My eyes snap back to hers, and her irises are as dark as Enzo’s. Their sparks aren’t as bright and they’re not nearly as beautiful. But it’s enough to convince me she isn’t human and I wonder how many of my coworkers fall into that category.
“Sorry, I was thinking about an email I had earlier.”
“Was it interesting?” she asks, pointedly.
“Very,” I say. “I don’t think I’d normally take an unsolicited email with a manuscript attached, but this one looks good. Really good. I might give it a go.”
She smiles, and there’s a viciousness behind its soft veneer. “Let me know if you like it. This could be a fantastic start. I’m excited, Adriana. Very excited.”
I smile and nod, dreading whatever comes next. I open the file and start reading, enjoying the well-written story with a fast plot that’s full of action and adventure. The fantasy world in the book takes me to a world of mystery and power, where nothing’s the way it seems and magic threatens to tear kingdoms apart. I should lose myself in the story, but my thoughts keep coming back to what happened earlier—both just now and when I was at university.
There’s far too much I don’t know and the biggest question lingering in my mind is whether I should tell Enzo that I think that my boss is a demon. But it isn’t the only question and I dread the answer to the other ones that won’t go away—how long has Enzo been following me and what did he do to make me his?
19
LEATHER AND LACE
ENZO
The wine spirals around my glass, and its violet and crimson hues move with a fluidity that catches the imagination. The taste of blackberries and raspberries lingers at the back of my mouth and my palate's craving a new flavor.
Adriana pouts and stabs another piece of pasta, weaponizing her cutlery. It grates against the plate and she's far from happy. She's slumped over her food, hiding her body when it should be on display for me in the lingerie I demanded she put on. My insistence on standards being maintained hasn't helped her current mood, but it isn't the cause of it.
My girl is upset.
Usually, I wouldn't give a shit but yet again I'm feeling something I don't like. It's empathy and it's a damned inconvenience.
I'm riled by the infuriating, bratty girl who's affecting me in ways I can't control.
“Baby?”
She huffs and rolls her eyes.
“Communicate honestly with me or I’ll spank it out of you.”
“Why are you always so vile?”
I force a cough and she adds the title I've grown accustomed to her using.
“Is it about this morning, Adriana?” I take a mouthful of wine as she turns a pleasing shade of crimson. “You'll enjoy having my cock in your ass. I'll make it feel good. You don't...”
It's something else. I'm justifying my desires to my submissive and it's unnecessary. The girl is driving me to distraction and the urge to fix this has me breaking all my rules. Years of callous, ruthless selfishness fade into selfless desperation as I search for the reason Adriana's upset with me.
It's sickening.
“Tell me, baby. We'll talk it out.”
Her eyes narrow as she pulls herself upright. “Were you going to tell me you stalked me at university?” Her head tilts and she thinks she's scored a point. “You fucking ruined every chance I ever had with anyone else, didn't you?”
I nod, admitting an obvious truth.
“Why would you do that? Why scare off every other man while not making any attempt to woo me? I bet you hurt them, too. You're sick. I never stood a chance, did I?”
I smirk, amused that she thinks I'd consider wooing her. “Adi, there wasn't a fucking chance I was going to let some asshole get between us and I didn't woo you—as you put it—because I didn’t need to. I thought you were special, but I needed to be sure, and I made a move as soon as I was. You agreed to our deal and, for the record, I didn't engineer your lack of job offers.”
She pouts and drinks her wine, ignoring the fucking expensive vintage as she downs it like it's tap water.
“You're still fucking stalking me, aren't you?”
