Page 104 of Forbidden Romeo

“I suppose there’s no point asking where you’ve been?” Padraic says spitefully when he notices me.

I choose to ignore him. “The gala is still happening?”

Padraic simply sneers. “Worried the dancing might ruin your form in the ring?”

I turn away before he can get me riled up, striding as quickly as I can toward my room.

“Make sure Roisin wears something more appropriate this time,” Padraic calls after me.

My teeth grind together as I change my course to the gym.

I need to hit something. Hard.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Aimee

I stare at myself in Kate’s oversized mirror and barely recognize the woman looking back. The pale gold satin of my dress hugs every curve and ripples romantically around my feet every time I move. The matching stilettos make my legs look long and elegant, though they show through the slit in the satin far more than I’d like. But at least it’s more reserved than the red dress.

Kate brushes my curled hair over my shoulder, and tiny strands of gold glitter through it as the light catches them. Her beautiful handiwork over the last few hours was to patiently and painstakingly attach and braid in each one.

The effect is astounding, but I can’t help but think the amount of effort put in corresponds with Kate’s new agenda:Keeping me the hell away from Jack.

“You look a bit like a Disney princess,” she muses as she stands back to admire her handiwork.

I give her a theatrical twirl that’s ruined by the sarcastic twist to my voice. “Just don’t expect me to sing.”

Kate smirks. Her own black gown falls elegantly from her shoulder and is pinned in place with a silver brooch. In the two days since the match atLuckiesand our spontaneous shopping trip on Jack’s credit card, I’ve not seen the women even entertain another color in her outfits.

But looking at us both in the mirror, we look like night and day. A spectacle in our own right.

“You look great,” Kate says as if sensing my hesitation.

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” I say. “Everyone stared last time.”

“And they’ll stare again.”

I turn to her. “And if I’d rather just fade into the background?”

Kate merely shrugs. “Wear your jeans if you have to. But you should know, Padraic hated your last dress.”

I smirk at that. “Really?”

“Almost as much as Jack loved it.”

My expression must sour because she shakes her head at me. “He might be an idiot, but at least you know he has good taste.”

“I just don’t see why I need to even be at the gala,” I say for perhaps the fifteenth time.

It’s not the idea of getting all dressed up to dance around and make small talk with people that make me feel nauseous. In fact, these events were probably the only good part about growing up in the mob.

It’s the idea of getting all dressed up forhimand spending the evening pretending that we’re stupidly in love so that Padraic doesn’t take me to one of his ‘interrogation’ chambers.

Kate filled me in on her uncle’s favored pastime when I told her what Jack said about him threatening my life. It seems the rumors I’d heard as a child about the leader of theDead Eyespaled in comparison to reality. The thought of being alone with that monster has my stomach in knots.

That fear is currently at war with myneedto hit the man in the face. Hard.

“The guest list is fairly exclusive, so at least you won’t have to deal with the riff-raff this time,” Kate says casually. “All you need to do is show your face and smile.”

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