I turn, ready to take my rage out on her, stopping myself only just in time. Not because she doesn’t deserve it or because she’s Alex’s boss’s wife, but because that’s not me. I’m not that kind of person. I don’t belonghere, with these people.
And I’m leaving.
Her hand grasps my elbow. “Wait.”
It’s not the hold she has on me that makes me hesitate, but the change in her tone. The look in her eyes.
I press my lips together and I wait, as bidden. She has thirty seconds until my coat arrives—and they better be fucking bringing it, or I’ll be going home without it.
Maria releases me, seeing something in my expression. She takes a breath, lets it out, and gives me a nod. Almost of support. “You didn’t know, did you?”
That doesn’t need a response.
“So what are you going to do?” she presses.
“I’m going to go back home, and put it down to a total waste of an evening that could’ve been spent watching Star Trek Next Gen.” And totally fuck my life over in the process.
Maria blinks at my oddly specific answer, if notmy tone. “One option. Here’s another: fight.”
I stare at her.
“Why?” I ask at last, in complete resignation. Or even, “How?” I can’t compete with the sheer sensuality that is Alex’s choice. When I’mnothis choice.
Maria leans in. “Do you know what kind of men these are, my dear?”
“Assholes.”
Her lips curl into a smile. “Precisely. And what do men like that want, more than anything?”
The anger’s draining out of me, leaving me hollow.“I don’t see the point of this conver—”
“A challenge,” she says firmly. “Do you know what you have that no one else here has, especiallythat woman?”
There’s no need to ask who she means. And to my shame, I can’t think of an answer to her question. “My pride?”
Maria laughs. Genuine, free, and full of surprise, despite the insult I’ve just levelled that includes her. “I was going to say Alex’s desire. But your answer’s better—and perhaps explains why.”
I blink. “You must not have seen what I saw,” I say flatly. “He kissed that woman in front of everyone.”
“My dear, you must not have seen whatIsaw. She kissedhim.”
She might be right, but I’m not in the mood to consider it. “Who cares? You said Alexdesiredme. I can assure you that he does not.”
And what does it matter anyway? I no longerdefine myself based on whathewants.
“My husband tells me Alex has kept you at a distance—”
“I’m so glad everyone knows.”
“—from theCompany,” Maria continues pointedly. “Marco is quite enamored with the idea of you, and I must admit, I’ve beendyingto meet you.”
“Why?”
“A woman Alex won’t let anyone see? He keeps you hidden away, protected, like a crown of jewels. And now I’ve met you, I understand why.”
That's a very uncomfortable description. Yet I can't argue its veracity. The hidden away bit, anyway. “You make it sound like ownership, not desire.” A shiver runs through me as I say it, and I hate that it does.
“Are they mutually exclusive?” She gestures at me. “You’re engaged, aren’t you? You captured his heart in what, two months?”
