Two Can Play (Celeste and Dominic) novel Chapter 33

Chapter 33

She just stood there staring at me.

“Why are you staring?” I asked.

She shook her head slowly. “You are full of surprises.” She turned back to the racks, her fingers brushing the fabric of a garment, moving along the line of them with the careful attention of a woman who appreciated quality. “But why do you have so many women’s clothes?”

I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms. “They are all for you. From the same designer who made the red dress.”

She pulled out a royal blue pantsuit, held it up, checked the label. Then she reached for another piece. Then another. Her fingers moved to a price tag on a simple silk blouse and she turned her face away sharply.

“Ten million dollars,” she said. The words came out barely audible. “For one blouse.”

I said nothing.

She turned back to look at me. “Chairman of Veil Holdings, huh.”

“Something like that.”

She walked closer. Stopped inches away. Her eyes searched mine with that particular directness she had, the quality that had caught my attention the very first time I looked at her properly.

“Why did you invest so much money in my lab?”

I reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. My fingers stayed a moment longer than necessary against her jaw. “Do not think too much about it. We are playing a game, are we not?” I held her gaze. “Julian invested twelve million dollars and opened a new laboratory for Seraphine. He made her break away from Helix. From you and Pat. He funded the whole thing and paid for everything she needed, quietly, so no one would ask questions.” I let that settle. “I simply returned the favor.”

She stared at me.

The silence stretched.

“Julian did that for Seraphine,” she said. Not a question. The flat tone of a woman watching a picture she had already been suspicious of finally come into full focus.

I nodded.

She smiled. It was a bitter thing, that smile. Wounded underneath and trying hard not to show it. The smile of a woman who had suspected the worst and had just been handed confirmation and was choosing not to fall apart in front of me.

I respected that.

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She looked at me for a long moment, panting, her lips swollen and red. “Me neither.”

I kissed her again, softer this time. Then I smiled against her mouth. “Let us get serious.”

I reached for the body wash and squeezed a generous amount into my palm. The lather was thick and fragrant, sandalwood and something clean underneath it. I spread it across her shoulders, her collarbone, the slope of her breasts. She shivered even in the heat of the water.

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