Cruel Heir: A Dark Mafia Enemies To Lovers Standalone Romance by M. James

Author:M. James [James, M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: PNK Publishing
Published: 2024-01-28T00:00:00+00:00

Lucia,

Please join me tonight in the formal dining room for a special dinner at eight. There will be a box sent up to your room later today, as I’ve arranged this specially for you. I hope you enjoy it.

Andre

I can feel Celeste’s eyes on me as I read it. “It sounds like he’s arranged some kind of date for us,” I choke out, handing her the note. “I don’t understand what’s going on with him. He barely spoke to me last night, and he’s been withdrawn all week. All the flowers, and now this—”

Celeste frowns, setting the note down. “He asked me how much longer before you were—done.” She makes a face. “He stopped me in the hall last night when I passed him. So I suppose it has something to do with that.”

“He doesn’t need to give me gifts and set up a fancy dinner to fuck me. He managed just fine before.” I throw up my hands, utterly confused. “This must just be another one of his mind games.”

“I’d believe that.” Celeste shrugs. “You can’t trust any of it. You know that.”

“I do.” I know that this must all just be another trick, a way for Andre to up the stakes between us. He’s grown bored of making me react to him in bed, finds it too easy now, so he’s trying to win my affection as well. He’s trying to conquer every part of me, not just my body, and I can see that clearly.

I remind myself not to be drawn in by it. Not to let down my guard.

But secretly, I feel a small flicker of anticipation at the idea of what might be in store for me tonight.

—

A box is waiting for me on the bed when I come upstairs at six, just as the note said. I leave it there while I shower and dry my hair, smoothing it out with a straightening iron so that I don’t have to bother Celeste for this. I told her to take as much of the day off as she could manage, trying to make up for the danger that I know I put her in by getting me the pills. There’s nothing I could really do to repay her, but I hope that it’s the thought that matters.

The box is silver, with a white silk ribbon wrapped around it. I almost laugh at the ostentatiousness of it—it feels very much like Andre to make such a show out of this. I wince at the thought as I undo the ribbon. I don’t want to know Andre this well. But I can’t seem to help it. He’s my husband, and we’re getting closer, whether I like it or not. His plan to make me want him as a part of his revenge feels as if it’s backfiring on us both.

Inside, there’s what looks like a pile of silky red fabric. When I take it out, I realize it’s a dress—a goddess-style gown with silver filigreed clasps at the shoulders, open on the sides to the hip, and then again from mid-thigh to the floor.

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