Page 671 of Tease Me


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Fuck!

Before I handle the public relations spin for this nightmare, I must assuage Roderick. This is what I feared could happen. I wanted no one to learn of my predilections. And especially for Blair’s reputation to be tarnished because of me. I take a deep breath and plunge into his diatribe.

“Roderick, I will not lie to you. Blair and I take part in the BDSM lifestyle—”

His roar forces me to move the mobile away from my ear. I wait until he finishes and continue.

“Yes, I respect Blair. No, I do not beat her. Yes, she consents. No, I’m not insane. I understand she is your daughter. However, I will not discuss the intimacies of my relationship with Blair to you, Roderick. What I will do is handle this situation and make it disappear. Now, I must go.”

I ring off and call the Head of Communications for Banque Montaigne. While I wait for her to come to my office, I call Blair.

“Hello.”

“Blair, that paparazzo from the other night sold the photos to a tabloid. They published them. Roderick is the one who found out and told me,” I say and continue into the silence. “I will handle everything. Trust me, Ma Chérie.”

“Luc… I…”

Blair’s tremulous voice stabs me in the chest like an ice pick.

“Trust me, Ma Chérie. Tell Lola. But do not respond to anyone. I must go and promise to call you soon.”

I end the call as a knock on the door alerts me to the Head of Communications’ arrival. We brainstorm solutions and end with a means to kill the story. The tabloid issues a retraction siting inaccurate information and photoshopped images. The paparazzo backs off to avoid a career-ending lawsuit. A call to Roderick calms him, although it will take time for the chink in our friendship to smooth over.

Within hours, we may have rectified the situation. But it makes me wonder if I’ve done the wrong thing getting involved with Blair despite how much I want her. It’s bad enough Roderick questions the age gap and my motives. Now, he knows we’re not a vanilla couple. I’m sure he contacted Blair. The sound of her voice cut through me deeply. I want nothing to harm her, especially me. I’ll call her once I get my head on straight. As I stew in self-pity, my mobile vibrates.

A glimpse at the screen reveals it’s Blair. Talk about timing…

“Hi, Ma Chérie. I was about to call you. All is taken care of, and I spoke with Roderick.”

“Luc, I need to speak with you… In person… But I can’t fly over now. When can you come to New York?”

My heart lurches in my chest. Has she decided for us? If I thought this may have been a mistake, why does it hurt so badly?

“If it’s important…” I hedge to gauge her response.

“It is. I wouldn’t ask otherwise.”

Ouch.

“I’ll clear my calendar and leave in an hour. D’accord?”

“Okay. Let me know when you land, and I’ll meet you at your penthouse. But I have to go now.”

She rings off before I can respond.

I sit back and scrub a hand over my face.

Merde.

* * *

Blair

“Lola, it’s only food poisoning on top of a cold… I know… Yes, of course I’ll call you after I visit my doctor… Now, get to your meeting already!”

I’d laugh at her thousand and one questions, but my stomach and head hurt too much. I thought the cold would go away by now since it’s been over a week. But the medicine recommended by the pharmacist isn’t working.

“We arrived, Ms. Thomas.”

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