s eyes meet mine, and the hint of insecurity I see in them puts me at ease. It’s toxic, and it’s crazy, and I fucking know it, but I don’t care.

I rise to my feet and drag a chair to the small, crowded table Jessica and I are seated at, suddenly grateful that the space is so limited. She’ll have to sit right next to me, my leg against hers.

“I’m Valentina,” she says. “Windsor Finance’s Chief Operating Officer, and the person in charge of our expansion plans.”

The two women shake hands, and Jessica looks visibly unnerved when Valentina sits down next to me. I place my hand on her thigh and lean in, my lips brushing over her ear. “Good girl,” I whisper. “You deserve a reward for showing up here.”

My wife turns her face, and her nose brushes against mine. “You’re not mad?” she whispers.