And now she was impressed I could get her into any establishment without saying a single word.
I liked spoiling her, especially when she appreciated it. Most of the women expected to be spoiled, wanted to be treated to a fancy dinner so they could be seen in public with me. Muse was nothing like that. Money wasn’t important to her the way it was to everyone else. She preferred a simple life, earning everything she was given.
And she definitely earned my affection every night.
She wore a black dress Dante had picked up from my favorite designer in Verona, skintight and flattering against her curves. Her hair was done and makeup was plastered on her face, looking like she hadn’t just spent nine hours on a plane. She held the menu open and looked at the selections.
I’d already ordered the wine, the thing I cared most about, so I stared at her instead. I studied the thickness of her eyelashes, the way her lipstick contrasted against the paleness of her face. This was my hundredth time looking at her, but I never got tired of it. I never knew when a rush of inspiration would hit me. With her, it could happen at any moment.
“I’ll take the New York strip,” she said. “Medium well. And can I have some broccoli on the side?”
“Of course.” The waiter wrote down her order then turned to me.
“I’ll have the same thing.” I handed the menu over.
“Good choice, sir.” He left us alone at the table, a table in the corner right next to the window. A white tablecloth was on top, along with a single white candle in the center and our bottle of wine. There was more space around us than the rest of the tables, probably denoting it as a special VIP area. It was no coincidence it was right against the windows, so paparazzi and anyone with a phone could snap a few pictures.
She swirled her wine then took a drink, treating her glass like an expert wine taster. Spending time around my business and my lifestyle had given her new skills. She knew a lot about wine, about the differences in color and taste. She knew how to pair it with meals and could even distinguish the gentle characteristics in the flavor, like oak, fruit, and other additives.
She was becoming a very refined woman.
My favorite thing of all was her silence. She could sit across from me for thirty minutes straight without saying a single word. There was no necessity to fill the silence with pointless conversation. Other people were uncomfortable with my tense quietness, but she didn’t seem to mind.
She looked out the window as she kept her fingers on the stem. Her nails were painted, and a natural tan bronzed her skin. Her hair had been cut, and she was groomed for the show tomorrow night even though she wouldn’t be performing. But this was the first time I would ever bring a woman with me as a date. I always showed up to my shows alone. There was never a woman in my life who earned the luxury.
But Muse certainly did.
I wanted the world to know she was too busy being mine to model.
She turned back to me and gave me a soft smile from across the table.
I felt the muscles of my stomach harden in response. Such simple gestures had a grand effect on me. She had more power than she realized—and I hoped she never realized it.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Yes.”
“So, Carter is a car guy, right?”
“Yes.” My forearms tightened when she asked about another man. Carter was my family, but he still had the Barsetti blood that drove women crazy. He was handsome, landing as many women as I could.
“And he designs luxury cars and produces them? That’s so crazy. I don’t understand how somebody would even start that kind of business. It seems like there are distinctive brands of cars all over the world, but they’ve been around for a long time. How do you start something new?”
“By working your ass off and offering something other competitors can’t.”
“What does Carter offer? What’s different about his cars?”
“The sleek design. The aerodynamics. But he’s also made a luxury car that has the lowest gas emissions of any other vehicle. And more importantly, he’s the first person to release an electric car with the same power as a V12 engine. Competitors are still trying to figure out how he did it.”
“How did he do it?”
The corner of my mouth rose in a smile. “Like he would ever tell me.”
“Aren’t you guys best friends?”
I was about to take a drink of my wine but changed my mind. “No. Men don’t have best friends.”
“Then what is he to you?”
I shrugged. “He’s Carter.”
She rolled her eyes. “You guys don’t talk about business? I thought that’s all you ever did.”