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My patience was rapidly waning. I jerked the door open and stepped into the lounge. Vincent followed at my heels, unperturbed.
“What do they say?” I ground out.
The door swung open and a crowd of men filed in, holding coffees and chatting among themselves. Vincent cleared his throat and sank into a chair by the window and I sat down beside him.
There was a tense silence between us.
“What do they say, Vince?” I asked softly.
He blew out a short breath. “They say you’re sleeping together.”
Disgust curled in my chest. “I’ve never once touched her.”
“I believe you.”
“Why does everyone think that?” I snapped.
“Because, as I said, she fulfills the empty social role your wife should fill,” Vincent said. “You’re going to run into trouble with Osian Cardiff, I promise. He’s supposed to be marrying Clara, but you’re out here with her on your arm like you are sleeping with her. Eventually he’s going to start feeling insulted.”
“I’m not fucking scared of the Cardiffs.”
“I have money invested in your hotel deal with them too.”
He had a point.
I wasn’t sure what else to add to the conversation, but luckily the awkward silence was filled as a mutual friend sat beside us and the meeting began.
I had a harder time than usual concentrating.
CHAPTER TWELVE
CLARA
I spent most of the first day in the spa with Adele. She was an elegant woman who intimidated me a little at first, but I warmed up to her quickly. She was at least fifteen years younger than Vincent and I was dying to ask their story, but I felt it was rude for our first meeting.
Instead, I let her ask about my life. About college, about my impending engagement. We lay on our backs as the masseuse worked on our legs and mulled over the latest organization gossip.
After our massages, we went to the sauna.
“Vincent is in the organization,” said Adele, leaning against the wall. Heat made dewdrops gather across her bare skin. “I wasn’t. It took me a long time to adjust.”
“I think Merrick keeps a lot of things about the organization from me,” I said. “He’s very protective. Sometimes maybe too protective.”
“I didn't know much about it when I married Vince.” She smirked, her eyes distant. “I was so confused when he brought my father a diamond bracelet. So was my father.”
“I had no idea about the engagement jewelry,” I admitted. “Honestly…it’s intimidating.”
She lifted a brow. “I was livid when he told me about the piercing. I slammed the car door, told him to go fuck himself. But I warmed up to the idea.”
I cringed, squeezing my legs together. “Merrick said you could swap out a nipple piercing if you wanted. I think I might do that.”
“I…well, how honest do you want me to to be?”
Despite my earlier embarrassment about the subject, I recognized this as my opportunity to get first hand information. I wasn’t going to waste that.
“I’d like to know what I’m in for.”
She wiped back her soaked hair. “Well, I ended up loving my clit piercing. It made me a lot more sensitive, which was something I struggled with.”
