Arranged(37)

I turned. She was standing right there. I wondered exactly what she’d heard. I felt color climb up my cheeks in a guilty flush, but I told myself that I didn’t care. She deserved everything I’d said. It was nothing but the brutal truth.

“May I go?” she asked with quiet composure. It made me want to shake her.

“No,” I said, feeling cruel. “Go earn your keep and mingle with my friends.”

Without a word, she turned away.

“And Noura,” I called out, voice hard, dick harder.

She turned to look at me. Her eyes were insolent.

It made me wild.

“Yes, husband?” There was a bite to her words.

She had some spirit. I found that almost unbearably provocative.

It made me lash out all the harder. “I know this is asking a lot, but try your best not to embarrass me.”

Something fascinating happened to her face. It barely moved, but her eyes snapped at me, and her lips trembled.

I couldn’t tell if I’d broken her spirit or lit a fire in her. Why did I perversely want to do both?

“Is that all?” she shot back.

I raked my eyes over her, top to bottom. Her nipples were erect, and it was visible through her top.

Well, hadn’t that backfired in a hurry?

“No,” I drawled. “You may be a whore, but you’re my whore. Stop flirting with Bradley.”

Without another word, she turned and walked away.

“Jesus, Banks,” Preston sounded shocked. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Her. She’s what’s wrong.

“You’re going to have to get over this.”

“You’re not the one who had to marry some dumb model.”

“Do you even know that she’s dumb? One thing I know for a fact about your father, he would not allow you to breed with someone with a low IQ.”

I knew he was right about that one small point. I even knew that I had access to all of her information, from her shoe size to her SAT scores, but stubbornly I refused to look at it.

“Did you see that picture she posted a few weeks ago?” I changed the subject.

Preston nearly choked on his drink. I glared at him. That was answer enough. “Stop following her on social media, you fucking pervert,” I ground out.

His eyes tried to bug out of his head. “I only follow her because I thought it was the polite thing to do. I was the best man at your wedding!”

“How sweet. Well, stop. And you better not have that fucking picture saved on your phone.”

“You’ve lost your mind.”

He probably had a point.





CHAPTER





SIXTEEN





NOURA


For some reason I could not fathom why my husband drove back with me to my apartment. I even got past my helpless rage enough to speak to him once. “Will you be staying at my apartment tonight?” Because why the hell else was he in my car?

He didn’t bother to look at me. “No. I’m going home. I need sleep. I haven’t had a solid night of rest for days, and I know I’ll sleep better in my own bed.”

Fair enough. Good riddance. I wanted free of his company ASAP. It was nothing but a relief.

It was also a relief to catch him letting loose that hateful tirade at my expense, I told myself. I’d been going a little soft for him. Can’t have that. I knew deep in my gut that I couldn’t show him an ounce of weakness. Showing your belly to your enemy was always a stupid move.

I bid him a cursory goodnight. He didn’t bother to respond or so much as look my way. Asshole.

Chester escorted me up to my apartment in silence. I knew he had opinions about my husband and my marriage, but he always had the grace to keep them to himself. I knew there had to be some conflict of interest there.

Jovie was still awake. I let her coax me out of my foul mood. It didn’t take long. She braided my hair while we watched an episode of our latest K-drama and told me a story about a runway show she’d done where they’d made all of the models dress like terrifying clowns.

Eventually the tension in my shoulders and the clenching of my fists eased enough that I warmed up enough to share. I gave her an edited version of the night. I left out my jerk of a husband’s words and all the things not fit for fourteen-year-old ears. She agreed that my husband’s privileged rich girl friends were all skanky bitches and hoes. Her company was just what the doctor ordered. I reflected, not for the first time, how lucky it was that we’d found each other.

We called it quits after about an hour. I felt worlds better, courtesy of my newly adopted baby model. Jovie had acclimated to sleeping by herself, mostly, and she gave me a big hug before skipping to my spare room which was now firmly her room. I wondered to myself how long she’d stay with me and secretly hoped it was indefinitely. Sometimes you don’t realize how lonely you are until you find just the right company.

I went to bed alone and with a smile on my face.

I woke up in the dead of night, hot and bothered.

And I wasn’t alone.

Calder’s large form was stretched out on top of me, his arms bracing tightly outside of mine, bracketing me in. The thin T-shirt I’d gone to bed in was gone. My panties were gone, too. I was completely bare.