Page 58 of Asher Black (The Five Syndicates)
I hope the newfound definition in my body doesn’t require Tommy to spend another month altering clothes. Speaking of taking forever, I want to ask him why it took him so long to make a few outfits, but I don’t want to be rude and upset my ticket out of here. So, I keep my mouth shut and wait.
He doesn’t make me wait long. “Try these on,” he says, shoving a garment bag into my dumbstruck hands. “I’ll go grab the rest of the clothes from the hall.”
I decide to change in the living room, so Tommy doesn’t have to carry his creations up the stairs. Plus, I don’t want this to take longer than it needs to take. Now that I have the clothes, I can get out of here.
A part of me sours at the thought, unable to believe that Asher kept me trapped in his home because I wasn’t clothed appropriately. I even asked him if I could just head to some designer store on 5th Avenue to buy something to wear. I would have even let him choose the outfit.
He gave me a resounding “no.”
The clothes have to be from Tommy.
As I open the bag, I can see why. There’s a gorgeous burgundy colored dress inside, consisting of a mesh and lace corset top bodice and a fitted skirt. The corset top is hand sewn with beautiful rubies and what I hope isn’t real diamonds. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’m excited to get this dress on.
Xavier averts his eyes as I change, struggling to hook the back up until Tommy comes bustling in and does it for me. He heads to a switch by a flip panel in the wall, pressing a few buttons until the floor to ceiling glass window that separates Asher’s penthouse from the rest of New York shifts. It turns into a mirror, causing my mouth to gape.
“What just happened?” I ask.
“It’s a version of electrochromic glass made from nanotech. Black Enterprises manufactures it,” Xavier says.
Our eyes meet in the mirror, and I see his widen as he takes me in. I turn to my reflection, remembering the dress and eager to see how it looks.
“Wow,” I breathe out.
The dress fits like a glove, hugging every curve of my body. The corset is all mesh and lace, which looks like lingerie yet somehow still appears elegant. There’s a nude slip stitched into the lining underneath, so I’m not actually naked under there. The skirt of the dress clings tightly to my body, ending just at the knee. I can see myself wearing this to an elegant dinner or cocktail party, though I’ve never actually been to one.
“I know. I’m awesome,” Tommy says smugly.
When Xavier turns to take me in properly, he doesn’t say anything. He simply stares, and it’s all I need to know. I look damn good in this dress.
“Tommy, if the rest of the clothes look like this, I’m kidnapping you,” I tell him, unable to stop staring at the dress.
“Speaking of,” he replies. “The rest of the clothes should fit you, so you don’t have to try on everything. But there are a few things that might need altering, so you’ll just have to try on those items only.”
I nod, overwhelmed as I turn to see what he brought me. There are hangers upon hangers of clothes, hanging off of wheeled metal racks. This is more clothes than even Asher owns. I have no idea where we’re going to store them or how we’re even going to bring everything upstairs. Now I understand why it took Tommy this long to make all of this. He built me an entire boutique’s worth of clothes.
“I would have finished everything sooner, but Asher said you’ve been working out. He sent me an updated picture, and I fixed everything for you.” Tommy’s eyeing my new figure.
I decide to ignore the part about Asher having a recent picture of me. “You refitted all this off of a picture?!”
“I’m very good at my job.”
“Yeah. No kidding,” I agree, ogling the collection in disbelief.
There are at least a dozen evening gowns in the mix, all stunning of course. I have no idea when I’ll wear them, seeing as I’ve never been invited to a fancy event and Asher hasn’t taken me out since our engagement. But I’m excited to try every single one of them on.
I feel like I’m Cinderella without the part where she’s chased around the kingdom by a stranger she danced with over a damn shoe. Can you imagine going to a club, dancing with some random guy and having him chase you all over the country afterwards?
That’s called stalking.
And it’s not sexy.
By the time I’m done trying on clothes, I’m exhausted. A few items turned into me trying on most of the collection, only for Tommy to take merely two dresses for more altering. The security guards come out of the security room to help Xavier carry the clothing racks upstairs. Tommy and I follow with at least a thousand new velvet hangers.
We have to switch out the thick wooden hangers from Asher’s clothes with the new, ultrathin ones Tommy brought in order for my clothes to fit in our shared closet. Even then, our clothes are packed so tightly together, it’s difficult to pull an item out. And this is a giant closet. I’m amazed that Tommy got all of this done in such a short amount of time.
It’s not until Tommy and I are stepping back to admire our work that I realize all my old clothes are in a bag on the floor. Tommy picks the bag up and heads towards the door.
“What are you doing?” The accusation in my voice is clear.
