Chapter 152 Mouths and Motives
Valentina
The car was silent at first, sun streaming in through tinted windows as Nassau blurred past the glass in vibrant color. Palm trees. Pastel shops. Glittering turquoise water. But my nerves were too jumpy for silence to last.
“I still don’t get why you didn’t just let me come with you in the first place,” I said, arms crossed, legs tucked up like I could fold the irritation out of my body. “I could’ve helped.”
Matteo didn’t glance back, but I caught his eyes flick up in the visor mirror. “Because I’m not putting my baby in some second-rate hotel I picked on the fly, especially when we didn’t even know if this mission was going to fold.”
“Baby?” Tess teased from beside me, but I ignored her.
“So what, you just don’t trust me to handle a little chaos now?”
“I trust you,” Matteo said. “I just trust myself more.”
I scoffed, but before I could volley back, he added, “And women take longer to pack.”
“Now that’s a lie,” I snapped. “You swept me away to Paris and I didn’t even know where we were going. I didn’t have a single thing and you still had it all taken care of.”
“That was different,” he said. “That was preplanned. Prepaid. Pre-executed to the goddamn minute. I even had your shoe sizes listed in the itinerary.”
Rosco snorted from the driver’s seat.
“This whole thing?” Matteo continued. “It was spur-of-the-moment. I didn’t have time to arrange your wardrobe, coordinate champagne preferences, or—what was it last time?—find three different foundations that match depending on your tan?”
“Don’t forget the satin pillowcase,” Tess added under her breath.
“You remembered the satin pillowcase?” I asked, suddenly softening.
He finally turned then, looking back at me with a smirk. “Of course I did. You think I like your hair being frizzy in my bed?”
Rosco coughed into his fist. “So you guys do fight. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows and honeymoon bliss like the rest of us peasants assumed.”
“We’re not fighting,” I said immediately.
Rosco raised a brow. “No?”
“It’s not a fight,” I repeated. “It’s a… mild disagreement.”
“A spirited debate,” Tess added.
“Exactly.”
Matteo shrugged. “Call it what you want. I say a little bickering is healthy.”
“Oh yeah?” I challenged, raising a brow.
He looked straight at me, voice smooth as sin. “Sometimes it’s worth it to bicker a little… as long as it ends with somebody’s mouth on the other person’s nether regions.”
Rosco groaned. “Jesus Christ.”
Tess muttered, “This is why I’m feral.”
I choked on a laugh.
Matteo just smiled like he won the round.
I leaned back with a dramatic sigh, lips twitching. “You know what? Maybe I should just go back to plotting to kill you.”
Tess’s head whipped around so fast I heard something crack. “Wait—what?”
I smirked at her. “It’s a long story.”
Matteo didn’t even blink. He just shrugged, casual as sin. “Do it. Our hate sex was just as hot as our love sex.”
Rosco grunted. “I was literally in the room next door that night. I still have trauma.”
“Please,” Tess muttered, “some of us would pay to have trauma like that.”
I laughed, but Matteo just glanced back again, gaze dark and glinting with heat. “Still wouldn’t mind if you tried, you know. I’ve got a few death threats that turned into long-term commitments.”
“Oh yeah?” I teased. “That your kink now? Girls who fantasize about stabbing you in your sleep?”
“Only if they’re this pretty,” he said. “And only if they ride me after.”
Tess groaned and covered her face with both hands. “Stop. I’m too single for this.”
Rosco muttered, “You’re gonna stay that way if you keep throwing yourself at drivers who aren’t catching.”
Tess flipped him off without looking.
And just like that, the tension melted. We were back in motion. Back on mission. But for one glittering moment, we were just ourselves—chaotic, messy, real.
And I wouldn’t have traded it for anything.
The drive didn’t take long.
The villa sat like a crown jewel above the shoreline—white stone and glass, draped in tropical blooms, with palm trees swaying like they knew secrets. We pulled through a private gate and circled a courtyard shaded by bougainvillea vines. Ocean wind kissed the back of my neck as I stepped out, tension thickening in my chest the closer we got.
Matteo didn’t wait for a tour.
He led me through the polished front entry, past a curved staircase and open-concept living area, straight down a hallway to the master suite. The moment he pushed open the door, I stopped breathing.
The room was massive—white linens, dark wood, sunlight pouring through an arched wall of windows that faced the sea. At the far end, a private balcony jutted out over a lush garden with a glistening turquoise pool below. And just beyond that… open water.
Matteo dropped our bags and tugged me toward the windows.
“Come here,” he murmured, pulling a pair of compact black binoculars from the inside of his jacket. He handed them to me and guided them to my face, adjusting the focus for me with a flick of his fingers. “Look straight out. About one o’clock.”
I scanned the horizon. The sun glittered on whitecaps. Dozens of yachts bobbed on the water like rich men’s toys. And then—I saw it.
“Lianessa,” I read aloud, the name scripted in silver across the side of a sleek obsidian yacht. My breath caught. “That’s his?”
Matteo nodded. “Yeah. Not exactly subtle, is he?”
I stared at the name again, jaw tight. “He named it after her?”
“At least partially. The ‘Lian” part, definitely. The ‘-essa ’… probably some other girl. Maybe someone else he trafficked. Maybe a lover. Either way, we’ll find out.”
I lowered the binoculars slowly.
“You can keep a close eye on his movements from right here,” Matteo said, sliding his arms around my waist. “The binoculars work just as well from the balcony. And we’ve got cameras facing the marina already running. But I figured you’d want to see for yourself.”
I leaned back into his chest, eyes still fixed on the water. “I do.”
He kissed the side of my head. “We also have the pool deck—completely private. Great view of the docks. So you can work, watch, or just lie out there and tan your ass for me. Whatever helps you feel in control.”
My throat tightened, but I nodded.
He always knew how to ground me. Even in enemy territory.
“I’ll feel better once we have her,” I whispered.
“We will,” he said, firm. “One way or another.”
Below us, the Lianessa swayed with the tide.
And I knew—this time, I was the one watching from the shadows.
He didn’t even know I’d come for him yet.
But he would.
Oh, he would.