Page 25 of Vow of Obsession (A New Reign #1)

Chapter Twenty-Five

TOVA

“ I have a confession.” I glance down at my phone sitting on my sewing table, wondering what the hell Marks is about to confess.

I have her on speaker since I’m alone in Warren and my bedroom.

We often will leave our phones open and talk to each other while doing other things.

Today I’m sewing pockets onto a new summer dress Cosima had gotten.

It was beyond flattering when she asked me to do it.

Cosima loves fashion, but her stuff is super fancy.

I worried about altering a dress that likely cost two thousand dollars.

Especially adding pockets to it. My only comfort was knowing if I mess it up, Warren can use those stocks he told me about to fix it.

“Are you going to say it?” I ask when Marks remains silent. I swear she is so dramatic when she has news. She loves to dangle it for a bit before she divulges the goods.

“I’m obsessed with male thighs.” Marks lets out a dramatic sigh. “Why are they so hot?” I can’t argue with that. “I could hump a thigh.” I burst into laughter. “It’s not funny! I don’t want to be into thighs.” I can’t help the images of Warren's thick, muscular thighs that flash through my head.

“It’s human nature, I think I read that.” I could be wrong. “It has to do with thrusting and sex. The power is in the thighs.”

“Okay, that’s great and all. I understand that, but I like them hairy! What about that gross part?”

“Is it gross if it turns you on?”

“Hmm. I don’t know.” I can hear her shifting around. “You know, people with some kinks like getting peed on, do they think it’s gross?”

“How would I know?” How do we end up in these conversations?

"You're the one who is having all the sex." My cheeks warm at her comment. I have been having lots of sex. I wiggle in my seat, thinking about Warren waking me with his mouth and then his cock.

"It's vanilla sex." It's not that I'm complaining.

We're still getting the hang of it. It's been a week, and my mind is still trying to process that Warren was a virgin too.

I mean, it makes sense with how he can be and his personality, but he didn't fuck me like a virgin.

But then again, what the hell do I know?

"Still more than I'm having."

"Maybe that's why you're obsessed with thighs. This came out of nowhere."

"Right," Marks says way too quickly.

"It didn't?"

"I don't want to talk about it." She huffs. "I gotta go. I got a project to finish for work."

"Text me later." We say our goodbyes, but I can't help but think something is up with my best friend. She has been distracted lately.

I finish the last few stitches of the second pocket.

I check the dress over, happy with my work.

I grab it, taking it downstairs to find Cosima, but first I'm going to swing by Warren's office and steal a kiss.

I hear soft murmurs when I enter the hallway that leads toward the front entry where Warren's office is.

I pause when I see a handful of girls around my age lingering in the entryway. What the hell is going on? I watch a blond girl leave Warren's open office doors before Brian, one of his men, motions for another to enter. I can’t help the jealousy that rears up inside of me.

Since Warren and I are on this effective communication kick, I decide that I’m going to find out exactly what’s going on. I make my way to where the girls are congregated. Gone are the days that I don’t ask questions around here.

A few of the girls standing in line look at me. I paste on my friendliest smile even though I’m not feeling very friendly at the moment. I slide in behind them, hoping Brian is too distracted to notice.

A few seconds later, I see Cosima about to walk by, but she pauses too. Her brows furrow together, and I’m sure she’s wondering the same thing I am. When she spots me, she comes to stand next to me.

“What’s happening?” she whispers.

“Not a clue. That's what I’m trying to figure out.”

Cosima's lips press together, and she doesn’t appear happy. She stares at me; her eyes shift back and forth to the girl next to us, silently telling me to talk to her. I give her a hard stare right back, telling her to do it.

“Holy shit, who is that? He's fucking hot,” a girl behind me says to another. I follow her line of sight and now see Z; he too appears perplexed about what is happening here.

“Cosima,” he barks, making half of us jump. Z is always calm and kind of funny for the most part.

“What did you do?” I ask without moving my mouth so Z can’t tell I’m talking to her.

“Who knows? I breathe, and he’s got a fucking problem with it.”

“Watch your mouth.” Z eyes all the girls.

“How about you watch your eyes?" Cosima snaps back at him, causing everyone to turn and see what is happening.

"Someone can't watch their own eyes," the girl who called Z hot says with a smugness that I know is to dig at Cosima and try to get Z's attention. Cosima swings around to face the girl but doesn't get a chance to respond to her. Z beats her to it.

"How about you mind your own fucking business and get the fuck out of here?" He points toward the double front doors. The girl lets out a small gasp.

"I'm here to see Warren. I was invited."

"Okay, yeah, you can leave."

Her nose scrunches. "And who are you?" Her eyes roam me up and down.

"The lady of the house." Isn't that what Marcello called me? It's so ridiculous that I can't help but laugh. I can't believe I said that.

"Yes, she's the lady of the house." Cosima folds her arms over her chest.

"You." Z points to the girl. "Get gone or I'll have you physically removed." His finger swings over to Cosima. "You stay put."

"You stay put," Cosima mimics while rolling her eyes. I see a tic form in Z's jaw.

"Whatever. I didn't want to be friends with whoever this girl is. I only wanted to see Warren Marino." The girl stomps toward the front door, her heels loud on the marble flooring.

"I'll go see what the hell is going on." Z spins on his heels, heading into Warren's office. Cosima and I glance at each other before we quickly follow after him. We want to know too.

"I'll move all I want," Cosima mutters under her breath. Since when did she and Z have so many issues? I remember them getting along years ago.

"The hell are you talking about?" Z is staring at Warren.

"I'm doing interviews." Warren stands when he sees me enter his office. I go straight to him.

“Do you need an assistant?” I can’t see Warren having an assistant, but he might need one for paperwork.

He doesn’t speak a ton about his work, but he works from home more often than not.

But I do want to know why all the girls are all around my age from what I could tell.

Why isn’t there a mix of people of different ages?

“No.” Warren sits back down in his chair, pulling me into his lap.

“I can assist you.” I play with the collar of his buttoned-up shirt, undoing the top button.

“You do enough.” He kisses my cheek.

“This is really sweet and really gross,” Cosima says while watching us.

“I told you to stay put.” Z shakes his head. “You never listen.”

“You don’t get to tell me what to do!” The two of them glare at each other.

“When do you go back to school?” Z asks her. Cosima flinches like he struck her.

“Like you don’t know. And why are you even here? The wedding is over. Why don’t you scurry back to your bachelor pad?”

“I’m here because I have to keep an eye on you.”

“I’m an adult. I don’t need you to keep an eye on me.”

“You don’t act like it,” he fires back. Both Warren and I watch them, our heads swinging back and forth to see what will be said next. I honestly have no clue who will win this showdown, but I get a sense that there really won’t be a winner.

“Both of you knock it off,” Warren tells them.

“Yeah, let's get back to why there is a herd of young girls in the entryway.” I turn my attention back to my husband.

"Wait until you hear this," Z mutters. Warren must have told him before Cosima and I followed him.

"What?"

"I had a group of women your age vetted, and these are the ones that were cleared to come for the interview."

"Vetted?" I have no clue where Warren is going with this.

"Screened. I had them looked into and portfolios made," Warren says as though this is supposed to clear everything up for me.

"For what?" Why is it so hard to get an answer when Z got it in seconds?

"I'm interviewing possible friends for you."

I stare at my husband. It takes me a few seconds to even comprehend his explanation. And once I do, I’m still unsure if I heard him correctly.

"What the hell?" Cosima whispers. I'm sure her mind is as boggled as mine.

"You're interviewing possible friends for me?" I repeat, wanting to make sure I have this right.

"You said Marks was your best and only friend." Warren shrugs as though him holding interviews to find me new friends isn’t the most outlandish thing.

"Oh my God." Cosima starts to laugh.

"Are you trying to find me new friends overall? Which is insane," I quickly add. "Or are you trying to replace Marks?" While I think his actions are the most adorable thing I’ve ever heard, I’m starting to suspect they aren’t just to get me new friends.

"If a better so-called friend comes along, then I'm sure that person would then take this best friend spot. No?"

"I can't." Cosima laughs even harder, practically doubling over at this point.

"Warren." I take his handsome face in my hands. "That is not how that works. You don't interview friends."

"Why not?"

"Friends happen naturally." Holy crap, I love this man. He really does want to make me happy so he can keep me right next to him.

“I can be her friend, but you won’t let her go anywhere.” Cosima is quick to chime in.

“You don’t need to shop every two seconds,” Z tells her.

“And you don’t need to run your mouth every two seconds either, but here we are. Why are you not shutting the fuck up?”