Page 45 of Obsession

Her question hangs over me. Am I going to make Adrian fall in love with me? What if I lose myself in the process? And what if it’s already too late to go back now?”

I chug my wine in an attempt to avoid Zoe’s question.

“Hey, you should come to my new studio!” Her change of subject is deeply appreciated. “I just opened my own pole dancing place. Maybe you can learn some tricks.” She winks at me. Okay, maybe it wasn’t a change of subject.

I can feel the heat rise on my cheeks again.

“Come on.” She reaches across the counter, gently slapping my arm. “It will be fun! And sexy! And honestly, I need some students so my classes look full. Do it for me. Please?” Her puppy dog face has me nodding in agreement.

“Of course.”

“Yay! Adrian won’t even know what hit him when he sees your new moves!”

I don’t know if I’ll show any moves to Adrian. I can’t even imagine myself dancing for him without blushing.

The thought runs wild in my head, though. Pole dancing for Adrian would most definitely lead to sex. Am I really going to sleep with my new husband? And am I doing it because I want to, or because my family needs me to?

TWENTY-THREE

Adrian

“You look like shit.” Fede’s words don’t help the piercing headache currently splitting my temples, but he’s not wrong. I do look like shit. Even after a day of rest where Madi surprisingly doted on me like a caring wife, I still look and feel like absolute garbage. John wasn’t messing around when he sent me a message; he made it plain and clear what would happen to me if I didn’t agree to work for him.

“Did you bring the thing?” I ask my brother, ignoring his comment.

Fede holds up the radio frequency detector, giving it a little shake. “Are you losing it? Should I be worried?”

“Shut up,” I growl at him, standing from my desk so I can snatch the device from his hands.

Silently, I unwind the cord and power the thing on. Fede watches me like he thinks I might actually be losing it. He should know better. We’re working with dangerous people and you never know what they’re doing. I, of all people, know they’re willing to cross the line when it comes to the law. What’sstopping them from bugging their lawyer’s office? Especially when both sides think I’m a pawn in their game.

I scan the entire office, but nothing beeps to signal there’s a listening device here. Satisfied, I turn the thing off and hand it back to my brother.

“Are you good now?” he asks, one eyebrow lifted with the question, as if he’s not so sure that I am.

“John Vitale kidnapped me.”

Fede’s face drops. “Holy shit. Are you okay?”

“Do I look okay?” His earlier words ring out in my head.You look like shit.

“Touche,” Fede says as he takes the seat across from my desk. “What happened?”

“They want me to work for them.”

Immediately, Fede shakes his head. He knows as well as me that’s a bad idea. I already told him about Damien wanting me tohandleSam. Working for Sam is the exact opposite.

“You can’t get involved in their petty war.” Fede taps his fingers across the arm of the chair, something I know he does when he’s thinking.

“I already am.” I lean back in my seat with a sigh.

“We need to stay focused.”

“Do you think I’m not?” The words come out too harshly, and Fede eyes me. I’m paranoid about Madi, I realize. And she is fucking with my focus. I’m too worried about her, too interested in her to keep my eyes on the prize.

“That’s not what I said, brother.”

“I know.” I scrub a hand over my face. “We have to use this to our advantage. That’s the only way.”

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