Looking up, Vincenzo studied me.
I’m not that silly girl.I learned the hard way what it took to build myself up. Building a name for myself meant letting go of frivolous things. Important people were more apt to take me seriously when I wore a plain, unimaginative power suit. My accomplishments stood on their own merit without the distraction of a crazy wardrobe.
“Fine, we can get the shoes,” I muttered. They were darling, but I had no idea where I’d wear them.
Vincenzo rose, slipped an arm over my shoulder, and guided me to a dress on a mannequin. His touch was gentle. Protective. I didn’t want to dwell on how nice it felt. We’d touched more this morning than we had in any of the passionate collisions. These small points of contact messed with my head.
“Is this for sale?” he barked at the associate hovering on the edge of the room.
“Oui, monsieur,” the wiry man gulped.
With a nod, Vincenzo snatched the mannequin off its pedestal.
“Enzo!” I gasped.
He tugged the zipper down the back and peeled the garment off. “Go. Put this on.”
I planted my hands on my hips, an argument brewing.
Vincenzo crossed his arms over his chest. “Either start cooperating, or I’m going to torch this place.”
I blanched. He wouldn’t. Would he?
His volume was low enough that I was probably the only one who’d heard. Still….
“The cops will take you away for destruction of property,” I hissed under my breath.
An emotion flashed through his eyes. It was gone before I could name it. With a nod, he said gruffly, “A damn waste of time, I agree. Now…go.”
Grumbling loud enough for him to hear, I marched back to the dressing area. I tugged the new blouse over my head, tossing it behind me before I moved around the partition.
I felt his gaze scorch my back.
I didn’t expect him to follow. I did it only to taunt him.
Should have known better.
After I slipped out of the slacks, as I struggled with the dress’s zipper, shifting and shimmying my shoulders, heavy hands fell on my hips. Vincenzo yanked me back into his solid mass. The air left my lungs in a whoosh, and my gaze snapped up to meet his in the mirror.
“Sunshine was always your color,” he rasped, words shards. As rough as his touch.
The yellow material seemed to turn to liquid against my skin.
“I have nowhere to wear this,” I countered, giving the skirt a tweak to keep from reaching for him.
Vincenzo’s fingers slid between us. “You wear it for me, but more importantly, you wear it for you.” His touch skated up my spine. “Wear it to the grocery store for eggs and spinach for all I care. Just wear it because it suits you.”
It did. Good lord, it did.
My skin might be a shade paler than I liked, but the lightness of my hair and the flash of my eyes complemented the dress. The funniest thing was that I didn’t feelless powerful. Sure, this wasn’t the costume of the business world. But queens of the night didn’t bend and scrape to men in suits. They ruled from the shadows.
This could be me. A new version. Tossed from the towers of commerce and industry to thrive in the underworld.
That was what Vincenzo was tempting me with. And hell, I was desperate for it.
I would just have to place my trust in him.
Can I really do that?
