Page 17 of Reckless Sinner

That meant that I had to be there, too.

Dad had been firm on that. He hadn’t taken the texting-only situation all that well. “There’s only so much time we have to seal this deal, Delaney,” he told me firmly.

“What if he thinks I’m desperate?” I replied back. “What if he grows suspicious?”

“You’re going to be good enough that he won’t think either of those things.” Dad put his hands on my shoulders and smiled encouragingly. “You’ll be able to hook him, Delaney. I know you will. And we are on a deadline.”

He hadn’tsaidthat I should use my… feminine wiles… but I’d understood the subtext. I tried not to feel like I was being… used, in a dirty way. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to sleep with Dante. I very much did. But the fact that my father was openly encouraging it in order to control Dante and get him to lower his guard… it just made me feel a bit dirty, that was all.

But I had to move past that. My father wasn’t the type of man to remain patient for long and he was right—we were on a deadline. I couldn’t even imagine what this whole operation between the DA, my father, and law enforcement needed in terms of orchestration and timing but it had to be difficult. I couldn’t be the one wrench in the works.

You’re going to have the time of your life,I told myself.Stop whining and do as your told! Make your father proud!

Yeah. Make him proud by basically selling my body.

But I was here. And I was going to succeed in this, because I had yet to succeed in anything and if I couldn’t convince Dante to at least give me a chance when I was practically vibrating from how much I wanted him to fuck me, then what chance could I possibly have to accomplish anything in my life?

I was aware that the bar was low, here.

And I did have hope. He had been texting me for the past two weeks. Nothing flirtatious, I’d noticed. I’d sort of left that up to him, to see if he would make a move, and I hadn’t initiated any flirting on my own. Part of me just didn’t want to be rejected, especially over text—and I was crappy at sexting anyway—but I hadn’t been lying when I’d told my father that I was worried about seeming too eager.

Instead, Dante and I had talked about books we’d read. He told me stuff about history, always apologizing when he would go on forever, like he thought he was boring me. I was never bored. I didn’t have anything in particular I was passionate about, and so to hear someone go on about one of their passions was really nice.

And I was actually learning stuff about history, so… bonus.

It was nice to talk to Dante. Over text, at least. I had time to formulate my words, so I could sound as clever and witty as I wanted to without having to take an awkward pause in the conversation.

What if I wasn’t as good in person?

When I got to the bar, I waited. I didn’t drink anything at first, although I knew it would be weird to people if I didn’t drink at all. Dad was here too, but he was purposefully staying away from wherever I was so that Dante wouldn’t feel awkward about approaching me. Or me about approaching him.

I knew where he was almost the moment he walked into the bar. He looked amazing in a crisp dark blue suit with a much lighter blue tie, the latter being the eye-catching thing that made him stand out in a sea of black and dark, earthy colors.

He didn’t come to me. In fact I didn’t think at first that he’d seen me.

Okay. I would give him some time, that was fine. I was very good at being aware of multiple things happening at once around me after years of attending parties by my father’s side. I kept myself active in conversations, nodding along and listening, all while keeping Dante firmly in the corner of my eye.

He went over to the bar—gave the bartender his empty glass—and saw me.

It took everything in me to keep acting like I didn’t know he was watching me. I would never have called myself an actress but it seemed that all these years of making nice with various lawyers and other city elites had prepared me for this better than I thought.

Come over to me,I thought desperately, while on the outside I smiled and laughed at all the right moments.Come over to me.

He didn’t.

I could feel him watching me. Why wasn’t he coming over? Did he not want to? Was he disappointed by me in person?

There was only one way to find out. I had to go over to him. My stomach was in absolute knots of anxiety. The server brought over my wine glass that I’d ordered. While I had been tempted to order bourbon, I didn’t want to deal with my father if he caught me drinking it. Wine was fine. And the low alcohol content was probably better for tonight.

Once I got my wine in hand, I was able to ‘notice’ Dante. Accepting the wine had forced me to turn, putting him directly in my line of sight.

I hoped my feigned moment of recognition didn’t give me away. I’d probably look like a creeper, if he knew that I’d kept an eye on him this entire time. I wasn’t about to be labeled one of those crazy obsessed stalker women from movies.

While I was talking to him, I had just one strategy: let him see how much I wanted him.

If there was one thing I had learned as a woman just existing in the world, it was that men liked to be flattered. Oh, sure, they could talk all day about how they hated desperation, whether that was in a potential lover or a potential client, but I didn’t know of a single man who hadn’t accepted a desperate offer. It flattered them, and they always thought they could get ahead and use it to their advantage.

If nothing else, I was sure that letting Dante see how much I ached for him, let it finally show in my body, in every fiber of my being… he would want me.

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