“Arson. Someone set fire to one of our warehouses. Max was trapped inside.” He rubs his forehead. “No one should’ve been able to survive those flames. The pain must’ve been excruciating. After Max walked out of there, he never was quite the same.”
I shudder at the mental picture. “Are you saying he’s insane?”
“What I’m saying,” Alexis says, “is that you have to be careful.”
“Talking about me?” a deep, familiar voice asks.
I spin around to see Maxime approaching with a dark look on his face.
“We were just getting acquainted,” Alexis says with a cold smile.
Maxime steps up next to me. “You don’t speak to her when I’m not around.”
“That’ll be a tad difficult,” Alexis says, “seeing that she’s part of your household now and our paths are sure to cross more often than not. You can’t always be everywhere, can you?”
Maxime grabs my arm. “It’s time to go.”
Alexis salutes. “I’m looking forward to seeing you on Sunday, Zoe.”
“She’s not going,” Maxime bites out.
Alexis pulls his face into a shocked expression. “You’re leaving her all by herself in that stuffy old house while we’re having a party? How rude of you, brother. Don’t worry, Zoe. I’m happy to keep you company. My social skills are not as unpolished as my brother’s.”
Maxime puts his face in Alexis’s. “You don’t want to test me.”
“Having authority issues, Max?”
Maxime’s hold on my arm turns painful. His other hand clenches at his side. “I dare you, little brother.” His smile is thin and cruel. “I’d love a reason to give you the treatment you deserve.”
Maxime pulls me roughly down the steps and onto the path, walking with such long strides I’m battling to keep up. Cecile and Hadrienne get up when we enter the lounge.
“Max.” Worry is etched on Cecile’s face. “What happened?”
“Nothing.” He kisses his mother’s cheeks. “See you on Sunday.”
He all but drags me to the car and shoves me inside. When he comes around and takes the wheel, I try to make myself small against the door. My heart is still thumping in my chest. I can’t stop thinking about what Alexis said. There’s not much love lost between the brothers. There’s no question that they’re both manipulating me, but which one is telling the truth?
Chapter 18
Maxime
Alexis loves fucking with me, but I won’t let him fuck with Zoe. She doesn’t know this family and their layers of nuances. She has no way of protecting herself against the mind games we play. It’ll take her years to figure us all out.
I glance at her as I change the gears. “No more talking to Alexis.”
She gives me an incredulous look. “What am I supposed to do when he talks to me? Ignore him? Pretend I don’t hear?”
“Just say I don’t want you to talk to him.” Possessiveness is something every man in this family understands.
She shrugs. “Fine.”
“What did he say to you?”
“That you’re insane.”
I laugh. “He’s probably right.”
She gapes at me. “You’re not upset?”
“I don’t get upset about things that don’t matter.”
She looks back at the road. “Wait. Why are we heading home? I thought you wanted to eat in town.”
“I changed my mind.”
“Just like that.”
“Yeah. Just like that.”
“I see.”
“No, Zoe. You don’t.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
I pull over at the outlook point and park. “Get out.”
Her eyes grow large. “What?”
“Get out of the car.”
“You’re leaving me here?”
“Did I say I was leaving you here?”
She looks around the unbuilt area, and then up the deserted road. No doubt escape is at the forefront of her mind. It probably will be for a while still to come. She’ll dream about it like recovered addicts dream about drugs and ex-smokers dream about cigarettes. A turning point will come when her dreams will evolve around staying and building a nest for herself.
Giving me an uncertain glance, she grips the handle and opens the door. She steps into the somber day, her hair blowing in every direction.
I shut down the engine and get out. “Walk to the edge.”
She turns her face toward the cliff. When she looks back at me, her face is pale with fear. “Are you going to make me jump?”
“No.” I move around the car, closer to her. “Go.”
She gives me a pleading look. “I don’t want to.”
“Go, Zoe.” She needs to learn to trust me, even when she’s frightened.
She walks to the edge, carefully peering down. A frown mars her features. “What is that?”
“What does it look like?”
“A picnic?”
I take her hand. “Come. There’s a path this way.”
She pulls free. Her voice is angry. “You scared me. You could’ve just told me why we stopped here.”
“Then it wouldn’t have been a surprise.”
“I thought…”
“I was going to kill you?”
“Yes,” she whispers.
“I’ve told you before. I’m not going to kill you.”
“How do I know you won’t change your mind?”
“You don’t.”
Her chest rises with a deep breath. “Is this one of your lessons?”
“Yes.”
Her beautiful eyes are filled with apprehension. “What am I supposed to learn from this?”
“To do something when I tell you to.”
She scoffs. “Blind obedience?”
“As long as you do as you’re told, I’ll watch out for you.” I take back her hand. “Now come.”
We climb down the path to the small beach below. It’s private, part of our territory. I was going to take her for the best bouillabaisse in town until I called to make a reservation and found out my uncle and father were lunching there. The picnic is improvised, a stab at fulfilling her romantic needs, but right now there’s nothing romantic about the way I feel. Volatile is more like it.
When we reach the beach, Zoe pulls her hand free and walks to the edge of the water. She stares out over the ocean, a small, lonely, sad figure, and something stirs in my chest. I pop the cork of the champagne and pour her a glass.
“Come here,” I say.
She turns away from the water and sits down on the blanket. I hand her the champagne, and then prepare a plate of cheese, charcuterie, and baguette.
“Hungry?” I ask as I put the plate between us.
“A little.”
“Eat up.”
I let her eat and drink, filling her glass twice while only having one myself. I’m driving, but that’s not why I’m pumping her full of champagne. I’m getting her drunk. I need her uninhibited.