“I’m sorry for putting your life at risk. Regardless of what you may think of me, that’s not the kind of person I am. That’s why I had Marco with you. I knew he could keep you safe.”
“Hmmm.” I wasn’t sure what else to say at this point.
“I want to call a truce between us, Sophie. I’ve been trying to be neutral with you, but you keep shutting me out.” Again he ran a hand over his face. Then he looked at me. “I catch parts of the real you when you're talking to Mrs. Fancelli or Felipe.” I stiffened. He was watching and listening to me. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Though I guess I couldn’t blame him.
“I would like for you to start meeting with me once a week, if you’re okay with it. And we can go over whatever useful information you have that may help me.” He paused. “And I’ll share some information with you. Only what I can share. Because there will always be information I can’t share with you.” He looked at me like he was trying to appease me.
I was shocked to say the least that he was open to me sharing information in a more formal setting. I would be okay with that.
“Ummm. Sure. Okay. I would be open to that.”
And then he shocked me again. He actually smiled at me. And damn him for being so beautiful.
He continued. “And if it makes you feel any better, Maximo texted me just before we went in to get you both that if I didn’t move sooner, he’d set his own dogs on me. Apparently Aria was about to rip him a new asshole, and burn the world down for you.”
I jolted, not expecting such a reaction from Aria. She had been keeping in contact with me fairly frequently since the gala, but she never gave the impression she’d go unhinged on my behalf. Guess if push came to shove, once this marriage was over, maybe I could seek out Aria for help.
Chapter 7
Sophie’s POV
During the first few weeks of meeting with Dominic, there was tension between us. We had never really spent this much time between us during our marriage up to this point. I don’t think we knew how to be with each other. By the time we had been meeting for seven weeks, we had begun to settle with each other’s company.
When I came in today for our usual meeting, he was at a table off to the side with food spread out and two plates.
He stood, and offered me a seat, which I had become familiar with. I did not want to read too much into it, but it had become a habit of his since week three or four. He had said the first time the table was set up that it made more sense to eat while discussing business so it didn’t interrupt his work flow. I didn’t question it and just went along.
I didn’t want to admit it, out loud or to myself, that I had come to look forward to these lunch meetings. I know I was just here to help him with whatever business he had with my father, but I had begun to enjoy his company. And to be fair, he was definitely a vision worth looking at. I made sure to appreciate him when he was too busy looking somewhere else. I did not want to getcaught admiring my fake husband. He did not need that kind of power over me.
As he started to eat the lunch of finger foods, he asked the usual opening question. “Any word from your father?”
I had a mouth full, so I hummed, with my hand over my mouth.
He looked up at me and smiled. Damn him and his beautiful smile. Suddenly his smile turned into a smirk, making me frown.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to catch you with your mouth full.” The way he said it sounded suggestive, but I tried to shrug it off. And he didn’t sound as sorry as his words were made out to be.
I had men flirt with me before. When I had attended college, I was approached more often than I had expected to be, especially with how my father and sister used to talk down to me about my weight and figure. I had a handful of sexual experiences while away at college, ones I never told my sister about since she would never have believed me. The sex was not bad, but it wasn’t great either. I had wanted to explore more, but apparently I had attracted the boring types. Just my luck really.
After chewing what was in my mouth, I said, “He hasn’t spoken to me since after the kidnapping.”
And that was quite the phone call. Four days after the kidnapping, my father had called to say, “You’re lucky he wasted his time to get you out. He probably only did since he had to rescue his Second. He should have just let them do whatever they wanted with you.”
Yeah, Papa, love you too. Asshole.
My sister tried calling afterwards. I didn’t bother answering, and probably should not have listened to the voicemail either, but apparently I was a glutton for punishment.
“Oh sister, sister, sister. Trying to pull off the fat, ugly damsel in distress for your hunky husband.” She laughed like a hyena and snorted. “I’ll be sure to warm his bed enough that he’ll dump your ass and marry me.” Then her voice went cold. “Like it should have been from the beginning, you fucking cunt, stealing whore.”
Well, it would take one to know one, right?
I saved the message and played it for Lorenzo and Aria. Needless to say, Aria was ready to snatch my sister up and burn her at the stake. From what she said, she made it sound like that’s literally what she wanted to do. And somehow, I wouldn’t put it past her to do it. Unhinged that one is. But I asked her not to. As much as I hated my sister, and even my father, I did not want them dead. If Karma was going to pay them a visit, I wanted them both to live through it. Not that I believed they would ever get their due karma.
I never did tell Dominic what either of them said, but I suspected he knew it was not a “glad your well, daughter” kind of call.
Before I took another bite of food, I asked, “So what’s on the agenda today?” Then I popped a stuffed mushroom into my mouth. The funny thing about our lunches is that I began to notice some of my favorite foods ended up being included. Like the stuffed mushrooms. Mrs. Fancelli made the best stuffed mushrooms ever. I could eat them every day, and I had told her that. She had laughed and said she would make them for me whenever I wanted.
Dominic grunted, then muttered through the food in his mouth, “Marco will be here in a while, joining our meeting.”
