Page 54 of The Butcher

She took a breath and let it out slowly, her long hair behind her shoulders.

“You know I’m a man of my word. I would never bring violence into your home.”

She broke eye contact and looked at the fireplace.

“You’re the only person he respects. If you asked him to come under the banner of truce, we would abide by it.”

She considered it for a long time, her eyes glued to the fireplace.

I’d searched the streets for him. I’d tortured people for information, but they were a hell of a lot more afraid of him than me. Unless I found where he was and took him myself, I would never get what I wanted. My mother was the only connection I had to my brother.

She finally turned back to me after careful consideration. “I’ll ask Godric to consider it—but that’s the most I can do.”

Chapter 13

Fleur

Bastien didn’t text me.

He said I would see him tomorrow, but tomorrow was today, and there was no sign of him. I didn’t text him because I didn’t want to smother him with my neediness. It was a casual relationship and he didn’t owe me anything, but his silence made me wonder if his flame for me had been extinguished. He said his longest fling was a week, and we’d been going at it for a month now. So I assumed that he would pull the plug any day, that he would get tired of me when he found my replacement on his midnight adventures.

I didn’t want it to end, not yet, but holding on to him tighter would just push him away quicker.

So I didn’t text him.

I was alone in my apartment with the TV on, the darkness pressing against the windows while it rained. An ambulance drove by, and the sound reverberated against the buildings as it passed and then faded as it crossed the bridge. The divorcepapers were on the dining table because I would submit the paperwork tomorrow.

I didn’t have a shift at the bar tonight, but I wished I did just to stay busy. I knew I needed to find a job better than that one, something that paid enough for me to start a new life. I grabbed my laptop and searched job listings in the hope I would find something that paid well and that I was remotely qualified for.

But it was slim pickings.

Bastien texted me.I’ve got a lot on my mind right now. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

I was relieved and disappointed by that message. When I asked for space, he gave it to me without an interrogation, so I did the same for him. Most guys would have just left me hanging, and then if I asked about his silence later, he would have called me clingy or annoying. But Bastien didn’t do that. He was different. He treated me like I was important even though I was someone whose name he would forget in a couple months. If he settled down someday, whoever he gave his heart to would be the luckiest woman in the world.You know where to find me.

I went to the courthouse the next day and submitted the finalized paperwork. Once it was processed, the divorce proceedings would move to a hearing. Adrien had earned most of his wealth while he was married to me, so we had to settle all the communal property, from the house in Paris to the one we owned in the Loire Valley.

But I didn’t want any of it.

After that, I went on a few job interviews I’d set up, but I could tell by their reception of me that I had no chance of getting the positions. One was for a clerk at the courthouse, another was for an assistant at an art house, and another was an office job for an investment company.

By the time I made it back home, it was evening and time for dinner, but I had no food in the apartment. I decided to head downstairs to Poppy Café to order some fondue fries and have a smoke, sitting alone while groups of friends met up together after a day at the office, having a drink and a smoke before heading home to their apartments.

Bastien texted me.I’m in the neighborhood.

My heart did a little dance inside my chest, and that gave me a jolt of fear. When did my happiness become so dependent on this man? When did I become so attached? I should be heartbroken over Adrien, and despite what he did, I should still miss him. But now, all my thoughts were occupied by the man who’d picked me up in a bar.I’m having a smoke at Poppy Café.

Sounds like you had a rough day.

You could say that…

See you in a sec, sweetheart.

The black SUV appeared a moment later, and the behemoth of a man appeared. In a long-sleeved black shirt and dark jeans with boots, he approached my table on the patio, drawing attention from the other women seated nearby and the pedestrians who walked down the cobblestone street toward the mall. He did something he’d never done before—and leaned down and kissed me.

I saw cold stars and felt hot flames on my lips. A surge of affection that started in my core made it to my throat and my heart. The attachment I feared had just increased tenfold.

He took the seat across from me and pulled out a cigar before he lit up. Nonchalant, he got the attention of the waitress and ordered one of his stiff drinks, oblivious to the mark he’d left on my mouth—and my heart.

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