to Magnus on the phone inside my office. “Jacques has lifted the importation embargo from Colombia, so we can get what we needed through another medium.” All it took was some wining and dining, making the president feel like a major player in the game, to get what I wanted. Money wasn’t the only thing that mattered to him. Ego was even more important.
Magnus held his silence.
He was already on thin ice with me, so I didn’t appreciate his disapproval. “You have nothing to say?”
“If we lift the trade agreement, what’s to stop copycats?”
“Our guns.” I hung up because I couldn’t stand his bullshit a second longer.
Gilbert stepped in a moment later. “Sir, where will you be taking your lunch—”
“Here.” I tossed the phone across the desk.
“Of course,” he said with a nod. “Shall I tell Melanie you wish to be alone for the rest of the day?”
My immediate reaction was to dismiss her, but I didn’t mind having her around, even if we didn’t speak. Her presence was soothing to me. Her beauty distracted me. Made me forget about bullshit. “She’s always welcome.”
He gave a bow then departed.
When I’d woken up that morning, I wanted to take back my offer.
I shouldn’t have caved.
I allowed her to make me weak. I allowed her to turn me soft. But when I heard her nighttime screams, I came running without hesitation. I watched her tears pour down her face and wished I could take it all away. I wished I could give her only joy. I wanted to take care of my chérie, and watching her fall into despair told me how much I’d failed.
I fucking failed.
Now I couldn’t take back what I promised. I couldn’t go back on my word to her. I had to see this through, pull out that obnoxious bitch and replace her with someone else, only to have her live on my property, to be fed and clothed for the rest of her life.
And I had to foot the bill.
But there was no other way.
Raven was the thorn in my side, the cinder block in the road, the bullet lodged deep into my flesh.
Heels tapped against the hard floor outside the open doorway, growing louder as Melanie approached. She had a slow gait, taking her time as if she had nowhere to be or whoever expected her presence would wait a lifetime.
I’d wait several lifetimes.
My back was sunk into the armchair, my fingers curled into a fist against my chin, my elbow on the leather armrest. My eyes took her in as she stepped inside, holding a book in one hand, wearing a pale blue dress with matching heels. Her only responsibility as a resident was to wear the beautiful clothes I provided, the diamonds, the finer things in life that most people didn’t even know existed.
She halted on the rug and examined me. Her eyes absorbed my appearance, my mood, everything about me. That told her everything she needed to know. She silently took a seat and opened her book to read.
Not speaking a word to me.
My eyes didn’t turn back to my phone or laptop because they were glued to her cheek, seeing the way her hair naturally fell forward when her chin dropped, and she had to push it back, only for it to fall once more. Her beauty was paralyzing to me, like the strongest nuclear weapon on the planet. In silence, it could obliterate every thought that came to mind with an invisible power.
I’d always be angry about the compromise she’d forced me to make.
But it was worth it.
I worked through lunch. Took phone calls. When Magnus called back later, I picked up then hung up immediately, just to make my anger palpable. I could have ignored the call for the same effect, but I wanted it to sting.
I sank back into my chair, thinking things over, and my eyes focused on her like she was a painting on the wall right in front of me. My eyes lingered a long time before I shut my laptop and moved to the couch across from her.
When she heard me, she looked up from her book. She regarded me for a while before she closed her book without inserting a bookmark and set it on the table. She was still reading The Count of Monte Cristo. It was a long book, so it was no surprise that it was still in her hands. She straightened with the poise Gilbert had instilled in her then