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Still, I need to keep her here with me. When I tell her my real purpose, I don’t want her running in fear.
“Perfect.” I sit back on the bed and watch her walk over to her luggage. I could watch her unpack all day long. I could watch her brush her teeth and fall in love.
“Well,” she says thoughtfully as she carefully extracts a black silk thong and matching bra. God, I’m getting hard all over again. “We could go with that. We don’t have to change many details at all, do we?”
“Nope. Works for me.”
“Alright. But Fabien…” Her voice trails off. Frowning, she removes a pale blue dress and holds it up.
“The red,” I say, pointing at another dress alongside the first. Without breaking stride, she replaces the blue dress but still looks thoughtful.
“You’re hiding something from me,” she says softly. “And while that’s totally your prerogative and you’re under no obligation to tell me everything, I just wonder if there’s something else I should know.”
Did she hear something? Does she know about Lyam?
Maybe I should tell her after all.
“Like what?”
“What your family really does for work.”
It’s time. I can’t hide it from her any longer. She’s already agreed to stay with me, and Nicolette is a woman of her word. I’ll tell her this much, and carefully monitor her response.
“How much do you know?” I ask. I’m sitting in a pair of boxers, leaning up against the headboard. I love watching her get dressed. Red satin skates down her body as she slides into the dress and awkwardly tries to zip it.
I gesture for her to come to me, spin her around, and hold her in place with a hand on her hip as I zip her up.
“Thank you,” she says softly. “I know that you’re wealthy, that much is obvious. I know that you own property in Corsica and Paris. Your family is a powerful one, so much so you suspect foul play when it comes to the plane.”
“So Gwen didn’t tell you then.” I half suspected she would at least warn her.
“Well… she told me you’re a man who becomes obsessed,” she says, but she doesn’t meet my eyes when she looks at me. I watch her swallow, turn from me, and start rummaging through her bag for shoes.
“True. That’s fair. But she didn’t tell you who I am? And you didn’t look me up?”
“I’ve hardly had time,” she says. “And I want your side of the story. If I were to look you up, what would I find?”
I doubt this is the full truth, but I don’t push for an answer.
It’s a complicated question with an even more complicated answer. I hold her gaze. “Will you run if I scare you?”
A beat passes as she pauses, her hand on a strappy sandal. “Have I run yet?”
“No. Have I scared you yet?”
She swallows. “Yes.”
Good girl.
She’ll either stand her ground or run when she hears what I tell her.
“I’m not going to lie to you, Nicolette.” Even this is a lie. She doesn’t know that I have reams of records on her, that I’ve investigated everything about her. But about this—my ultimate purpose, who I am—there will be no lie.
“Thank you,” she whispers. “But I’ll have you know that whatever you tell me won’t scare me. I promised to be yours for the weekend. I promised to stay with you. I don’t go back on my promises. And Fabien, you know I need that money, and that… well, that there are very few things that would be a dealbreaker for me.” She laughs, though the laughter doesn’t reach her eyes. “You know where we met.”
I nod. “Good. But I’d like you here, beside me, when I tell you.”
Now’s the time to tell her everything.
She sits on the edge of the bed and tips her head to the side curiously. “Alright, then.”
“Gwen told you the truth. Yes, I’m someone who becomes fixated and obsessed. She knows this because everyone knows what happened with a woman I was dating.” My throat tightens. “Her name was Adele. She was killed in a robbery when she was working as a waitress in Paris. She didn’t need to work, but she was independent and headstrong and insisted she earn her own money.” I take a ragged breath. “After her death, I didn’t eat. I didn’t sleep. And when I found out who was responsible for her death, I hunted them down and dealt with them personally.”
She swallows hard but nods and doesn’t look away. “The same way you dealt with the man that assaulted me?”
“Yes.”
Another intake of breath. “Which was?”
“A bullet through the head.”
She slowly blinks. Licks her lips. Nods. “I see. I’m so sorry.”
“My family is the Gerard family. We come from a long line of descendants straight from the great emperor Napoleon himself.”
