Chapter 15

Alessio

Chiara’s hand gently traces the edge of my mask, and my whole body goes tense. Everything in my head tells me that I should push her hand away, but there’s this mall voice inside my head that’s urging her to happen, wanting it to be over. . . .

But then the door opens and I jump away from Chiara.

I face the door, ready to be either angry or relieved, then I see Gio walking in casually. When he sees Chiara and me, he stops and awkwardly winces. “I’m sorry, Master. I should head back out--”

“No, stay,” I say, and relief takes over. I face Chiara, who is staring at the floor. Now I feel horribly awkward just standing here. “You may leave now, Chiara. We’ll talk again soon.”

Without another word, she promptly gets out of my office and closes the door behind her. Gio stares at the closed door before turning to me. “What happened, Master?”

“We just negotiated,” I say airily, but my face feels hot. Fuck. I shouldn’t have trusted myself to be alone with her. She does things to me. Rea