manage to last until we say our good-byes. The moment I’m in the elevator with Diego, Jovan, and Marcella, I feel like I might collapse and fall asleep. Everyone seems a little more relaxed, but the looks Diego gives me when he thinks I’m not paying attention are dark and intense. I feel those eyes all over me, reminding me of the places his hands touched. I’m hot all over, embarrassed, confused, and wrung dry. On top of all that my body is still shaky and hot, arousal growing stronger instead of tapering off. Being in an enclosed space with Diego is wreaking havoc on my senses, and there won’t be relief any time soon. My life is about him now, and even when I can’t see Diego I can smell him, sense him … feel him.
I may not survive, and not because of Diego’s threat. I don’t know how long I can go on like this before I explode.
Marcella returns to the car she arrived in, leaving me and Diego alone in his car on the way home. The privacy screen is up between us and Jovan, making the car seem smaller. I stare through the window at the moonlit night, trying to pretend Diego isn’t here.
It’s not working. His smell rubbed off on me when we kissed, and it’s as if he’s become a part of me. I’m so aware of him it’s uncanny.
“You did well tonight.”
The sudden break in silence startles me, and my heart gallops as I look at him. He’s watching me, but his eyes don’t betray any of his thoughts. He’s a brick wall again—immovable and unreadable.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
He reaches into his pocket and retrieves his cell phone. “Your associate has been texting to check up on you. Answer her, ask how things are going at Belleza. Don’t try anything stupid or there will be consequences.”
I accept the phone, giving him a surprised look. I never told him the name of my boutique outright, which means he was listening when I was talking to Oleg.
Diego smirks. “Yes, gatita, I was listening. You are proud of what you have accomplished, as you should be. I’m sure it wasn’t easy.”
“No,” I agree. “And yes … I am proud.”
“Continue performing as you did tonight, and your next reward will be better than this one. Things don’t have to be unpleasant between us, Elena. If you behave, I can be very generous.”
I pause in the middle of my text. “I thought this was a one-time thing.”
Diego shakes his head. “Not if I know Oleg. He won’t be happy just seeing us together once. When he pulled me aside tonight, he asked if we were serious. I told him we had just started living together.”
There’s humor in his voice, which makes me let out a dry laugh. “Well, it’s not exactly a lie, is it?”
“Now that Oleg has hosted us in his home, the polite thing for me to do is return the favor. We’ll have a dinner or something and keep up our charade until Oleg is content to move forward without requiring me to marry his daughter.”
I don’t reply right away, finishing up my message to Tracy. Since I’m in Diego’s good graces, I don’t say anything risky. I keep it light and simple, assuring Tracy that I’m all right and asking her how business is before telling her I’ll return to work soon. Diego reads over the text before sending it.
I want to ask him if I’m lying to Tracy, or if he’ll ever allow me to go back to Belleza. But I don’t want to push my luck. If I can earn other privileges, then I can figure out a way for him to let me run my business. I just need to wait for the right time.
“Is this how it’s always done?” I ask instead. “Arranged marriages? It seems really … old-fashioned.”
“As a group, mafia men are old-fashioned. But, no, it’s not typical. Most marriages happen within mafia families, not between them. The exceptions are situations like this—when two families are trying to work out an alliance.”
“It doesn’t seem fair to either of you.”
“In this business, fairness is rarely part of the equation. It’s about men trying to gain the most they can without giving up too much ground.”
“So, you’re telling me this is really a dick-measuring contest?”
Diego gives one of those strained half-smiles. “Precisely. Oleg just needs a little more time to understand who has the bigger dick.”