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I mumble my thanks and compliment her, too, but we’ve only been here sixty seconds, and I’m already running on fumes. I thought I could play pretend for one night, but how am I supposed to match Guilia’s energy?
“I’m so excited to get to know you better.” She clasps both of my hands in hers. “This is going to be the first of many dinners, I’m sure. I can already tell we’re going to be good friends.”
Many dinners to come.
A lifetime of standing next to Arsen and hiding my true feelings. Of disappearing behind the mask of this person I never wanted to be.
The weight of it is crushing, squeezing my chest even more than the corset. I’m so distracted by it that I barely notice when Guilia drops my hands and turns to look at my husband.
“And you…” Instead of a hug, he gets a sharp fingernail to the chest. “You area complete ass!”
I blink out of my doom-and-gloom spiral, suddenly entranced by the scowl pulling at the corners of Guilia’s red lips.
“I cannot believe you are forcing this dinner on your wife mere weeks after she buried her mother,” she snaps. “It’s ridiculous! Honestly, the things you men expect of us simply because you have a deal to close: repulsive.”
My jaw drops. Arsen just raises his brows and turns to Enzo.
“Guilia, darling…” Enzo clears his throat awkwardly. “Forgive me, Arsen. My wife has a mind of her own, and I have very little luck reining her in. I’ve found it’s best to conserve my energy.”
Guilia rolls her eyes as she turns to me. “Yes, Laila, never forget: the men need lots of energy to smoke cigars and toast to themselves and their many successes.”
For the first time in as long as I can remember, I smile.
Enzo takes Guilia’s hand and presses a kiss to her knuckles. “She’s fiery, and that’s why I love her.”
Arsen slaps a thin smile on his face. I feel his eyes shift towards me as he says, “I’m intimately familiar with her type—as beautiful as they are hot-headed.”
Guilia lowers herself into the chair next to her husband. “You can rain down compliments all you want, Arsen Adamov. Flattery won’t work on me.”
Just like that, there’s a break in the clouds hanging over my head. Guilia speaks her mind with her husband. Maybe I won’t have to pretend around them. Maybe I won’t have to paper over all the cracks in my marriage to keep them from putting another bounty on my head.
“You can’t blame a man for trying,” Arsen chuckles. “Enzo, I like your wife.”
Enzo sighs as he droops an arm around Guilia’s shoulders. “Me, too. So much in fact, I’ve decided to hold off a little longer on wife number two.”
She smacks his arm, but he just presses a kiss to her cheek.
Within minutes, it becomes apparent that Guilia isn’t just open about her thoughts—she’s also open about her feelings. And she loves her husband.
Enzo and Guilia are perfectly in sync. It’s not just the way they play off one another conversationally—it’s the way they move around each other, finding excuses to touch and play and share the same air. If there’s a break in the conversation for even a moment, they kiss, their eyes locking as though they’re the only two people in the room.
I thought I wanted honesty. To not have to hide how I really feel.
I thought I wanted to sit next to Arsen, never touching more than is required, only speaking when spoken to.
But as I watch Enzo and Guilia, I find I want what they have.
And I wasn’t prepared for how much it would hurt to know it can never be mine again.
16
ARSEN
I’m starving as we leave the restaurant. The overpriced food tasted like cardboard. Probably because the only thing I really wanted to take a bite out of was my wife.
The woman looks phenomenal.
Knowing Laila, I’m sure that was intentional. We’re well past punishment now. She’s trying to torture me.
