Page 77 of The Carver

I wanted to ask her to stay, and if I knew she’d say yes, I would. “You’re welcome anytime.”

A little smile moved on to her lips. “It’s a shame you have that big tub and never use it…”

“It’s all yours whenever you want, sweetheart.”

She chuckled. “So, I just come by every day after work and use it for an hour?”

“As long as you fuck me before you go, you know that’s perfectly fine.”

She chuckled again then took a drink of her wine, like she thought it was a joke.

I was dead serious.

“I’m excited to check my mail when I get home. The finalized documents for the divorce should be in there. Never thought I would be so happy to be divorced.”

I wouldn’t tell her I’d spoken to Adrien, not unless she directly asked me. I didn’t want to involve her in our business affairs if I didn’t have to. And I didn’t want her to know what I’d learned either. That would probably just scare her off again. “What terms did you agree to?”

“I said I didn’t want anything, and he let it happen.”

If this were a couple weeks ago, I would have argued with her, but it didn’t matter what she got in the divorce anymore. Not when she would be a billionaire somewhere in the near future, her only job to either ride my dick or suck it. “You can finally put this behind you.”

“Yep.” She took a drink from her glass. “It’s been a crazy four months…really crazy.” She stared at me across the table, looking at me exactly the way she had when she saw me walk into Silencio all those months ago, like she wanted to sink her teeth into me and carve her name into my flesh.

It was the craziest time of her life, but it was the calmest of mine. The first time I slowed down to listen to the raindrops pelt thewindowpane in the middle of the night. The first time I drank wine to savor it. The first time I enjoyed being out of bed as much as I enjoyed being in it. My life suddenly had more depth to it, going from a shallow bank to a deep river. That kind of dedication should give my heart palpitations and tremors, but it gave me something else.

It gave me peace.

It was raining when I arrived at the house.

I had never made so many house calls for a single client.

The butler showed me into the drawing room, the same place where Adrien had slouched in the armchair, drunk out of his mind. The butler offered me a drink, which I took because I needed something strong to make this visit more bearable.

Adrien stepped into the room moments later, in a t-shirt and jeans, his wedding ring gone. He was subtly hostile but also indifferent to my presence. He took a seat in the other armchair, back perfectly straight, fully in control of his faculties.

I shook the ice in my glass before I took a drink. “You look better.”

“Better than what?”

I sat back in the armchair and sized him up across the room, wondering if he really didn’t remember our previous interaction.

“Adrien?” A woman’s voice came from behind me.

I couldn’t see her unless I turned in the chair, and I wasn’t going to do that.

His eyes flicked to her behind me. “Wait for me in the car.”

The sound of her heels came and went.

Adrien looked at me again.

Every other time I’d visited him, he appeared to be alone, his wedding ring his only company. But it seemed his attitude had changed. “You’re moving on. Good for you.”

He broke eye contact, like my words were sharp when they were meant to be soft. “Why are you here, Bastien?”

“Because this is the eleventh hour, Adrien. I’m meeting Oscar after this.”

His expression remained rigid, like that information didn’t matter.

---