Page 38 of Their Arrangement
Like someone had tried to build a woman out of clearance racks and desperation.
Wolfe’s voice still echoed in my mind.
You’re not meant to be seen.
I swallowed.
Hard.
That one sentence had stripped more off me than if he’d reached beneath my skirt and dragged his fingers across my skin. It wasn’t just cruel.
It was accurate.
I wasn’t like the women he let into his space. I wasn’t effortless. I wasn’t polished.
But still?—
He’d looked.
I exhaled shakily and reached into my bag.
My fingers found it instantly.
The gold casing.
Still cold.
Still heavy.
Obedience.
I pulled it out, slow.
The lipstick shimmered under the too-bright bathroom lights. The word carved into the side glinted like a threat. Or a promise.
I turned the cap.
Twisted the stick.
The color looked darker than before. Richer. Deeper. Like it had absorbed every humiliation I’d endured since stepping into this building.
I raised it to my lips.
Paused.
Just for a second.
One breath.
Then I applied it—slowly. Carefully. With precision I didn’t know I still had.
Bottom lip. Then top.
No smudge this time.
No tremble.
The red bloomed on my mouth like a wound. Like power. It didn’t make me feel strong. Didn’t make me feel sexy. But it made me feel something I hadn’t felt in days.
