Page 83

“Is that it? Good to know. I’ll mix it into my vows. Just you wait.”

“The vows you’re writing in French?”

“Okay,thatwas a joke.”

“Aw. I would have loved that.”

“I’ll throw some in for you.”

“Helen…” Monique sat on the edge of her bed. “Thank you. For everything.”

“Don’t thank me yet, Princess. I’ve still got a few more things up my sleeve.”

It was that kind of talk that made Monique impatient. In this case, impatient for anything and everything Helen Warren wanted to give her favorite woman in the world.

Chapter 26

To Have and to Collar

Chapter 26

Monique sat in a dressing room in the East Wing of Warner Manor. The corset clung to her figure. Her throat was bare. She peered into a mirror, outlining her look with sleek black eyeliner that made her look sultrier than she actually was.If I don’t knock her off her feet when I walk out there, I’ve failed. She wasn’t too worried.

Her shoulders shivered from the air conditioner. The white blazer hung on the back of her chair, but she didn’t want to put it on until the time came to leave the room.

Just as she put in the first earring, someone knocked on the door.

At first, it startled her. Who was coming to call? Helen wouldn’t dare. Was it a butler with a missive? Something she forgot? Then the knock came again, harder. She wasn’t exactlysure how she knew, but Monique was confident that Etta Coleman stood on the other side.

Sure enough, Etta peeped in, asking if Monique was decent.As decent as I can be in this getup. Even if Monique were shy, she didn’t have anything Etta hadn’t seen before. She took heart in that when Etta closed the door and approached, hands resting on Monique’s chair.

“You are gorgeous.” Etta was dressed in one of her finest Italian suits, a kerchief poking from her front pocket and silver cufflinks adorning her wrists. The scent of her cologne took Monique back to the days of being with her and Jacqueline at the same time. At leastherscent didn’t give Monique bad memories. “That woman doesn’t know how lucky she is.”

Monique smiled into the mirror, jewelry dangling from her ear and brushing against her shoulder. “Oh, I think she has a good idea.” She looked up at her reflection. “To what do I owe this pleasure, Ms. Coleman?”

Her hand brushed against Monique’s skin, lingering in her curls and pulling some form of debris from its tendrils. It was not the touch of a lover, or a woman making an advance. It was, however, affectionate, and Monique felt the most relaxed she had experienced in a long time.

“I wanted to see the lovely bride before I gave her away.”

Monique rolled her eyes. “I’m not a bride. And nobody gives me away.”

Etta was there as her witness. She could have invited someone else, like June, but Monique instantly thought of Etta the moment Helen suggested that they bring one witness each to the ceremony. Etta had seen her at her lowest. She had helped rescue Monique from the abuses she endured. She even cut ties with her best friend – and ended their business partnership – in the aftermath. For Monique.Because she cared about me…

Etta understood her heart and mind better than anyone Monique currently knew. If anyone was going to speak for her at her collaring ceremony, it was Ms. Coleman.A part of me is still in love with her, I guess.Monique never felt for her the passionate, heartbreaking love she once felt for Jacqueline and now Helen. She and Etta knew how to please each other in the bedroom, but they were nothing more than friends outside of it.

“You may not be a bride,” Etta said, picking up the diamond tennis bracelet laid out on the vanity and taking Monique by the hand, “but you look like a beautiful one.”

She wrapped the bracelet around Monique’s wrist and latched it together. After turning it so it faced the right way up, Monique said, “You’re too kind. You’re quite handsome yourself.”

“I wanted to look good for your big day. I haven’t been to a collaring ceremony since…”

Monique pursed her lips. “Since my last one.”

“I didn’t mean to bring it up.”

“It’s fine, Etta.” She stood, fixing her hair in the mirror and motioning for Etta to help her with the blazer. “Nothing can bring me down today.”

The smooth sleeves of the jacket brushed against her arms as her shoulders were covered. Etta helped pull her hair back and rub out the creases in the blazer.I almost look formal.Minus the fact she wore no pants. She did, however, purchase a pair of white heels for the occasion.