I always thought of the ideal couple as being two halves of a whole with the man willing to do anything for his woman and vice versa.
Are we a couple? I can't even begin to describe the kind of fucked up relationship we obviously have, but something has changed. I can't quite put my finger on it, but Adeline is…different now around me.
The bruises on her arms and neck are fading, and I couldn't be happier. Yesterday, she asked for makeup, which I hastily provided after an overnighted shipment from the mainland. I let her order whatever she wanted, and it seemed to make her happy when one of my staff delivered the package this morning.
When I walk into my bedroom around five o'clock in the evening, I notice the bed is empty. I've become so accustomed to seeing Adeline in bed that panic begins to consume me. Did she move back to her room?
Did she leave me again?
She's taken over my bedroom this past week, not wanting to leave my side. At first, I was very uncomfortable to the whole thing, but I've since grown very fond of having her in my bed. In fact, the thought of not having her here with me every night now sickens me.
Cursing in frustration, I take out my phone so that I can track her watch. I had fixed it a few days after the attack, and she's been wearing it ever since. Before I can open the app, her angelic voice calls me from the adjoining bathroom.
"Lucien? I'm in here."
I walk briskly towards the door, and my footsteps falter when I see her. Adeline is carefully applying some type of concealer on her neck. The bruising is almost undetectable, but I watch as she winces in pain from applying pressure to her sore skin.
I stand in the doorway, waiting for her to finish. And when she turns to me, I can see that she's done up her entire face complete with blush, mascara, eyeshadow and whatever else women put on their faces.
She looks…breathtaking. She's gorgeous just being her natural self, but the makeup really enhances the green of her eyes, and I just can't seem to stop staring at her…with my mouth hanging wide open.
She giggles at my reaction, and it throws me off even more. I've never heard her giggle before, and I love the sound she made. I suddenly want to hear it over and over again.
I clamp my jaw shut and grin at her. "You look beautiful, Adeline."
A slight blush tints her cheeks as she smiles shyly, and it's so endearing that I almost feel like we've entered another world…a world in which we're just a regular couple and I hadn't plucked her out of her life in order to have her in mine.
"I have a surprise for you," I tell her.
"A surprise?"
Nodding, I say, "Get dressed and meet me in the foyer whenever you're ready."
"Okay," she says eagerly, and I can't help but be captivated by the excitement in her eyes. "What should I wear?"
"A dress." I would love to see her in something beautiful that shows off her gorgeous body.
"Okay. I'll see you downstairs soon then," she says with a smile.
I leave her to go get the final touches done. If anyone would have told me years ago…hell, even weeks ago that I would be trying to woo one of the girls I purchased, I would have laughed in their fucking face.
But here I am…trying to sweep Adeline off of her feet and straight into my arms.
Maybe even into my heart.
CHAPTER 10
ADELINE
I MOVE MY hands down over the form-fitting, emerald green dress, and it feels like butterflies are taking flight in my stomach.
I don't know why I'm so nervous. Perhaps it's the fact that Lucien has never surprised me before…or maybe because seeing him standing in the doorway earlier looking debonair in a three-piece suit set my nerves on fire.
He hasn't touched me in over a week, and I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever reach the place we were before I tried leaving.
I know the bruises on my face and neck bother him tremendously. When he doesn't know I'm watching, I can see him staring at them with a discernable look of guilt on his face. So that's why I ordered the makeup — to cover up the evidence of that day and try to move past it.
I check my smoky makeup in the mirror one last time and smile at how different I look compared to this past week where I've been lounging in bed with a rat's nest in my hair and bags under my eyes.
