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“Daiyu made the dress,” he said impatiently. “And Sarai scheduled appointments to get you ready for tonight. She’ll send you the details.”
“How did Daiyu know I needed a dress?”
He looked up, brows knit with irritation. “What?”
“How long,” she said slowly and deliberately, “have you known we’d be attending the Trentham Ball?”
“What does that matter?”
“It matters,” she snapped back.
“Why? You’ve been to hundreds of parties.”
“The Trentham Ball isn’t a party,” she stressed through clenched teeth. “It’s the most exclusive event of the year. Not even my father was guaranteed an invite. How did you manage to get on the guest list?”
“Sullivan.”
“You know Sullivan Trentham?”
His eyes narrowed at her disbelieving tone, but she couldn’t help it. She was astounded. Befriending British royalty was one thing, but the Trenthams were the untouchables of New York, as interwoven into the city as the Rockefellers. Sullivan Trentham was one of the very few her father had trodden lightly around.
“We met a long time ago,” he said in a clipped tone that told her his patience was running thin. “And I don’t have time to talk about this. I’m going to be late for a meeting.”
A dangerous mix of incredulous anger and panic made her throat swell. As a young girl, she’d dreamed of attending the legendary Trentham Ball. Her sisters had prepared for this event for weeks, getting custom gowns made and doing exhaustive research to discover who was on the guest list, and Roth was giving her mere hours to prepare.
This event gathered such an exclusive pool that it was rumored attending just once could set you up for the rest of your life. But it could have the adverse effect as well. Offending the wrong person could ruin any chance of success.
She’d known they would return to society at some point, but she never imagined it would be at such a high-profile event. Their presence would draw so much negative attention it would inhibit any networking Roth tried to do. She’d gotten a taste of it at her dad’s funeral—the sidelong looks, the whispers about her past scandal, and the deliberate snub from those who saw her as inferior due to her illegitimacy. If Roth had mentioned this ahead of time, she could have eased them back into society by going to smaller events to break the ice. But he was leaping in at the deep end, and she was pretty sure they were going to drown.
As she opened her mouth to explain the magnitude of attending the ball, Roth spun on his heel and started for the door. After a week of being treated like a piece of furniture, her temper snapped.
“I’m not going.”
She didn’t shout, but she didn’t have to.
He neatly pivoted to face her. For the first time in a week, they made eye contact. Her stomach clenched. There was no sign of the man who’d begged her to stay and vowed to make her happy. The man standing before her might as well have been a stranger. He was emotionally closed off from her, as if those intimate moments had never been.
He didn’t say a word, silently pressuring her to retract what she’d said.
“I’m not going,” she said again, more firmly than the first time.
“Yes, you are.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “If you wanted me to go, you should have given me more time to prepare.”
“For what? Everything’s taken care of.”
“This event isn’t like the parties my dad held. This... There’s no comparison. You have no idea what...” Explanations streaked through her mind, but his obvious impatience told her she was wasting her time. “I can’t go.”
“I’m not asking.”
Her whirling thoughts ground to a halt. “What?”
“We made a deal. You agreed to fulfill all roles as my wife for the year that I own you,” he stated as he started toward her. “That means when I want you to fuck me, you fuck me. When I want you to travel with me, you pack your fucking bag. And when I tell you to attend an event with me, you do so, no questions asked. In return, I make sure Hennessy & Co. doesn’t crumble.”
He stopped before her. Although he was bathed in golden light, it did nothing to soften the brutal lines of his face.
“I’m late for a board meeting where I intended to vouch for your sisters against my better judgment. They’re recouping their losses, but not fast enough to appease the shareholders. I’m putting my money and my reputation on the line for you.” He crowded her, forcing her to crane her neck back to hold his burning gaze.
