Page 90 of A Touch of Fate

“I’m sorry,” Albert spluttered, his face turning red under my bodyguard’s foreboding scrutiny. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

In the mafia world, I was different because of my wheelchair. Here, among fellow dancers with disabilities, I was different because of my background. I simply wanted to belong. Danilo had made me feel that way in the past, and on occasion, when Imanaged to break through Samuel’s cold shield, especially when we were intimate, he made me feel that way too. But now that he was building another barrier between us because he wanted to hide his alcohol consumption from me, I feared growing closer emotionally was a fight against windmills.

“Ready to try again?” Natalya asked.

I nodded. The timing was better this time, and Albert lifted me out of my wheelchair. I raised my arms over my head and tried to tense my legs as much as I could so my feet were pointy. Most lifting figures required tension in your legs and feet, so we had to modify them to work with my body’s abilities. Albert, too, couldn’t keep me up as long because of his stiff leg.

I grinned when Albert put me down in my wheelchair again. We tried the figure a few more times before we were confident enough to add it to our dance routine.

After our first completed routine, I couldn’t stop smiling, even as I felt out of breath. My body had to grow used to this level of exertion again, but I could already tell it was improving my overall posture.

“Oh,” Albert gasped at the same time as a hush fell over my fellow dancers. I followed their gazes toward the door, and my eyes grew wide in surprise. Samuel stood in the doorway.

“Dammit. I’ve never been into bad boys, but your husband could change my mind,” Albert whispered under his breath.

I couldn’t stop the laugh from bursting out of me.

Samuel’s intent, cool gaze slid from Albert to me. Albert sobered and quickly excused himself, putting some distance between us.

Natalya touched my shoulder. “I suppose you have to leave now.”

I nodded. I hadn’t known that Samuel would pick me up, but I could tell he wanted me to come with him.

“I hope to one day find someone who looks at me the way he looked at you while you danced,” Natalya said. “That kind of adoration is rare.”

I frowned. I wasn’t sure what she saw, but knowing Samuel, I simply couldn’t believe he’d allowed himself to feel that kind of emotion in public.

I moved over to him. “I didn’t know you were coming,” I said with a small smile.

“I should have come sooner,” he said simply, his gaze moving to Albert once more.

“He’s gay, okay? And he’s very nice,” I said quickly.

Samuel gave me a small smile. “I know he’s gay. I had my men do a background check on everyone.”

I shouldn’t have been surprised. “He finds you very attractive. He said you could make him fall for the bad-boy type.”

Samuel touched my shoulder and gently steered me out into the hallway. His brows drew together. “Then he’s not so different from some women who fancy the bad boy in bed because they don’t know the baggage that comes with this life.”

He grabbed my gym bag from the locker room, then opened the front door for me.

“I should change clothes,” I said, confused.

Samuel shook his head. He pushed me down the ramp to his car parked right outside and lifted me out of the wheelchair. “Stay as you are.”

The look in his eyes and the low timbre of his words melted my insides. I blushed when I realized what Samuel had in mind.

“Does my ballet attire turn you on?” I asked with a teasing smile when Samuel didn’t put me down in the seat right away.

He lowered me into the seat but stayed bent over me. His eyes were practically devouring me whole. “You always turn me on, but right now, all I can think about is to claim your pussy in that tutu you’re wearing.” His lips claimed mine for a fierce kissbefore he straightened and closed the door. The taste of whisky lingered on my lips from his kiss.

My belly tightened with apprehension, but I didn’t want to say anything and cause a repeat performance of the fight in the morning.

Samuel started the car the moment he was behind the wheel and raced away.

He took my hand as he drove us home. My body already rang with desire. It was still early, much earlier than Samuel’s usual time to return home from work.

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