I couldn’t deny the urgency to get out of the backless gowns I wore day in and day out.
Except for a break for lunch, I spent hours trying on and modeling outfits to Marie’s approval and gentle letdowns. When she asked if I wanted my hair done, I let her tug and pull until a crown of braids decorated my head.
Marie had just finished pinning it to my hairline when someone knocked. The door swished open before either of us gave a reply.
“Well, this is cozy,” Alizé said with caustic humor. “I see Adrien made good use of my suggestion. You can go now, Marie.”
The maid lingered just enough to raise the tension, but her soles ended up padding out the door without a word of protest. It wasn’t a betrayal—she owed me nothing—but it left a bitter taste of abandonment all the same.
“What do you want?”
“I come bearing gifts.” A bag thumped into my lap with a rattle as she clicked and clacked her way around my room. “Makeup.”
I sifted through the contents: pouches, tubes, jars, bottles, brushes of all sizes. There must have been at least thirty items inside. I opened a few. Perfume, lipstick, gooey foundation.
“Why?” I asked cautiously.
“An olive branch. Settling the water under the bridge. After all, every woman deserves to feel her best. New wardrobe. New look. Just doing my part to be a good host. I even included a perfume of my own creation. Ardor, the strength of passion in one scent.” She said the last bit with flair. “Eh, still working on the slogan.”
I didn’t understand this woman.
“Thanks, but no thanks.” I held the bag out to where she seemed to be. “Would you please leave now?”
She finally stopped moving about the room, making it easier to pinpoint where she was.
“I’ve offended you.” It was a statement more than a question despite her clear confusion.
“I’m not going to seduce him because you told me to.”
“Ah, but you are planning to seduce him?”
I ignored her. “And I doubt he’s going to kick me out of this house while I’m still breathing.” He wanted me dead too much for that. Or at least he said he did. I didn’t really know anymore. “So take this back. I don’t need your threats or your bribes. I’m not that kind of woman.”
“How do you know?”
“Wow, trying to hit me where it hurts. You’re a special one, aren’t you?”
She snorted. “And you’ve got more bite than I remember.”
I gritted my teeth, sick of her mind games.
The bed dipped under her added weight. “Look, we got off on the wrong foot. My fault. I can admit that. You just looked like you needed some extra incentive after the way little A and you left things when I barged in.”
I barked a laugh. “Little A?”
“Alizé. Adrien. Big sister. Little brother. I’d think it self-explanatory.”
Despite my reservations, I couldn’t help but be amused. I doubted the word little was even in Adrien’s vocabulary, nor did it resemble any part of him I’d touched. I mean, Jesus, just his bicep was at least twice the size of my own. Never mind what his…nope, not going there.
“Does he know his little nickname?” I gibed.
“Nobody likes a canary,” she snarked. “Take my request for what it was, Tessa. A compliment.” She chuckled at my obvious disgust. “I don’t ask just any woman to seduce family members.”
“You shouldn’t ask at all.”
“Maybe, but then again, I think my plan is working rather well. He seems quite smitten with you already.”
The bed gave a slight creak as she got up.
