by Mia Caldwell
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Chapter 34
I’d come through this room before, but it was always so empty and cold… Now, it had transformed. The ballroom was decorated beautifully, and I gasped as I realized that Julien had fixed the old stained-glass that covered the skylight above us, replacing it with shimmering colored panes. It was just the right touch to make the room seem new again.
There were five tables covered in all sorts of different food, courtesy of Gervaise. He stood near the tables, ready to help dish out the food. I was actually surprised to see that it was a buffet style lunch, much to my satisfaction.
I tried to concentrate on other people spread throughout the vast room. Some caught sight of Julien and his mother, and began their way over towards them. Some others were conversing among themselves, seated at one of the numerous small roundtables to the one side. I was still stuck on the beautiful decorations that were tastefully strung here and there.
I nudged Julien as an older couple paused to talk with him, and I told him I was going over to grab something to eat.
As I made my beeline towards the delicious smelling food, someone tapped me on my shoulder. I spun around and was taken aback as a young woman stood in front of me, one hand on her hip, smiling at me.
"Bree, right? Hi! I'm Veronique! Or rather, Julien's younger cousin. It's very nice to meet you, finally!" she exclaimed, pulling me into a surprisingly tight hug, given her petite size. I must've had the goofiest look on my face, because when she pulled back she frowned at me.
"I’m sorry, I’m just so excited to meet you… We’re pretty much cousins now. Oh my gosh, you know I heard you were beautiful… but really!"
"It’s nice to meet you, too. I'm sorry that I don't really know much about you, Julien rarely talks about his family,” I replied, smiling.
"He doesn't like us. Not that I can really blame him, because we’re kind of crazy. Not me, of course, but everyone else. Anyway, Julien is practically my older brother so it's really cool to finally meet you," she said, nearly out of breath when she finished.
Her grin quickly turned into a frown.
“So, have you had a chance to meet the monster-in-law?” she asked.
I looked at her, trying to gauge her reaction. “Yeah… I did. She actually seemed very nice...”
Veronique laughed, patting my elbow gently. “It's okay,” she replied, looking all around us before she continued. “I know our family’s not exactly the Brady Bunch, so it's okay. I totally understand if you are freaking out right now. You got a lot going on, right? At least that's what I've heard.”
“What do you mean exactly?” I asked. What all did everyone know about me?
“Well . . . you know they made us all sign this crazy long non-disclosure thing before we all agreed to attend, right? I mean it was nuts! I wouldn't have suspected that it was going to be that crazy, but it really was. There were all these lines about possible incrimination . . . but I guess it was for the best. So what’s your secret? You some kind of spy? Seriously!”
She seemed out of breath again. This girl could talk. No non-disclosure agreement was going to stop that. I was pretty sure she’d tell half of France all about me…
I smiled, almost wishing she could read my mind. “You have no idea.”
“Ok, I get it. You’re not going to tell me… Did Julien give you introductions to everyone else besides his mom? I doubt you've met my lovely parents. I haven't seen them yet, myself,” she muttered, her voice dropping lower at the last and of her sentence. “Not that I’m complaining.”
I raised a brow at her. “Do you and your parents not get along, then?” I asked.
Even as she looked like she was wanting to avoid the subject, she clearly brought it up for reason.
“Oh, well you know. I'm at that point in my life where I would rather have a little space... And they don't exactly agree with my life choices. I'm engaged to be married, actually. And they hate that.”
“How come?”
“He’s an artist. A good one. David Bowie bought a couple of his paintings, and he has some really good taste, if you ask me. The guy’s like a walking canvas, so he knows art when he sees it. Anyway . . . Marco is a very established painter at this point, but my mother wants me chasing after old money... But that's beside the point,” Veronique replied, sounding defeated.
“Well, I'm sure they'll eventually get to know him and like him. He sounds like a pretty cool guy.”
She smiled at me, showing off the small gap between her two front teeth. "That's very sweet of you. I think he is, too."
We sat there and chatted for a few more minutes, while I tried to delicately stuff my face with the delicious food Gervaise had made for the party. It seemed like Veronique knew a lot about the family, and definitely all about the gossip. When she finally ran out of things to say, I was halfway through a masters course on Julien family history.
"You know, I should really let you go meet everyone… It was nice talking… I'll catch up with you later. And if you need to be saved at any point,” she whispered, sounding conspiratorial. "— just let me know. Just say the word and I'll find you and get you the hell out of here. Good luck!"
And with that, Veronique was gone, skipping away to another part of the ballroom. I slouched against the back wall, wondering what I should do next.
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Chapter 35
I practically flopped back on our bed, completely exhausted from the evening’s events. I hadn’t realized that baby showers could turn into an all-day affair, and apparently neither had Julien. We were only too happy to see everyone leave, although I had to admit it was a rather nice party after all. I had gotten so nervous over nothing.
Julien rolled over to his side to face me, snuggling up against my chest. “You did great today,” he murmured into my already bountiful cleavage, as his hand traced a soft line against my hipbone.
I scoffed. “I love you and all . . . but I’m way too tired for all that. My feet. Are. Killing. Me.”
He chuckled, his warm breath tickling my skin. “I apologize, then. It’s just so damn hard to keep my hands to myself when I’m around you, ma chérie.”
I definitely wasn’t about to complain. Even as tired as I was I could feel my blood warming up in my cheeks. He just had that effect on me, I guessed.
“So… Who opens the first one?” I asked, looking toward the foot of the bed. A few of the staff had piled all the little gift boxes into the room, and I couldn’t wait to see what was inside.
“I guess I’ll do the honors,” Julien said, grabbing a little box and bringing it up onto the bed. I held my breath as he opened it up, peeling away the beautiful wrapping paper.
“Oh my God! Look at it! It’s so cute!”
I practically squealed when Julien pulled the tiny pair of baby Veritas cross-trainers out from the small blue bag filled with tissue paper.
“I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. I’m one of the heads of the company, for God’s sake!” Julien mused, passing over the tiny shoes to me. “I don’t recall seeing this product. I wonder if it’s new?”
I rolled my eyes. “No shop talk, Julien.”
He smiled sheepishly at me before turning around to grab another present from behind him. I grabbed the bag and placed the shoes back inside of it. Before I could open it, one of the security guards appeared at the door.
“Excuse me Julien, I need to speak with you for a moment.”
“Is everything ok?” Julien asked, concern filling his voice. The look on the man’s face wasn’t inspiring confidence. Julien didn’t wait for a response. He leapt from the bed and cast me a quick glance.
“I’ll be right back. Keep the bed warm for me.”
“Just don’t be too long, please!” I called after him as he walked out of the room, my heart racing as he quickly followed the security guard out of the room.
I couldn’t just sit here… When I heard his voice raise u
p a few levels, I hopped up as fast as I could and tried to quietly make my way down the hall after him.
I crept around one of the end of the corridors, keeping an eye out for him. He was pacing back and forth at the end of the hall across from me, his eyes trained on the floor. One of the bodyguards, Rafe, came up to him, pulling him away from his conversation with the security guard. Julien turned towards Rafe expectantly.
I couldn’t quite hear what they were saying, which didn’t really matter considering they were speaking in French… But judging by Julien’s tone it wasn’t good. The more he talked with Rafe the angrier he got. I didn’t know what to make of it.
I didn’t exactly want to get my anxiety levels up, but it was hard not to. For all I knew he could be talking about something work-related. But something deep down inside me told me that wasn’t the case. I really wished I had taken high school French when I had the chance.
Julien called out for Johan, one of the other bodyguards, who came hulking around the corner. He was a huge Swedish dude, who looked like he could easily pass for a Viking on Halloween... And I’m not talking about the ones from Minnesota, either.
Luckily for me, Johan didn’t speak a lick of French, and they had their conversation in English. I made my way quietly down the hall.
“Explain this to me. How did he get past you?” Julien demanded from Johan.
“I am sorry, Mr. Malveaux. He gave me his name, and it was on the list. Here, I have it with me in fact,” Johan grunted, pulling a clipboard and paper from the table beside them. “See? He gave me his name, right here. Augustus Fendi. His name was on the list . . . so I let him in. He gave me his photo ID and everything.”
Julien pinched the bridge of his nose as he usually did when he was stressed out, slowly shaking his head. “I just don’t understand. How did this name get on the list? Who was in charge of the list?”
Both of the bodyguards shrugged.
“That doesn’t make me feel any better. I need to know who was in charge of printing this list, and if anyone knows and is not willing to give me the information that they know they will be immediately relieved from their duty. Someone put Fendi’s name on this list and it sure as hell wasn’t me.”
It struck me how odd it was to see Julien like this. He was clearly livid at whatever situation had arose, and watching him yelling at two grown men was just so out of character.
We can certainly find out for you, Mr. Malveaux. I know it wasn’t one of us, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find out who it was. If I had to make any guesses, I would say it was the party planner that your mother hired. Maybe that’s where you could start?”
Julien stood there scratching his chin, mumbling to himself. “That does sound like a proper place to start. Please let me know if you hear of anything else, Johan. Vous aussi, Rafe.”
My stomach dropped. Sabine? She hired the party planner? That seemed oddly weird to me. For someone who had only spoken a few short sentences to me at the party, she was clearly more involved than I knew.
The two men walked off, mumbling to one another, and Julien walked back towards the bedroom. I scrambled to get out of his sight, ducking into an alcove and skipped down the main hallway to the end where the kitchen was, hoping that maybe if he found me there he wouldn’t be surprised. After all, it was usually where he found me these days…
Gervaise was nowhere to be found. I helped myself to some of the leftovers that were sitting out on the giant kitchen island, groaning as I finally tasted some of the food I hadn’t had the chance to test out earlier at the baby shower. I didn’t know what the little pâté was that went on top of the special crackers, but whatever it was, it was delicious. I swore up and down that Gervaise needed to open up his own five-star restaurant. But that would mean he would have to leave us, and I liked having him all to ourselves at the château.
I waited for a moment before I heard Julien clearing his throat behind me.
“There you are. Did our little guy get a little hungry again?”
All traces of anger gone from his face. I pasted on the best smile I could give him, and offered him one of the special crackers.
“Mmm, terrine de canard mousquetaire. Délicieuse. Usually I don’t get to eat this unless it’s Bastille Day,” Julien replied, licking his full lips. No, Amira. Don’t get sucked into staring at his amazing lips.
“Well, I don’t know what all that means, but it certainly is tasty. Maybe I would prefer not to know what it means, actually. Now that I’m looking at it . . . it does look a little sketchy. Oh well,” I added, popping another cracker with the special pâté in my mouth.
Sometimes it was far too easy to pretend everything was hunky-dory. But at the moment, and after being so tired from the day’s events, I didn’t want to disturb Julien with my thoughts. I wasn’t sure if I would get very good sleep that night, but at least I knew he was next to me, trying desperately to keep me and the baby safe.
“I have an idea, actually, myself,” Julien said, repeating a phrase from earlier. “How about we order some Thai from my favorite place? They’ll deliver it to us, no problem. What do you say?”
I bit my lip. It was definitely hard to keep my mouth shut, but I would do it for his sake. “Sure thing. You know I’m always down for thai!”
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Chapter 36
“Are you sure you have to go?” I asked him, trying to give him my best pouty face possible. Even I knew Julien wasn’t going to fall for it this time.
He sighed, giving me the look that told me that maybe I should drop it. I knew he felt guilty enough as it was, but I just hated the fact that he had to leave.
“You know that I would stay there if there were any other way around it.”
I knew it was only going to be a two-night stay in London, but I hated it still. It seemed like every time I turned around Julien had been pulled away from me for one reason or another.
Now that I was thirty-six weeks along, I actually needed help every now and then, and without Julien there to provide assistance, sometimes I didn’t always get it.
After a few more kisses and hugs goodbye, Julien headed out the door. I wrapped my arms around myself, already missing him. I just didn’t understand how military wives did it. I hated being away from him even for a day or two. Months or years would have killed me…
–
It wasn’t long before I was pouting in the kitchen. Gervaise was a smart man, and as soon as he saw me walking in with the huge tears in my eyes, he quickly prepared a bowl of my favorite flavor ice cream — butter pecan.
After I finished up, I made my way outside, desperate for some fresh air. One of my bodyguards followed along. They were never far away, especially when Julien was gone. I glanced back at Rafe, who kept his dark eyes trained on me. He said nothing, and just waited for me to proceed.
I stopped for a moment when I felt the baby begin to turn over, stretching out his legs before beginning to hiccup. I couldn’t help but giggle at him, fondly rubbing my belly and feeling his movements underneath my skin. The idea of growing a human being used to totally freak me out. It was different now… Soon, the baby would be here and I already knew I’d miss these little moments when it was just the two of us…
I caught sight of Alain coming up from his small workshop by the gardens carrying something rather large in his hands. I couldn’t tell right away what it was, but as he got closer a big smile cut across my face.
“I hope you don’t mind. Found it in a storage room. It was Julien’s. I tried to fix it up, give it some new paint for baby,” he called out to me, holding up a newly varnished wooden rocking horse.
I gasped. It was intricately carved around the edges, with a roped mane, and glass eyes. It was simple, sturdy, and beautiful, just how I liked things.
Once he set it down at my feet, I squealed and practically ran to him, throwing my arms wide around his neck before kissing his cheek. “It’s wonderful! I can’t believe you did this
for us! Well of course I can, but this is so much. It’s beautiful, Alain. It really is. Thank you so much for this.”
He gave me his best smile, clearly proud of his work. “I carved this for Julien when he was baby. I’m surprised to see it was in such good shape.”
“That’s because it’s your handiwork. You’re like magic,” I laughed, pulling away from him to look at it some more.
“Very nice,” Rafe chimed in from behind us. I looked back at him and smiled in agreement. I loved handmade gifts like this, but this was even more sentimental to me because it used to be Julien’s.