Page 59 of When She Tempts (The Fallen)
Heat blankets my cheeks at the image. I swallow, wrap my palm around the warm metal object, and quickly take it out. My heart hammers inside my chest as I stand.
As gently as I possibly can, I guide him onto his back, careful to protect his head with my palm, so that he doesn’t fall sideways from a sitting position and hurt himself. When he makes a low sound at the back of his throat, I freeze, but it’s nothing. He’s still fast asleep.
With one last look at Giorgio, I leave the kitchen and hurry upstairs.
CHAPTER15
MARTINA
The key slips smoothlyinto the lock, and with a soft click, the door swings open.
I’m greeted by a dim, eerie blue glow emanating from rows of screens hanging on the wall. The windows are shuttered, and the lights are off, adding to the unsettling atmosphere. I hesitate for a moment and then shut the door behind me, my palms resting against the cool surface as I try to take it all in.
This isn’t an office.
This is a surveillance room.
We had one of these in our home in Ibiza, but it was half the size and not nearly this ominous.
A desk with a keyboard, trackpad, and notebook sits in front of the wall of screens, and there’s a suit jacket haphazardly thrown over the back of the office chair. Across the room, a tall metal shelving unit holds stacks of semi-clear plastic storage boxes
Unease drips through my veins. If I have to search all of those, I’m going to be here for a while.
Why are the windows boarded up? I cross the room and press my fingertips against the panels. Who wants to spend all day in a room with no sunlight? Is he a vampire? This is so strange.
My gaze drops back to the desk. I should search it thoroughly before I start looking elsewhere.
I glance behind the computer monitor and around the keyboard, but find nothing. For a moment, I consider taking a peek inside the notebook, but I decide against it. I’m not here to snoop on him, I’m just here for my phone.
Suddenly, my foot bumps against something.
It’s one of those rolling filing cabinets.
I pull it out from under the desk and open the top drawer.
There, lying among the papers and folders, is my phone staring up at me.
“Yes!”
An excited smile pulls at my lips. I won Giorgio’s silly little game, and I did it in a way he never could have expected. He’s going to be impressed, I can feel it. The thought of his surprised look when he realizes what happened fills my chest with giddiness. There’s no way he’ll be mad at me about the tea. After all, this is what he wanted. He gave me a challenge, and I just crushed it.
As I’m about to shut the drawer, something catches my eye. A corner of a book peeking out from below a few loose sheets of paper.
My brows furrow. Is that…
I move the papers aside to get a better look. My heart picks up speed as I register the long scratch and frayed edges. When I open it up and see the first page, there’s no doubt in my mind who it belongs to.
There, in the top corner, is the little sun I drew inside many months ago.
This is my copy ofJane Eyre.
Why does Giorgio have it?
Maybe it fell out of my backpack in the car, he found it, and simply forgot about it. No, that’s impossible, because I remember exactly where I left the book after I finished with it. It was in our living room in Ibiza. I’d meant to return it to the library, but Vale told me she wanted to read it, so I left it lying on the coffee table for her.
Giorgio must have seen it when he came to pick me up.
And he decided to take it.
