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“So let’s not bring her up.”
“Let’s not. Paul’s been tight-lipped about it, so we’ll follow his lead.”
“Fine by me. I’m going to say as little as possible.”
“Good idea.” I can’t help reaching over and covering her knee with my hand. She’s too tempting, practically begging to be touched with that smooth, glowing skin of hers.
When she stiffens, I can’t hold back. “You’re going to have to warm up a little if there’s any hope of us looking like the real thing.”
“I didn’t think it mattered,” she mutters before pulling her leg out of reach. “So long as I look expensive.”
“Is that what bothers you? Looking expensive? If it makes you feel better, you can take off those thirty-five-thousand-dollar earrings.”
“That’s not what I meant.” She touches one of the earrings gingerly. “Seriously? They cost that much?”
“He told me when he bought them. What did you mean, then?”
“Are you honestly asking because you don’t know, or are you trying to be hurtful? I don’t care either way. I wish you’d be upfront with me, is all. I think I’ve earned that much. Haven’t I done everything you wanted?”
For the life of me, I can’t understand what she means. This is why I don’t want a woman in my life. As if there isn’t enough to think about. I have to worry about her feelings now, too. And rather than tell me what she’s thinking, she’ll make me interpret her cryptic little statements.
What did I say? I have to go back through my memories from earlier. It wasn’t that long ago, right? Why can’t I come up with anything? Why the fuck is Paul Giordano’s house so far away? This ride has already taken twice as long as I’m comfortable with and we’re nowhere near arriving. Chuck must be going ten miles an hour under the speed limit.
Finally, I’m tired of trying to guess. “I honestly don’t know,” I have to admit. “I don’t know where this is coming from. What did I not give you tonight? Do you know how much it costs to have a crew like that come to the house and get somebody ready? You’re about to attend a party with some of the wealthiest people on the east coast, and you’re sulking like a little kid because… why?”
“Because you made me feel like a whore. There. I said it.” She turns to me, glaring. “Happy?”
“But—”
“No. I am not a whore. You decided I was. You and Greg.” She snarls on the name. “None of this was my choice. But I’m playing along and I don’t even know why right now, since the last thing I should want is for things to go well for you. But there I was, hoping you’d be happy with how I look, and all you cared about is how much you’re going to charge some disgusting slob to fuck me later.”
Fuck.
“That’s not the way I meant it,” I tell her with a sigh, glancing out the window to where the lights on the other side of the river signify the Giordano compound. There’s a bridge a few miles up ahead which spans the river, then it’s only another few minutes after that. I was in a hurry to get there—now, I’d rather have the time to get her back on my side before we arrive.
“Oh, no? You didn’t mean you took me on because you thought you’d get a good price?”
I slide a little closer, unimpressed by the way she wedges herself into the corner by her door. “That was what I originally thought when Greg showed me your picture. For fuck’s sake, are you going to dissect every word out of my mouth?”
“Here’s a tip: that’s not what a woman wants to hear after she spent half the day getting ready for an event.” The look in her eyes is sharp, full of pain, and it knocks me back a little before I can brace myself.
“I didn’t think this would matter that much. The party, that is.”
“You don’t get it. You really don’t.” She sighs, her shoulders heaving, her dress shimmering. “It’s fine. You reminded me who I am. Maybe I needed to be reminded.”
“I don’t have time for this.”
“Of course you don’t. Because you’re very important, and you always have so much going on, and everything else is an inconvenient distraction.”
“Yes, now that you mention it.”
“I hate to tell you this.” She turns in her seat, finally facing me. Her outfit suits her well. She’s every inch the ice queen. “You are not the most important person in the world. Your family? Until the minute we met, I couldn’t have given less of a fuck. The world would still turn if the Bruno family no longer existed.”
“Point taken,” I grit out, my teeth clenched hard enough to crack them.
“And just because you’ve been through trauma—”
“Trauma?” I scoff.
