Page 125 of Angel Eyes

He turned to me, giving me a severe look. “No, I came to apprise you of the truth—the whole truth. But before I get to that, I’ll skip to the punch line and tell you that Juliet is innocent.”

My pulse accelerated against my will. “Her association with you would suggest otherwise.”

“Yes, well, I tend to have that effect,” he said dryly. “But it doesn’t change the fact that she’s not the guilty party. I am. She was just the sacrificial lamb. The price for atonement.”

I exhaled through clenched teeth. “Explain.”

“Six months ago, we put a plan in motion to open a restaurant in Paris. It was my idea and was something I had been hoping to do for years. Marcel saw it as a chance to reconcile with you. I suspect he’s wanted to bring you back into the family for a while, and what better way to do that than to build a kingdom and hand you the keys?” He snorted humorlessly. “Anyway, it took some time, but eventually, he tracked down your new number and attempted to initiate contact. And when that failed, he sent me. He trusted me to find you, to convince you to come to the restaurant opening.”

“And Juliet?”

“After you all but slammed the door in my face the day I came here to see you, I returned later that afternoon to drop off a note for you in the hope that you would contact me at some point. And that’s when I saw you with Juliet.”

With Juliet at the gallery.

Wait. Was he referring to that day when we …

My lip curled in outrage. “You were spying on us?” If I found out he’d been watching us through the window or some shit, he was a dead man.

He sighed, rolling his eyes dramatically. “No, I was not spying on you. Believe it or not, voyeurism isn’t my style. But I saw enough to deduce she was important to you, and if anyone could convince you to come to the restaurant, it would be her.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “Why am I not surprised? When you couldn’t get what you wanted through honest means, you resorted to deceit. Classic Lucien.”

His eyes flashed with anger. “Yes, I did. You can look down on me from the moral high ground all you want, but there is little I wouldn’t do for Marcel. He plucked me out of the gutter and gave me a chance at a future. I owe him everything.” I opened and closed my mouth, but no sound came out. “So yes,” he barreled on, “I sought Juliet out and persuaded her to bring you to the restaurant. She had no idea who I was to you. She didn’t make that connection until you tried to throttle me in the middle of the dining room.”

“She didn’t know who you were?”

“No. When I introduced myself to her, I told her I went by the name Cristian.”

My brows slammed down. Where had I heard that name? Pressing my eyes shut, I searched my memory for something, some conversation dangling just out of reach. Slowly but surely, it came back to me. It’s my friend Cristian. He’s been radio silent for the past week. I’m starting to worry. That’s right—Juliet had mentioned him. Of course, I had no idea who she was talking about at the time. And how could I?

“So, you gave her a false name?” I scoffed. “Someone ought to give you a medal for the number of lies you tell.”

He sliced a hand through the air. “It wasn’t a lie. Cristian is my name. My middle name. I told you before, I’ve always hated the name Lucien, and everyone outside of the family calls me Cristian. I even tried to tell you as much—”

“Do you think I give a shit?” I launched to my feet, closing the distance between us in two strides. “Do you think I care about any of this? There is nothing—and I mean nothing—you could say to justify you seducing Juliet.”

He jerked away from me, his eyes going comically round, and I had to admit his shocked expression was almost convincing.

“She told me about the bracelet,” I continued. “She admitted you bought it for her.”

“Yes, I did,” he said, a frown pulling at his brow. “There was a misunderstanding at Galeries, and I bought the bracelet to get her out of trouble. But I don’t see what that has to do with anything.” He gave me a confused look. “Gabriel, why would I seduce your girlfriend?”

“Because you’ve done it before—when you had an affair with Elise.”

A palpable silence descended over the room as Lucien stared at me with a blank expression.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Three years ago, when you withdrew five hundred thousand euros from our business account using my credentials—thanks for that, by the way—Elise told me you did it at her request because the two of you were having an affair.”

He blinked slowly, his eyes growing distant as they settled on a point over my shoulder.

“So that’s what it was,” he said quietly. He moved to the couch before dropping onto it, his gaze still holding a faraway look. When his eyes finally returned to mine, they were filled with sadness. “I always wondered why you left without saying goodbye. Now I know.” Tilting forward, he swiped the whiskey from the floor, popping the cork.

“To Elise,” he said, raising the bottle before taking a long swig. “The bitch is more cunning than I gave her credit for.”

“What are you talking about?”

---