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‘I should probably go dress,’ I said. ‘Can we grab a pizza tonight?’
‘We can’t. We have dinner plans.’
‘Why? I’d much prefer to stay in on the couch in my lounge wear.’
His brow furrowed at my question, as though he didn’t understand why I’d be questioning it.
‘It’s expected that we show face around town. We may be out of Father’s house, but it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have eyes on us. He’ll be waiting to hear that we are making an appearance.’
‘I don’t want to pretend that we are happy. Surely it would be more realistic to seem like we are holed up at home like a pair of sex-mad newlyweds?’ I didn’t want to perform again. I’d been performing my whole life. Be the good girl, make a good impression, don’t step out of line... I was sick of it.
‘The wedding happened so fast and with such grim history between our families that we need to show them it wasn’t just a farce. We need to show that this is a new bond, a strong tie between your family and mine. It’s business.’ He leaned back against the counter and shrugged.
‘What if I don’t want to? Itisa farce. Our families hate one another and I’m sick of being used like a doll to further everyone else’s needs.’
‘I know. I’m sorry. But we can do this. We’re both good at playing pretend. It’s just a dinner.’
‘Fine. If that’s what you want,’ I said through gritted teeth. I thought he’d been being sweet with the pastries and coffee, but no, like all the men in my life, he had an ulterior motive.
Abandoning the pastry, I left for my room, anger bubbling up and threatening to suffocate me. If they wanted a show, I’d give them a fucking show.
My heels clipped loudly as I made my way through to the lounge area from my room, where I’d spent the last few hours putting on my costume. If they wanted a performance, then I knew exactly how to do that. How to play the boss-man’s good girl, there to make the men drool and strive to succeed to the same level as the man on her arm. Lust was a powerful motivator, and the men in the crime world often spent their lives lusting over money, power, women and beautiful objects. Often the latter two were classed as the same thing.
I skimmed a hand down over my hip, smoothing the silky red fabric that clung to my curves. I’d called in the dress last minute from a designer friend of mine in Edinburgh. I rarely had need of anything as daring, but I wanted to make Cameron burn with lust, to leave him hot and desperate and without a chance at anything more. All an act with no follow through for him. I grinned as I felt a heady rush of pleasure flow through me. Instead of sexual desire, it was a rush I’d hardly experienced in my role as a daughter of a mafia boss. It was power. Already I clamoured for more, knowing that the feeling left me wanting more. The polar opposite of all the insignificance I’d ever felt.
The full-length mirror that hung at the end of the hall gave me the perfect view of myself, reassuring me I looked as killer as I felt. The dress was three quarters length, but with a slit that hit almost to my hip, flashing a long section of thigh as I walked. I exaggerated the roll of my hips as I walked and saw the outline of my nipples beneath the satin. I’d forgone a bra to leave Cameron and his associates with all the more to distract them. The trip to paradise had deepened my tan, and I’d scrubbed and shaved everything I could, leaving me glowing beneath the soft lights of the room. I’d fixed my hair into a soft cascade of dark waves that sat over one shoulder, leaving my neck exposed.
Yes, for a last-minute outfit, it would do wonderfully. I was going to make him wish he’d never left the apartment.
Cameron appeared to my left and let out a low whistle. ‘Fucking hell, Maeve. You could kill a man with one glance looking like that.’
‘Here’s hoping,’ I said, arching a brow.
He walked behind me, his eyes taking in every inch. A wave of nerves wriggled through me, my bravado not so apparent under that intense stare.
His eyes found mine in the mirror and he slowly approached me from behind until his lips were next to my ear. We looked good together. He wore a tux, perfectly fitted across his broad chest and muscled biceps, and seeing him made my knees weak. Fuck, he looked good. I secretly adored a tux, even more so late in the evening when the bow tie is loosened, the jacket long abandoned and the sleeves rolled up. Heat prickled at my core as I all but eye fucked Cameron. I wasn’t supposed to be the one drooling. I inhaled softly as he ran a finger up the length of my arm before sweeping a tendril of hair back over my shoulder to join the rest of it.
‘I have a little something for you.’ His breath was hot on my neck as he spoke. ‘It was my mother’s.’
He produced a necklace and reached around my neck, settling the twinkling diamond onto my chest. His fingers worked to fasten the clasp. His warmth behind me made me want to close my eyes and lean back into him, but it wasn’t in the plan. The unrequited lust was supposed to be his punishment.
I dropped my gaze in the mirror, but he reached up from the necklace and tipped my chin back up until he caught my eye with that intense stare once more.
‘Look at you, Maeve. You look incredible. Every man in the restaurant is going to want to have you, and every woman is going to wish they were you.’
I swallowed hard as his words mingled with my deepest needs, my need to be seen.
‘You are fucking divine. The dress makes me want to see it on the floor, and those dark lined eyes make you look like you’ll eat the fucking world alive.’
‘It’s all a lie though, I’m nothing really,’ I breathe out, wanting to roll my cheek into his hand as he held my chin. Craving more.
‘It’s not a lie. You are the wife of Harold Thomson’s son. I’m his heir and one day you’ll be wife to the boss and then no one will make you feel insignificant ever again.’
‘Your dad will kill me long before then, and if not, I’d still just be a woman, a wife. There is no room in this world for me to have any power.’
Cameron tilted my head, his lips grazing my ear and leaving me breathless. ‘When he’s dead, I’ll make the rules, and you can rule beside me. It’s what you want, isn’t it? Power, control, no-one to tell you what you can and cannot do.’
Is that what I wanted? To rule? To have everyone at my beck and call, no-one to tell me what my place is. The idea swirled in my head as I closed my eyes, letting myself rest back against Cameron, his heat leaving me wet.
