The slits up my legs were high enough that my thighs would be on display but the dress hugged my waist and breasts in all the right places too. His stare raked up and down once, twice, three times and hovered where the dress fit snugly. “The blue matches your eyes,ragazza. You’re breathtaking.”
I yanked my heart back from running toward him when he murmured his compliment. “You have to say that after I spent hours in here getting ready.”
“I don’t. But I want to anyway.” He took a large breath and closed his eyes with his next admission. “I won’t enjoy practicing restraint tonight.”
“What do you mean by that, Bastian?” I asked, wanting to make sure I didn’t do something stupid like kiss him again.
He shook his head. “Nothing. Nothing. What more do you have to do to get ready?”
Back to the man who kept it all together, I sighed and turned to my drawer to pull out five crystals. “Do you think we need poise tonight?”
“For the board members?” He shrugged against the doorframe.
“Sure.” I didn’t wait for him to answer and swiped two back into the drawer. “These three will do. Sexuality, beauty, and determination.”
“Sexuality? Really?” His brow slammed down like he had something more to say about that.
“Well, yeah. For being on men’s arms. I need to look better than the women on your arms in the past and look good on Bradley’s, right? I’m selling the view, am I not?”
His jaw worked before he backed away from me. He didn’t comment. He just mumbled that a driver would be downstairs for me when I was ready. I left the penthouse without saying another word to him.
I rode quietly in the back of the SUV to get Bradley and he stood there in a black suit that didn’t quite fit the way Bastian’s always did. He’d never been good at wearing them. He belonged on a beach in board shorts and not much else. “This good?”
“It’s great, Bradley.” I patted his shoulder as he entered the SUV Bastian had arranged for Dante to drive for us. “Thanks for coming with me.”
“What happened to your guy?”
“It’s complicated.” I almost combed a hand through my hair, then remembered I’d curled it around my face for tonight.
No beaded bracelets or boots to wear either. I wore strappy black heels and had a small purse that fit just my phone, a few cards, and the crystals.
“Does being complicated mean you’re still with him, Mo?” Bradley asked.
I glanced away and wrinkled my nose. “I’m probably using you a little tonight.”
“What, like a rebound?” He chuckled. Then he held up a finger. “No wait. Please tell me this is a revenge fuck. I’d love to get that out of it.”
Dante sighed from the driver’s seat as he maneuvered onto the busy roads.
“Bradley.” I rolled my eyes. “You should feel bad I’m doing this. I feel bad I’m doing this.”
“What for?” He shrugged and put his arm around me to pull me close. “We’ve always used each other for sex. It’s not like that was going anywhere. You’re too much like me for that.”
“What do you mean?” I jerked back to glare at him. “I’m not like you.”
“Of course you are. We never move from the water and we’re not quick to commit. You’re a lot like your parents in that way. They never said they’d do anything. Remember the way your dad would navigate out of any responsibility, and no one even knew he was doing it? He was such a charming guy. Man, I wish I had that same skill.”
He laughed at the memory. I winced at it.
So many times my dad would sugarcoat an exit, with offers to bring me back candy or a jacket or something I’d been begging for for months. I’d loved him so much when he was there. Both him and my mom looked at me like I was their world. I believed it too until they packed a bowl, shot up in their arms, and took their bus somewhere new.
Even that last time they were home, I think I held onto hope. My father had said he’d be home in a jiffy and I was fifteen but I still asked to go with.
I’d begged them, but my grandmother was done. She’d quit talking to them. She took my arm and pulled me inside. I heard her telling them to stop the bullshit and not come back if they couldn’t stay. I screamed at her for that.
Then, only days later, I cried with her when she told me that they’d crashed their bus.
“Like my parents?” I whispered, not able to let go of his words. They sliced at me, leaving a wake of pain.