Page 40 of Convenient Mafia Vows

He full-on smiles at me but turns around anyway.

I shrug off the black dress, step out of it so that I’m standing in front of the mirror in my bra and panties, and remove the red gown from the hanger. It feels heavy. Expensively heavy. But when I pull it over my hips and arms and study my reflection, I get a glimpse of what Caleb must’ve seen when he bought it.

It’s stunning. My breath catches in my throat as I hold the low-cut neckline to my chest and reach around with one hand to fasten the zipper.

“Here, let me.” Caleb’s warm fingers brush mine as he tugs the zipper slowly up the back of the dress.

Heat floods my neck and face when I realize that he must’ve seen me in my underwear in the mirror behind me. I don’t know why this makes me feel like a giggling teenager, but I lower my eyes from his gaze and focus on the dress.

“This will have to come off.” Caleb deftly unhooks my bra and slides it over my shoulders, adding it to the pile of discarded outfits on the floor. My nipples immediately harden, visible through the gorgeous fabric when he finishes zipping me up.

Caleb’s breath is warm on my bare shoulders and the back of my neck, and I can smell cookies again, or vanilla, it’s hard to differentiate when his face is this close to mine. My pulse races, and my pussy is tingling and … wet. I can hardly breathe, andwhen he whispers, “Stay right there,” I follow him with my eyes, panting, as he slides open a drawer inside one of the closets.

He doesn’t meet my eyes when he comes back holding a fine silver chain with a red stone pendant set in it. A ruby? Standing behind me, he sweeps my hair forward over my shoulders and fastens it at the back of my neck.

He doesn’t move. Our eyes meet in the mirror as his lips drop to my exposed shoulder. I instinctively tilt my head to one side, offering him my neck, and his tongue travels across my skin to my earlobe, his teeth nibbling gently.

“You want this, Victoria.”

I let out an involuntary groan. It isn’t a question, but Christ alive, isn’t it obvious? “I want this,” I breathe, my cheeks glowing.

His tongue slides into my ear. He murmurs, “M’áilleacht,” and oh my fucking God, if it isn’t the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard. I never knew it could feel so good. A hand slides around me and inside the neckline of the dress, his fingers seeking out my erect nipple. I turn my face towards him, our lips coming together, while his fingers tease my nipple, pinching and squeezing, forcing the air from my lungs as I gasp against him.

Then, without warning, he pulls away, his hand sliding back out of the dress, his lips still reaching for mine. “We should go,” his voice is husky.

I lick my lips, relishing the taste of him, and straighten the dress over my chest. My pussy is throbbing. My heart is beating frantically. I didn’t want him to stop, and that frightens me because this isn’t real, and I know that I can’t have him.

I follow Caleb out of the Wraith on autopilot and into the waiting Hummer limo.

My body is still in the dressing room, tingling at Caleb’s touch, at his warm breath on the back of my neck, and his fingers squeezing my nipples. My heart is still galloping around inside my chest at the raging emotions tearing through my body. And as if this isn’t already the worst way to start an evening as his fake-wife, his brother is waiting for us inside the car with a supermodel sitting on his right sipping champagne from a flute.

“Oh.” It comes out before I can stop the disappointment from permeating the air in the back of the vehicle.

Without realizing, I’d hoped that Caleb and I would be alone. No, more than that, I’d hoped there might be a repeat performance of what happened in my dressing room. Because I was doing it again. I was falling hard for the hottest man on earth; second hottest if I believed that Danny Zuko really did exist.

Caleb’s brother’s eyes linger on the dress a beat too long and then meet mine. He smiles and shakes my hand. “Kyle Murray. Caleb’s brother. I bet he’s told you nothing about me.”

I can’t help smiling in return, grateful to have something normal to focus on. I shake my head. “Nothing.”

“Typical.” Kyle raises an eyebrow in his brother’s direction. “This is Suki.”

Suki. The name sounds as exotic as she looks. She’s wearing a short, glitzy gold dress, revealing long legs that appear to have been glossed to within an inch of their lives. Her lips are glossy too, her eyes smoky beneath jet-black bangs that she can barely see out of.

“Suki, this is my brother Caleb and his wife Victoria.”

Suki leans forward and kisses Caleb’s cheek before brushing her lips against my face and sitting back in her seat.

I sit beside Caleb and accept the glass of bubbly that Kyle hands to me. I can feel Caleb’s thigh pressing against mine; I can smell his cologne and hear the faint rustle of his pale pink shirt against his black suit jacket. On anyone else, black would look formal, austere, but on Caleb, I can still picture him on the back of his Harley.

I don’t pay attention to the conversation in the car. I don’t know what they think of me. Obviously, Kyle knows about our arrangement, he drew up the marriage contract, but Suki has barely looked at me, and I know I shouldn’t take it personally, but I can’t shake the feeling that I don’t belong in this world.

And we’re not even at the restaurant yet.

So, a thrill travels down my spine when we pull up outside Cesar and Caleb takes my hand to help me out of the car. Caleb won’t let me get this wrong, I tell myself. This is his life, after all.

A light flashes, blinding me momentarily.Paparazzi?

Caleb squeezes my hand. He leans in close and whispers in my ear, “Don’t worry. You’re with me, remember.”

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