Page 43 of Dancing with the Devil
“I don’t know. Seems too good to be true,” I shrugged my shoulders as I crossed my legs. “I mean, how many women do you know that’ll say yes to marrying a man they know absolutely nothing about.”
“Women who need protection.”
“Fair enough,” I nodded.
The dressing room door opened, grabbing my attention. “Ah, it’s Daddy Daycare!” Silvia laughed as she walked inside.
I cringed, remembering that Silvia sometimes can’t keep information to herself. “Am I interrupting some weird sex cult?” she asked, walking over to her make-up drawer and yanked it open.
“Hi, Silvia,” Antonio kept his voice flat.
“You know, Antonio. Right?” I forced a smile.
“Yeah, of course, I know him. He comes here quite often. He’s one of the few men in here thataren’tcomplete assholes.”
“Oh, well, I beg to differ,” I chuckled, and he raised a brow at me. “Silvia, give us a second, okay?”
“Sure, I just need to grab a few things.”
After she left, I looked over at Antonio, who was already staring at me. “Why me?” I asked narrowing my eyes at him.I don’t trust this. Nor do I trust him. At least not enough to marry him.
“Youneed protection.Ineed a strong woman at my side.”
“Mm-hmm,” I slowly nodded. “Thanks, I guess. And how do you even know you can trust me?”
“I’m not giving you my heart. I’m giving you money and protection. So if you end up breaking my trust it’ll be that much easier to get rid of you.”
“And by get rid of me you mean kill me?”
“Smart girl,” he tilted his head to the side.Iwas joking, but a large part of me screamed thathewas not.
“You’re fucking with me, right?”
“Jesus. I know your trust issues are fucked up but set them aside for me. Just this one time.”
“So… hypothetically, in said marriage, what do you expect from me? Because God knows I’m nobody’s housewife.”
“Just be my wife in front of my family and the cameras. We attend events together. We’re seen in public being husband and wife.”
“Do emphasize, ‘husband and wife’,” I popped another grape into my mouth. “And does it require kissing, because I know kissing me is hard for you since it makes your nonexistent heart flutter,” I teased and his face morphed into confusion. “Well, considering after the last time we kissed you offered to drive me home, keep me safe from all the bad men and be my knight in shining armor.”
“I offered you a ride home because you didn’t have money for a cab.”
“Same thing,” I pressed a smile onto my face.
I pondered on the thought of whether or not to accept. It was absurd. “And if you accept, you’ll never have to work a day in your life. You can escape all of this,” he motioned his finger in a circle.
“What makes you think I’ll sit at home all day, attending toyourneeds?”
“People work for money. If you have more than enough, having a job is pointless.”
“Yeah, well, some of us work because we actually enjoy it. Money doesn’t control our lives.”
He seemed appalled. “So youlikeworking here?”No, I don’t. But I’d rather not him think that he was my savior.
“Yes. And if you think I’ll stop working just because of this deal we have,” I said as I motioned my finger between the two of us. “Then you’re surely mistaken.”
“No wife of mine is going to dance half-naked for other men.”
