A private detective? Did Rene know Charles had someone following him around? She dismissed the idea that Rene would do the same. Ashley was the one playing a game, but there could be knowledge to be gained from knowing how far she would go.
“Sylvie’s no one’s pawn,” Sera argued.
“She is if she’s actually asking why Rene chose her for his marriage of convenience.” Ashley wore a pair of jeans and a chic silk blouse, at least four inches of her height coming from a pair of Louboutins, though they were three seasons out and had seen better days. The Prada wallet on a chain wasn’t new, either.
Rene had married her because he could trust her. Nothing this woman said would change that fact, but it could be interesting to know what the rumors were. “All right, I’ll bite. Why did Rene choose me?”
“He couldn’t have chosen anyone else,” Ashley replied. “You seem to be under the mistaken idea that he had some kind of a list and you were at the top. Like if you’d said no, he would have moved on to the next lady. You were the only one he ever meant to ask because you’re the only one my aunt will accept as a reasonable quickie bride for Rene.”
None of that made a lick of sense to Sylvie. “Why? I understand why I would be the first one he went to. We’ve been friends for years and he trusts me. Rene spent a lot of time with my family.”
Ashley’s eyes rolled. “It’s all about your family. There’s one thing in Papillon Aunt Roberta respects, and it’s not your political skill or your brother’s talent with a camera. She respects your mother. She’s the tiniest bit afraid of your mother, and that’s what Rene’s counting on. You’re the one thing Charles is scared of. Aunt Roberta would reject anyone Rene brought in at this point out of sheer spite, but she’ll think twice about rejecting Marcelle Martine’s daughter.”
“My mother isn’t someone to fear. Roberta doesn’t live here anymore. She gets her hair done in Houston.” But Sylvie’s brain was already racing. Her mom had been a part of many loony schemes over the years. What had her mother done?
“Fear might be too strong a word, but I swear it’s in there somewhere. According to Aunt Roberta, your mother did tarot readings back in the day,” Ashley began. “She had a spiritual center in her salon. Does she still have that?”
She did. And she still did tarot readings. That was Miss Marcelle’s Salon. Come for the straightening, stay for the séance. “Was this before Roberta moved to Houston?”
“Yes,” Ashley continued. “Roberta claims Marcelle is the reason she found her wretchedly wealthy husband. She decided to go to a party at the VFW one night because the cards sent her there. She’d been planning on staying home that night, but Marcelle told her the cards said the path to happiness led through the VFW, and so she went. That was where she met Uncle Tiny. Don’t let that name fool you. He was a big man and fairly easy to deal with since he never killed Roberta the way I would have. Roberta credits your mother for her happy marriage, though don’t think that makes her a happy person. It doesn’t. She’s a prickly old woman and the only reason anyone pays her mind is that she never had children, and we all want a portion of that fortune.”
No wonder Roberta was prickly. “I assure you Rene doesn’t need her money.”
Ashley shrugged. “Some people can never get enough. You should know that. You worked in DC for a while. I’m surprised you’re still naive. I’ll admit when Charles told me you were Rene’s latest ploy, I was nervous. I haven’t seen you in a long time. I thought you would have lost that do-gooder mentality, but I feel better now. You’re the same old Sylvie, and that means you think you’re doing Rene a favor. You might even think you’re going to get a real marriage out of all of this.”
“Why don’t you go find someone else to sharpen your claws on?” Sera stepped beside Sylvie like she was ready to physically protect her.
Ashley ignored her, instead choosing to stare at Sylvie with something akin to sympathy. “God, that’s it, isn’t it? You honestly think Rene is capable of love? I assure you he isn’t. Oh, I know he loves his mother, but he was taught to do that. The only other thing that man can love is his name. He was taught to worship at the altar of the Darois family legacy. His one goal in the world is to keep as much of the family fortune in his control as he can, and if he needed to marry someone to do it, he would. After all, he did precisely that this morning. But I don’t think he realizes how poorly you’ll take it when you get it through that pretty head of yours how he’s used you. Also, where’s your brother? Shouldn’t he be kicking Rene’s ass by now? I wouldn’t hate to see Dre again. He gets better looking every time I lay eyes on him.”
“You keep right on looking, Ashley, because I assure you my brother won’t let you touch. He’s got a thing about dating women and not man-eating tigers,” Sylvie shot back.
Ashley’s lips curved up. “Oh, you don’t know your brother any better than you know Rene.”
“Hey. I thought you weren’t drinking tonight.” A dark-haired young man strode up. It took Sylvie a moment to recognize Gabriel Layton. He was several years younger than Ashley, having recently graduated from college.
Ashley’s expression went blank. “It was only one, and you can drive us home. You’re good at that. You know what? I think I’ll have another. Good luck with Rene, Sylvie. You’re going to need it.”
She stomped off in her designer shoes.
“Your sister needs to watch her mouth or I’ll have her barred from this restaurant,” Sera promised.
Her best friend could be a momma bear when she wanted to. “It’s okay. I can handle a mean girl.”
Gabriel frowned, his eyes on his sister’s path. “She’s going through some things. I’m afraid she didn’t do well in LA, and life back here in Louisiana isn’t what she’d hoped for. She’s having to get a real job for the first time in her life. She blames Rene.”
“Why would she blame Rene?” Sylvie asked.
“Because he holds the purse strings,” Gabriel replied. “I’m afraid when you’re the king who rules the world, everything really is your fault.”
The whole Darois family seemed to like to make Rene out to be some sort of tyrant. “From what I understand, your family gets their share of the company profits.”
“As determined by the CEO of the company and the amount of shares we own,” Gabriel explained. “It’s not an insignificant amount, but my father didn’t exactly leave us in a good position. When he decided to divorce my mother, he left her half his debt. It was a lot of debt. We didn’t realize how much he’d spent over the years and how much he’d leveraged everything we thought we owned. My mother doesn’t know how to live on a budget. Ashley was actually here to do something she wasn’t happy about doing. She asked Rene for a job and got turned down flat, so she’s feeling mean. I should take her home. I hope she didn’t offend you too much. You have to understand we were raised to think the money would never run out. It’s hard to deal with the fact that everything you thought you knew is gone.”