Warmth blooms in his chest. This is... new. He feels stupidly childish in his excitement, but manages to press it down.
“Careful,” he says. “I’m starting to get the feeling that you like me.”
She laughs, sheepishly glancing down at her shoes. “Shut up. Can you please come to trivia with me?”
Alexander chuckles.
Oh, she’s cute.
“Well, I guess I could—”
“Trivia?” comes a voice from behind them. It’s an old, cold voice that freezes Alexander all the way down to the marrow. “That sounds like quite the lovely distraction, my boy.”
Alexander turns to see Sebastian standing there, one hand balanced on his polished redwood cane. The man is in his late seventies, but stands upright with incredible strength. His face is withered with time, wrinkles everywhere, with old, sage-like eyes. He’s dressed in a bespoke suit worth thousands, accented with diamond cufflinks.
Sebastian gives Eden a friendly smile, but Alexander knows the truth.
There’s nothing friendly about this man.
“Let’s head inside out of this cold, shall we?” Sebastian continues, words sickly sweet.
Alexander knows it’s not actually an ask.
Eden notices two things.
First, Sebastian looks like a snake who gave up halfway through the shedding process. No amount of fancy clothes and bejeweled accessories can make up for that.
Second, Alexander is uncharacteristically quiet. There’s an edge to him, a tension he carries throughout his body that threatens to snap him at the knees, the elbows, the neck—basically anywhere that could give.
It makes Eden’s anxious.
Alexander’s nerves are contagious.
It doesn’t take her very long to figure out who Sebastian is. Judging by the way Freddie, Peter, and Rina all scurried away after seeing him, Eden assumes that this man has authority over them. More so than Alexander, even, which can only mean one thing: she is face-to-face with the owner of La Rouge.
Sebastian drags a finger over the surface of the nearest prep station, grimacing in dissatisfaction. “It seems you’ve let things go since I’ve been abroad, my boy.”
Alexander says nothing, keeping his eyes glued to the floor.
“Your name’s Eden, is that right, my dear?”
She stands a little straighter, unconsciously positioned about a foot behind Alexander. He was the one who placed himself there, a discreet shield. “Yes,” she says softly. “That’s me. It’s very nice to meet you, sir.”
Sebastian smiles. It sends a chill racing down Eden’s spine. “Such a lovely name. It’s a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. I must admit that Alexander hasn’t said much about you. Such a shame to keep a pretty creature like you to himself, hm?”
Eden shifts her weight from foot to foot. “Oh, that’s... that’s very nice of you to say, sir.”
“It’s been a long day,” Alexander says to Sebastian. “And it’s her day off tomorrow. I’m sure Eden would like to get going.”
Sebastian raises his barely there brows and smirks. “If that’s the case, I’m sure I’m not keeping her from anything particularly important. Is that right, dear?”
“Well—”
“I’ve just gotten off a long flight from Paris, and I’m rather famished. Would you mind making me a little something? It’d give me an opportunity to get to know Alexander’s sous chef all the better.”
Eden notices Alexander clench his fists, the muscles in his jaw tensing, but she nods anyway. She gets the feeling that this isn’t so much a request as it is a thinly veiled demand.
“I’d be happy to,” she says. “Do you have any requests?”
