Page 41 of Red Retaliation

I want to move away and get as far away as possible, but I can’t.Play the game?“Er, oh... lunch, yes... well... erm... I really should try on the clothes. I’m not sure which ones though an...”

“She’ll take them all.” Red smiles at Sylvia. “Add the total to my account.”

“What? But I...” Red’s hand squeezes a distinct warning, and my protestations tail off.

Entranced by Red’s magnetic presence, Sylvia remains motionless, but when nothing further is said, she realizes that’s her cue to leave. “Thank you, sir. The wedding dress will be delivered first thing in the morning,” she says, all but bowing as she scrapes backwards out of the room.

I feel like I’m melting. One of Red’s hands is still firmly against the small of my back, keeping my body held against his. My heat burnsbrighter. Only a couple of layers of cloth are between my naked form and the hard length pushing against my stomach through his trousers. This also means he can feel the hard points of my nipples through my thin satin wrap.

I somehow keep my smile in place until the door shuts behind Sylvia’s retreating form before wriggling out of Red’s grasp. “What the hell are you playing at? What was that about?”

If he wants to keep hold of me, he can do so easily, but instead, he relinquishes his grip and laughs, infuriating me further.

“We’re getting married, remember? You’re my gorgeous fiancée, who loves me very much. We have to make it look realistic, Arianna.”

I scowl at this arrogant man. “How can I pretend that I want to marryyou? It’s ridiculous! And how can we make it look ‘realistic’ if you’re making it obvious to everyone that you’ve ‘forced’ my hand to score points?”

“Onlyparticularpeople will be told that. The rest of the world will believe it’s real. Luckily, you’re not doing a bad job of making it look authentic.”

His gaze moves to my chest where my nipples betray me, and the throbbing in my core increases.Shit.

“Anyway, I’m not really here to take you for lunch.” Red strolls over to the bed and picks up a pair of lace and satin panties, his thick fingers running over the material.

I snatch the underwear out of his hands. “If there’s nothing else you want, can you please leave?”

Chuckling, Red walks towards the door before turning and nodding back towards the bed. “In my opinion, the red set would look best on you.”

The door shuts behind him, leaving me standing motionless, my arousal still strong. How can he affect me like this?

I sink onto the bed and avoid looking at the underwear, especially the red set, in case I’m tempted to wear it.

CHAPTER

28

Red

ENTERING MY OFFICE, I’m relieved to find only Del present. I’m not sure I want to go round in circles with my brothers about how I’ve decided things will move forward.

I sit down at my desk and pull out my diary, but my mind is on other things. I find myself chuckling over the shocked horror on Arianna’s face when I pulled her into my arms in front of that Harrods woman.

Removing myself from the earlier escalating situation with my brothers was the best thing to do for my spiraling irritation, and going to Arianna’s room proved just the tonic to distract me from the increasing unrest within my ranks. But now I’m not so sure because since seeing her in that silk robe... Then when it fell away for a split second - enough to reveal a glimpse of her flawless skin; a globe of one of her breasts; the curve of her hip...

“What’s going on?”

Startled, I look up, finding Del eyeing me curiously.

Shit, I got sidetracked.“What do you mean?” I close the diary I wasn’t really looking at.

“This business with the girl.” Del regards me with interest. “Is there something else going on that you haven’t mentioned?”

I’m getting fed up with this. Why should I relate every single thing going through my head? Not that there’s anything further to say. “I’ve already told you what the score is where Arianna is concerned. Why should there be anything else?”

Del raises an eyebrow. “Yes, you did say that and also said thispseudo-marriage will be in name only, but... okay, I’ll rephrase that.Willthere be anything going on?”

“No,” I say, probably too quickly. The truth is, I’m no longer sure because I’m not convinced I’ll be able to stop myself if we’re forced into close proximity.

But Ihaveto. After Lorna, I promised myself I’d never allow a woman a place in my life, aside from meaningless one-night stands. And that’s all Arianna could ever be. I’m marrying the woman to rub my enemies’ faces in it - proving I have the upper hand, the power to take what is theirs and have whatever I want,whenI want.