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Enzo clears his throat before leaning over to whisper something into Kylian’s ear.

“I’ve been told you’re interested in joining the art scene, why the sudden move away from finance?”

“Well, ever since he and Theresa started dating, he’s been taking a bigger interest in the arts, so I convinced him…” Gabriel starts speaking on my behalf, and I roll my eyes before allowing him to continue.

“C’mon, Theá, you’re being so antisocial on your phone.” Kylian’s whispers to his sister has my ears pricking up as I try to look focused on the scene in front of me.

“I’m just here for show. No one cares if I’m social or not.”

“I do. It’s disrespectful; these men would be a great addition to our business. Put your phone away.”

I want to ram my fist into his face for thinking he can order aroundmy wifelike this, but I bite my tongue when I hear her fire back.

“Is that what we’re calling this now? A business? Stop speaking to me like I’m a clueless little girl. I’m three years older than you, and I’ve seen enough to know I do not want to participate in tonight’s events.”

I cough to cover my chuckle, but when I look over and see Kylian shooting daggers my way, I know I’ve done a futile job.Oh well.

I glance down at Theresa’s phone. Now having the perfect view of her screen, and I all but groan when I read the words on it.

“…his tongue makes contact with my core, licking a stripe up between my folds before he groans, savouring my taste. “Fuck,” I gasp out in what sounds more like a squeak…”

Good God. I clench my jaw. The way she’s able to sit here surrounded by people and not even react to the filthy words she’s reading is astounding.

But then she squirms slightly, and I realise that maybe she’s not as unaffected by those words as she seems.

“Are these the type of events you’d rather participate in?” I whisper in her ear, and her thumb freezes as it’s about to swipe to the next page. “You’re really sitting at this table looking so unaffected while reading that?”

She stays still. No answer. But the shiver that rips through her a second later is the only confirmation I need.

“Well, let’s see just how good you are at looking so unaffected.”

Chapter eighteen

Theá

I’mfloodedwithicewhen Antonio pulls the arm that was resting behind me away.

What already felt like an incredibly boring and isolating dinner just got worse. If it weren’t for my very spicy K-pop idol x fan romance, I would’ve probably died of boredom by now. And even I can tell Antonio doesn’t want to be here. He’s barely involved in the conversation except for a few sentences that don’t extend beyond five or six words.

The way his fingers would play with my hair absent-mindedly made the scene more bearable, but now that’s gone, too, and I can’t help but wonder what he’s up to.

The waiter from earlier returns, and immediately, Antonio is pressed tightly into my side.

“What are you going to have to eat?” he asks, his voice so low that it feels like such a private and intimate conversation rather than him simply asking me about my food order.

I’m craving pasta, but I’ve been to enough of these dinners to know what’s expected from women, and salads are usually the safer bet.

“Just theSalade Niçoise.”

“Theresa, that’s not going to fill you,” he says firmly. I look up at him and expect stern eyes, but instead, they seem genuinely concerned. “Don’t you want to try the lemon and capers pasta? I know you like pickles?”

I swallow back the weird feeling brewing in my stomach that he somehow managed to remember that. My stomach, however, agrees with his question and grumbles audibly at the thought.

A small chuckle leaves his lips. “I’ll take that as a yes. Any starters?”

A starter and pasta? My past self would be so envious. “I’m oka—"

“Maybe we could share the pasta and get another so we can try two different kinds?”