Page 71 of The Butcher

We were ushered into the ballroom with a crowd of people, chandeliers hanging from the ceiling while waiters offered flutesof champagne and canapés. It was an enormous room, the perfect size to hold a wedding with five hundred guests. Tables were covered in champagne-pink tablecloths with enormous centerpieces filled with tall lilies. A four-piece quartet played music from the corner, and the men were dressed in tuxedos and the women in beautiful gowns.

But none of the men or women were as beautiful as Bastien. He was a towering man with his height, and he carried his muscular body with a stiffness that showed the hardness of his spine. His composure was relaxed, like he was in his element in a room full of the aristocracy. A waiter passed by, and he grabbed a flute of champagne for me.

“Thank you.” I took a drink and noticed he didn’t take one for himself.

It wasn’t long after that that the mingling began. Men who were obviously acquainted with Bastien came over for small talk, jokes about other people not in the vicinity, and a bit of politics.

Bastien kept his hand on the small of my back as he introduced me. “This is my woman, Fleur. Fleur, these are some of the members of the Senate.” He introduced each one of them by name, even remembering the names of their wives, who hardly said two words.

I’d told him I wanted to keep it casual, and just as I’d assumed, he basically disregarded what I’d requested. I was whisked away into a relationship that I hadn’t agreed to, and that meant there were expectations and a certain degree of trust, trust that I’d never consented to give. Bastien was a man of the shadows, a man who would always be committed to his work above everything else, a bad boy who killed people for a living. Adrienwas a normal guy I’d thought I could trust, so Bastien was even less trustworthy.

How had I ended up exactly where I didn’t want to be?

We took our seats at a table, the seating chart on a big poster in the entryway, and we were surrounded by boring and pretentious men from the Senate and National Assembly—but Luca was also there with his date.

Luca gave me a cold reception, a nod in acknowledgment of my existence. “This is Diana.” He gestured to the woman with him, a beautiful brunette who looked like she belonged in a magazine or on a fashion billboard. Far too beautiful to be introduced only by her name. Luca and his date went to the bar to grab something stronger than the champagne distributed on the tables.

“Your friend doesn’t like me.”

Bastien’s hand went to my thigh under the table. “He doesn’t like anybody.”

I appreciated that he didn’t lie to me, but the truth still stung a little bit. “That seems to be true, considering the way he treats his girlfriend.”

“She’s not his girlfriend.”

“Then who is she?”

He shrugged. “A woman he has in his pocket.”

“Why bring someone anyway?”

“It’s all about optics. You earn more respect if you’ve got a beautiful woman on your arm.”

“Do I earn you respect? Because I’m not the bombshell she is.”

Bastien scoffed, a handsome smile on his face. “She’s so thin you can see her hip bones through her dress and the vertebrae up her spine—and her tits are fake. You, on the other hand, are the finest piece of woman I’ve ever seen.” He moved his arm over the back of my chair and gave me that intense gaze that could win him any hand in poker. “I’ll take you to my office and prove it.”

I felt the heat burn underneath my skin, bringing a sting to my cheeks. I broke eye contact when his confidence made my strength shatter. I’d never felt safer with anyone, but that also made me feel more vulnerable in numerous ways.

“Stop doing that.”

I turned back to him. “What?”

“I take a step forward, you take a step back,” he said. “We’ve done it at least ten times now.”

My heart started to race when I realized his actions were completely intentional. When I told him how I felt, it wasn’t what he wanted to hear, so he disregarded it. “I need to use the restroom.” I left my chair and crossed the ballroom until I exited through the double doors. The bathrooms were located in the main entryway, so I took my time walking there, taking advantage of the moment to process the adrenaline that pounded in my heart.

The bathroom was empty and I didn’t need to use the toilet, so I took a seat in one of the armchairs near the vanity where women could touch up their makeup. I sat there and crossed my legs, taking a break from the invisible pressure Bastien applied to me.

I sat there for a couple minutes, knowing I shouldn’t linger too long. Otherwise, he would come looking for me. Wouldn’t be surprised if he let himself in to the women’s restroom to check. I looked in the mirror and fixed my hair before I stepped back into the main room.

I halted when I came face-to-face with the man I wanted to avoid.

His eyes weren’t intense the way they had been before, so possessive they were physical. Now, they were just angry, blue flames in those pretty eyes. “Let me explain to you what casual is. Casual is a random text from someone you haven’t seen in two weeks, asking for a hookup. Casual is wearing a condom. Casual is fucking several people at once. Casual isnottexting me every day, isnottelling me you miss me,notsleeping over and having pancakes the next morning. So, what do you want from me, sweetheart?” He didn’t raise his voice, but his tone was so powerful it felt like he screamed. “Because I haven’t been with anyone else since the first time I saw you, but I can change that as soon as tonight if you’d like.”

I inhaled a sharp breath like he’d slapped me.

“I asked you a question.”

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