Page 11 of Convenient Mafia Vows

“Wait. Why do I need?—”

But she’s already gone.

I’m unsure about this. I mean, these dresses are not what I’d expect to wear to work. In fact, I’ve never owned anything this classy or expensive, and it occurs to me then that perhaps Mr. Murray runs a brothel masquerading as a swanky hotel, and mypunishment for sending him a thank-you note is being sold to a client for the night.

Even so, I find a sparkling black dress and literally pour myself into it, studying my reflection in the mirror, and wondering if it’s rigged to show a fake glamorous version of the person standing in front of it. I’ve never looked this good. I barely even recognize the face peering back at me, but I tell myself that Caleb Murray saved Mason, and he wouldn’t throw me under the bus instead.

Would he?

Besides, I need the money.

Before I can talk myself out of it, I’m wearing the black dress and talking to Miss Ingram when the door to his office opens, and Caleb Murray is standing there in a suit and tie, gold highlights in his brown hair, and green eyes roaming me from head to toe.

Man, he looks even hotter than he did in a leather jacket. That chest… He for sure works out, and even now I’m imagining him straddling that sleek, black, panther-like Harley with me riding pillion.

So, when he offers me his hand and tells me to keep smiling, I walk into his office with him, heart thumping so crazily, that I think I misheard him when he tells his guests that we’re married.

Wait! What the actual fuck just happened here?

As if sensing my reluctance to play along with whatever crazy game this is, Caleb squeezes my hand. My heart obliges by galloping away from me, my lips instinctively smiling at the silver fox and the stunning supermodel who are staring at me from the sofa like I’ve grown a second head. And … is that a beauty spot on her upper lip?

Smile, I tell myself. This will all be over soon, and then you can go home and pretend it never happened.

Only Caleb is standing a little too close for comfort, and he smells so good, like freaking cookies, and the supermodel looks as if she wants to throttle me with her bare hands. Not so beautiful now that her expression is twisted into a warped sneer, her cruel intentions toward me manifesting themselves into features more suited to the wicked queen than the innocent princess.

“No.” The supermodel shakes her head. “I don’t believe you. I’d have heard about it if you were married.”

“It was a small private wedding back home,” Caleb says.

Okay, so he’s still running with the fake-marriage story.

I keep smiling.

“No press involved. Just how we wanted it to be.” He squeezes my hand again, and I nod along like one of those marionettes with the painted-on expressions that always freak me out.

Her eyes narrow, and she turns on Caleb. “You’re lying. He’s fucking lying, Dad.” This is aimed at the silver fox. “Who even is she?” Her face contorts again like I’m nobody because I’ve managed to fly under her glossy-magazine radar.

My hackles are instantly up. Who does this woman think she is? Whatever has gone on between her and Caleb in the past doesn’t give her the right to look at me as if I’m not worthy of his attention.

Jutting my chin, I toss my curls over my shoulder and lean so close to Caleb that my left breast rubs against his arm sending a shiver down my spine that I force myself to ignore. “I’m hiswife, Victoria Murray.” I almost choke on the absurdity of the statement, but my gaze remains fixed on hers.

“Show me the ring!”

I’m momentarily reminded of Abigail stomping her foot, dark curls bouncing around her face when she demands to stay up past bedtime and read more books.

“Olivia.” The silver fox places a hand on his daughter’s arm to placate her, but she shrugs it off.

Her face crumples then, and her eyes grow large with tears. “Caleb, tell me this isn’t true.” Okay, so this is how she’s going to play it, now that throwing a tantrum isn’t getting her anywhere. “Please, babe.”

Babe? Ugh!

“I’m sorry, Olivia. I don’t know what you wanted to hear tonight, but Victoria and I are very much married, and very much in love.”

To prove it, Caleb leans over and kisses me on the lips.

It sends my heart hurtling over the precipice, and my brain cells reeling. No one else has ever kissed me that way, well, no one apart from Danny Zuko, and he only exists in my dreams these days. This situation, Caleb Murray pretending we’re married, the beautiful guests with their suspicious eyes and angry hearts, Miss Ingram and her walk-in closet… It all vanishes when I feel his tongue sliding between my lips.

Olivia lets out a low animal-like groan.

---