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Shakarri yanked her nightie over her head and threw it on the bed. She didn’t even consider the fact that she had just stripped in front of him. She scooped up the blouse from the night before to put on, but Ezio yanked it out of her hand and threw it on the floor. She glared at him.
“We’re not finished…” His gaze swept her from head to foot, and he spun on his heel to march back to the closet. When he returned, he held out a robe. She put it on, feeling less vulnerable. He cleared his throat. “We’re not finished talking.”
A sense of superiority came over Shakarri. He had done that because he couldn’t think while she was undressed. Maybe the slut didn’t satisfy him as much as she thought. Shakarri shook her head to clear it. This wasn’t the time to feel proud she could still make him want her after he cheated.
“There’s nothing you have to say I want to hear, Ezio.”
“I disagree.” His angry gaze raked her again, and he stepped closer and jerked her off her feet with strong hands at her waist. She gripped his shoulders, kicking her feet and struggling against his chest.
“Put me down, idiot!”
He wound an arm around her and drew her close enough that his lips brushed her ear. “I’ve told you before, you belong to me. If another man touches you, he will regret it.”
She punched his shoulder as hard as she could. He acted like he didn’t feel a thing. “Let go.”
He set her on her feet again, and she scrambled away from him. To her annoyance, her body came alive during the struggle with him. The intensity in Ezio’s gaze said he was just as affected. If she didn’t get out of there, she would lose all self-respect and strip the robe off again.
“You’re all talk,” she said. “There’s no way you’re going to attack someone and risk getting sued. He would take you for everything you’re worth.”
He grinned as if he wished someone would challenge him. “By all means, try me.”
Nervousness crawled along her skin. “If you don’t tell her to leave, I will. If you think you’re going to sleep around right in my face, you’re wrong. I don’t care if this is just an arrangement. I won’t be disrespected any more than you will.”
His anger seemed to drain away in an instant. “Had you asked me directly, I would have told you. I have no problem telling you the truth. Madison is not my lover. She hasn’t been for years. She would like to rekindle things, but I’ve lost interest. She stayed last night because she had just come in from a twelve-hour flight. I consider Madison to be a friend and nothing more. Now, does that appease you?”
If it’s the truth.
She had no way of knowing if it was the truth, but Ezio did come across as a man who made a habit of saying exactly what he wanted and wasn’t ashamed of his personal choices. Then again, she was sure he would stoop to lying if it would accomplish his goals. She hated the turmoil he caused to her equilibrium.
Shakarri belted the robe tighter. “She still wants you. She’s got to go.”
Amusement colored his handsome face. “Very well.”
Shakarri swung away to head to the closet. Ezio walked to the door and stopped when he spotted the damage he’d done. “Shakarri?”
She tensed. “Yeah?”
“Lock the door against me again, and I will replace the door with one that doesn’t have a lock on it.”
She picked up something to throw at the back of his head, but he was gone. He always had to have the last word. She had just been thinking she had won the argument and felt satisfied she had upped him for once. Then he had to spring that lock crap on her. He took the wind right out of her sails.
“Oh, he makes me so mad,” she muttered to herself. He would probably tell her she needed a thousand more years of life before she could best him, and she stomped up and down the length of her closet, unable to focus enough to choose something to wear.
A short time later, Shakarri left her room fully dressed. As soon as she did, she noticed Goro at the end of the hall. He spoke into his cell phone, and seconds after she heard steps on the stairs. Wondering what was up, she moved toward them to find a man holding a toolbox ascending from the first floor.
She knew right away what was going on. Ezio had already given the order for the bedroom door to be replaced, and the man to do it had arrived while she was getting dressed. Goro had stood watch for when she came out so the repairman could get started. Goodness, people ordered their lives by her husband. It didn’t make sense.
“Auntie Sha,” Catarina shouted from down the hall.
Shakarri spotted the little face peeking out from a doorway. “Hey, baby. You don’t have to call me that. Your uncle was just teasing.”
“I like Sha.”
She shrugged. “Whatever strikes your fancy, but I’m your stepmother not your aunt.”
“Step?” Catarina’s eyes grew wide, and Shakarri could only imagine what she must be thinking.
“Never mind. Maybe I should call you Cat. It’s cute, don’t you think?”
