And through it all, he reminded me who I belonged to, both with his words and his body, until I stopped trying to deny it. To deny him. And he was right. What was the point? I’d only be lying.
“Don’t you have to work?” I asked him. He was wrapped around me, his front to my back, his cock still inside of me as he lazily stroked my hip and thigh.
He nuzzled my neck. “Tristan covered for me last night and today. But I’ll need to go out tonight.”
“What’s happening tonight?” As soon as I asked, I remembered who I was talking to. Twisting around as much as I could, I looked over my shoulder at him. “Sorry. You don’t have to tell me.”
His dark eyes burned into mine, and my heart skipped a beat. He always made me feel like every time he looked at me was the first time. And those eyes told me quite clearly how I affected him, even when he couldn’t find the words. “There’s a holiday fundraiser tonight that Luca needs to go to,” he told me as he gently brushed a strand of my hair away from my eye. “I always go with him, as does Tristan. It would be strange if I wasn’t there. People might get suspicious, so I need to go.”
“Is Veda going?”
“Mmhmm,” he said distractedly. “Dates are required. Otherwise, it would just look like a big meeting of mob bosses to the outsiders who will be there, which is exactly what it is. Deals will be discussed, new partnerships made, grievances aired, etc. All in hidden corners with secret handshakes.” He smirked.
I turned my back to him again, not liking the possessive heat rising into my chest and face. Before I could stop myself, and knowing I wouldn’t like the answer, I asked him, “Do you and Tristan have to take dates?”
He hesitated. “Yes.”
Tears pricked my eyes, the strength of my spiraling emotions surprising me. I cleared my throat, and my voice was surprisingly steady when I asked the obvious follow-up question, “Who are you taking?”
“Sera…”
“I want to know.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
I snapped my mouth shut. Even knowing it wasn’t possible right now, somewhere deep inside, I was really hoping he would say that girl would be me. “I need to take a shower.” I had to get out of that bed and away from him before he saw how crazy it made me to think of him with another woman.
“Hey.” He stopped me as I tried to pull away from him and pulled me back into the warmth of his body. “It doesn’t matter who I take. It’s only for show.”
“I know.” I wouldn’t look at him. I couldn’t. If I did, I’d burst into tears. Taking the sheet with me, I scooted off the bed.
“Sera, don’t be like this.”
The gaping hole in my chest suddenly filled with rage. I spun around to face him. “Don’t be like what?” I snapped.
He sat up on the bed, and I couldn’t stop myself from admiring the picture he made. He was one of the most beautiful males I’d ever seen. All muscle and tats and hard lines and fierce dark eyes. Even though I was sore from being thoroughly used in every way he could imagine, just looking at him made my heart race inside of my chest and my thighs squeeze together.
“Don’t do that. It doesn’t matter who I’m taking tonight.”
“Maybe it matters to me.”
He didn’t respond.
“It’s Jade, isn’t it? You’re taking Jade.” The fact that he was taking my friend didn’t make me feel any better. She was an escort who fucked for money. There would be no feelings involved, except for mine. “Are you going to fuck her?” Then I shook my head. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”
Before I could make a complete fool of myself, I turned on my heel and walked into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind me.
I’d just turned on the water for the shower when there was a knock on the door. “Sera. Open the door and talk to me.”
I ignored him. I didn’t want to talk to him right now. I wanted to get into this hot shower and feel sorry for myself for being such an idiot that I ever allowed myself to fall for this man at all.
“Sera. Open the fucking door. I’m not going to tell you again.”
Barely holding back a sob, I turned to get into the shower just as the bathroom door flew open and smashed into the wall behind it. I jumped and nearly fell on my ass as my foot stepped on the sheet. My free arm flew out to catch myself, but there was nothing there.
Enzo, naked as the day he was born, grabbed my arm to steady me. With the other, he opened the shower door, reached in, and shut off the water. “Don’t do that,” he growled. “Don’t shut me out. If something is upsetting you, I want to know what it is, even if it’s me. So talk to me.”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” I told him. “And even if there was, I don’t want to.” I was being a bitch. I knew that. But it was because I was hurt. And because I was used to holding my feelings inside, where it was safe. Growing up the way I had, showing any emotion only brought more attention to myself, and I learned really fast that that was the last thing I wanted to do. So, instead, I bottled it all inside of me and stole things as a way to refocus my anxiety, or something like that.
