Page 78 of The Carver

“You weren’t receptive to my last warning, so this is my final attempt to save your neck.”

“Your last warning?”

He didn’t remember anything, did he? I chose to disregard the question. “You don’t know Oscar like I do. You don’t know the Aristocracy like I do. They will not stop until each of your limbs is ripped from your body. They’re proud of their history and their culture, and in their eyes, you’re shitting all over it.”

“I’m not breaking any rules?—”

“Adrien. You’ve built a beautiful life for yourself. Retire or find something else. It’s that simple.”

He rubbed his palms together, his eyes on his hands.

“No amount of money is worth your neck.” Did I really need to convince him of reason? Did I really need to father a grown-ass man?

“I’ve been in this business a long time, Bastien. People threaten me all the time.”

“Oscar is different. He’ll put a bounty on your head, and I promise you, everyone but me will roll on you. Take my advice and stop.”

He lifted his chin and looked at me. “If you were me, what would you do?”

Probably jump off a bridge.

“You wouldn’t back down.”

“We’re very different men, Adrien. You sell artwork on the black market, and I rule a fucking city. Don’t compare yourself to me, not when I keep my word and you look your wife in the eye and lie.”

He winced like my words were a spray of bullets.

“I don’t give a shit whether you live or not, but my girl does. She’s the only reason I’m sitting here.”

“Does she know about this?”

“No,” I said. “Just because you aren’t married anymore doesn’t mean she wants you to die a brutal death. If you don’t have any other reason to step away, step away for her.”

He looked at his hands again.

“Adrien.” I felt my patience slip, like a teacher who couldn’t get through to a student.

“If we were still together, I would give it all up to keep her safe. But I don’t have her anymore.” He looked at me again. “I don’t have anything except for this. And if Oscar is coming for me, that just means I need to come for him first.”

I released an angry sigh. “Don’t be stupid?—”

“This is all I have.”

I wanted to argue, but that was like trying to drive a Mini Cooper through the side of a concrete building. Fucking waste of time. I gave a slight shake of my head but said nothing more, knowing I’d done what I could. When Fleur realized that Adrien had been murdered, she would withdraw once again and halt the crawling pace of our relationship. My concern was entirely selfish, but I was a selfish man, and I wanted that woman so fucking bad. “Good luck, Adrien.”

I met Oscar at the restaurant.

We were surrounded by regular people having dinner, unaware of the dangerous men sitting in the center of the room, having wine like civilized people when we were anything but civilized.

Oscar didn’t say a word, staring me down like he wanted me to get straight to the point because that was all he cared about.

We hadn’t even ordered yet.

“So?”

I gave a quiet sigh. “He wouldn’t see reason.”

His eyes narrowed, and he gave a slight nod in understanding.

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