I opened my mouth to speak but then closed it when I noticed the other women staring at me, too.
Adriano was dressed plainly, and so was Corrado. I had a feeling they usually wore suits, but maybe for my benefit—since my clothes were vintage and plain—they decided to dress down. The women eyed us with judgment.
A wild laugh built up in my throat when I thought about the American movie Anna and I used to watch.Pretty Woman.It was the same scenario. The poor girl goes in for nice clothes and she gets judged for it. I had to fight the urge to lift pretend bags in their faces and say, “Big mistake. HUGE mistake.”
Anna would have probably done it, but since my temper was starting to heat, I kept my mouth shut. It was sometimes easier to be quiet then to get started. It was hard to calm me once I was ready to fight.
The door opened again, and again, every salesgirl turned at the sound of it. This time, except for the woman who stared at me, maybe thinking I was going to steal the overpriced shirt, everyone hurried to help him.
He was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, and they could sense something about him.
Power.
He commanded every room he walked into.
“Signor,” one of them almost purred at him. “How can we help you?”
He ignored her and looked for me. I waved at him.
“My people called ahead,” he said. He gave a last name that I did not recognize. “The store is ours for an hour.”
My mouth dropped. Then I snapped it shut. He had reserved the entire store?
Corrado placed a hand on my lower back when he was close enough.
The woman who had been judging me stood straighter, her cheeks turning red.
“Of course,” she said. “Allow me—”
“No.” I shook my head. “I do not want to shop here.”
I looked at her when I said it. Her lips pursed even tighter. Corrado looked between the two of us and nodded. “I have somewhere else in mind then.” He applied pressure to my lower back, ushering me toward the door. When I got there, I decided to do it.
I lifted the pretend bags and said,“Big mistake. HUGE mistake.”I grinned at the look on their faces as the door closed. On the way back to the car, I told him to bring me to a store that was not as fancy.
“Nonsense,” he said. “Only the best for my wife. Fuck them and the commission they just missed out on.”
The best, in his opinion, was the same designer label that had made the dress he had given me as a gift. Even though the atmosphere was completely different, it was still lush.
Seeing that I was having trouble deciding, Corrado ordered the women to start bringing me outfits into the dressing room, which looked more like a five-star hotel, or nicer.
I tried on clothes of all different styles, in all different fabrics and colors, but he seemed to like me in gold and black the best.
“That one,” he said to an all-lace dress that lifted my breasts close to my chin. Usually all he did was nod, and I knew he wanted me to have it. One nod for him spoke a thousand words.
“I like this one, too.” I smiled at him.
He grinned at me, and then his phone rang. I did not hear him speak to Adriano on his way out of the room, but again, silence for him was not uncommon when he was giving the men orders.
“Mi scusi.”I stopped one of the girls who were helping pile the clothes up. Corrado had told them that I would need a special gown. “The gown…I would like to try something in gold.”
“Sì.”She nodded, looking me over once more. “I have the perfect one.”
I hurried and tried it on before he returned. It was stunning, and it would look perfect next to him. I told the girl to add it to the bill but not let him see.
He came back into the dressing room right after she had taken it to be wrapped. Through the many mirrors in the room, he eyed me with a hungry look. I had stuffed myself into a black lace bustier and was busy attaching the black stockings with little bows onto the garters.
“Those heels.” He nodded toward a high black pair in the corner. “Put them on.”
