behind her. The house felt foreign now, strangely.
“Can we talk somewhere?”
“Ahh. I see. You came to talk again. To try to sway me.”
“I came to talk, yes, and that’s it. I was hoping you’d see
reason and abandon your plan of trying to convince me that I
want to have any kind of physical punishment meted out by
you. That’s not why I’m here.” What she wanted was to take
Giana’s annoyingly perfect face between her palms and kiss
her hungrily. She wanted to taste her lips. She could say it was
to prove that there was no spark flaring between them, but she
knew she’d be laid bare if she did that, all her real intentions
so obvious.
“Alright. We can talk in my office.”
The office. Not the living room or the bedroom. Thank God.
The office turned out to be no more comfortable than either
of those other options. Coralyn found herself standing near the
door that Giana closed, even though she was sure they were
alone, while Giana paced around the room. She wouldn’t stop
walking. It was maddening.
“I want you to process the annulment. I promise I’ll stay
quiet. Sign whatever you need me to sign.”
“Hmm.”
Hmm? What did that mean? She should just stay quiet, but
she’d never been very good at silence. It was obvious that
Giana could wait her out all day if she had to. It made Coralyn
so uncomfortable that she blurted out the last thing she’d
wanted Giana to find out. “I did what you said and researched
you.”
Giana hardly looked surprised. Or disturbed. “Good. We’ll
be on a level playing field, then, because I did the same to you.