Shaughan walks me into the showroom and I cringe. I’m supposed to pick out an entire houseful of furniture and I have zero clue on where to start. I was not schooled in décor or style. I know one thing and one thing only, and that is not which brand of sofa is a better quality than the other.

“Shaw,” a woman practically squeals.

I watch her walk as quickly as she can in her four-inch heels toward Shaughan. She throws her arms around his neck and presses her lips to his. His hands automatically wrap around her waist as he returns her excited kiss.

Shaughan sets her down on her feet as she asks what he’s doing here. “Buying furniture, baby.”

“For what?” she questions.

Shaughan looks over at me and I watch as her body goes completely still at the sight of me. I’m wearing a pair of jeans and one of my loose t-shirts. Clothes shopping is next on my list, but Shaughan is putting it off, and I don’t blame him one bit, I really don’t want to go either.

“Hi, I’m Giovanna,” I say, offering my hand.

The woman looks at my outstretched hand, then up at my face, then back down at my hand again. “Keanna, this is Aidan’s new woman,” Shaughan introduces.

Her eyes widen, and she takes my hand, albeit reluctantly. “Aidan’s new woman,” she says slowly, as our hands pump up and down a few times.

“She needs an entire house, everything but the master bedroom,” he announces.

Keanna’s hand falls from my grasp and she looks from me to Shaughan, then back to me. “Okay, what’s your style, then?”

I can tell just in the tightness of her voice that something is wrong. I chatter away, nervously telling her that I have no clue, but I want Aidan to feel comfortable in whatever we decide. She snorts but doesn’t otherwise verbally respond.

It doesn’t take long for me to become a bit more comfortable as I walk around the store and look at the different styles of furniture. I decide on modern and comfortable with clean lines and neutral colors, mostly medium colored grays.

“I’m going to head to the restroom,” I say, once I’ve made all of my big decisions on the house. I quickly walk away from Shaughan and Keanna, the tension between them so thick that I can actually taste it.

I spend as much time as I can in the restroom, without it being too long. Looking at myself in the mirror I let out a breath. I don’t know what’s really happening here. The future is nothing but a bunch of unknowns and it makes me nervous.

A week ago, I would have guessed that he would keep me locked up in this house, away from his everyday life, but then he introduced me to his children. Now, I’m not sure. I don’t want to hold out hope that my dreams are on the brink of becoming a reality, but I’m giddy at the idea, completely unbelievably giddy. I can’t contain my excitement and I just know that I’ll end up devastated, but I don’t care.

Leaving the bathroom, I walk out and am surprised to see Keanna standing across from the door. I step out and bite my bottom lip with nervousness.

“Shaughan and I are engaged. I didn’t know he was spending time with you. I’m sorry if I came off as abrupt or rude,” she says, trying to smile. I can tell that it’s forced though.

My eyes widen. “You were worried that there was more between us?” I ask.

She snorts. “It’s Shaw, of course I was worried.”

I press my lips together, trying to think of some type of response. I don’t see how she could be worried about him at all. Keanna is absolutely stunning. She has gorgeous long deep red hair, a light smattering of freckles on her nose, and a lithe body to die for. Any man who would mess around behind her back is an idiot, not that I haven’t seen an idiot or two in my day, but Shaughan doesn’t seem stupid to me.

“You’re marrying him, but you don’t trust him?” I question.

Her eyes snap to mine and she tilts her head to the side. “He said the same thing to me,” she states.

“Shaughan’s a nice guy, really nice, actually. But he’s only taking me places because Aidan’s told him to. I don’t have any friends, and I don’t have a license to drive myself anywhere. If you don’t trust him though, that’s a whole other ballgame.”

She nods, rolling her lips together a few times. “You’re right. I think I was just caught off guard, I wished that he would have told me,” she sighs.

Reaching out to her, I take her hand in mine and give her a gentle squeeze. “He’s a man, they’re dumb. I doubt he even gave me a second thought. He’s just doing his job, nothing more, nothing less,” I smile.

“Listen to the woman,” Shaughan’s voice booms as he walks toward Keanna.

She smiles up at him and I can tell that whatever concern she had is now gone. The way they look at each other, I feel like a voyeur as I stand here in this hallway with them. “Shaughan has to take me clothes shopping the rest of the day, why don’t you come with us?” I blurt.

Both of them turn their heads to look at me. Keanna looks like a deer in headlights, but Shaughan is grinning. “Two future O’Neil women shopping, sounds like a fuckin’ nightmare,” he laughs.

Keanna slaps his chest playfully. “With the commission from your brother’s credit card purchases today, I can afford to take the day off.”

“Then it’s settled, let’s get this shit over and done with,” Shaughan grumbles.

The rest of the day is spent with Shaughan and Keanna. We shop until we almost drop to the ground. I’ve never had so much fun in my entire life. When I lived with Madam Carmella, my lingerie was purchased for me, along with my street clothes as well. I’ve never actually gone shopping on my own before. Luckily, Keanna loves to shop, so she took great pleasure in helping me pick out an entire wardrobe.

“Oh, you need a fancy dress for the wedding,” she practically squeals when we walk by a bunch of ballgowns.

I stop in my tracks and look at her in confusion. “Shaughan and I are having a black-tie affair. You have to wear a ballgown of some kind,” she explains.

Shaughan winks as he heads over toward the wall, sitting in an empty chair that’s pushed up against it. He sets down the dozens of bags that he’s been kind enough to carry around for us today, and I smile as they litter the area around his feet. He’s been an extremely patient sport about the entire afternoon.

“I don’t know if I should even be looking at these,” I whisper.

My fingers dance over the expensive beading work of the dress in front of me. Keanna wraps her fingers around my wrist to halt my movements. Turning my head to face her, I see the serious look on her face and I brace myself for whatever she’s about to say.

“Why wouldn’t you, Giovanna? If you’re Aidan’s woman, then you’ll be at my wedding. It’s only three weeks away.”

I press my lips together, my fingers curling into the fabric of the dress. A wedding, a family wedding, it’s such a private, intimate event. I highly doubt that Aidan is going to bring his whore with him. However, my mind shifts to the memory of meeting his children last night, and the hopes that I had just hours ago of really being his woman.

“Shaw, call your brother,” Keanna shouts.

I watch in horror as Shaughan’s back straightens and he digs his phone out of his pocket. I shake my head, my eyes pinned on his, but he only smirks, raising the phone to his ear. His mouth moves but I can’t hear him from where I’m standing. “He’ll be here in an hour. Better pick out a fuckin’ dress, Vanna,” he shouts from across the room.

“I like this one,” Keanna states, a gigantic smile on her face.

I sift through the dresses and grab my size, irritated that they’re turning this into some big thing. If Aidan wanted me as his date, he’d tell me. I don’t want him to feel like he has to ask me, to be pressured into anything. I’m not that to him, last night was just in case the kids ran into me somewhere, I’m sure. It didn’t mean anything, as much as I wanted it to.

Walking into the dressing room, I strip down to just my white lacy panties. It doesn’t take me long to pull the light blue dress on and I hold back a moan as the silk slip slides over my body.

The top layer of the dress is a soft netting with a deep silver beaded leafy pattern that covers the entire full length of the gown. I glance down at the chest and am surprised that I’m covered at all. The neckline is a deep V and held up by only two extremely thin spaghetti straps.

The door swings open and I gasp as my eyes lift to the mirror. Standing behind me isn’t Keanna as I’d anticipated. It’s Aidan. I watch as his eyes roam my body’s reflection and then his gaze meets mine again.

“I’m buying that fucking dress,” he growls.

Turning around quickly, I take a step toward him. “No, you don’t have to. Keanna doesn’t know our arrangement. Don’t feel obligated.”

I take a step back; her words are like a punch to my gut. “Our arrangement?” I ask.

Giovanna’s eyes widen at the warning tone of my words. I watch as she nods, but I can tell by the way she’s holding her body tight, her muscles bunched with nervousness that she doesn’t know what to expect from me next.

“What exactly is our arrangement?”

She gulps, her eyes glancing down before she brings them back up to meet mine. “You’re going to make me say it?” she asks.

“Since I’m confused as fuck, yeah, I am.”

She presses her lips together, rolling them a few times. I watch as her pretty pink tongue wets them. My cock presses against my zipper, begging to come out. It knows where it belongs, and that’s nowhere but between Vanna’s sweet thighs.

“You bought me, Aidan. I’m your property. You have zero obligation to treat me as anything but. I’m grateful that you seem to want to be more than just owner and servant, but at the end of the day, that’s what we are,” she says.

I stumble backward, unsure as to how she could still fucking feel this way. “The dress is yours. You are coming to this wedding as my date. It’s obvious to me that you still see yourself as nothing but a whore. I don’t think it matters what I do or say, that won’t change.”

“What does that mean?” she asks, her lips trembling with each word.

I close the distance between us, grabbing ahold of her cheeks with my hand and holding her head still. I watch as her eyes widen and fill with fear. Good. She should be fucking scared because I’m goddamn livid with her right now.

Leaning forward, I murmur to her, “It means you’re going to be treated like my whore, Giovanna. It’s what you keep waiting for, right? It’s what you think I’m bound to do. Fine, fuck it, you’ll get what you want.”

Releasing her, I turn around and walk away. Shaughan is standing near the dressing room entrance, his eyes darken as he looks at me. He opens his mouth, but I beat him to it. “Buy her the dress. Take her home. She isn’t to leave again.”

“Aidan,” he warns.

Holding up my hand, I stop him from continuing. “Don’t question me,” I snap. “Tell her that the alarm is to be set. I get notifications every time it’s turned off. It doesn’t get turned off unless I fucking do it from now on.” I don’t wait for him to respond, I walk away.

Once I’m in my car, I take my phone out of my jacket pocket and send Shaughan a text.

Without responding back to him. I start the engine and head toward the bar. We still haven’t found the product from Casey, the traitor security guard. No amount of torture or searching has yielded a fucking thing. I’m on edge, my mood sour, and pissed the fuck off. If I don’t get my shit back soon, I’m going to lose my fucking cool.

Unfortunately, the ones that will be subjected to my wrath will be my brothers, my children, and Giovanna. And, it looks like Giovanna’s about to get a taste of it. She’s on fucking edge with me already.