My Sweet Punishment by Amelia Brooks (best book club books of all time .TXT) 📕

        What should I wear? I opened my wardrobe and looked at my clothes, which now seemed so plain and simple. I imagined herself in jeans and a sweatshirt next to a perfectly-looking Collins in an expensive suit and winced. What should I do?

        But before I could think about it, the doorbell rang and I tensed. Who else could it be? I don't have any other friends besides Olivia, and none of my university group mates know I live here. Maybe a neighbor… I went quietly to the door to look through the peephole and saw…

        The delivery man?! I opened the door and the guy handed me a big box. I assured him that I hadn’t ordered anything. But he showed me a piece of paper with my address and name as the recipient, where he asked me to sign, and the guy walked away, leaving me confused.

        In the box, I found a red tight knee-length dress (of some expensive brand) and black pumps. It wasn’t hard to guess who the package was from. Collins.

        My first instinct was to put everything back in the box and send it to him, telling him to fuck off once and forever. But I’m not in the right circumstances to argue with him. I sighed. Especially since I really didn’t have anything to wear. And the man apparently wants his new toy to look no worse than his regular mistresses.

      And now in front of the mirror, there was standing completely different Mia. Too mature, and not only because of the outfit that fit me like a glove but also because of my heavy, tortured brown eyes. I no longer have the easy carelessness in them as I used to have. It seemed that the girl in the mirror had seen so much sadness in her life over her short years…

       But I wasn’t going to feel sorry for myself, no. I chuckled, picking up my purse and headed for the entrance. It’s time to go out.

        I was met at the house by the same black car with the driver as the last time. All the way to the man, terrible thoughts again crept back to my head. And I started to distress myself again. From self-eating, I was distracted by a call from my mother, who said that the donor had already been found, and James would soon be operated on.

        Phew, I put my phone down. I would do anything for my family without a second thought. So I’ll put up with it also…

       I thought the driver would take me to Collins’s house or the hotel, but the car stopped at the entrance of some restaurant, and I exhaled. So we will have dinner before.

        The man didn’t meet me in the car, so I got out of it myself and went straight to the restaurant. I went inside and gasped with delight.

        Since the hall was not like an ordinary restaurant with tables, but a real palace with columns and painted walls, stucco ornaments. A huge number of drawings with heroes from myths and different kings on the walls. The whole story was depicted here. And on the ceiling was a huge rectangular window with stained glass, shimmering with different colors. Just magical. And at the very end of the room was a stage!

         I stared at all this beauty and did not notice how the waiter approached me. When he found out my name, he took me to the second floor, where there were balconies. Apparently, it was VIP-area.

        With trembling legs, I went up to the second floor, and the guy, saying the number of my balcony, quickly left.

         I didn’t have to search for it for so long, because as soon as I was on the floor, I felt someone’s eyes boring insistently into my back and turned around to see HIM.

       Collins was sitting on the couch in a relaxed position, drinking something. I took a quick look at him as I walked unsteadily to the table. There was no trace of his usual strict working image. The man was without a jacket, wearing only a white shirt, carelessly unbuttoned by the few top buttons.

         I walked over to the table. The boss looked me up and down with a predatory look that made me want to hide. But the way his eyes lit up… He seemed pleased with my appearance.

        “Sit down, Mia,” I heard his deep voice, and the man pointed to the seat next to him. But I wasn’t in a hurry to take it. It’s too quickly. I'm not ready yet. And I decided to sit on the opposite one. I was about to place my butt on the couch next to him when all of a sudden…

       “Mia, you do what I say,” I heard his dissatisfied voice. I shivered and sat down in the same place as my tormentor. But still as far away as possible.

         Following my actions, the man just grunted and picked up the menu.

        “The show will start soon, and you’ll be able to see it best from here.” For some reason, he explained to me. “What do you want to eat?”

      "I’m not hungry… thank you,” I muttered quickly, not looking him in the eye, but suddenly my stomach rumbled and I blushed with embarrassment. Oh, not in time…

        “Mia, one more argument and I’ll just send you home, canceling our agreement.” His tone was serious.

         “Order something at your discretion” I gave up.

      Soon there was a huge amount of delicious-smelling dishes on our table and my mouth watered. We won’t eat it all!