“I’m not sure I'm any good just yet,” she told me as she took my phone. While she was adding her number, I picked up the dress. It was easier to put on as she had already loosened the corset back.

“All women say that when there are men out there doing shit jobs but still getting recognized," I said.

She put my phone down on the side table and started to lace up the corset. I lifted my hair up and out of the way for her, noticing she was taking her time with this one.

“I don’t mean to pry, but you’re… safe, right?”

The sincerity in her tone had me freezing up. Panic passed across her features in the mirror.

“If you’re not, I can help you get out of⁠—”

I shook my head.

“I’m okay.” I put on my most convincing smile. “Truly. Do you really think someone who is easily recognizable would bring his abused girlfriend here?”

A forced smile tugged at her lips.

“No, but he just…”

“What?” I asked when she trailed off.

She didn’t meet my eyes this time, her gaze focused on my back.

“He just looks like he wants to eat you, that’s all. Devour you whole and spit you out or something like that.”

I bet he did. He hated me just as much as I hated him. The two of us couldn’t even be in the same room alone without at least one of us wanting to murder the other.

“And what do you see when I look at him?” I asked, meeting her gaze when she peeked back up at me in the mirror.

“Fear.”

* * *

I pushed out of the changing room after Violet had excused herself.

Warren was sitting on the couch, a coffee in hand. One quick look at the table showed that he was on his third cup.

He turned to me, his eyes widening when he saw what I was wearing, and then immediately ran down my body, taking in every inch of me. His gaze heated in a way that caused me to shiver.

He just looks like he wants to eat you.

Need was not what I expected to see in his stare, even after what happened the night before. I hadn’t been able to see the look on his face when he came or how he’d felt making me bend to his will.

But as I stood in front of him, waiting for his praise, I knew what I felt like.

The same way as when I was on my knees for him. The need to get his approval was stifling… and downright embarrassing.

But Violet was wrong. I wasn’t afraid of Warren King.

I rolled my shoulders and looked down at him.

“So?” I asked and even did a little turn for him. The same one I had done at the auction.