Page 103 of Vow Of Fire

“I’m perfectly capable⁠—”

“It’s non-negotiable, Evelyn.”

She shut her mouth, then spun around and stormed back to her room.

I clenched my hands into fists as I paced impatiently outside the bedroom door.

“Evelyn, we’re going to be late.”

She’d been holed up in there ever since she’d gotten back from work. It didn’t bother me, but the gala was starting in an hour and I didn’t want to be late.

Normally, I wouldn’t care if I arrived after the gala had started. People tended not to bar me entry anywhere. But in this case, with Malakov’s money man, Mikhail Orlov, in attendance, I wanted to be there for the small talk before the main event. That’s when Evelyn would plant the seed.

I also wanted to walk in with the fiery beauty on my arm and watch the reactions. New York society would be both shocked and intrigued. I’d never appeared in public with anyone other than a family member on my arm before.

Dante Marcelli was known as the black sheep of the family. The youngest son who went away to war and came back scarred and damaged. The ruthless enforcer who nobody crossed. Who could sign your death warrant with a look.

That’s what they said about me behind my back, not that I gave a fuck. But my reputation preceded me, and that would blow back on Evelyn.

People would look at her differently after tonight. They’d wonder what kind of woman could handle a man like me. What kind of woman would want to.

The bedroom door opened and Evelyn stepped out in a deep burgundy dress that clung enticingly to her curves. The rich color contrasted perfectly with her pale complexion. A daring neckline revealed ample cleavage, while the fitted bodice tapered at the waist before spilling into soft rippling folds around her legs.

I took one look at her and was instantly hard.

I must have been staring because she hesitated in the doorway. “Do I look okay?”

Was she fucking kidding? She looked amazing. In fact, she looked so damn desirable I wasn’t sure I wanted her going out like that. I fought the very male urge to push her right back into the bedroom and strip that designer creation off her gorgeous body.

I gave a gruff nod and turned away, mostly so she couldn’t see how hard I was.

“You look the part.” The words came out cold. Deliberate. Distance was the only weapon I had left against her. “Let’s go. The driver’s waiting.”

I opened the door and she strode past. She carried a glittering clutch purse in one hand and wore a thin tennis bracelet on the other wrist. Jealously, I wondered who’d given it to her.

We waited on the landing for the elevator.

“You don’t have to be such a dick all the time, you know,” she said in a quiet voice. She faced straight ahead, her elegant neck and shoulders stiff with tension. Tension I’d put there. I wanted to massage it away, but of course, I didn’t.

Instead, I doubled down.

“It’s better we keep our… relationship impersonal from now on.”

She flashed an annoyed glance at me.

“Sex does not equal a relationship. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be civil to each other. If we’re going to be working together⁠—”

Working together? That was cute. She actually thought she had a say in all this. I resisted the bitter scoff that was on the tip of my lips. The more she got to know my family, and Valentina, the more she’d realize how naive that sounded.

But I let her have it—for now.

“—you could at least make an effort to be nice,” she finished with a toss of her hair. She wore it half up in a diamanté clip, and fiery tendrils skimmed her pearly white shoulders.

I wanted to kiss her there.

“Vincent called me today,” I said, instead.

“Oh?” Her expression hardened.