14. Fleur
Chapter 14
Fleur
I hated my apartment.
Not because it wasn’t a three-story villa with a staff of servants—but because Bastien didn’t live there. He’d mentioned once that I could live with him, but I didn’t think he was serious. It was way too soon for that anyway. I had to remind myself over and over that we’d only been together a few months, not a few years.
I threw together dinner in my tiny kitchen, watched some TV on the couch, and then went to bed in preparation to start the day over tomorrow. The curtains were drawn closed over the windows, but light from the nearby buildings crept in anyway.
In Bastien’s bedroom, he had no neighbors because the Seine was directly in front of him, so only the light from the Eiffel Tower was visible—and I didn’t mind that light one bit.
It was also colder in my apartment, and no matter how high I cranked the thermostat, it couldn’t replace the warmth of Bastien’s body beside mine. His big hands on my flesh. His hot chest against my back. The sheets were always cold because there was no heat to absorb.
I lay there on my side and tried to sleep, but then it started to rain. Having a loft apartment meant I could hear everything on the roof in detail, and the rainfall was like a thousand hooves from a stampede of wild horses. I loved the rain and didn’t mind the sound, but it made me think of Bastien…and made me miss him like crazy. There were mornings we lay in bed together and watched the rain hit the window. Nights when he kissed me in it after dinner. Times when he would come over and his shirt would be slightly damp because he’d walked in the rain as if he didn’t care if he got wet. There were times Adrien had come home and he'd smelled like a woman’s perfume or cigarettes, but I’d just assumed it was a crowded room, that the guys had brought their girls. But Bastien only smelled like the rain…and nothing else.
My front door opened and closed down the hall.
I stilled in bed, at first feeling a jolt of fear at the thought of a burglar, but then I realized it wasn’t a forced entry. Someone had let themselves into my apartment like they had every right to be there.
Heavy footsteps were audible on the hardwood floor as he moved down the hall and entered my bedroom. He was a shadow at first, but then he stepped into the strip of light that came through the slit in the curtains. Dressed in all black, his eyes brilliant even in the dark, he looked at me where I lay on the bed.
After a long stare, he undressed, pulling his long-sleeved shirt over his head and dropping his boots and bottoms. Then he crawled up the bed and moved over me.
My arms immediately encircled him and brought him close, my ankles hooking at the top of his ass.
He slid his hand into my hair, and he stared at me hard, his eyes absorbing my look with subtle desperation. He grazed his thumb over my cheek, tracing my bottom lip and the corner of my mouth.
I’d lain there missing him, and now that he was here, my heart ached in the most painful way. Like the emotion of having him there was somehow worse than the pain of missing him. “I missed you, babe.”
His thumb halted mid-stroke, and his brilliant eyes locked on mine like his heart had skipped a beat. He possessed me with his stare before he cradled the back of my head and kissed me hard and slow, his lips moving with purpose, his fingers digging deep into my hair to get an iron grip. He made me feel like his without saying a word, just by gripping me and kissing me. The cold in the sheets was dispelled by his brilliant sun, and the longing in my heart was smothered by his masculine affection.
He reached for my panties and started to pull them off, letting me unhook my ankles from around his waist so he could remove them the rest of the way. He left my shirt on but shoved it up to expose my tits before he squeezed between my soft thighs again. He tilted my hips before he sank inside me, giving the sexiest moan when he felt me, like he wasn’t skipping around town fucking all the women who made passes at him when I wasn’t around. I was the only woman he bedded, and when he was in the mood, he came to my apartment in the middle of the night because I was the only one he wanted.
His mouth returned to mine, and he kissed me again, slowly rocking inside me, our bodies moving together with aching slowness, like we wanted to be together to feel each other, not get to the finish line.
I felt the hardness of his chest, felt the cords in his neck when my fingers grazed by, felt the hard bones in his jawline when I caressed him. With every breath, he breathed new life into me, made me feel secure in a relationship that was still in the early stages of blooming.
Before I’d discovered Adrien’s infidelity, everything had felt right. But my relationship with Bastien made me realize it’d never been what it was supposed to be. We had so much depth, so much honesty, so much foundation. The passion and the desire and the chemistry were what brought us together, but everything else was what kept us together. Even if Bastien was a notorious criminal who was sometimes a drug dealer and sometimes a grim reaper, he was still the best man I’d ever known.
He lay beside me in the dark, the rain loud like falling stones on the roof. He had me pulled close, my leg hiked over his hip, his hand on my ass while his straight arm was my pillow. His eyes were bright even in the dark, his soul the source of their illumination. “Did I wake you?”
“No,” I whispered. “I was just lying in the dark…thinking about you.”
“Wish I could have seen that.” A slight smirk tugged at his lips, like he wanted to walk in and see my fingers between my legs.
I felt a heat flush my cheeks. “Not like that. I was thinking about how much I missed you, even though I just saw you the other day.” I lightly touched his chest with my fingertips, following the line down the center of his chest.
His smile slowly faded. “I always miss you—even when I’m with you.”
My eyes flicked back up to his, fear and joy exploding inside my heart. Our car didn’t have brakes, and it seemed to have unlimited acceleration. Every time we reached a new top speed, we were stuck there. I looked at his chest again and continued my scribbles on his skin. “Me too.”
He didn’t seem like the kind of man to say anything romantic, so when he did, it hit differently. It was authentic and real and straight from his heart. “Live with me.” He hadn’t blinked in nearly a minute, and the intensity of his eyes indicated he was too focused on my answer to do so. “I don’t care if it’s only been a few months. You have no attachment to this apartment. It’s never been home to you, just a placeholder.”
Months ago, he’d said I could move in with him for all he cared, but I’d never been sure if that was just a spur-of-the-moment reaction or an actual invitation. Now, my heart was in my throat, full of excitement and joy and also absolute terror. “Is it too soon?—”
“For other people, but not us.” His answer was so quick, it was like a bullet waiting in the chamber. “It’s been fast because it’s been right.”
It had felt right with Adrien, and then he turned into someone I didn’t know. I was an idiot to think it would be different with Bastien, but I believed it, nonetheless. Sometimes I told myself this was too good to be true, that this drop-dead sexy, committed man was playing a cruel trick—and I’d fallen for it. “You said you would take this slow?—”
“I’ve been taking this slow.” His eyes throbbed with desperate intensity, pulling me deep into his soul. “If it were up to me, you would have moved in with me months ago. If it were up to me, a lot of things would be different right now. But I’ve been patient like a goddamn saint—and I can’t do it anymore. I want to come home to you every day. I want you in my bed every night. I want you soaking in the tub while I watch Manchester lose another fucking game on the couch. That’s what I want—and you want it too. So, don’t give me that shit that you aren’t technically divorced yet and it’s too soon and all that other nonsense, because what we have is fucking real.”
We’d been lying together in the peaceful quiet while listening to the rain on the rooftop, and now it was contentious. When he’d come to me in the middle of the night, I was so happy at the sight of him, at the touch of his skin and the kiss of his lips. Sleeping alone wasn’t hard after I left Adrien, but it was unbearable now that I was with Bastien.
His brilliant eyes continued to drill into my face. “It’s a safe neighborhood and a nice building, but I don’t want you here by yourself. I want to give you my palace and my security and everything you could possibly want— so let me do that .”
“I don’t want those things, Bastien. All I want is you?—”
“Then move in with me.”
He overpowered me in every conversation we had, the greatest salesman who ever lived. There was no pitch I could reject. I was scared to move in and get settled as his woman—and have him leave me for someone else…and then I would be back in an apartment just like this. Heartbroken and alone and broke. But I wouldn’t bounce back, not like I had after Adrien.
He continued to silently demand an answer.
But I believed Bastien was different from Adrien. I believed in his honesty and integrity. And even though it was still hard to believe that a man so goddamn perfect could ever want me, I knew what I meant to him. “Okay.”
The hardness in his stare immediately vanished, like he couldn’t believe I actually agreed to it. “Is that a yes?” The confusion faded when he knew he didn’t misunderstand my response, and then that handsome smile came through.
“Yes.”
He smiled so bright, the smile was visible in his eyes. “Attagirl.” He squeezed me against him, and he gripped my ass as he rolled me over onto my back, his hand digging into my hair as his kisses smothered my neck. He pressed his mouth against mine, and he kissed me hard as he positioned himself between my thighs and sank deep inside me.
My gasp was muffled by his kiss. I gripped his back and felt the muscles harden underneath the skin. He rocked into me slowly, just the way he’d taken me earlier, the rain pounding the roof in the storm and streaking down the windows hidden behind the curtains. I used to hate the rain before Bastien.
But now, I loved it.
I came home from work and started to pack my things.
I didn’t have a lot of stuff, but it seemed like I’d just unpacked everything and now I had to pack up again. My destination was a major upgrade and, if I was lucky, would be my forever home, but it was still hard to find the motivation to box everything up again.
I opened a bottle of wine, turned on some music, and got to work.
Bastien texted me. Are you done?
The smile that moved over my face was instantaneous. It’s gonna take me at least a couple days.
Why?
Because I have a job.
Okay, then you’re fired.
“This man…” Then it’s going to take even longer because now I have to find another job.
What do you need a job for?
Food, clothing, essentials…
That’s what I’m for, sweetheart.
Thank you, but I can get my own stuff, babe.
There was a pause before his three dots appeared again. I love it when you call me that.
The first time I said it the other night, it just flew out like the words had a pair of wings. I didn’t know where it came from. I’d never called Adrien that, nor any other man in my life. I’d never used a nickname.
Just hurry the fuck up.
What’s the rush?
Afraid you’ll change your mind.
Guilt struck me like the blunt end of a hammer. It hurt because it was his truth. I kept him at arm’s length because I was constantly afraid he would hurt me, but he was just as afraid of me hurting him. I’m not gonna change my mind, babe.
My apartment was full of boxes now. My clothes were packed away, which was the bulk of my possessions. I needed five boxes alone just for the shoes. Bastien said he would have his guys move everything for me, so it was nice I wouldn’t have to do that part by myself. It was my last night in the apartment, the last night I would sleep alone and try to stay warm under the sheets.
Moving in with Bastien was a big decision, not just in our relationship, but in my life. I knew he was a dangerous man living a dangerous life. I’d seen men try to kill him with my own eyes. Even if he was the ruler of the city, the predator at the top of the food chain, I was still signing up for a life that was different from the one I’d always known. It was a risk, but Bastien was a risk worth taking. When he said he would keep me safe, I believed him.
For better or worse.
I was tired from working every day and then packing at night, so I went to sleep early. I normally went to bed at eleven and woke up at eight, but I was so tired I didn’t eat much of my dinner and passed out shortly after nine.
I was dead asleep when I heard the sound of the front door.
I lay still for a moment, the sleep paralysis keeping me frozen in place. I fought against it, and then a smile spread across my face because I knew who it was. Tomorrow was when I was supposed to officially move in to his apartment—but he couldn’t even wait a day.
The footsteps were audible in the hallway, coming closer to my bedroom.
I was so tired from working these last three days that I didn’t even want to have sex, but snuggling with Bastien felt better than sex sometimes. The smell of his skin, the heat from his muscles, the way he could touch me so softly and then grip me a moment afterward.
When I heard his footsteps enter my bedroom, I felt my exhausted eyes open. “Couldn’t wait another day?” My voice was quiet and cracked, my throat hardly able to work because I’d been asleep for so long. When I glanced at the clock on the nightstand, I saw that it was one in the morning.
He moved toward the bed, but he didn’t undress.
That was when I realized there was another man in the room, moving to the other side of the bed.
The alarm defeated the haze of sleep as my fight-or-flight response kicked in. I pushed the sheets off me, screamed, and tried to crawl down the center of the bed to get away from them both.
I was grabbed by the arm and shoved down on the bed.
I screamed like my life depended on it. “Help! Help me!”
A gloved hand cupped my mouth and muffled my screams.
A needle poked me in the arm, and then the skin burned when something was injected into me. It took a second or two to kick in, but then I could barely stand, the world started to blur, and I found myself toppling face first into the sheets.
Then it was black.
I heard voices.
“Give me that list—or she dies.” It was a voice I didn’t recognize, but he was clearly the instigator because he spoke so calmly, like my life literally meant nothing to him. “I will bury her alive, and you can watch her suffocate.”
I was aware of the cool tile against my cheek, of how hard the floor was. My eyes strained to open, strained to lift and fight the fog that was still potent in my blood.
“She’s not my wife anymore.”
I recognized that voice. Adrien.
“Let her go,” Adrien said. “She has nothing to do with this, and you’re violating the code.”
“ I’m violating the code ?” the man asked incredulously. “You rob our museums and sell our artwork to foreign pricks, and I’m the one violating the code? Like the civilized man that I am, I offered you a pardon. All you had to do was bow out, but you’re too much of a fucking prick.”
Adrien’s voice started to shake. “Then I quit. There you go.”
The man laughed. “Doesn’t work like that, Adrien. It’s too late.”
“I said she’s not my wife anymore.”
“But it’s obvious that she still means a great deal to you. Don’t play checkers with someone who’s playing poker.”
Adrien’s voice was unsteady, like he could barely string a few words together. “I’ll do whatever you want, Oscar. Make your demands.”
My eyes finally cracked open. I could see the tile that I recognized, tile that I’d walked across barefoot for years. My eyes lifted to where Adrien stood, his eyes on the man who’d captured me from my apartment.
“You say she’s not your wife, but you’re awfully cooperative for her.”
I couldn’t see the man who spoke, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
Adrien stood in jeans and a wrinkled shirt, like he’d been woken in the middle of the night to address this. That must mean only a few hours had passed, maybe even less than that. I kept my eyes cracked but was careful not to move so they wouldn’t give me more of the drug. “What do you want?”
“I want a list of all your buyers. I want to know what they bought and how much they paid for it.”
Adrien’s tanned face suddenly looked pale, like that request wasn’t easy to grant. “I don’t have it?—”
“Lie to me again, and I’ll shoot her in the fucking head.”
Oh Jesus.
Adrien lifted his hands as he spoke, a poor attempt to de-escalate the situation. “Why do you want the list?”
“That’s my business, Adrien.”
“If I give you that list, they’ll come for me.”
“Yes,” he said. “But your wife—or ex-wife—will live.”
This was the moment when Adrien was supposed to quickly agree to save my life, but he remained quiet, trying to find a solution that got him everything he wanted. He said he loved me, but when he had an opportunity to save me, he squandered it. “If I give you that list, they’ll come for more than Fleur. They’ll come for my entire family, my friends, everyone I’ve ever known.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” the man said. “But that’s a chance you’ll have to take, because if you don’t take it, she dies.”
I was fucked.
Adrien started to pant, unable to keep his composure in the negotiation. “I’m the one you want. Let her go and kill me instead.”
“No. I want the list.”
“I said I would quit!” Adrien yelled. “I’ll retire. I’ll give you all the money I’ve earned?—”
“That offer has expired, Adrien.”
“Fuck you,” he snapped.
“Fuck me?” the man asked. “Take her to the car, boys. And don’t forget the shovels.”
Oh shit. My body was still paralyzed. As hard as I tried to move my hands and legs, nothing happened. I could hardly blink. But I was able to move my lips, and I said the one thing that might save my life. “Bastien…”
Adrien heard me because he immediately looked at me.
The guys lifted me from the floor. I was scooped into someone’s arms.
I couldn’t fight the hold, even when my heart raced in fear. I was carried to the car that was on the property and laid across the back seat. One of the guys pulled out another needle to inject into my skin to keep me asleep.
With my last burst of energy, I said the only thing that might spare my life. “Bastien…”