AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Did you care for her more?”
His frown deepened. “Perhaps.” Then he turned to face me and threw his hands into the air. “What does any of this have to do—”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Did it ever cross your mind that I look exactly like her?”
I could tell he wanted to walk away—his body language revealed as much, but I stayed him with a hand on his arm.
“Yes, it’s possible you both looked alike.”
“Possible?”
He swallowed hard. “There is definitely a resemblance there, yes. Are you happy now?” Then he pulled away from my hold.
I restrained the urge to release a sigh of disgust. Laurent was using his standard evasion tactics to avoid answering the question. “No, I’m not,” I answered.
“My dear, whilst I am most displeased to hear that, I have things to do and places to be.”
“Before you go, answer me this: when you look at me, do you see Brandeis or Bindi?”
Laurent fell silent as he examined me in response. The big top was only a few feet away now and I could hear the sounds of the troupe rehearsing inside.
Finally, he responded, “Whether I see you or her, I am grateful for the talented performer you are and would consider any man lucky to call you his own. That’s why I can truthfully say what a genuine privilege it is to have you in this circus.”
He reached out then and took my hand in his, giving me a smile. And there was truth there, not only in his words, but in the way he looked at me, the way he smiled at me. It was with genuine affection. Not only affection, but desire, and the incessant longing for me to be something more to him than I actually was.
When we reached the entrance, Laurent cleared his throat and said, “Now, Bindi, I would like to offer you a few suggestions on how to improve your act for this evening’s performance...”
***
“Enough!” I exclaimed as I finally extracted myself from the birdcage for what felt like the thousandth time. My shout echoed inside the big top and drew the attention of more than a few of my fellow performers. Under other circumstances, I might have been mildly embarrassed, but the pain in every inch of my body blotted out all other considerations.
Of course, the crimson shade in Laurent’s face alerted me that he was embarrassed enough for both of us.
“With all due respect, my dear,” he said, putting his arm around my shoulders while turning away from everyone else. “Until this routine is perfectly executed, it will not do to—”
I threw off his arm and immediately winced as my tortured muscles strained with the effort. “I have been doing this perfectly for well over an hour now!” I shouted, Even the unmuffled volume of my voice failed to ease the throbbing in my limbs. “I need no further practice, and if you expect me to perform tonight, you have to give me a break!”
Laurent’s eyes narrowed as he tilted his head and examined me. “And how can you prove this isn’t just another ploy to serve as a pretext for your next attempt to flee the grounds?”
“Do I have to cripple myself to convince you?!”
“No, of course you don’t.” Laurent held up his hands and gestured for me to calm down. To my bewilderment, Rex’s deep voice came from behind me.
“I beg to differ.”
I closed my eyes before exhaling through my nose. Bracing myself for whatever new argument Laurent’s brother was about to unleash on me, I opened my eyes and turned around.
For once, Rex wasn’t scowling at me or even frowning. Instead, he was examining me very carefully, the same way he would inspect a construction site. Naturally, I was more than a little startled when he took hold of my arms. I started to cringe, which he quickly noticed and responded by loosening his grip.
“You’re working her too hard, brother,” Rex said to Laurent as he took me in from head to toe. The sheer sensuality of his physical examination stoked a fire inside me—one that had been there from the moment I’d laid eyes on Rex. And even through the ups and the downs, that fire had never gone out.
“She needs the break she was asking for,” he told Laurent.
“You know how important tonight is,” Laurent replied from my right side.
“The last thing you want is to cripple your little bird with too many rehearsals,” Rex insisted.
“She still hasn’t gotten the routine down—”
