Page 70 of Secret Seduction

He takes my hand and guides me down the hall and to the stairs that I didn’t know existed until recently. We pass the door to the terrace, the state-of-the-art gym, and the entertainment room he showed me the other day, and we stop at the last door.

“This room was supposed to be my office,” he says. “But I ended up using the guest room downstairs since it was more convenient than going upstairs. I thought about doing this in the other guest room downstairs, but the natural light in this room is better.”

“What are you going on about?” I ask, confused by where he’s going with this.

“I hope you like it,” he says, opening the door. “And if you don’t, we can change anything … or everything.”

We step inside, and he flicks on the light switch, illuminating the room, and I gasp in shock and awe. Because in front of me is the most amazing sewing room I’ve ever seen. Everything that was all over my bedroom has been moved in here and organized. But it’s not only my stuff that’s in here. There are bolts of fabric, spools of thread. There’s a beautiful wood table, where my sewing machine is sitting, and several mannequins for measuring. There are shelves and cabinets filled with sewing items.

“Lorenzo,” I whisper, “when did you do this?”

“It’s been in the works for a couple of weeks, but I made sure it was finished today.”

I whip my head around to look at him. “How?”

I never once saw anyone enter this condo.

“There’s an elevator that takes you up here.” He smirks. “I told them it was a surprise, so they wouldn’t let their presence be known.”

“I can’t believe you did this,” I whisper, stepping farther into the room.

“I believe in you,” he says, turning me to face him. “This is your passion, your career. And it should be done properly, not on the floor of your bedroom.”

His words cause me to choke up.

He believes in me …

When I told my mom my major, she laughed and said I’d better find a rich man if I wanted to make fashion my hobby because I’d never make a living from designing clothes.

But Lorenzo believes in me. So much so that he created an entire sewing room for me. This is literally my dream, and he made it come true.

Suddenly, words aren’t enough, and without thought, I lift onto my tiptoes and wrap my arms around his neck. My mouth connects with his in a desperate attempt to show him how thankful I am. With every curve of my lips and swipe of my tongue, I try to convey how much this means to me. He could’ve walked away after I conned him into marrying me. He could’ve thrown me out of the car when I begged him to take me home with him.

But he didn’t. He let me into his home and his life and his heart. He gave me access to his son and trusted me to take care of him. He’s become so much more than my fake husband. He’s become my friend and my lover.

And I’ve been lying to him.

“Wait, stop,” I say when he lifts me into his arms, no doubt to carry me to the closest surface so he can devour me. “The night we got married, I lied.”

He jerks his head back in confusion. “What do you mean, you lied? I saw the marriage certificate. We’re legally married.”

“No,” I choke out, trying to get down.

Only he tightens his hold on me, refusing to let me go.

“Not the marriage. We’re married. I …” I swallow thickly. “Can you put me down, please?”

It’s not that I want space from him, but once I tell him the whole truth, I imagine he’ll want space from me.

“No, baby,” he says, setting me on the measuring table. “Whatever you need to say, say it.”

Shit, okay.

“The night of Bri’s wedding … the reason why you don’t remember anything that happened is because I’d drugged you with my anxiety pills.”

“I figured as much,” he says. “But we’ve gotten past that.” He runs his fingers through my hair and tips my face, giving me a soft kiss. “You did what you had to do, Vanessa. I’d like to think if you’d told me what was going on, I would’ve gone along with it. But I didn’t know you back then, and after Hillary conned me, there’s a chance I would’ve hung you out to dry.”

I don’t for a second believe Lorenzo would’ve let a woman get taken, but I understand the point he’s making. However, that doesn’t change the fact that I lied.