VITTORIO'S MISTRESS (The Vittorio Series) by Kimberley Reeves Read Free Book Online Page A

was solemn on the drive back to her house and she didn’t say much.   When Dante asked if there was anything wrong she forced a smile and claimed to be tired.   She tried to keep him from walking her to the door once they arrived at her house but he would have none of it.   She was glad he didn’t ask to come in because she would have had to flat refuse.   Besides the fact that Chantel was there, the moment Dante walked into her house he’d know a child lived there.  
    Paige kept a pretty tidy house but there was still evidence of Daniella everywhere.   The coat hook just inside the foyer had a number of miniature sweaters hanging on it, and there was a small toy box with cartoon characters painted on it in one corner of the living room.   Even the kitchen, which was kept obsessively spotless, had pictures that Daniella had drawn for her stuck to the refrigerator by colorful magnets.   Luckily, she’d thought to move the tricycle off the front porch and into the backyard before Dante had arrived.
    “Thank you for dinner,” she told him when they reached the door.   “I had a nice time.”
    Dante arched a brow.   “ Nice? ”
    “Okay, it was more than nice,” she laughed because he looked genuinely appalled by her choice of words.   “I had a wonderful time at dinner.   The food was magnificent and the conversation was utterly stimulating.   There, have I sufficiently stoked your ego?”
    Dante slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her up tight against his body.   “You have left something out, have you not?”
    “Maybe just one little thing,” she said on a sigh as he lowered his head and feasted on her mouth.
    Her body instantly became a madhouse of jumbled sensations; a million butterflies took flight inside her stomach, her brain was lost in a dense fog, and her body temperature skyrocketed.   Her heartbeat was erratic, her breath ragged and shallow, and when he hitched her even closer so she could feel just how aroused he was, the muscles in her abdomen clenched so tight she nearly climaxed right there.   By the time he drew away from her, Paige felt as if she’d just gotten off one of those spinning rides at the carnival.
    “That will have to hold you until we see each other again,” Dante said.
    “Dante…” she looked up at him with eyes that were misted with tears.   Oh God, this was killing her.   “I can’t,” she managed to squeeze out.
    He frowned at the glistening tears.   “Do not cry, mio tesoro.   We will be together again soon, I promise you.   I have work to do in the morning but we could have lunch together…”
    “No,” Paige shook her head.   “I can’t see you again, Dante.”
    “Ah, it is those things you spoke of earlier but refused to elaborate on.”   Dante cupped her chin and tilted her head back so she was forced to look at him.   “I lost you once, Paige.   I will not lose you again.   Understand this, cara ; Io vogtio te , I want you, and I will not rest until I have you.   We will become lovers again, it is inevitable.”
    Paige trembled beneath the fierce intensity of his gaze.   She’d never seen him look so determined and it shook her to the core because she knew he meant every word just as she knew she was powerless to stop him from trying.   And God help her, but when Dante took her in his arms and unleashed the passion he’d been holding back all evening, she clung to him like the love sick idiot she was and always would be where Dante was concerned.  
    When he released her with the promise to see her soon, all Paige could do was stand there and watch him walk away.

Chapter 4
    “Oh God,” Paige groaned, “I just made things ten times worse…no a hundred times worse than they were before.”
    Chantel set the quart of rocky road ice cream in the middle of the table and handed Paige a spoon before taking the seat opposite her.   “Tell me you didn’t sleep with him,” she said as she dipped her own spoon in the ice