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“Your obedience, subjugation, and if it makes her look ten years younger, your soul.” She handed me the paper. “But this message isn’t from her, it’s from the man who you seem to be a little obsessed with.”
“I don’t know what you mean.” I snatched the note she held out to me.
“Tell that to your sketchbook,” she said with a laugh then moved back to her easel.
She was right. The picture looked like it had been drawn by a little girl infatuated with a man she saw one time in passing, a vague likeness that was too kind.
I took the charcoal and drew horns on him.
If I couldn’t capture his intensity, I could at least capture his essence.
CHAPTER 18
LUC
“Iam so fucking stupid,” I said to myself as I leaned back in my chair.
“Is there anything I may help with, sir?” Henry entered my office with a fresh cup of coffee.
“Yes, I need you to find out everything you can about Amelia Mae Astrid.”
“Your intended, sir?” He raised an eyebrow. “That Amelia Mae Astrid?”
“Yes, Henry, I need all her records, financial, health, school, everything you can get.”
“Are we treating this like an investigation of a company before a merger or like she is an actual person?”
“Like a person, Henry.” I did not appreciate his tone.
“Have you tried having a conversation with her, sir?” he asked.
Henry had been my assistant for years, and he was fantastic. That was why I paid him an obscene amount of money, to keep him incentivized and to make sure he wasn’t easily poached. Unfortunately, he knew his worth and allowed it to make himself a little too comfortable.
“Henry, when you have a wife, then I will come to you for marriage advice.”
“I have been happily married for three years. I have a two-year-old son and another on the way.”
“Did I know that?” I honestly hadn’t thought he had a family. When had I given him enough time to go home and have a family?
“Yes,” he deadpanned, and I felt a little like an asshole. “I will have the files drawn up by the end of business today. In the meantime, I have already taken the liberty of looking into some of her likes and dislikes so I could pick out the appropriate birthday, Valentines, and anniversary gifts when the time comes.”
“When did you do that?” I asked.
“About twenty seconds after you had me announce your engagement in the Times.”
He wrote a few things out in his notebook. “My preliminary report is filed in your desk now, in your personal folder. I will have the more thorough report filed there as well.”
“Thank you, and congratulations on the baby. Be sure to get yourself a baby shower gift.”
“Already done, sir. The diaper genie is much appreciated.” He pushed his square glasses up on his face.
“Is that all?” I asked, moving to the files that were tucked in a drawer.
At first glance, I was surprised how detailed his research was. The first page was her birthday, eye color, clothing size, and brand preferences, and the second began listing information about her likes and dislikes. This was a good start.
“No, sir, unfortunately, I got several calls from your father’s less-reputable associates. It seems they are not convinced the Dubois issue has been properly handled and they have some… concerns they would like addressed. I tried to brush them off, but they expressed that they feel it may be in their best interest to address the issues themselves.”
Fuck! This was why working in bad faith at all times was a horrible idea.
