Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
“Godric asked to meet.”
Luca perked up, like this information was enough to defeat the fatigue. “What’d he say?”
“Heard of some Russian asshole named Ivan?”
He shook his head.
“Neither have I. But he’s bribing and threatening our guys to roll on me one by one. If Godric is telling the truth, and I think he is, that means the guys are lying to our fucking faces.”
Luca absorbed all this, his stare slowly sharpening like a buffed knife. “How do we know this isn’t a play—”
“Because it’s not.”
“Godric has had it out for you for years.”
“He’s telling the truth.”
Luca studied me, his head slightly cocked. “Why are you so sure?”
Because I’d told Godric the truth. Spoke my truth and poured out my fucking soul to him. “I just am.”
Luca seemed to see something in my stare, because he didn’t push. “How are we going to handle this?”
“We tell the wrong person that we know, and Ivan moves in.”
He nodded in agreement.
“Which means we need to hit him first.”
“And execute all the assholes who supported this coup.”
14
FLEUR
Over the next couple days, I rarely saw Bastien.
He was barely home. Barely slept. He always replied to my texts and called to check in on me, but he was clearly distant, like his mind was elsewhere. I knew it had nothing to do with me because he’d just asked me to be his wife, still made love to me during the brief periods when he was around.
But something bothered him.
He came home one morning and went straight to bed because he was exhausted. When he woke up, it was the late afternoon. He showered then came out in his sweatpants, like he didn’t need to run off right away for once. But he didn’t seem to be in the moment with me, his mind elsewhere.
We had dinner, breakfast for him, and he continued to check his phone like he expected news. He was distracted, not invested in me or our conversation like he usually was.
“Babe?”
He put down his phone when I addressed him directly.
“Is everything okay?”
He took a bite of his food as he stared at me, and he seemed to drag out the answer on purpose. “I’ve got a lot of shit going on at work right now.”
“I know. That wasn’t the question I asked.” The fact that he tried to dodge it made me more concerned about whatever he was dealing with. “I asked if everything is okay, if you’re okay.”
“Everything is fine, sweetheart.”
It was the first time he’d lied to me. I could tell because he was terrible at it. “You said you wouldn’t lie to me.”
He released a frustrated sigh, like a parent annoyed with their child. “I’m having to deal with a lot of shit right now. I know I haven’t been home a lot—”
“I don’t have an issue with that, Bastien. I just want to know you’re okay.”
He relaxed in the chair, no longer interested in his meal, and just stared at me. “I’m okay. Everything will be okay. I’m just in the middle of something.”
“What’s going on?”
“It’s not your problem.”
“I’m going to marry you, so it is my problem.”
He released another sigh, backed into a corner the way he’d backed me into a corner so many times. “Please let this go.” He said it quietly with a slight plea to his voice, a controlled desperation.
I wanted to know what was consuming him so deeply, but if he didn’t want to talk about it, I wouldn’t force it out of him. Like a vault, he locked away his secrets, and only at the most unexpected times did he punch in the code and open the door to me. “Alright.”
“Thank you.” He went back to his meal, his appetite returning once the interrogation ended. He shoved a big bite into his mouth, and his impressive jawline hardened as he chewed. He could do anything and look hot—ride horses, chop down trees. He could be a garbageman, and he’d even make that sexy. “Any thoughts on the wedding?”
I doubted he cared about the wedding, just wanted to change the subject. “I’m guessing you want a big wedding because you know literally everybody?”
He chewed his bite as he stared at me hard. “I want to marry the woman I love. I don’t give a shit about the guest list. What do you want?”
“I don’t know, honestly.” I’d already had a big wedding when I married Adrien. Hundreds of people in a big church, a grand reception, the whole nine yards. It had been the best day of my life until the day I’d wondered if it was all a lie. “Something small is fine with me, but I feel like you should have a say in this since I’ve already had a wedding.” I didn’t want to bring up Adrien, but I did have experience where Bastien did not. It had to factor into the decision.