Page 61 of Coerced Wife

“No.” He traces my bottom lip with his thumb. “So that every man here knows you’re mine.”

That uncomfortable pinch lets up, the air in my lungs expanding with a warm, fuzzy feeling. “You know what Livy would say.”

“That a gentleman should always think about a lady’s honor.” He pecks me on the lips. “Come on,tesoro. Let’s go protect your honor.”

He unlocks the door and opens it a crack. After glancing around it, he tugs me behind him into the corridor.

At the corner, he looks left and right. “The coast is clear.”

He walks me to the bathroom and opens the door for me. “I’ll wait here.”

“It will look less suspicious if you go ahead. Besides, I may be a minute.”

“Fine,” he says, kissing my forehead. “Do you have your phone?”

I show him my clutch bag.

“Call if you need me.”

I smile. “I think I can manage to freshen up on my own.”

His expression turns serious. “Call me.”

Sighing, I go on tiptoes and kiss his cheek. “I’ll call if I need you.”

“Okay,” he says, but he doesn’t let go of my hand.

I raise a brow and say pointedly, “Okay,” which is his cue to let me go.

After a moment, he brings my hand to his lips and kisses my knuckles. “See you in a bit, beautiful. Don’t make me wait too long.”

Then he drops my hand and leaves.

I hurry inside and let the door swing shut behind me. It feels as if I’m floating to the line of basins under the make-up lights. I’ve been so apprehensive about this night, and Saverio turned it around like only he can. Instead of dreading what’s to come, my chest is still warm and fuzzy inside, filled with a new kind of lightness. The secret weshare connects me to him in a special way that goes deeper than just physical. We’re accomplices—in this at least—and it binds me to him like a meaningless ring never can.

God, I do look a mess. My hair is disheveled, and my lipstick is smeared around my lips. Mascara runs under my eyes.

A grin splits my face. I like this look on me. I wear it proudly. It reminds me of what we did, and that sends a fresh pang of desire straight to my core. My belly flutters when I recall how he tasted and how good he felt inside me. Nevertheless, the sharks are gathered outside, watching and judging. It wouldn’t be wise to face them without my armor in place.

I wet a paper towel and wipe away the mascara and lipstick before applying a dusting of face powder and eye shadow. I’m reapplying my lipstick when the door opens and Rachele walks in.

My hand stills in the middle of my action. I watch her approach in the reflection of the mirror, our gazes locking. Tearing mine away, I finish dabbing the lipstick onto my lips before capping the tube.

She stops next to me and takes a tube of lipstick from her bag. I fix my hair, doing my best to ignore her, but it’s not easy when her exotic perfume, something powdery with notes of ylang-ylang, seems to have crept into every corner of the room. The whole bathroom smells like her. She leans toward the mirror and applies more lipstick over the bright layer of red on her lips.

I step away to inspect my reflection.

There.

That will do.

“You know why he’s with you, right?” she asks, rubbing her lips together and wiping away a smudge of lipstick in the corner of her mouth with her pinky.

“As a matter of fact, I do.” I turn to face her squarely. “Do you?”

Snickering, she drops her lipstick in her bag and clips the clutch closed. “I don’t think you do.”

“What is your problem? You don’t want him, but nobody else can have him?”

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