Page 103 of Sinful Promise

Someone has their hands on me, and I try to shake them off.

“What is it?” Roman asks.

“I don’t know. I wish I did.”

“You had a nightmare.”

I sit up, hoping it’s not an omen. I’m not normally superstitious, but then again, my life isn’t very normal at the moment. I’ve never felt further from Roman, and he’s beside me.

Is he a different man now that he’s working?

I get up and follow him downstairs. Irina joins the men as they have a cigar and sip brandy outside.

“What’s on your mind?” Francesca asks.

“Roman is acting strange.”

“Men fuck up good things all the time. Let’s head to the library. I hear there’s one on the second floor, and I’m curious to see what’s in it.”

“What are they doing out there?”

“Telling war stories and planning tonight is my guess. We’ll have four guards outside, two on the roof and two on the ground. The camera feeds will be sent to my phone.”

We walk up the staircase, and she leads me to a room with a toffee-colored leather sofa. Long windows overlook the sea, and bookcases are filled with leather-bound tomes.

“I love books. I never knew this was here,” I say.

“Mm. Well, Europeans are avid readers.” She walks along the shelving, her fingertips lightly tapping the spines of the books as she passes them.

A large skylight in the ceiling lights the room. I follow behind Francesca and fall in love with the navy-blue chaise longue sitting on a white shag rug. I sit on the chaise and lean back, and all my worries seem to melt away.

“This room suits you,” she says.

“I love it.”

She plops onto the couch. “There’s nothing not to like, that’s for sure.”

“This is where the men must sit. Do they really read?”

“Who knows?” She shrugs.

“Are you worried about tonight?”

“I have an easier job than the others.”

I think about it for a minute and see her point.

“How is your husband?” I ask. “I take it he’s in the business as well.”

“Yes. I have my own, and he has one with his family. It’s made working together and living together better and worse.”

“Youaretogether, right?”

“Oh, yes. It doesn’t mean there aren’t arguments from time to time. You’ll get used to it.”

“What do you mean?”

She purses her lips and takes a beat before she replies. “You’ll find out one day what marriage is like.”

---