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Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Colette knew the exact moment Matheo realized she was here to draw blood. His eyes narrowed into furious slits as he stared at her, noting how the men around them openly admired her. The possessive animal within him roared to life. Without warning, he stretched out his arm, grabbed her elbow, and pulled her towards himself, almost half-hugging her in an attempt to shield her from the eyes of the onlookers.

“Colette!” he growled, his voice low and filled with warning. She could sense the threat in his tone, a promise of retribution once they were out of the public eye.

But she no longer cared. “What, you don’t like my dress?” she asked, batting her eyelashes innocently as she looked up at him. “I thought people should finally know what you married me for. To let them all see what you saw in me. The only thing you ever saw in me.” Her voice was soft, but the words hit him like a slap, and she had the satisfaction of watching him get the shock of his life. He couldn’t believe she had just said that, in front of all these people. God knows how much they had heard, but at this point, Colette was far beyond caring.

Matheo’s face turned a shade paler as he struggled to control the avalanche of fury inside him, forcing himself to remain calm in the face of his errant wife. He managed to put on a strained smile and addressed the men around them, who were still openly staring at Colette.

“Excuse me, gentlemen,” he said, his voice tight with barely suppressed anger. “My beautiful wife just got here. I would like to have a dance with her and get her a drink before we resume our business discussion. I hope you don’t mind.” The men nodded, though half of them were still glued to Colette with admiring eyes. “Of course, please, Mr. Angelis.”

But Iris wasn’t as easy to dissuade. She caught up with them just as Matheo tried dragging Colette away from the crowd. “Matt, this was the perfect chance. The CEO was ready to give in. If you leave now and wait, someone else might get a better word in,” she protested, her voice strained as she tried her best to hold onto Matheo even for the five minutes it would take him to deal with Colette.

Matheo was not in the mood for arguments. “Iris, leave me alone with my wife for now!” he snapped, his frustrated glare directed at the blonde secretary. Colette would have laughed with glee at Iris’s shocked expression if she wasn’t pinned by Matheo’s own death glare. Iris looked stunned as Matheo left her behind and dragged Colette away. The silence was deafening as they walked through the crowd, Matheo glaring at every single person, male or female, who dared even peek at Colette. Finally, they reached the end of the hall, and he quickly pulled her into the dark corner of the balcony outside, the refreshing silence of the night enveloping them.

“What the hell is the meaning of this?” Matheo roared as soon as they were alone, tucked in the darkness of the moonlit balcony. His dark eyes threw daggers at her and that blasted dress that had put his wife under the scrutiny of every male gaze. Only a castrated man would be able to look at her and feel nothing. He was no different; his blood had rushed to his loins almost immediately upon seeing her in that dress. She looked ethereal, a vulnerable little thing with such a sexy undertone that it had made him groan under his breath, trying to control his libido. He found himself getting angry. Every single male gaze in the room was fixated on her, even his potential new clients that Iris had worked so hard to secure were gawking at his wife like she was some kind of eye candy. Another minute of that and he would have punched every single one of them, business be damned.

Matheo had been feeling guilty after lying to Colette about returning from Brisbane tomorrow. He had planned to come home tonight after the gala and make it up to her by taking her out somewhere special. He hadn’t wanted to lie to her in the first place, but when Iris suggested they attend the gala together and keep Colette out of the loop, he had been annoyed. Still, Iris’s reasons were sound. Colette had always been a distraction for Matheo. If she was around, he had a hard time focusing on anything else, and so business suffered. Plus, Colette was usually bored at such events; this wasn’t her scene. Matheo had agreed, thinking his wife would much rather enjoy a private date night with just the two of them. So, he hadn’t told her about the gala because it would just lead to another fight if she realized he was taking Iris, his secretary, with him. God knows where she got the idea that he and Iris had something illicit between them. Colette had wanted him to sack Iris because she had gotten this rotten idea in her head from somewhere.

Lying to his wife hadn’t been a pleasant affair, and he had felt terribly guilty about it afterward. He had decided to come clean later tonight and make it up to her however she wanted. But that guilt was quickly evaporating now, replaced by anger as he watched what Colette was doing. In the end, Iris had been right, hadn’t she?

Iris had often hinted that Colette was a bit of an attention seeker, probably because she had been a mere nineteen when Matheo had met and married her. He hadn’t minded it at the time and had showered her with all the attention she wanted. But he couldn’t help but notice that over time, she had become overzealous. Now she wanted Iris out of his life, and according to Iris, it was because Colette didn’t like that Matheo spent so much time away from her with someone else. Matheo had never given credence to that allegation. His wife was sweet and naïve, and he refused to believe something like that about her.

But now, as he looked at her, in that scrap of a dress that barely covered anything, the slit running almost up to her crotch, her shoulders bare, her half-cupped breasts exposed, he realized Iris might have been right. Just because he hadn’t brought her here, Colette had decided on another tactic to get his attention: wearing something like this in front of the elite of Australian society.

His fury grew as he looked at her and that dress, which barely qualified as a dress. “What were you thinking?” he demanded, his voice a harsh whisper. “Coming here dressed like this? Do you have any idea how many people were staring at you?”

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