“Fine.” Dragging himself off the bed, he stripped down and dug out a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt from his suitcase. Leaving the clean clothes on the bed, he joined her in the bathroom to wash his face and grab deodorant.
“You’re not playing fair at all, David,” she mumbled, glancing at his reflection in the mirror while she started on her make-up.
“Trust me, angel. I’m playing fair.”
“Walking around half-naked with your dick at attention is not playing fair,” she argued, and he laughed low as he grabbed for his toothbrush.
“If I didn’t want to play fair, Lianna, I’d throw you on the bed and fuck you with a hand over your mouth so no one could hear you when you came.” Shrugging, he added toothpaste and tilted his head down. “And that would take care of the hard-on.”
“Tell me how you’re feeling about being here, and I’ll take you up on that.” Lianna turned to face him, and he popped the toothbrush in his mouth so he wouldn’t say something stupid about her family. “Well?”
“Now who’s not playing fair, angel?” he asked around the toothbrush, and she sighed, returning to her make-up.
“You haven’t even given them a chance, and you’re already judging them.”
Clenching his jaw, David forced a deep breath before he rinsed his mouth out. “I’m not having this conversation.”
“You can’t do that,” she groaned, following him as he walked back into the bedroom. “David, I know you hate Jean-Luc, but you have to admit my cousins seem nice.”
“It was nice of them to welcome you at the airport like that,” he replied with the only truth his stomach could tolerate as he pulled the clean shirt over his head.
“You don’t think they seem nice?” she asked, hand propped on her hip, and the only benefit to this interrogation was that discussing the Faure family was steadily killing his erection. Again.
“I thought we needed to get downstairs,” he replied, grabbing his jeans. “You almost ready?”
“God, you can be such an asshole, David.”
Shrugging, even though she couldn’t see it, he stayed quiet as he pulled on the jeans and put his shoes back on. He deserved to be called a lot more than an asshole for everything he’d done in his life, but in this situation, he was choosing the only road available to him. Lianna would have come to the Faure estate with or without him, and there was no way in hell he’d let them sink their claws into her without him here to yank them back out.
So, he’d come with her.
Here.
And no matter how much he hated Jean-Luc Faure and everything their family stood for, he was going to keep his mouth shut and do his best not to ruin her family reunion. The Faures did seem genuinely happy to see her, and her cousins seemed nice, but he couldn’t let down his guard. No matter how friendly they pretended to be toward him.
“Okay, I’m ready,” Lianna said, dropping into the little chair in the corner of the room to pull on her boots, zipping them up her calves. She looked perfect. All that golden hair tumbling over her shoulder, the cream-colored sweater hugging her chest, and the skin-tight jeans that showed every curve. When she stood up, he saw the necklace he’d given her, and he felt a little better. “David?”
“Just waiting on you.”
“Jerk.” She stomped toward the door, but he caught up to her and pulled her back against him before she opened it.
“I’m doing my best, angel. Just like I promised you on the plane… but that means you can’t try and bait me into an argument about them. Okay?” Running his lips over her shoulder, he took a deep breath of her perfume. She’d just refreshed it, and it was too damn tempting.
“I’m not baiting you into an argument, David. I can tell you’re uncomfortable, I already know how you feel about them, and I just want us to be able to talk about it, so you get it off your chest.” Turning around to face him, she looked up into his eyes with a sigh. “Preferably without us arguing.”
“If I think of something I can tell you without causing an argument, I’ll share it. Deal?” he offered, grinning a little when she groaned.
“You’re impossible.” Lianna then led the way downstairs, U-turning into the hallway they’d watched the Faures go down. Once they came out the other side, it was easy to see where they’d gone. An entire wall was nothing but floor to ceiling windows, with two doors leading out onto a massive terrace.
Just one more over-the-top display of wealth by the Faure family. As if the huge estate wasn’t enough, they had a terrace that he was pretty sure was larger than Lianna’s entire apartment back home. The family cheered when they emerged, beckoning them to come sit down.
“Lianna, you look beautiful!” Cécile called out, clapping her hands a little.
“Join us!” Jean-Luc called out, raising a glass of wine in the air from his seat at the head of the table.
The only two seats remaining together were in the center of the table, and he tried to keep his smile polite as he pulled out Lianna’s chair for her.
“So, are you exhausted? Were you able to sleep on the plane?” the older daughter asked, leaning forward to smile at Lianna as David took his seat.
“I’m good! I slept almost the whole flight, but David didn’t do as well,” she replied, nudging him gently with her arm. He shrugged.
“Well, maybe you guys can grab a nap before the—”
“Hold on, Rémi,” Jean-Luc interrupted, smiling as he leaned back in his chair. “Let them get some lunch before we start barraging them with questions. Okay?”
“Sorry, please eat!” Rémi gestured to the food before he turned back to his wife.
There were several dishes on the table, including fresh fruit and bread, and David absentmindedly added stuff to his plate while he looked around. The terrace seemed to extend across the entire back of the house, elevated above the ground, which offered wide views of the property. On the far end of the terrace was a large swimming pool, while the side they were on was a large open space.
“I thought the house was only two floors?” Lianna asked after she’d made her plate, pointing over the stone railing, and he couldn’t help but smile at her because she was looking at her surroundings like he’d taught her to. “It looks like we’re pretty high up?”
“Ah, yes. The front of the house is only two floors, but the ground slopes and so the house was built with an additional floor at the back. It has a couple of bedrooms, and the wine cellar.” Jean-Luc picked up his glass again and took a sip. “This terrace sits atop that floor, and it does give one of the best views in Provence — if I’m not too prideful.”
“It’s incredible,” Lianna replied, looking out at the groves of trees, and he followed her gaze. It was a perfectly clear day, and from his angle he could see the edge of some manicured gardens blending into a grove. The property was very nice, but he’d already seen some photos of it. His father had gathered them years before as part of his research on the Faure family, and no matter how beautiful it was… he knew everything the Faures had done to gain all of this wealth.
He just had to hope that Lianna remembered it too.
Four
Lianna
She’d just taken a bite of chicken when Emilie leaned forward in her chair from the end of the table and called out to her. “Lianna, tell us something about you! Papa didn’t tell us much, except that you worked for your dad, and you like art.”
Wiping her mouth with the napkin, Lianna smiled at her boisterous cousin. “What would you like to know?”
“What did you study in school?” Anaelle asked from across the table.
“I got my bachelor’s in art history, and then I went on to get my MBA,” she answered, taking a sip of wine.
“You got the MBA before you started working for your father?” Rémi prompted, and she felt the wine stick in her throat.
“Yes.” The answer was probably too curt, too short, but she didn’t want to discuss her father. Not here. Not in front of David and the family
her father had kept from her.
How much did Jean-Luc know about what happened?
“Did you like working there, or were you still hoping to work with art?” Anaelle grabbed one of the desserts, all casual, but Lianna couldn’t figure out what to say.
“That’s enough,” Jean-Luc said, his voice slightly stern, and his children turned to him. “Alain’s death was a tragedy, and I don’t think asking Lianna to discuss her father, or working with him, is appropriate lunch conversation.”
David huffed under his breath, and she wanted to jab him with an elbow no matter how much she agreed that her father’s death was anything but a tragedy. If the universe was fair, he would have suffered a lot more than a single gunshot to the head.
“I’m sorry, Lianna,” Anaelle said, followed quickly by Rémi’s, “I apologize.”
“It’s okay,” she tried to answer, but her voice cracked, and she soothed it with a larger drink of wine.
“What about you, David? What do you do?” Cécile asked in an attempt to rescue the awkwardness that had settled over the table. Everyone focused on David, and she reached over to squeeze his leg, trying to offer him support as he swallowed the bite in his mouth and leaned back in the chair.
“I work in construction. Mostly installing and programming integrated security systems.” He spoke evenly, but she was still worried. If he’d just talk to her about what he was thinking or how he felt, she’d feel better, but he was keeping everything locked down. He’d refused to even tell her what his initial reaction to the family was.
“What kind of systems?” Mathieu asked, and she was surprised to hear him speak up. He’d been incredibly quiet compared to his siblings, but he seemed sincerely interested.
“Office buildings, usually.” David shrugged, looking across the table where Mathieu sat near the end. “A family friend owns a construction company, and he brought me on to offer the security stuff as part of the build. Most of his customers take him up on it.”
“That sounds like a great idea. I was here when they upgraded the security system last time, and I found it fascinating. Probably asked them too many questions about it, but I’ve always liked finding out how things work.” Mathieu stared down at his plate again for a second before glancing around at his family. “I know they’re not as interested.”
“That’s not true. It definitely sounds interesting,” Rémi said, and his wife nodded next to him.
“Keeping people safe is a very important job,” Amanda added.
“David is very good at it.” Smiling, Lianna nudged him a little, but David just took another drink of his wine, and she tried to pull the attention off him again. “So, what else would you like to know?”
“I want to know how you two met!” Emilie cheered, grinning from the other side of David, and Lianna felt the blood drain out of her face.
Fuck.
They definitely should have talked about this, come up with a story. How could they not have realized someone would ask that question? Panic began to buzz in her veins as a hundred potential stories spun through her head, but then David took her hand in his and squeezed, and she met his steady gaze as a smirk spread over his lips.
“Well, that was all me. I saw Lianna on TV one day, and I thought she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. Then I got lucky and saw her on the street and… basically stalked her until I had the chance to meet her.” Lifting her hand, he placed a kiss on her knuckles, a wicked grin spreading as his tawny brown eyes met hers. “And once I had her in my life, I wasn’t going to let her go.”
Oh God.
A nervous laugh bubbled up from her chest, heat flushing her cheeks, but a chorus of aww and how sweet resounded from her cousins, several of them chuckling softly. When she glanced at Jean-Luc, she saw him wiping his mouth, and then he cleared his throat as he raised his wine glass.
“I’d like to make a toast. To Lianna, for joining us here at our home so that we could finally meet her and return the missing piece of our family.”
“To Lianna!” her family echoed, lifting their glasses, and she released David’s hand so she could lift hers in thanks. Then Jean-Luc waved his hand to hush everyone a bit.
“And as we all know, today is Lianna’s twenty-seventh birthday, and we’ve planned a little party for this evening.” Smiling, Jean-Luc bowed his head a little. “I apologize. I’m sure you’re already a bit overwhelmed, but the rest of the family wants to meet you as well.”
“A birthday party?” she repeated, remembering the photos he’d sent her. The intense longing she’d felt when she’d stared at those pictures of crowded rooms filled with smiling faces. A real birthday cake with candles, instead of a single cupcake in the kitchen. A birthday spent with actual family instead of a nanny, surrounded by people who cared instead of wondering when her father would have time for her.
“It’s nothing too fancy, but we have quite a bit of family here in France, and many of them knew your father when he was young and are looking forward to meeting you.” Jean-Luc reached over to hold Cécile’s hand. “It has been a very long time since our family was reunited, and this is something we truly wanted to do for you. To make up for all the birthdays we have missed.”
“Thank you so much, this is… I just didn’t expect you guys to do anything like that. Thank you.” Feeling emotion swelling in her chest, she glanced at David to see his eyes glued on the wine glass in his hand, and she reined herself in. “What kind of party is it? Do we need to dress up?”
“No, no. Honestly, a regular suit is more than enough for David, and any dress you brought will be perfect.” Cécile smiled at them both.
“Well, I don’t have a suit,” David replied, his voice deadpan.
Fortunately, Jean-Luc didn’t seem to notice as he rescued him. “Rémi has plenty of suits! I’m sure we can find one that will fit reasonably well. You might be a bit broader in the shoulders, but you’re about the same height.”
“I’ll be happy to help you find one,” Rémi confirmed, and Lianna squeezed David’s hand tight, pleading with him silently to accept the offer.
The pause was too long, but, eventually, David managed to grind out a “Thank you” that didn’t seem too forced.
“We really appreciate it, and honestly, I didn’t expect any kind of party. This is very kind of you.” Glancing around the table, she tried to shift the focus off of them. “Please, tell me about all of you. I want to know everything! What did you study? What do you do for fun? Let me get to know my cousins.”
Anaelle was the first to reply, talking about how she loved art as well, but she’d studied literature instead, and the conversation seemed to flow easily after that. From discussing specific artists, to the other interests her cousins had pursued, to stories of them as children. The siblings made playful jabs at each other, and Jean-Luc and Cécile added their own comments, but it was clear they cared about one another — and they’d all been involved in each other’s lives.
Not just related, but a real family, with a real history.
It drew such a sharp contrast between her life, and the life she could have had. A life where she could have grown up knowing these people, where her name might have been interwoven with the stories they shared.
A life where birthday parties wouldn’t be such a surprise.
Five
David
Adjusting the suit jacket again, David tried not to pull his shoulders too far forward as he headed back toward their room. The pants were a little shorter than they should have been, but overall they looked fine. It was the jacket and shirt that were the problem.
He felt like he might hulk out of Rémi’s clothes if he moved wrong — and there was no way in hell he wanted to know how much they would cost to replace. Based on the price tags for some of Lianna’s clothes, he was pretty confident he was wearing a few thousand dollars’ worth of fabric, but Rémi hadn’t been an asshole about letting him borrow the clothes. Surprisingly, the man had seemed more than happy t
o find a suit that fit him.
Rémi had even cracked a joke that he should hit the gym more often, so he’d look more like him.
But, just because Rémi wasn’t an asshole about his wealth, looking down on the lower classes and all that shit, didn’t mean he was actually a good guy. Plenty of people were good actors, capable of pretending to like someone.
Hell, politicians did it all the time.
And no matter how nice he’d been, Rémi was still next in line to head up the Faure family, and despite the bullshit Jean-Luc told Lianna about the family’s future, David knew better. No one walked away from that kind of money, especially when they had people to support and an estate like this to pay the bills on.
Rolling his neck, David tapped on the door to their room just before he cracked it open, calling out, “It’s me.”
“Hey, baby, were you able to find a suit to wear?” Lianna’s voice came from the bathroom, and he rounded the bed so he could see her.
Gorgeous.
Of course, Lianna had packed a nice dress. It was a dark blue, and the fabric hugged her waist before it flared out around her hips, falling to mid-knee. In the chaos of their months together, he’d forgotten just how incredibly beautiful she looked when she got the opportunity to really dress up. “Wow, angel.”
Her eyes lifted to him in the mirror, Lianna’s smile flashed bright just before she turned around. “Oh my God, David. You look great!”
“I was just about to tell you the same thing,” he replied, grinning as she walked over to run her hands over the suit jacket.
“Jean-Luc was right, it’s a little tight in the shoulders, but you make this look good.” Tightening her grip on the lapels of the jacket, she tugged him closer, and he dipped his head so he could kiss her. Capturing her lips, he was about to make a move when a little whine escaped her, and she pulled back. “You’re going to make me mess up my make-up.”
Redemption Page 4