Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
He continued to stare at his palms. “Anything else?”
I shook my head and waited for judgment. “No.”
His palms stilled, but he continued to stare at them.
I shouldn’t fight for him. I shouldn’t beg for a man to choose me. But I’d never wanted to fight for something so hard.
“I knew.”
The pain in my heart was replaced by confusion. “Knew what…?”
“I’ve been to Maxine’s. I’ve paid for a woman many times. I could tell by the way you screw.”
I felt embarrassed, even though I didn’t know why.
“The way you agreed to my terms so quickly. When you told me to fuck you in the ass…”
My cheeks flushed with a new wave of embarrassment.
“So, I have to ask.” He lifted his chin and looked me in the eye. “Was this all planned?”
“Was what …?” I asked with a broken voice.
“This.”
I swallowed.
“Did you fuck me to get what you want?”
“And what do you think I want?”
“You knew I could fix your problems. You knew I could kill the Oath or scare them off. You knew I could change your life for the better.”
“Luca, I’m good in bed, but I’m not a sorceress who bewitched you. We said goodbye, and I went my own way. You came to me. You checked in with me. You showed up at my apartment. You’re the one that chased me.”
“But was that your goal—”
“I’m embarrassed I was a whore. I’m embarrassed that I fucked your friend for money and for free. But nothing has hurt me more than this accusation. Because it’s so fucking obvious that I’m in love with you.” Tears came to my eyes from the anger or the emotion or the sheer catharsis of my confession. “You were a jackass when we met, and I had no desire to pursue a man with a heart made of steel. I fucked you because I needed a roof over my head, but I also fucked you because you’re so sexy it’s fucking stupid, and that was a pretty damn good trade to me. It wasn’t until we said goodbye that I felt…something. That I saw you were more than what you seem. That there’s a heart under all that muscle. I thought about you when I lived alone in my apartment, often, but I never expected to see you again.” The tears continued to fall. “It’s all real, Luca. Everything has been real.”
His stare had been locked on my face the entire time. No reaction of any kind.
I wiped my tears with my thumbs and looked away, still sitting on the stand and waiting for the judge’s ruling. I felt like a criminal for my past, and because of my past, I was being falsely accused of a crime I would never commit.
“I believe you.”
I sniffled, my eyes still cast away from him.
“Baby.”
My eyes continued to water, but I was instantly weak when he called me that, a nickname that came from nowhere and emerged on few and far between occasions. I sniffled again before I looked at him.
“I don’t care where you’ve been. I don’t care who you’ve been with. I just want to know this is real.”
“It is real.” It was so real and true and beautiful that I was scared every day I was going to lose it. “But…what about Carvel?”
“What about him?”
“You’re friends.”
“We are friends. He’s the Third French Emperor, so I’d say we’re more than that.”
“And…that won’t be a problem?”
He shook his head. “I have my past. You have yours.”
“Yes, but you have to look at him and talk to him.”
“I’m not saying it doesn’t bother me,” he said. “But it’s not worth losing you.”
31
LUCA
The butler let me inside and escorted me to the drawing room. “Bastien will be here momentarily—”
“Already here.” Bastien walked inside in just his sweatpants and ink for a shirt.
I was jealous he looked so comfortable and I was confined to my jeans.
Bastien turned back to his butler before he sat down. “Bring some of those bacon-wrapped scallops.”
“Of course, sir.” He left.
“You’re still on that?” I asked as I helped myself to a drink.
He took a seat in the armchair and lounged on the cushions. He didn’t make himself a drink.
I sat down and grabbed a cigar from the tray on the coffee table. I lit up, drinking his liquor and smoking his cigars while he didn’t join in on the fun.
He watched me across the table. “So?”
“You didn’t talk to Carvel?”
He shook his head. “We haven’t spoken.”
At least Carvel wasn’t going around sharing Aliénor’s personal business. “She was an escort for a few years. That’s how she met Carvel. It wasn’t serious, but they did have a…thing.” It made me uncomfortable. Made me a little sick. But I pushed it aside like a man.
Bastien didn’t react to that.
“She was eighteen at the time. Had nowhere else to turn.”