Two Can Play (Celeste and Dominic) novel Chapter 450

I answered on the second ring and made my voice bright. "Hello, Grandmother."

"Tasha, my child." Her voice came through warm and crisp at once. "How are you doing this morning? I hope you are not too exhausted from last night."

"No, Grandmother, I am not exhausted."

"Come now, child. You married Sparrow yesterday. My grandson is a man in the prime of his life, and you are a beautiful girl. I am certain he kept you up all night."

I had not planned to cry. The tears simply arrived, sudden and hot, and the sob that climbed out of my chest shocked me as much as it must have shocked her. All the fury and humiliation I had swallowed since the wedding, the image of Scarlett bent over that couch with my husband inside her, it all came pouring out of me in one broken breath.

"Nothing happened, Grandmother." My voice cracked. "Sparrow did not even touch me last night."

The silence on the other end stretched so long that I pulled the phone away and checked the screen to make sure the call had not dropped. When she spoke again, her voice had gone hard as iron.

"What do you mean, he did not touch you? You are husband and wife now. He should have spent the night in your bed."

"He gave me my own room." I wiped my face with the back of my hand. "He is not interested in me, Grandmother. He is interested in someone else."

"Who? Do not tell me it is that Scarlett girl."

"Then listen to me, child, and listen well. You cannot allow that woman anywhere near your husband. Do you hear me? But first things first. You have to get that man into your bed."

"Into my bed?" I blinked. "Grandmother, he will not even look at me."

"Men are easy to control, Tasha. Every one of them, from the richest king to the poorest beggar, is ruled by his appetites, and once you understand that, you hold the reins." She paused, letting it settle. "And you, child, are beautiful. You are young and fresh and untouched, and that is a weapon most women would kill for. Once you get Sparrow into your bed, he will forget Scarlett completely. A man moves on so easily once a new flame catches light."

"But how do I get him into my bed if he will not come near me?"

"You do not wait for him to come to you. That is where you have been going wrong. You have been hiding in your room like a frightened mouse while that woman parades herself in front of him. Do you think a man like Sparrow took an interest in her by accident? No. She showed herself to him. She made herself impossible to ignore. You must do the same."