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Shakarri gave in. What choice did she have? He seemed always to have the right words to convince her she fought a losing battle before she started. She couldn’t win against this man, but she would do everything she could to try to learn how to best him. Right now, he held all the cards, but she was a patient woman. Maybe she could get him to give her an allowance. She could save up and pay down her debt on her own. Then when it was manageable without killing herself to pay it she was gone. Yeah, that was a good plan, and it gave her hope.

“Fine, whatever.” As she spun away from him, she had the satisfaction of seeing the bruise that had started on his cheek. She bit back a smile. Let him explain that to his client.

Shakarri walked into the closet to find something to wear. She slipped into a lace dress with a plunging neckline and an A-line skirt to discover a perfect fit. This dress wasn’t one of the ones from her wardrobe at home. Even though she had so many, she was pretty sure she had never seen this dress. That meant Ezio had bought it, or maybe he had one of his female staff pick it out. Who cared? He was only thinking of his client and making more money anyway. None of what he did was about her.

They left the office together a short while later, and Lucca drove them to a restaurant Shakarri had visited before with Ezio. The host led them to their table, and not long after a black man, who looked like he was in his late twenties and almost seven feet tall strode toward them with another older man. He looked like a professional ball player with his easy movements and his height.

Ezio stood to shake his hand, and Shakarri did as well. Brown eyes locked onto her, and the man grinned big. “Johntey, how you doing, sis?”

She resisted rolling her eyes. “I’m good, thanks.”

“Johntey, this is my wife, Shakarri Sartori.” Ezio greeted the other man as well, who Shakarri learned was Johntey’s manager. He was just what she’d thought he was, a professional basketball player.

The group took their seats, and Shakarri crossed one leg over the other beneath the table. She settled her mind in for a boring night of business talk or whatever the men intended. Johntey had the nerve to scoot his chair closer to hers.

“So,” he said, stretching a long arm across the table that must find slam dunks easy to do, “tell me about you.”

She cast a doubtful look at him. “Aren’t you supposed to be talking with Ezio about whatever—being a spokesperson?”

He chuckled. “No, I’m thinking about selling one of my businesses to him.”

“You?” She bit her tongue, but the insult was out.

He didn’t take offense. “I can’t play ball forever. I have to think about the future, you know? My wife and babies have to be looked after with style after this career is over.”

“Oh, you’re married.” Somehow that gave her relief because he almost crossed the line into her personal space. She glanced at Ezio, but he’d fallen into conversation with the other man a

nd ignored her. What else was new?

Johntey let his finger touch hers briefly and then apologized like it was an accident. “No, I’m not married. I’m talking about the future. I’m always planning ahead. People say I have a business mind. I say I know what’s best for me. I see something I want, and I go after it.”

The significant look he gave her made her skin crawl. She held up a hand, feigning a need to brush her mouth to be sure he saw the huge rock on her finger. “Um, you know I’m Mrs. Sartori, right?”

He lowered his voice and leaned closer to her. “Nothing wrong with a friend.”

She moved out of proximity, waiting for Ezio to tell him to back off. Her husband seemed to have forgotten her existence, and her temper flared. This was why he wanted her to go to lunch. He knew Johntey would hardly sit down before he was all over her, and it didn’t even bother him that she was not only married but married to an Italian man. Johntey planned for the future? It looked to her like he planned to cheat on his future wife as if it was all business. Talk about stereotypical, yet she couldn’t help feeling disappointed in him.

Johntey leaned in again. “Why don’t we exchange numbers? We could hang out when I’m in town.”

“Why don’t we not?”

He poked his lips out playfully. Shakarri realized he truly thought she wouldn’t deny him. Maybe he thought her cold attitude was all a part of the game. “Come on, baby girl. You know how it’s done. Plus, he’s not paying us any mind. He gets it, and he’s fine with it. As long as we aren’t obvious to the point of embarrassing him, he won’t say anything.”

Shakarri was about to tell him to get out of her face, but she paused. Was what he said true? Was this part of what Ezio expected of her? If he did, he could kiss her butt. She wasn’t giving her body away to get him good business deals. Feeling her hateful stare, Ezio glanced at her. He looked from one to the other of them, and she knew he saw how close Johntey was up on her. His expression didn’t change. He went right back to talking.

Shakarri scraped her chair back. “Excuse me.”

All three men stood, and she walked away without explaining herself. Once she was and out of their sight, she stopped and leaned against the wall. The pain that had begun earlier in Ezio’s office intensified. This couldn’t be true. She had to be jumping to conclusions. Johntey must have misread Ezio’s intentions.

Her husband’s words came flooding back to her. “Your job is to please me.”

She pressed a hand over her mouth, and her stomach roiled. No, it couldn’t be. He wouldn’t want her to sleep with another man to close a deal. If he did want that, she could run. She could get out of town and…

Her chest constricted. She’d made the vow to save money earlier. Right now, she didn’t have much in her checking account, and she certainly didn’t have the resources to disappear and live off the grid like they did in the movies. Tears pricked her eyes, and bile rose in her throat. She sniffed. Nay would take her in, but Ezio could find her at Nay’s, and he could file a suit against her for breach of contract. She could bring up that he had tried to pimp her out, but she wouldn’t be able to prove it. He certainly wouldn’t pay for her to have a lawyer this time.

A small sob escaped her, and a woman walking by stopped. “Are you okay, honey?”

“I’m…” Shakarri tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but with the woman’s gentleness, she only made it worse. A nod and a hand held up sent the woman on her way. A tear slipped down Shakarri’s face. She better get into the bathroom to see that she hadn’t ruined her makeup.

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