Page 108 of Necessary Cruelty

“No,” I snap back at him. My pants hit the floor on top of my shirt, and I’m left standing in my bra and underwear on the platform. Heat suffuses my skin, and I force myself to stare at a spot on the wall above Vin’s head.

Adelphine clucks over me like a mother hen, measuring my bust, waist, and hips as she makes marks on a little pad of paper. “So wispy like a fashion model. The selection we have will be tres bien for you.”

I can already see that it was a calculated move on Vin’s part to bring me here. Adelphine is so personable and moves so quickly that I don’t have the chance to gainsay her on anything. I try on a dozen outfits in the space of thirty minutes, each one more perfect for me than the last. She seems to understand that comfort is more important to me than style, even while ensuring I still look like someone with refined taste.

The last outfit is a midnight blue tunic dress with billowy sleeves. Tiny red flowers are stitched on the waist and trail down the sleeves. It looks very dreamy California summer without trying too hard. A pair of strappy sandals made of thin gold rope complete the outfit.

When I risk a glance at the price tag dangling across my wrist, I nearly swallow my own tongue.

My mouth opens to say something, but Vin beats me to the punch.

He steps up next to me, head only rising to my shoulder while I’m still standing on the dais, and waves Adelphine away as she approaches with another dress laid over her arm. “We’ll take everything she tried on already. School starts in twenty minutes.”

I glare at him. “How much is this going to cost?”

He pinches me lightly on the hip before I can pull away. “Why? Keeping track of how much you’re worth.”

“I really don’t feel comfortable with all this.” I’m not sure if I’m talking just about the clothes, or something else.

“No backing out now, you already signed the contract.” His hand stays on my hip as he turns back to Adelphine. “Thank you for everything, Mama Turay. I knew we could count on you. Zaya is going to wear this one out. Go ahead and trash everything she came in wearing. Or rip it up if you’re cleaning service needs extra rags for scrubbing the bathroom.”

“The hell are—"

Vin comes steps up onto the platform and covers my mouth with his free hand as he smiles widely at Adelphine. “You mind writing up the bill for me real quick?”

“Of course.” I don’t miss that she gathers up my discarded clothes into her arms before disappearing into a backroom.

As soon as she leaves, I sink my teeth into his palm. Vin pulls his hand away with a muffled curse. “Now you’re making that lovely woman your accomplice?”

“She knows how to read a room. And a bigger bill is good for all of us.”

“This isn’t what I agreed to,” I grind out through clenched teeth, pulling away from him. “You don’t get to play dress up doll with me.”

“We negotiated, remember? It’s your fault for not taking this off the table when you had the chance. I don’t want people seeing you in rags.”

Those familiar feelings of inadequacy are rising back up. “Just because clothes are from discount stores, doesn’t make them rags.”

He sighs, obviously exasperated. “It does when they have holes and ripped seams because they were already well-used when you got them. This doesn’t need to be as hard as you’re making it. Let’s pretend you’re a brand new Zaya, one that wears nice clothes, drives a car with advanced safety features, and does what her husband tells her to do.”

“Is she married to a brand new Vin?” I glare down at him. “Because that’s the only way I see it working out.”

A calculating smile twists his lips. He takes a step back off the platform so I tower over him and his face is level with my waist. “I like you in dresses, by the way. They provide easy access.”

His hands slide up my thighs, and I slap them away. “Maybe the new Zaya isn’t the type of girl who believes in public displays of affection.”

“Maybe the new Zaya is whatever type of girl I want her to be.” His hands grip my thighs as he lifts me up. My hands go around his neck by reflex so I don’t tip over backwards. He backs up toward the chair and sits down, tightening his arms around me when I attempt to pull away. “Maybe I’ll have her right here in the middle of my godmother’s store.”

“Stop it. She’s going to come back…” His lips touch my neck, and the words turn into a soft sigh. My hands press against his chest so I can feel the steady beat of his heart against my palms. “You can’t do just do whatever you want.”

“Watch me.” His mouth nips a trail along my jaw until his lips brush against my ear. “This doesn’t have to be hard. We can make it so simple and so easy. Just enjoy ourselves for a year without turning everything into a fight.”

“Vin—”

He presses a finger against my lips, silencing me. “The next time I get you alone it’s going to be just like this, with you in one of these fucking dresses. Only no one’s going to be there to stop me from pulling your panties aside and plunging up into you. Then I’m going to fuck you so slowly that you’ll be begging me to let you feel every inch.”

My hips grind down against him, only the thin fabric of my panties and his jeans separating us from each other. Part of me wants him to rip off these brand new clothes and screw me right here in the middle of Le Clotherie.

I need to know that this situation makes him as crazy as it does me.

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