Sweet Surrender (Sweet Jealousy, Book Two) by Morgan Garrity

SWEET SURRENDER
    Addison took in a deep breath and stared at the woman in front of her. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t … I mean, there must be some kind of mistake.”
    “Oh,” Belle said, nodding like she understood what had happened. She picked up a stack of mail that was sitting on the table and began going through it. “Nathan must not have told you about me yet. Did you just meet him?”
    Addison suddenly became aware of the fact that she was wearing just a thin robe.
    She pulled it around herself, feeling cold and exposed. She reached up and touched her hair. It was still slightly damp from the shower she’d last night, and she could feel it curling into messy ringlets around her face. She swallowed hard and raised her chin.
    “I’m sorry,” she said. “But I have no idea who you are.”
    Belle rolled her eyes and then slid a piece of mail into her bag. She threw the rest of the envelopes back onto the table. “That’s Nathan for you,” she said. “Always leaving me to explain the arrangement.”
    She shook her head, like having to explain what was going on was a huge offense.
    And then Belle walked into the kitchen, leaving Addison standing there in the hallway, alone.
    Addison took a deep breath and tried to stop her stomach from churning. What was she supposed to do now? From the kitchen came the sounds of Belle rustling around, probably making coffee or breakfast.
    Addison took a few steps back down the hall toward the spare room. She wanted to call out for Nathan, but something stopped her. How humiliating would it be for Belle to hear that? Obviously Nathan and Belle had some kind of sick arrangement, one in which Nathan was allowed to bring women home and have his way with them while Belle turned the other cheek.
    Addison had heard of arrangements like that, ones where women allowed their men to do what they wanted sexually in exchange for being provided with a certain kind of lifestyle.
    Well. She wasn’t going to be privy to that kind of thing. Not now. Not ever.
    She walked back into guestroom. The apartment, which just yesterday had seemed glamorous and shiny, now seemed sinister and foreboding, a warning of a lifestyle Addison wasn’t prepared for and knew nothing about.
    She dressed in the clothes she’d been wearing last night. They smelled of Nathan, and she remembered the way he’d pushed her down, the way he’d taken her, and how much she’d enjoyed it. A lump rose in her throat, but she told herself not to cry.
    Laid out on the chair in the room were a red blouse and a pair of gorgeous white trousers with a gold belt. Nathan must have left the outfit for her to wear to the office this morning. On the table next to the chair was a small jewelry box. The top was open, exposing a pair of oversized white and gold earrings. And next to that was a lingerie box, and when Addison peeked inside, she saw was a slip of pink material that looked lacey and soft and silky.
    The idea of putting on anything Nathan had picked out made Addison feel sick. It probably wasn’t even him who had chosen the things. In fact, they were probably Belle’s, or things he’d bought for Belle, things that she’d deemed unworthy, things they’d probably put in some closet somewhere for Nathan’s little conquests in case he wrecked their outfits with his domination.
    And how he’d behaved last night in front of Circle! Grabbing Tyler like that, when the whole time Nathan was engaged.
    She shoved her feet into her shoes angrily, and marched out of the apartment and onto the street without glancing into the kitchen as she passed. She could, however, hear Belle in there, humming a little tune as she went about her morning routine.
    Addison rushed out of Nathan’s building and onto the street. As her feet hit the pavement, she was immediately assaulted with the noises of a typical New York morning
    – car horns blaring, shoes clacking against the sidewalk, loud voices as people barked into their cell