Page 28 of My Merciless Don

“Hi Audry.”

I whirled around to see Lucia approaching me. My eyes ran over her figure. She was wearing a white figure-hugging dress with black accents. “Hi. You look hot as fuck. What’s the occasion?”

She grinned at me. “I’m off to town. Got some business to take care of. Wanna come with?”

I quirked an eyebrow. “Really? You want me to come with you on a business deal?”

She shrugged, “You went with Marco.”

“Yeah, but he needed me for that one.”

“Maybe I need you for this one.”

I gave her a long look. “Alright then. Let me change into something more…” I looked her up and down, “appropriate.”

“Yay.” She clapped her hands excitedly. “Girls’ trip.”

I shook my head at her before turning towards the stairs. Mentally going through my wardrobe, I decided to go with the grey pencil skirt I’d acquired with a white chiffon blouse. It had a large bow in front like they did in the eighties and bell sleeves. I like the way it looked on me – very Pepper Potts. I added a red lip and silver hoop earrings before running down in black kitten heels to join Lucia. If she wanted to provide me with a front row seat to their business dealings, who was I to say no?

CHAPTER TWENTY

MARCO

Icalled out Amy's name when I came. Could there be anything more embarrassing? I woke up every day after that and that was the first thing that came to my mind.

Why did I do that?

I kept expecting Audry to confront me over it. The way that she left my bedroom in just a bra and panties told me that she was upset. But she'd been acting like everything was fine after that. I was no stranger to denial as a coping mechanism, but her behavior just might have been bordering on psychotic. She hadn't so much as made a snide comment.

I kept thinking about bringing it up, but I didn't see what good that would do. There was no greeting card for ‘I'm sorry I called you my dead fiancée’s name during sex’ for a reason.

I kept picturing what Amy would have done in the same situation. She would have been noticeably upset and would have definitely made it known. It was such a stark departure from Audry’s reaction that it made me miss Amy even more, however weird that might be.

Valerio knew that we had sex, and I thought he would bring it up but he just kept giving me sidelong glances. That was a relief since I didn't have to mention what had happened to him. I knew he was burning with curiosity so I was really impressed at his restraint at not asking about it. Of course, he could see just as well as anyone that we were hardly behaving like lovers. I did my best to stay out of Audry’s way, and she didn't seek me out aside from that time after dinner.

I was tense as we smoked, just waiting for her to bring up what had happened. Instead, we ended up talking about work. I began to think that maybe she didn't really care about what happened, and I didn't know how to feel about that. On the one hand glad she was not upset, on the other, why the fuck wasn't she?

There was a knock at my office door, and I straightened up in my seat wiping the thoughts from my face. “Who is it?” I called.

To my surprise it was Audry who stuck her head in the door. Speak of the devil. She gave me a tentative smile. “Can I come in?”

I gestured for her to enter, curious as to what she could want. Valerio, George, and I had discussed it and we had come to the conclusion that Audry was a very smart woman. The fact that she stole from us and then offered to help us was probably part of a long game. But until we knew what that long game was, our plan was to keep her close and watch her.

I smiled at her in a friendly way. “What can I do for you?” I asked.

She took a deep breath looking nervous. “This is gonna sound weird, so I need you to keep an open mind, okay?”

I nodded. She took a deep breath. “I'd like to see a photo of Amy.”

I blinked in surprise, though why I was caught off guard, I had no idea. Of course she wanted to see a picture of Amy. Who wouldn't in those circumstances? Still, I felt a little protective. I wasn't sure I wanted her to see my fiancée. She wasn't worthy.

“Please,” she said starkly.

I flicked her a glance and then looked away. It was difficult to see that face while trying to decide what to do. The fact that it was difficult to look at her should have given me the answer I sought. But I was still reluctant. “Why do you want to see it?”

She tilted her head to the side, giving me an incredulous look. “You know why.”

I nodded slowly. “Yeah, I know what prompted your curiosity, but why poke that bear? What good will it do?”

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