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“Ready to go?” Maxime asks.
It’s hard to hide my relief. “Please.”
He studies my face with a piercing gaze. “Everything all right?”
“I’d just like to go. I’m really tired.”
He bends down to kiss the shell of my ear. “Bear with me for another few minutes.”
Taking my hand, he leads me to his family. The closer we get, the tighter my insides twist. Cecile looks up. The smile vanishes from her face when she sees me. Hadrienne’s expression grows hostile.
“Goodnight, Maman.” Maxime kisses her cheeks. “Hadrienne.” He barely looks at his father.
I do the forced round of kisses, bidding everyone goodnight like Maxime expects of me. Maxime’s family returns the polite greeting, putting up their side of the show while Noelle only stands there with a smirk.
It’s only in the car that I breathe again. Sinking back into the cool leather of the seat, I wind down the window and drag a hand over my brow.
“What the fuck is going on, Zoe? And, don’t tell me it’s nothing.”
Taking a deep breath, I blow it out slowly. “Did you ask Sylvie to be my friend?”
Maxime looks at me. “Why do you ask that?”
“Just answer the question.”
He taps a thumb on the wheel, seeming to consider the answer. After a moment, he says, “She owed me a favor.”
His admission tramples on the heart he’s already ripped from my chest. “What exactly did you ask her to do?”
“I asked her to give you her number.”
“On that Sunday we met?” I exclaim.
“Yes.” He shrugs. “I had to cover for her to go out with a group of friends. She told her father she was visiting me.” He repeats, “She owed me.”
As if that makes it okay. My spirits sink even lower. “The day I told you I wanted to have coffee with her, did you order her to go with me?”
“I called her and told her to expect a call from you. I suggested taking you to a brasserie where you’d be safe.”
My breath catches at the implication. “Did you ask her to talk me into giving you a chance?”
“I told her to try and convince you, yes, but only for your own good.”
“How’s lying to me and pretending to be my friend for my own good?”
“Accepting your situation is for your own good. I want you to be happy, Zoe. Is that so bad?”
“Don’t you realize how wrong what you’ve done is? Are you even sorry?”
“No.” His tone is flat. “I’m not sorry for taking care of your emotional comfort.”
“God, Maxime.” Gripping my head in my hands, I groan in frustration. “You can’t keep on doing this.”
He shoots me a sidelong glance. “Doing what?”
“Betraying me. You’ve pushed me as far as I can go, do you hear me? You’ve pushed me to my limits, and God help me—” I cut off before I threaten the man who owns my life.
His voice turns hard. “God help you with what, Zoe?”
I sag back. “I’m afraid of what I’ll do the day you push me over.”
“Nothing,” he says with blind conviction. “You’ll do nothing, because I’ll always be there to catch you.”
“Please, Maxime.” I sag a little lower. “Please stop manipulating me. Why can’t you simply be honest?”
He pulls off on the side of the road and brings the car to a jerky halt. “You want honest?”
“Yes!” I’m tired. Depleted. Empty. I have nothing left to give. “Yes, damn you.”
“Get out of the car.”
My hand clenches on the door handle. “Maxime.”
“Now isn’t a time to test me.”
I open the door and get out, stumbling in the tall grass with my heels. Before I’m a step away from the car, Maxime is there, his strong arms wrapping around my waist. He pushes me forward, bending my body over the hood. Our shadows fall tall over the road in the headlights, two bodies merged as one. The stark silhouette is a lie. The truth is the invisible picture of our estranged souls.
Flipping my skirt up, he rips off my underwear and pushes a knee between my legs. His zipper makes a tearing sound. His cock is at my entrance before I have time to gasp.
“You want the truth?” he breathes against my ear. “This is the truth.”
With one, hard thrust, he buries himself so deep inside me his groin slams against my ass. My body shifts over the warm metal of his car. Grabbing a fistful of my hair, he holds me in place and gives me more truth. My inner muscles tighten around him.
“Show me,” he says as he gives me the kind of rough that makes my toes curl.
It’s no different than pushing me down and making me kneel. My body’s reaction is my bitter truth and his sweet victory. I try to deny it. I fight the pleasure that winds around my insides. I fight the lie of the picture on the ground, but he refuses to let me hide. He folds an arm around my body and pushes the heel of his palm on my clit. The harder I fight, the harder he fucks me. There’s no way but down. Falling. There’s no way out other than surrendering.
