25. Chapter 25
Chapter 25
Elsa
I sat in Duncan’s office, the grand room suddenly feeling like a prison. My heart pounded as Dom—or whatever the hell his name was—spoke to me. I couldn’t believe he’d been so insulting and threatening right in front of my husband—the man who was supposed to protect me—without any consequences or even a second thought about his behavior. It was obvious that he had permission from Duncan to treat me like this—the man who was supposed to my champion.
The man who doesn't have any faith in you, Elsa.
Dom/Jett asked me a lot of questions, and finally, I understood what he was getting at.
"So, security doesn't check you before they let you enter Arsenault's house?" he asked again.
"No. I can bake a blade into the cake, and no one will be the wiser," I quipped.
"Elsa, you need to understand the import of this situation," Dom said, his voice harsh. "If you don't cooperate, we'll have no choice but to take you into custody."
I looked at Duncan, hoping for some sign of support, but his face was stony and unreadable. The man I loved, the father of my unborn child, was staring at me as if I was a stranger.
"Custody? You and which army?" I folded my arms, which was not easy to do with my pregnancy boobs and stomach.
Dom arched an eyebrow. He was a menacing man, I’d give him that, but I was raised by my Mamman with Papa as the specter I had to learn to deal with since childhood, so Mr. James Bond could go fuck himself.
"We need you to place a few bugs in Arsenault's—"
" Non ."
"Excuse me?"
" Parlez-vous fran?ais ?" I mocked. " Non means no."
Dom leaned back in his chair and looked at me with narrowed eyes. "DGSE will be on your ass if you don't play ball with me, Elsa."
"DGSE has been on my ass for years and my mother's. We don't really let them...how do you say nous déranger in English?"
Neither Duncan nor Dom said anything.
"Ah, I have it. We don't really let the DGSE bother us . You don't scare me, Mr. American Agent," I spoke slowly, not letting them see that I was scared. But I wasn't Solène Sainte-Croix's daughter for nothing.
"If you want us to believe you're not involved with Vincent, do as he asks you," Duncan suggested, speaking for the first time since Dom started his interrogation.
I felt the ground shift beneath me. "You want me to spy on Vincent? To use our friendship for your games? No, I can't do that."
Duncan's eyes narrowed. "Elsa, this is serious."
Tears welled up in my eyes. "Yes, Duncan, this is very serious. I asked you for one thing. I pleaded with you not to use me like my father does. And what do you do?" I chuckled bitterly. "Not only that, but you also want me to do something that goes against my moral code to prove my innocence. Well, here's a bulletin for you: I don't care to prove my innocence. If you want inside the Arsenault house, figure it out yourself."
Dom's expression remained hard. "Elsa, this is about stopping a dangerous criminal."
I turned to Duncan, my heart breaking. "You're no better than my father. You want to use me like he does. If there's no trust between us, there's nothing."
Duncan's jaw tightened, but he said nothing.
I stood up, my hands shaking so I curled them into fists. "This conversation is now over. If you come near me again, Dom, Jett, whoever you are, I will call the police on you for harassment."
Dom sighed. "Elsa, listen to me—"
" Non . Nous avons fini ." We're done.
I walked to the door of Duncan’s office, my heart shattered and anger boiling inside me. "And, Duncan, don’t come to my apartment again. I’ll talk to a lawyer, and you’ll be served annulment papers. The marriage is so new, any magistrate will—"
"You're having my baby?"
"Are you sure?" I said, saccharine sweet, "Could be Vincent's? Or maybe Thierry's? How do you know? When we don't have trust, Duncan, like I just said, we have nothing . You have nothing from me any longer."
His eyes widened in shock, but still, he remained silent.
"Just to be clear, in case you missed it, this marriage is over. I can't stay with someone who doesn't believe in me and is willing to use me like you have. Letting anyone treat me like a criminal, speaking to me like that, and scaring me while I'm pregnant—supposedly with your child? I can do better. I deserve better."
I walked out of his office, tears streaming down my face.
The pain was unbearable, but I knew I couldn't stay married to Duncan now. I couldn't be with a man who saw me as a tool rather than a partner. I would not marry a man like my father.
I stepped into the cold Parisian evening, wrapping my arms around my growing belly. I was determined to protect my child from the toxic world closing in around me, thanks to my father—and now, my soon-to-be ex-husband.
I didn't know what the future held, but I knew I had to find my own way, for my baby's sake and mine.