left here?”
I nod slowly. I guess Olivier’s only worked and worked and worked. Maybe this is his time to be someone else.
“I didn’t like the person I was in Paris, and it wouldn’t have gotten any better, only worse,” he says. “You know it. We had the odds against us the moment we stepped foot in the city; we were never able to capture what we had at the beginning.”
“Don’t all relationships go that way?”
“Maybe if you accept it and give up on them. But I’m not going to give up on us. I’m not going to give up on you. We deserve better than that, mon lapin.”
I’m smiling and crying all at once, floored by happiness, my body shaking from the transition from pure heartbreak to fear to suddenly having everything I ever wanted.
“And,” Olivier goes on, “I hope you’ll come with me. To California. Maybe you could finish your studies in San Francisco. Or do whatever you choose to do. I just want you with me for every single step of this new life.”
“Of course I’ll go with you,” I whisper to him, my voice choked, standing on my toes to give him a soft kiss. “And I’m honored to be part of any life you choose, but . . . aren’t you still worried about the life you’re leaving behind?”
He nods. “I am. There was a lot that happened before I left, more than you know.”
“So what happened with Seraphine? Did you hear what she had to say about her theory?”
“Oui,” he says slowly. “I did.”
“And?”
“And I don’t know. I really don’t.”
“Yeah, well, I talked to Pascal about it.”
He cocks a brow. “You talked?”
“A lot of things were said. But honestly, as horrible as he is, I’m not sure he did it.”
“I don’t think so either. Which leaves my uncle . . . and I know to never put anything past him.”
“So what are you going to do? You can’t investigate when you’re over here.”
“I can’t investigate anything. I’m not the police. And, well, let’s just say I’m not sure the police are on our side. I think they’re on their side.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Nothing for you to worry about,” he says smoothly, which of course makes me suspicious. I’m sure whatever it is, is something for me to worry about. But I know that I’ll take baby steps with Olivier now. After all, we have all the time in the world.
But still . . .
“So when you said that Blaise told you everything, what exactly did he say?” I ask.
“Just that Pascal might have interfered with you. Oh, and that I was set up.”
“By Marine and Pascal?”
His jaw clenches and he looks away. “Yeah. What bothers me the most about all of that is I should have seen it coming. I should have known this was all set up from the start. I was just so young. Just a young, stupid fuck.”
“And you were in love. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”
“No,” he says, his hands trailing through my hair, gripping me by the neck. Possessive. The way I’ve needed him. “No, I wasn’t in love. I know what love is now, Sadie, and it lives in you. It’s why I’m here. Because you’re here. Because you’re mine as much as I’m yours.”
I can’t help but grin. “Look at you, being all romantic.”
“I’m always romantic,” he says, kissing my neck. “Because it’s impossible to be anything but a lovestruck slave around you.” He rests his forehead against mine, breathing in deep. “Tell me I did the right thing in coming here. Tell me you want this. That you want me.”
Oh God. Doesn’t he know by now?
“I only left because I had to,” I tell him. “Maybe Pascal is full of empty threats, but maybe he’s not. I don’t know. There was no time to decide.”
“I know. You had to protect what you love. And that’s why I followed. Because I love you. And I will always follow you.”
“And I will follow you. To Cannes. To Paris. To California. Every step of the way. I love you.”
We kiss. Long, deep, sweet, brimming with all the emotions of the past few days, spilling out with lust, with love, with longing.
We kiss and kiss until I feel the cat twining around our legs.
“Whose cat is that?” Olivier asks when he breaks away, watching as Kismet winds around us, purring contently.
“My mother’s. Who I guess you’re going to meet later today.”
“I can’t wait.”
“She’s working a double shift and will