Page 99 of The Paris Roommates: Dean
He took Jacqueline’s hand. “Right.”
Kyle looked toward it and then sighed. “No offense, but I don’t think you two should arrive together like that.”
Dean tightened his grip as Jacqueline loosened hers. They shared a look. “He is right, Dean. I will take a different route.”
He didn’t like it, but he nodded. “Fine. But only this time.”
“One more thing, Dean,” Kyle said, drawing his gaze away from Jacqueline’s resigned face. “Are you okay letting me do the talking? While you were upstairs, the others agreed I’d run point unless Nanine speaks. Yvonne did call her, after all.”
He wondered what else they’d discussed. “You’re pretty much the president of PRG and the GM of Nanine’s, so sure, knock yourself out. Did you think to bring Pierre?”
“No fricking way I’m letting that bitch get close to him after she dumped him at a pet shop,” Madison said. “Sorry, Jacqueline, but I have strong feelings on that one.”
“No problem,” she said with a frown. “I agree with you.”
Not exactly the cheery words Mr. Positivity needed to climb back out of the ditch. When they arrived at Nanine’s to the sound of her magical chandelier clanging their arrival, she was kneading bread in the kitchen as Thea wrung her hands and watched, Jean Luc beside her. Madison shot a telling look back at them, but Dean didn’t need it. He knew kneading bread was a way to work out worry and stress. Thea and Nanine had bonded over those kinds of stories when they’d first met ten years ago. He could see little sister itching to start some bread herself.
“I’m glad you could be punctual,” Nanine only said. “I think we have a big meeting on our hands. Could someone start coffee?”
Brooke and Thea nodded, heading to the machine, while Madison went off with Sawyer to pull out cups and saucers.
“Make one for Jacqueline, will you?” Dean asked. “She’ll be here soon.”
He filled Nanine, Thea, and Jean Luc in on the reason Jacqueline was joining them, which caused their eyes to widen momentarily. But as she arrived just then, he did nothing to soothe their worry, crossing to welcome Jacqueline and make her comfortable.
They were all sitting down at the kitchen table when they heard a knock on the back door of the kitchen. The chandelier’s crystals gave a loud crack against each other, the resonance unpleasant to the ear. No doubt this meeting would be like taking cough medicine, he thought. Nanine rose from her place at the head of the table to greet their guest, while the rest of them did their best to look casual. Dean reached for his coffee to cover up his nerves, wishing he could reach for Jacqueline’s hand instead.
When Nanine returned with Jacqueline’s sister, his chest tightened at the severe image she cut. Yvonne’s gray designer suit was high-end Parisian, tailored, and crisply pressed. She clutched her handbag under her arm. Her gaze coolly assessed the room before landing on him and Jacqueline, sitting in the far corner, where he’d thought they might be less noticeable. Her dark eyes seemed to harden, and he did what he’d told himself he shouldn’t: he clutched Jacqueline’s hand under the table.
“I see you look quite at home here, Jacqueline,” Yvonne said tightly in French. “Then I was correct to be concerned of those videos I saw of you with Pierre and the man sitting beside you. You are Dean Harris, yes? A member of The Paris Roommates Group? Of the group who is also planning on putting in a bid on my family’s cave?”
“It is my family too,” Jacqueline answered tersely.
“Youwill not speak,” Yvonne said, pulling off her black leather gloves.
Who the hell did she think she was? Dean was about to fire back when Brooke stepped on his foot under the table, her usual message to keep quiet. He locked gazes with her, but her green eyes were pleading. Beside him, Jacqueline was squeezing his hand tightly, but he wasn’t sure what she wanted.
“Madame Beaumont,” Nanine said softly, “please let us have a café and speak agreeably. I do not know why you wanted your sister here—”
“My half sister,” Yvonne corrected.
“As you say,” Nanine consented. “We are here to talk of business, not family matters. That is between the two of you and not our concern.”
Leave it to Nanine to go all French, but Dean figured she was right. This wasn’t the venue for airing family grievances. They needed to keep their eyes on the cave.
“My sister and this Dean Harris have made that impossible,” Yvonne declared. “You are seeing each other, are you not? Those videos of you with Pierre seem to be quite conclusive on the subject.”
He wasn’t going to lie about their relationship, and he glanced around the table as he held up their joined hands. “Jacqueline and I have started to see each other, yes.”
“But that occurred onlyafterour we learned of your cave and wanted to buy it,” Kyle broke in, standing and crossing to Yvonne. His aim was obvious: he was pretty much blocking her view of the rest of the room. “Our business interest remains the same. The Paris Roommates Group plans to put in a competitive bid on your cave. That is all. The rest is not important and will have absolutely no bearing on our bid.”
Jacqueline glanced over at Dean, her brows knit in confusion.
He fought a wince. He understood what Kyle was doing. Everything else Kyle had said was true; he supposed he didn’t need to talk about what they planned to do with it afterward.
“Then my half sister is dating one of your business partners with no plans to persuade him to give her part of the cave?” Yvonne stepped to the side and trained her eyes on them. “Because her mother had a way of persuading my father to do all sorts of things that broke both his vows and his family’s hearts, so I wouldn’t put it past her to have an agenda here. Mr. Harris, you might be in danger of being duped.”
Duped?
