Page 70 of Sinful Promise

“I don’t take sex to family functions.” His eyes bore into mine. “These people are an extension of my family.”

“I know.”

“Then act like it,” he warns.

“I’m sorry.”

“You are mine. Make no mistake about it. No other man will ever know what it’s like to have his cock inside you.”

I inhale. Fuck. His words frighten and excite me simultaneously, like a lightning storm.

He releases my arm and walks away to retrieve his watch on the nightstand.

I sit on the bench at the end of the bed with my sandals. I slip my foot into one and tie the cloth bow around my ankle. I do the same with the other foot and glance at him as he fixes the watch on his wrist and looks out the glass doors. He tucks his shirt in. He’s not armed. I look at his reflection in the door. His eyes are guarded. I can’t read his mood. Did I deliver a punch he can’t stomach?

The truth often hurts the ones we love. Does he plan to make me his woman forever? From my experience, women don’t flourish in this kind of life. They are made to stay home and only get trotted out on special occasions. Their men come and go as they please and keep to themselves.

“Are you ready?”

I slip into the closet and return with the earrings. “Almost,” I answer as I thread the posts through my earlobes.

I try not to look at him. I don’t want him to read my expression. Katsia said she could read me like a book. I refuse to give Roman any more leverage.

“You’re beautiful and deserve to have beautiful things, starting with those earrings.”

“I think they’re too much,” I caress one with my fingertips.

“Nonsense. You set the tone for the room.”

“Irina does that already,” I counter.

“Well, Irina is Irina. You, however, are the jewel. Remember that. She has worldly experience, so what if yours has only begun? Isn’t this what you wanted? To be out and seeing the world?”

“Yes.”

‘Then be happy with it. Don’t look to someone else to make you happy. Make yourself happy, and it will all fall into place.”

He leads me down passageways and stairs until we reach a door that a bodyguard opens for us.

Should I believe him? Considering that the words come from a man who appears to have everything, I have to wonder.

We walk ashore, followed by the guard. Roman places his arm around my waist and directs me to the side of the port we’ve not yet seen.

There are only a few restaurants, and we stop at the last one, which has three sides overlooking the harbor. Right away, I spot Irina, Alex, and…another woman? She’s beautiful, with honey-blonde highlights, the kind you get at expensive salons. She’s wearing a yellow sundress that shows off her toned body, a body you only get from working out. The gym must be a full-time job because she looks amazing.

“Ah, there you are.” Alex waves and raises a glass of red wine. “Roman, this is my friend Francesca.”

“Hello.” Roman lifts her hand to his mouth and kisses it politely. “Ah, congratulations are in order, I hear.”

“Yes,” she beams, her smile lighting up the room.

Do women always surround this man? I can’t help but get jealous when he gives them attention.

“Pleasure to meet you. Yes, we finally got married. As you can imagine, it was an extravagant wedding,” she says with a slight Italian accent. I notice everyone is speaking English.

“Yes, I can only begin to imagine two, um…corporations merging.” And Roman gives her a knowing smirk.

It’s as if they are playing a game of international espionage full of subtle hints and innuendos. They’re all in on a joke I know nothing about, and I’m beginning to feel left out.

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