Page 34 of The Lies We Tell

Matteo twisted his watch around his wrist, something he seemed to do when he was thinking. “I’ll make it work. One hour,” he added, rising from the table and striding from the room.

Tessa sat staring after him. Her father wanted another meeting soon, and this was the perfect opportunity. But the idea of meeting with him with Matteo close by had knots twisting in her stomach. She didn’t know if she could keep Matteo safe. More importantly, she didn’t know why she wanted to.

True to his word, Matteo came to collect her within the hour. Leading her to his car with a hand on the small of her back, he held the door open and waited for her to position herself inside before closing it and rounding the hood.

They rode in silence, but he indulged her request to find something on the radio. And even though he gripped the steering wheel with tense fingers and gritted his teeth, he didn’t demand she shut it off.

The boutique was busier than she expected, but Matteo nodded to the driver of an SUV she hadn’t noticed had been following them as they crossed the parking lot. He’d arranged for backup, knowing they were close to her father’s compound, and she wondered if it was for her safety or his.

The bell over the door greeted them with a cheerful ding when they pushed inside, and she sighed at the array of colorful clothes in every size. A friend had introduced her to this shop a few years ago, and it had been a lifesaver. Shopping only online was a pain in the ass.

She wandered over to the closest rack of sweaters in bright colors and flipped through them until she found one in a pretty golden yellow and another in deep purple.

Another display of tops caught her eye, and she grabbed a beautiful silk blouse with lace overlay from the hanger. Holding it up to her chest, she studied her reflection in the mirror across the room. It would either fit perfectly or pull too tightly across her breasts.

She didn’t imagine Matteo’s patience for this trip extended to trying things on, so she put it back. Best to stick with things she knew would fit so they could get in and get out. Her father hadn’t responded to her text about being nearby, and the longer it took, the more she found herself wishing she could avoid him altogether.

Matteo followed behind her as she browsed, watching her carefully but saying nothing. He never looked away when she caught him staring, only grinned or raised a brow or nodded in approval. There was something intoxicating about having his undivided attention.

After amassing a stack of clothes that would last her at least a few months, she carried them to the counter and handed them to the clerk.

“This purple will look beautiful with your skin tone,” the woman said as she rang it up and folded it. Tessa thought she heard Matteo murmur in agreement behind her. “We have a dress in this color I think would look stunning on you if you’d like to try it on.”

“Oh, I don’t think—”

“You should,” Matteo insisted.

Tessa peeked at him over her shoulder. “I don’t have much need for a dress.”

Matteo lifted a brow. “Humor me.”

Without waiting for Tessa to agree, the clerk scurried off in search of the dress. “Here we are,” the woman said, holding the dress up like a prize. “Fitting rooms are back this way.”

Before Tessa could follow, Matteo moved in closer, leaning down to whisper in her ear. “I have to check in with Alexei, but I want to see it on you before we leave.”

“Is that an order?”

He grinned. “Yes. It is.”

She shivered when he stepped away, her heart thumping in her chest. The way he could turn her insides to molten heat with a few words was unsettling. When she rounded the corner for the fitting rooms, the clerk was waiting with a smile.

“I set a few other items inside I think you might like in case you want to try those on too.”

Tessa spotted the silk and lace blouse she’d seen earlier, as well as a few other tops and a skirt. When had the woman even had time to grab those things? Tessa stepped into the little room and closed the flimsy door before stripping out of her top and reaching for the silk and lace blouse.

It was nice but, as predicted, stretched too tightly across her breasts, creating hills and valleys in the fabric. An ever-present curse. Carefully peeling it off, she folded it and placed it in a separate pile before reaching for the next one. She was just pulling it on over her head when the door burst open and a man with a ball cap pulled low to hide his face pushed inside.

“What the fuck are you doing in here?” she demanded. “Get ou—”

A hand clamped down over her mouth, silencing the rest of her words, and she was shoved flat against the wall of the small cubicle.

“Shut up, it’s only me,” her father said, voice low. “Miss me?” He chuckled when she wrenched her face free from his grasp.

“You could have knocked. What if I was naked?”

He balled his hand into a fist by her head. “Two weeks away from my firm hand and you’ve already got a mouth on you. Do you need another lesson?” Swallowing hard, she shook her head. “I didn’t think so. What do you have for me?”

“They’re doing something in Russia,” she said quickly, needing him gone before Matteo returned to see her in that dress.

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