The“against my better judgment”went unsaid, but going by the smug chuckle that rumbled his chest, he heard it anyway.
TWENTY-THREE
“So… what’s it like?”
Dahlia eyed the racks of clothing that lined the spacious closet. Standing in only her newly purchased lingerie and a pair of pointed-toe heels, she held the phone to her ear as she tried to decide on what outfit to wear to meet the Amauri family. Formally, anyway.
Rifling through the hanging garments that had mysteriously showed up from her apartment along with all the new things that Marietta continued to gleefully deliver, she surveyed her choices.
“What’s what like?”
“Being, like, married or whatever,” Cecilia clarified. The volume of her voice changed as she moved around what sounded like her bathroom, no doubt getting ready for work.
Married.She guessed that’s what they were. Felix did love calling her his bride.
Dahlia pulled a vintage blazer dress off the rack. Determining that it was tooboss bitchfor a family meeting, even a syndicate one, she put it back. “It’s only been a few days. I can’t say my opinion is fully formed yet.”
“Okay, but it’s formed enough for you to agree to stay with him — after giving your best friend in the whole world a heart attack and not calling me back forthree days,by the way.”
“You did say you were the one who’d die first,” Dahlia dryly replied. “Hey, what outfit should I wear to this meeting? It’s not business, but it feels weirdly like an interview with a board or something. I don’t want to look like I’m trying too hard, but…”
“You kind of have to try too hard,” Cecilia finished. The familiar sound of a makeup brush tapping the side of the sink came through the line. “Go for the slouchy green top and the fitted black slacks. It’s dressy but not formal. It says,I’m a sexy new vampire with better taste than you.”
Dahlia hurried to find the parts of the outfit. Stepping out of her heels, she tugged the pants on and then slipped the top over her head. Shoving her feet back into her heels, she walked over to the towering mirror at the far end of what no normal person would actually consider a closet.
Cecilia was right, of course. It was the perfect outfit.
What neither of them considered, however, was the way the slouchy, off-the-shoulder top revealed the patchwork of lovebites andactualbites that decorated her throat and shoulders. Dahlia’s cheeks turned bright pink as she traced them with her gaze.
And those were just the ones above her neckline.
She wasn’t sure why they took her by surprise every time she saw them. Working in a vampire bar for as long as she had, she’d seen so many bites — old, new, and in-progress — that she’d stopped noticing them. But there was something very different about seeing them on her own skin.
Each one was a reminder of Felix. They were bright neon signs declaring his ownership, telling the world what they’d done and how often they’d done it.
Dahlia hadn’t allowed a man to so much as leave a hickey on her neck since she was a teenager. She found them unnecessary and more than a little embarrassing. Felix’s bite was different, though.
Probably because he sported nearly twice as many as she did.
“How’s it look?”
Cecilia’s tinny voice shook her from her lusty observations. Coughing into her fist to clear her throat, Dahlia retrieved her phone from where she’d left it on the massive circular cushion in the center of the closet.
“Needs some jewelry,” she said, trying to sound normal.
“Oh, has he bought you anything outrageous yet? He seems like the type.”
Dahlia snorted. “You have no idea.”
The click of her heels softened by the plush carpet, she made her way over to the wall of cabinets that contained everything from her silk scarf collection to all the jewelry she’d ever sent back to him over the years. It took barely a touch for the narrow drawer to glide soundlessly out. Carefully displayed on dark blue velvet were an array of diamonds, pearls, emeralds, rubies, and jet.
Some pieces she recognized, others appeared to materialize out of thin air whenever she wasn’t looking.
Selecting a simple strand of alternating jet beads and small, perfect diamonds, she clasped it around her marked neck before she went hunting through the other drawers. One was entirely dedicated to watches. From there she selected a slim silver timepiece, then moved on to rings.
She’d never gotten to wear them at work, since they could tear gloves, so she took great pleasure in sliding a handful of light-as-air silver bands on several fingers. There was no telling what was Felix and what was Marietta getting a kick out ofspending his money on her behalf, but either way, Dahlia wasn’t too proud to say no to any of it.
Assessing herself in the mirror one more time, she fluffed her hair with one hand as she asked, “Do you have work tonight?”
