by Pamela Ann
Seeing Julien so familiar with her ignited something feral inside of me, something much more potent and uncontrollable.
For a second, I contemplated carrying on hiding in the background without attracting attention or getting my eager hands on her and chewing her to shreds. Alas, if I wanted to accomplish this successfully without creating a spectacle in the middle of a party, then I must control this violent turmoil that raged within me.
It felt as though a demon was trapped within my body, and it wanted nothing more than to cause harm. Patience was key in achieving my desire for revenge; stretching this practice was crucial.
I knew Julien would have to speak to someone or seek to replenish his drink sooner or later. And that opportunity came half an hour later when his phone rang, quite possibly with something that couldn’t be disregarded, because he looked reluctant to receive it as he whispered something in Isobel’s ear with a look that could only be translated as a man who truly cared for his woman.
Something broke inside of me. It was something dark, potent, and savage, hitting out of nowhere. He had fallen in love, had he?
“Well, tough luck, you bloody bastard,” I grunted out, fighting off the urge to beat him to smithereens or use this opportunity to get her into seclusion. The latter option won out in the end.
Finally coming out of my well-shaded hide out, I took a detour, rerouting my steps before I reached her. I didn’t want to march into the crowd and be seen. The best way to approach her was through the other side of the boat where the traffic wasn’t as chaotic as the main pathway used to get on and off the boat.
Glancing down at the time, I knew I had less than five minutes left until the captain steered the boat out of the marina and sailed the coast for God knew how long. Pressed for time, I strode towards her as my eyes flickered back and forth from her to where Julien stood within earshot.
“Don’t say a word. If you do, you’re risking each member of your family. Yannis will be the first one on my list,” I told her in a cutthroat tone, heartless and without remorse, and then I felt her take a sharp intake of breath, frozen in place as I continued my threatening approach. “I’m going to drag you away from here, and if you have any sense, you’re not going to fight me off. If you do, I’m going to bankrupt Julien and put everyone in your life through hell. Your dearest Damen and sweet Claire would surely appreciate that.” That was just the beginning. I hadn’t whetted my appetite yet. Revenge was best served cold, and so it would be delivered in its finest form.
I felt her body shake a little before I strengthened my hold on her elbow and guided her towards the pathway the staff used to get off the boat.
While dragging Isobel towards the exit, an odd sense of déjà vu was prompted, catching me off guard—the memory of the first engagement she was with Julien at the Callum Kensington’s birthday bash. Ha. She loved to follow through with the same destructive patterns. Old habits did die hard. Well, she would soon see her wanton actions had cost her.
Too consumed with wrath, I dared not glance at her, although my fingers felt as though they were burning as they held her elbow. Such a little part of her skin, yet the effect was profound. Not to mention, her scent engulfed me, violating my senses, infuriating me even more.
Rushing off the boat plank, I instantly caught one of the valet attendants and signaled for my car to be brought up. The man nodded without question, and then we didn’t have long to wait until the black Hennessy Venom GT came into view. The approaching car fit its moniker, because it looked downright lethal.
Once the car halted before us with its engine running, I thanked the valet with a hefty tip then opened the door to let the devil in red get into the vehicle before slamming the door shut. Then I rounded to the other side to get this night moving along as I had planned.
After sliding into the driver’s seat, I had barely shut the door when the sound of her shrieking almost deafened my unprepared ears.
“We’ve done this before, Hugo. How many fucking times do you have to steal me away from him?”
“Until I die, Isobel. Until I fucking die.” I darkly laughed, shaking my head without bothering to give her a look. If I did, I would risk strangling her with my bare hands for treating me in this way, as if I were the one at fault here.
Chapter Fourteen
Isobel
Until I die, Isobel. Until I fucking die.
His words taunted me. His laugh was so evil it made me shiver from fright. Somehow, deep down, I had known this would come. I just didn’t expect it to happen so soon. This was Hugo Xavier after all. How in the world did I expect that he wouldn’t come running with ire the moment he found out I had gone from him to his best friend?
I was beyond distraught. Not only had I been wondering if Julien was worried that I had suddenly gone missing, but the thought of Hugo wanting to cause harm to my friends and my brother Yannis made me truly ill. When had he become so cold, so brutally ruthless? As much I wanted to call his bluff, I knew the risk was too high. He had the power in his hands, and I played right into it because I didn’t have the power or the means to defend myself.
I owed him so much, and I truly felt bad that he, without a doubt in my mind, saw me as a slut who had fancied his friend while I was with him. Obviously, it would seem that way, though it was far from the truth. As much as I wanted to uphold my honor and his view of me, keeping him from what the real truth was the only thing that mattered. Therefore, I would let him go on with his anger and accusations, despite the fact that it would hurt. As much as it would pain me, protecting the twins was the priority.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked yet was met with a wall of nothingness.
Watching him pull out of the marina before driving into traffic, I half expected him to take me to the hotel or somewhere familiar so he could get on with degrading me with accusations and what not, but I was surprised when he took another route, one that was unfamiliar to me.
“Where are you taking me?” I nervously asked again, feeling light-headed and breathless as I cocked my head to the side so I could see his gorgeously handsome profile with his well-honed jaw, darkly arched brow, and perfect nose. The sight of him—being this close to him—made me ache something fierce deep within. I loved him still. No man could compare. And he loathed me … I supposed it was just as well. There was no hope for us. There never had been to begin with.
Hugo’s continued silence was becoming deafening to my ears. There was no music to mask the tension that crackled between us. With his jaw locked and the acute way he executed shifting gears, one would not question whether he was on a warpath. The sound of the engine roaring didn’t help at all. I was on pins and needles as I tried to gather my wits.
As crazy as it seemed, I had to stop myself from reaching out to him. It was such a wild, forbidden thought, but seeing him in such a wound-up state made me feel awful. He was my everything … before I found out about the babies. Then everything changed.
Where was he taking me? I wondered as I nervously took in the darkness of the night. It seemed that he was hell bent on punishing me by keeping silent, so I decided to rest my head against the headrest, close my eyes, and pray for this madness to end or to have some kind of resolution.
I couldn’t stand another moment this close to him. It would unlock something I had kept at bay, and I couldn’t afford to go down that path again. It would end me.
I had never seen him this way, and I wasn’t sure how to push my boundaries with him. No man who meant to forgive would dare threaten what he had. I could only hope for a backlash I could endure. Keeping my secret safe was all that mattered now.
How long had it been since we left? It had to have been over an hour or more. With each passing second, it seemed as if we were driving away from the cities, away from the coastline, and heading somewhere around Provence. It was the only indication from the long stretches of fields and bushy landscape.
To make my already aggravating situation worse, the familiar nausea
was surfacing, making me bite the inside of my cheek as I protectively wrapped an arm around my stomach, hoping the warmth would make it go away.
God, please don’t do this to me right now, I quietly chanted, hoping the man above could hear my pleas.
“Are you ill?” Hugo’s husky voice cut through my thoughts, instantly making me open my eyes.
I blinked a few times before slowly turning my head to look at him. “It’s nothing,” I murmured back.
Without glancing back at me, he responded, “It doesn’t seem like it’s nothing to me. You look as though you are in pain.”
There was something about how he said it that made me snap a little. “It doesn’t matter. Don’t act as though you care if I’m in pain or not.” The second the words came out of my mouth, I immediately regretted it. I knew I had opened myself to a barrage of arguments. It wasn’t wise on my part, but it couldn’t be helped. I was frustrated and needed to vent how his actions were affecting me.
“You have the gall to accuse me of not caring?” he rumbled out like thunder looming in dark clouds before a tornado, throwing me a look that slashed me to pieces. “If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t make sure that you’re living in a safe, lofty flat or about you worrying over school expenses. If I didn’t care, I would’ve taken that wanton body of yours and fucked you until you screamed in submission. But I didn’t because I respected you even though the contract you signed stated otherwise. So you don’t get to declare such rubbish proclamations that I never bloody cared. I did. At one point in my foolish life, I fucking did!”
The pin dropped, as did my common sense. “How dare you? I never asked you to do any of that, so don’t throw this bullshit in my face!”
“Bullshit? Bullshit?” he bellowed before drastically screeching the car to a full stop on the side of the road. The engine was still running when he furiously stepped out of the car then marched to the front of it, raking a hand through his hair. He went a couple of meters before he spun on his heels and marched back towards the car. Then he halted his steps right against the hood of the car, standing between the headlights as he stared at me.
His eyes went through me, penetrating my heart, my soul, before twisting my heart in all the ways that hurt. That was too intense to comprehend at the moment.
“Why Julien, Isobel?” he thundered out, his wildly dark eyes locked on mine.
Why? Why did he care so much?
Licking my lips, I took a breath then decided to come out of the car. My nausea still lingered, but it wasn’t as severe as before.
Taking careful steps with my three-inch stilettos, I had to admit we looked ridiculous still dressed in our eveningwear. We were in the middle of nowhere with the car running and both doors wide open. We looked mad or on the set of a photo shoot. The joke was lost at the sight of him looking so dangerously handsome and unmistakably incensed beyond comprehension.
“Do you really want me to answer that, Hugo?”
“Yes, I fucking do!”
It was just as well. The lie had begun, so what was another hundred? Thousand?
Steeling my resolve, I didn’t dare look away from him. “He’s a decent man who seems to genuinely care about me. Not only that, but he’s easy to be around. We get on well, so it wasn’t that difficult … to start this new phase with him …”
“Right. Certainly, it wasn’t difficult because you had already set your sights on the next man who was idiot enough to be seduced by your cunning ways!” he spat out as if I was the lowest scum on earth.
Though I knew this was part of the game I had to play, it still hurt to see him look at me in such a way. “Whatever makes you feel better, Hugo.”
His face darkened as he approached me. “How much did it cost him for you to be his whore?”
I loudly gasped before I raised my hand and connected it with his cheek, loudly smacking it for his degrading insult. “Don’t you dare throw that in my face!” I shrieked as my body shook. “You know how much it took out of me to be one for you. I am no one’s anything!”
His dark eyes turned savage, harsh, and animalistic. “Of all the punishments to bestow upon me, Isobel, you had to choose one that would surely hurt me the most.”
I had expected more verbal assault, but this swift change threw me off kilter. The unexpected pain that came with his confession engulfed me in such profound sadness that I was shocked to find my eyes growing misty by the second.
“I am so very sorry for everything that you’re feeling. I didn’t do this to betray you, Hugo…” My voice came out in a shaky whisper.
I was so overawed with all that had happened. I felt as if all the composure and will to get it together had just slipped away, making me feel every damn thing that I had held inside for quite some time. My heart sped up so fast I could barely catch my breath, and before I could manage to utter another word, my world spun into complete darkness, lulling me into calming quietness.
Chapter Fifteen
Isobel
Warmth. It was warmth that made my senses aware of a body scooping me up and holding me close. He had strong arms and gave off the impression that carrying me was of no effort at all, hopefully taking me to a much more comfortable place. His smell engulfed my senses, drowning me in his signature scent that was all too him—masculine and sexy with just enough spice not to be overpowering.
Hugo Xavier. I loved you then, and I still love you now … Forever won’t change it.
Releasing a melancholy sigh, I could have basked in the idea of being in his arms, but the dull ache in my head began to throb with a heated pulse at my temple. It was all I could feel. My body honed in on that one pulsating spot, as if to give me a warning that it wasn’t functioning well. I knew I should have been worried, but I was too groggy to fully comprehend what it entailed.
Unknowingly, I made a groan then reached out to massage the throbbing point with what little energy I could muster.
“We’re almost there, ma belle.” The voice broke through my thoughts in a hoarse tone, making me grumble an incoherent complaint about my headache.
In the background, I could sense him climbing up the stairs before reaching the landing. He then took a few more strides before I heard him opening a door. It wasn’t long until I felt him lower me, sensing the coolness of sheets touching my warm skin. It couldn’t be denied; it was refreshing, and my body immediately surrendered to the feathered down softness of the pillow that cradled my throbbing head.
“Is there anything I can get you before I call on the doctor to check on you?” His soft breath stroked the side of my cheek as he obviously whispered close to my ear.
Doctor? My eyes rapidly snapped wide open with evident alarm and horror. “I’m fine. I don’t need one. I just need to rest.” My blabbering came to an immediate pause as I took in the room I was in.
The pale blue walls and the country chic floral blue, pale pink, and white bed covers immediately screamed that I was in a different territory. This was not his villa that was off the coast close to Monte Carlo.
Slowly meeting his gaze, even though he was too close for comfort as he looked down with a worried frown, I simply had to know where in the bloody hell I was. “You didn’t have the villa refurbished, did you? Because this room is unfamiliar to me, even though it is, indeed, lovely and cozy.”
A tiny hint of a smile crossed his chiseled face, mesmerizing me a little. “It was closer to come here to the chateau than to drive back to Monaco.”
“Chateau?” I asked in confusion. “You have a chateau? Well, of course you would. You wouldn’t be a true French aristocrat if you didn’t own one.”
A huge, infectious grin greeted me, his dark eyes sparkling before they roamed about my face. It made me catch my breath. I had an inkling that he was going to kiss me soon enough, and if that ever happened, I wasn’t sure if I had the wherewithal to push him away. Seeing him again had only cemented how much I loved the blasted man.
“I’ve missed this part of you …” he paused
as our eyes connected, magnetizing, hypnotizing. It was as if the rest were a blur and the only thing that mattered was us right at this very moment, caught in something so profound, so undeniable it had the power to suspend us both from reality.
Hugo had the sense to pull the plug by saying, “I still think you need to see someone. Although you didn’t hit your head on anything since I caught you, people still don’t faint just out of the blue. The last thing I need is to be accused of not taking care of you.”
“I would never do that,” I gasped as I saw the masked pain in his eyes. “I’m fine. I skipped dinner, thinking I would be able to eat at the party, so it’s just a wild case of that. It’s nothing to worry about. The only cure I need is food.”
He nodded then got to his feet, his eyes remaining on me. “Since it’s late, the staff isn’t available to cook, but I’m more than able to whip up something in the kitchen if you don’t object to that, so come down when you’re ready. If you want to freshen up, there are toiletries available in the bathroom and whatever else you might need.” He instantly became monotonous, distancing himself as he exited the bedroom.
The moment the door was shut, I sat up, wondering what the bloody hell had just happened. His highs and lows were too troubling, and I just couldn’t read him, not that I’d had the capability to do so before, but tonight, he was much more mercurial than I had ever seen him, which aggravated the situation even more because I wasn’t sure how to act around him. One moment, he was screaming at me as if he was the devil himself, and the next, he would be sweet and kind before he resorted back to being nonchalant and aloof.
Releasing a frustrated sigh, I looked down at my red dress, wondering if I should change or keep it on. Knowing I wouldn’t be back to Monaco until tomorrow, maybe the best thing to do was find something comfortable to wear while we ate and discussed what needed to be said. There was no doubt in my mind that we would be going through this tonight like a closure of some sort. As much as I dreaded the talk, I knew it would set his mind at peace, as it would for me. Tonight would truly be the end.
