Page 37 of Heartless Sinner

I took a deep, shaking breath. I was going to be publicly introduced, to other undoubtedly powerful families, as Vincent Russo’s future wife. I was going to enter a level of society I’d never thought I would aspire to. I was going to have to make a good impression—and there would be no going back on this marriage deal once it was public.

Could I do this? Could I handle myself, and trust Vince, and convince him to trust me? He clearly thought I was trustworthy enough, and he needed a wife enough, that he was going ahead and introducing me to others. But that meant I had to represent him, and I… was I going to be good enough?

You have to be good enough. There was no other option.

I took a shower, styled my hair, and got dressed. The necklace that Vince had given me sat perfectly on my chest, just below the hollow of my throat. It was just the sort of thing I’d pick out for myself.

He’d known me so well, right from the start.

“Marla?” I heard Vince enter—he had to know I was here, since Jack was here. “You ready?”

I stepped out of the bathroom. Vince was in the process of throwing one shirt off and grabbing another one from the closet, evidently the suit he was going to wear tonight. “I’m ready,” I said, my voice softer and shyer than I wanted.

Vince turned to look at me and his eyes went dark. I even saw his jaw go a little slack.

Feeling a surge of confidence, I turned around slowly, showing off every angle of the dress for him. “What do you think?”

“Is your makeup done?” Vince asked.

That was an odd question. “I still need to put on lipstick…”

“Good.” His voice was a growl as he dropped his suit on the bed and strode over to me, yanking me against him and kissing me, deep and filthy. Lips and tongue and teeth clashing.

I shivered, clinging to him, enjoying his possessiveness. If nothing else, we were certainly enjoying each other physically.

“I’m tempted to just have you now and damn the dinner,” Vince murmured, his lips brushing against mine.

“But I thought you wanted to introduce me to Murder Inc.’s high society?” I replied in a teasing tone.

As tempting as it was to have him throw me onto the bed and have his way with me, I had put a lot of work into looking this good, and I kind of wanted to get this party over with.

Vince hummed, his fingers stroking down my throat to the necklace. “You look good in the things I picked out for you,” he murmured. “Speaking of which…”

He went over to a pair of jeans, which he’d clearly been wearing earlier and discarded, and pulled a small velvet box out of the pocket. “What sort of fiancé would I be if I didn’t give you a ring?”

My heart started to race and my face went hot. It was ridiculous. This man wasn’t in love with me and I wasn’t in love with him, why did I have to get all flustered at the idea of him giving me an engagement ring?

Clearly the good sex was just messing with my head.

Vince didn’t get down on one knee, but he stepped in close to me, only a few inches between us, the small velvet box held in his fingers. He opened it slowly, and I found my breath catching.

It was a diamond ring, with small diamonds along the band. The band itself became a swirl in the center, like overlapping ribbons, all of them surrounding a larger gem in the middle—this one blue.

“I figured you wouldn’t want me to be too traditional,” Vince said, his voice low and intimate. “So I went with a blue diamond for the center.”

A blue diamond. Holy shit.

“It matches your eyes,” Vince added, under his breath, as if he wasn’t quite sure if he should say that out loud or not.

My throat closed up unexpectedly, and I could only nod. I held my hand out, and Vince slid the ring onto my finger. It fit beautifully and I found that my eyes were wet.

“You all right?” Vince put his hands gently on my shoulders, searching my eyes.

I didn’t know how to say all that I was feeling. How could he be so romantic and thoughtful to me? He wasn’t supposed to be like this. He wasn’t supposed to pay attention to what I liked, he wasn’t supposed to care, he was supposed to be distant and aggressive and let me tell him when he was fucking up, he was supposed to just give me a credit card and have us stay in separate bedrooms.

He wasn’t supposed to be someone that made me want our relationship to be real.

“It’s beautiful,” I said instead of admitting all the other thoughts swirling around my head.

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