AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That didn’t really answer my question,” I say snidely, earning a glower.
“I saw the way that Julian tried to make the arrangement work, but Adèle never did. She always cared for Julian, but it was never love, Marina. Maybe in a brotherly sort of way, but their relationship was always a deep-rooted friendship. Nothing more. I don’t believe she has any ulterior motives,” she finishes, wiping her hand across the desk, checking for dust, I assume.
I bite my lip, thinking this through. I don’t want to be naïve, but at the same time, I’m tired. Tired of constantly looking over my shoulder. Tired of constantly thinking the worst of people. Just... tired.
Maybe Katina is right and Adèle just wants to get to know me. Maybe she could be useful in determining what’s in the box and how to get the key if Law fails. I’ll never know unless I give her a chance, so I say, “Show me the way.”
Katina walks me to a small room on the east side of the mansion. This must’ve been his mother’s parlor, because it’s decorated in a floral motif of yellow and lavender. Definitely not Julian’s or his father’s style.
As much as I hate to admit it, the style of the room is not what has my attention. Adèle sits in a cream wingback chair, looking completely at home, while I stand just inside the door feeling out of place.
“Marina,” she coos, standing. “Please come sit.” Her delicate hands motion toward a lavender settee to her right. She’s dressed in a blush-colored jumpsuit that looks incredible against her tanned skin. She’s gorgeous, polished, regal—absolutely the opposite of me in every regard, and I hate how insecure it makes me feel.
Adèle sighs as she sits back into the chair when I refuse to move. “I just want to talk, Marina. I won’t harm you,” she promises, sounding exhausted.
“That’s... reassuring,” I quip, and she smiles.
Moving toward the settee, I don’t look at her as I pass. Call it self-preservation, but I don’t want her to know how out of place I feel. No matter how much I’m quaking inside, I refuse to show it outwardly.
“We have tea, or I could call for something a little stronger if you’d like,” she offers.
“I don’t drink alcohol,” I respond, keeping my face blank.
She winces as though this was information she had been told before and had carelessly forgotten. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t— I don’t—” She stumbles over her words before throwing her head back and groaning. “This is so awkward,” she admits.
Now that’s something we can agree on.
When her eyes meet mine, I see anxiety. It’s a strange look on such a poised face.
“I’m sorry, Marina. I’m making a mess of this.” She worries at her bottom lip. “I only want to get to know you a little more, and well... I’m nervous.” She sighs. “And I’m talking a million miles per hour.” The vulnerability she’s displaying has my anxiety dissipating and my courage building.
Without thinking twice, I blurt, “Are you in love with Julian?”
She laughs as though I’ve said the funniest thing. “Dear God, is that what you’ve thought this whole time? Surely, Julian has told you about our past.”
“He’s told me enough to feel the need to ask,” I snap, being deliberately obtuse. “You were his first love.”
She rolls her eyes. “My darling Marina. If he told you that, he was clearly trying to get a rise out of you. That man has never loved me as more than a sister.” She picks at her nails, looking at the table. “He’s the closest thing to a brother I have ever had, and there was no part of me that was ever going to go through with marrying him.” She picks up her teacup with her pinky out and sips daintily. “I can assure you he would’ve come to the same conclusion. Julian’s been far too dutiful to go against anything his father said, but I can assure you, a marriage between the two of us would be nothing but hell for him.”
I raise a brow. “How so?”
She chuckles. “I am not one to be tamed, for starters.” She smiles.
“People have affairs all the time. Surely you could’ve had your cake and then some.”
“I’m not going to lie and say we didn’t try, Marina. We both did for a while, but there was always so much missing.”
“You’ve slept together,” I accuse, as though it’s some big deal. Julian’s made it clear he’s had many partners. The only difference with Adèle is that I know he actually cares for her.
“We have, but I can assure you that’s not saying much. I’ve slept with half of Europe. Men and women,” she says, wagging her eyebrows.
I shake my head, trying to clear the unwanted images circulating in my brain from that information overload.
She continues, “It never would’ve happened between him and me if drugs hadn’t been involved. I forced him into an orgy and the only way it happened was with a lot of ecstasy.”
I raise my hands to stop her, not wanting to hear another word about that time in Julian’s life.
She grimaces. “Too much?”
