"Try on the green one," Adriano says as he strolls back into the store.
It's a command I'm happy to obey. I follow Clara as she takes the dress to the fitting room and pulls back a velvet curtain for me to change behind. I strip off my clothes and put on the silk dress. It fits as if it was made for me.
I turn one way and then the other, checking myself in the mirror, wondering how a mere slip of fabric can make me feel like a different person.
Even with my rats nest hair, I look incredible, almost as if I belong in Adriano’s world. I’ve been in it before, of course, with Gabriele. I’m not sure how I feel about entering it again with a man far more lethal.
As I emerge from behind the curtain, Clara claps her hands together. Her enthusiastic response gains Adriano's attention. He gets up from the sofa and comes to see what the fuss is about.
When he sees me something crosses his face. It's only there for a second before he covers it again but it was enough for me to know this dress is a winner.
"We'll take it," he says.
"Where would I be going in this?" I ask.
He looks at me steadily but doesn't answer. "Now try the blue one."
I hold his gaze for a moment. Then realizing I'll never win a staring contest against such an intense man, I lower my eyes. I return to the fitting room and try the blue silk. The color of the Adriatic on a summer's day, it too fits perfectly. I think I love it even more than the green.
Adriano's reaction to the dress is the same as to the first. There's a flicker of approval and then he tells Clara we'll take it.
"Go change, Signorina," the assistant tells me. "I'll fetch shoes."
If I thought I was going to be selecting shoes I was wrong. Adriano takes over completely, saying yes to some pairs and vetoing others as Clara brings the entire stock for his appraisal.
He turns down a pair of exquisite heels and glares at me, daring me to object. If the man conducts his business the way he buys shoes, he must be unstoppable.
We spend another hour at the boutique. Adriano insists on taking no fewer than a dozen evening gowns as well as all of the daytime clothing Clara showed me. There are also shoes for every occasion.
"Where am I supposed to wear these dresses?" I grumble as he hands his credit card over to Clara.
"Events."
"What events, Adriano? It's not as if…"
His glare shuts down whatever I was going to say. I realize then I've made a big mistake by questioning him in front of Clara. Tension radiates from him and I know I’ll be paying for this later.
"Have everything packed up and ready within the hour." Adriano sets Clara a seemingly impossible task. "I'll send someone to pick it all up."
"Of course, Adriano." Clara comes to open the door for us. "It was a pleasure doing business with you again."
As we walk back to the car, a woman passes us with a small dog. A scooter zips down the street and a man jogs by. I wonder what they think when they look at us. Do they imagine Adriano and I are a couple? If they do, they probably wonder how such an immaculately dressed man ended up with a wreck like me.
It occurs to me that I could stop any one of these people and tell them I’m being held against my will. That would probably go badly and I don’t want to be the cause of a stranger getting hurt. At least, that’s what I tell myself.
"Why the dresses?" I ask again as we reach the car.
Adriano opens the passenger door for me and waits.
"Adriano, why did you buy me all those dresses?"
His jaw tightens. "Get in the car."
I do as I'm told. Adriano gets back into the driver's seat and switches on the engine.
I bought you the dresses because you'll need them if you're going to be my woman.
That brings me up short. His woman. When did he decide that and more importantly, how do I feel about it? The honest answer is too disturbing to contemplate since I’ve known himfor such a short time. So I bury it along with any thoughts of escaping this world I’ve been dragged back into.
