Her hands twisted in her skirt.“What if the count discovers him?”
“He is my best man.He will not be discovered.Madelaine, think on this.You would be breaking your holy vows of matrimony and for what?In the end you would still be married to him and he would still have control over you.You wouldn’t be happy with yourself and mayhap even me.”
She bit her bottom lip and looked away.“You are right, of course.I wish it were different.I wish we would have met at a different time, under different circumstances.”
Yet everything would be the same.She was from a noble lineage, he nothing but a lowly knight.If things had been different, they probably would never have met at all.
He gathered her in his arms one last time.“Je t’aime,my Madelaine.”
Chapter Sixteen
Christien rolled out of bed, careful not to wake Madelaine, and made his way down the hall to collapse on the couch, head in his hands, trying desperately to control his breathing.It had been ages since he’d dreamt so vividly, so this one took him by surprise.’Twas as if it happened only yesterday.
He groaned and ran a hand down his sweaty face.How many times had he wished he’d taken her up on the offer to bed her?How many regrets did he have of that night?He often wondered what the outcome would have been if he’d known that was the last time he would see her.Would he have bedded her?
He surged off the couch and paced to the bank of windows.For once the view of the lake and the reflected lights of the city didn’t soothe him.His heart beat hard against his ribs and his blood pounded through him at the memories that wouldn’t let him go.He drew in a deep breath, exhaling slowly.
Had the count known?Was that why Christien and his men were suddenly called away that night?These questions haunted him to this day.
He looked at the time.Three in the morning.He would not be going back to sleep now, not after the dream, and he didn’t want to toss and turn in bed and risk waking Madelaine, so he snuck back in his room, grabbed a pair of jeans and his phone and headed to his office to make some overseas calls.
But when he reached his office, he had a message from the private investigator he’d hired to look into Madelaine’s background.He listened to the message, the blood draining from his head, leaving him dizzy.Slowly he replaced the receiver and stared into the darkness.
Lainie stepped onto the elevator and nodded to the man guarding the entrance to Christien’s private quarters.It was Friday night and the club was packed, but all she wanted to do was get upstairs, change out of her work clothes and collapse into Christien’s arms.That wasn’t possible though because Christien was working.
Maybe a hot bath, a chilled glass of wine and soothing music would do the trick.
She leaned against the elevator wall and blew out a breath.Two hours ago Giselle had come to her with a big project, the biggest project Lainie would be in charge of to date.She’d been excited Giselle had finally put a little more faith in her and gave her more responsibility.Maybe they’d turned some sort of corner.But then Giselle told her the project was due Monday morning.
She would have to work all weekend and it still didn’t give her enough time to complete it and Giselle knew it.Once again she was being set up for failure.
Part of her wanted to walk out of the office and never come back.She could take Christien up on his offer of the trust for her father and find a job she loved.
However, at this point in her life those thoughts were fruitless so she buckled down and worked until her eyes burned and her back ached because she wanted to prove to Giselle she could do this.And she wanted to prove to herself that someone like Giselle wasn’t going to beat her down.
She and Christien had plans for Saturday.They were going to move the remainder of her stuff out of her apartment, and Christien was going to take her to lunch.They’d never had a “real” date and she’d been looking forward to it.Now she’d have to work.
Damn Giselle.
Lainie entered Christien’s apartment.Theirapartment.He kept reminding her it was hers too, but she found it hard to accept these lavish furnishings were actually hers.
The silence pressed down on her, leaving her alone with her thoughts.As much as she wanted a hot bath and chilled wine, even more, she didn’t want to be alone.And why should she when she had an entire club beneath her?
She didn’t have “clubbing” clothes, but she chose her favorite jeans that skimmed her hips and made her legs look longer, and a low-cut, somewhat tight blouse that accented her ample chest.It was the best she could do on such short notice.She ran a brush through her hair, applied some lip gloss and headed back down in the elevator.
As with most Friday nights, the place was hopping and a long line of people waited to get in.Lainie slipped through the crowd and made her way to the bar where she planned to have one glass of wine while she did some people-watching before heading to bed.Christien wouldn’t return until the wee hours of the morning, close to when she would awaken and head back to work.
Ah, well.They had plenty more weekends together.
“Madelaine?”
She turned to find Christien weaving through the thick crowd, moving unerringly toward her.He took her hand, his gaze serious.“What is wrong?Are you all right?”
She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek.“I’m fine.”
“What brings you down here?”
She shrugged, not wanting to admit she was lonely and not wanting to dump her work problems on him when he was obviously very busy.“I thought I’d have a drink and take in the scene.”
