Jack’s face showed surprise, eyebrows raised almost to his hairline. I gave him a small glare and kept going.
“I moved into his apartment and lived with him for two years. We did everything together. He was kind, thoughtful, and made me feel so loved. Also, he was also my best study buddy. Doing well was very important to him, important to his family, so no matter how much fun we had together, we made school a priority and encouraged each other to excel in school. We tied for top of the class honors in every class.
“Every semester break he would fly home to be with his family. He told me all the time that family was the most important thing. I would use that time to visit with Grandmère and Bernard, her neighbor. He taught me how to play poker and tried to teach me to bake.” Jack nodded to show he was keeping up.
“As graduation approached, I knew the time was coming that he would propose. We were obviously perfect for each other, both personally and professionally. He’d hinted that he could pull strings to get me a job with the family.
“Our senior year, spring break, he went back home—"
Jack scratched a question mark on the pad.
“Well, let’s just say it’s an area of the world that invented the word ‘harem’”.
Jack wrote, “Uh oh. Cue the ominous music.”
“Anyway, he came back…different. I thought that he was acting strangely because he was sitting on a secret. I had it all figured out, though. He had told me his father was coming to his graduation, which was a big deal, and he was going to introduce me. And I knew that LCB was going to propose in front of his father, get his blessing, and we would fly off to marital bliss under a desert sun.”
Jack cocked an eyebrow.
“Clearly, that’s not what happened. Following the graduation ceremony, he grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the knot of people surrounding a tall man in long, flowing, white robes. He dropped my hand and approached his father and did a very subservient bow and said, ‘Father, I’d like to introduce you to the friend I mentioned.’ Calling me a friend should have been a clue, but I was just dazed to finally meet his father. He said, ‘Father, this is Eve Lambert. Eve, this is my father, His Royal Highness.’ And then before I had time to process that, he gave a tug to the elbow of someone standing behind his father and a tall, proud, beautiful woman with dark skin and long dark hair in a designer suit stood beside him and he said, ‘Eve, this is my wife, Nasrin.’”
Jack’s jaw dropped. “Crap on a cracker, Eve, he had a wife?!?”
Chapter 20
Jack’s face was horrified. “I don’t know what to say. You didn’t know? Didn’t suspect?”
I looked down at my hands to see they were shaking with the memory. I clasped them firmly together. “No, I had no idea. Like I said, I thought he was going to propose. Not tell me he’d already done so. To someone else.”
He nodded, pity written all over his face. “What did you do?”
I spooned up some ice cream and swallowed it. “I went to our apartment, well,hisapartment and packed. While I was packing one of his father’s bodyguards showed up with a job offer from his father.” I took a breath and wiped tears away from my eyes. Lord, I thought I’d already used up all the tears on this subject.
“When I turned down the job offer, he pulled out a second offer. It was a check with an astonishing number of zeroes that came with a complex NDA/ legal document that said by accepting the money I was promising to never disclose details of our time together and to never see him again. Something I was only too happy to agree to.”
With a quirk of his mouth and a raised eyebrow Jack asked, “Did you take the money?”
I took a sip of my wine, placed the glass back on the table and nodded. I raised my eyes to meet his and answered, “Yes. I figured if he was going to treat me as a prostitute, I might as well be well compensated for it.” I was silent for a bit, then with a gallic shrug said, “I don’t know, though. I’ve thought about it often and wondered if in taking the money I made myself into a prostitute. Prior to that, I was just a girl in love.
“Part of my reason for taking it, though, was to put a full stop to the relationship. His family is…intimidating. I didn’t want them to think they had anything to fear from me. So, I signed.”
“What did you do then?” he asked, carefully.
“I moved back in with Grandmere. Bernard got me an interview with his friend, Merrick Frank, who owns Duvier. I got the job and left the country as fast as I could.”
Uncomfortable with so much of myself revealed to Jack’s probing gaze, I took another sip of my wine. The ice cream was now soup. I wondered if it was worth putting in the freezer or if I should just put it down the drain.
I put on a brave smile and said, “So now you know the sordid backstory of Eve. Shocked? Repulsed?”
His brow furrowed and he looked unhappy. “No, I’m just sad that someone would treat you like that. And I’m amazed. He must be all kinds of dipshit to pull a stunt like that. You are well out of that relationship, Eve.”
“I know. I tell myself that all the time. It’s better to have loved and lost than to be saddled with a lying, cheating bastard.”
“Ha!” Jack punched the air. “LCB; I get it!”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I call him. And he deserves it.”
“So, what did you do with your pile of cash? Buy your own island? The Hope diamond?”
