Page 58 of The Obedient Lie

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I froze.

I looked in the mirror to see Luca. Bottle still in hand. His eyes caught mine for a second. Wide. Unreadable.

He paused. One step into the room. And for a heartbeat… we just stared.

Then his gaze dropped—to my thighs, to the lace, to the way the silk shifted with each shaky breath I took.

I swore they knew how nervous they made me.

His jaw ticked.

Then to my horror, the door clicked shut behind him.

He didn’t say a word.

Didn’t apologize.

Just walked in. I forced myself to keep applying moisturizer to my face, ignoring how my hands trembled.

Pretending I didn’t feel the heat of his stare.

He didn’t stand beside me.

He stood behind me.

Not close enough to touch?—

But close enough that I couldfeelhim.

The awareness of his presence crawled up my spine.

He reached past me.

His hand brushed the counter as he picked something up—deliberate, slow. A comb? A towel? I didn’t even know.

But in the mirror, I saw his eyes dragging down the front of me.

Measured.

Unforgiving.

Not hungry?—

Butcurious.

Like he was cataloguing what I looked like now.

Like he hadn’t seen me in weeks, and didn’t want to forget this time.

I tried not to move.

Not to breathe.

And then he muttered it?—

So low, so quiet, I wasn’t sure I was meant to hear it.

“I’ve got a new favorite.”

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