Page 19 of The Carver

He finished his wine then devoured the first course in a single bite.

The rest of the courses were served, along with the wine each was paired with. Bastien said nothing about any of it, so it was unclear if he enjoyed anything he ate. He normally ate steak when we dined together, but this menu was mostly vegetarian-based. Maybe he’d brought me here because he thought I would like it. If so, that was awfully romantic for a man who ruled a criminal underworld that operated in plain sight.

“Thank you for taking me to dinner.”

He drank his wine.

“How long are you going to be mad at me?”

“That depends entirely on you, sweetheart.” When the bill arrived, he had his card ready and slipped it inside.

“We don’t only have to go to fancy places, you know. I’m fine with something more casual.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, Bo and Mie, McDonald’s.”

He stilled at what I said, like it was blasphemy. “McDonald’s.”

“What? It’s good.”

“I’m not taking you to fucking McDonald’s.”

“You have me, Bastien. You don’t need to impress me with fancy dinners.”

“You think I’m trying to impress you?” He cocked his head slightly, on the verge of a scoff. “Boys impress girls with nice dinners. Men impress women by making them come. I take you to places like this because I don’t eat horseshit—and I’m not taking my woman to eat horseshit.”

“Spoken like a true snob.”

“I take that as a compliment.”

The waitress came over and grabbed the bill to process in their machine across the room.

Bastien adopted his quiet confidence again and stared at me in silence.

“Why do you have that investment company?” I wanted to change the subject because I didn’t enjoy it when he was angry with me. Right now, I needed to do some damage control so he wouldn’t change his mind about taking me back. I was also interested in the topic, too, now that I worked there and realized it was a substantial company.

“I make money from criminals through the Fifth Republic. And I make money from wealthy non-criminals through the company. They can put their money in the stock market, but they can also put their money in commercial property, skyscrapers in London, Dubai, New York, places like that. The dealers may avoid prosecution from the government, but they still have to clean their money. The government can steer clear of territories, but they can’t hide those kinds of money-related crimes from financial institutions. Other countries and the United Nations would quickly catch wind of what was happening, and that would be bad for business. So they use my company to clean their money, while ordinary citizens use it to grow their wealth. Making the money is one part of the business, but transferring it into usable funds is a separate sector.”

I gave a nod in understanding. “I’ve quickly learned it’s a huge enterprise.”

“How’s Robert treating you?”

“I like him. He’s easy to work for.”

“He knows you’re my woman.”

“What does that mean?” I asked playfully. “You threatened him?”

“Just let him know what he’s dealing with.”

I gave a slight shake of my head. “You didn’t need to do that?—”

“I offered to make you my whore, but you declined.”

“I’m not going to fuck you for money when I’d gladly fuck you for free.”

“First rule of business, if you’re good at something, never do it for free.” The waitress came back with the tab, and he quickly signed it before he shut the folder. “If you’d taken that offer, you’d have the best job in the world—if you ask me.” He pulled out his phone and texted his driver.

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