“I’ll ask Lucien then,” Elise assured, seeing how much the dinner meant to Francesca and wanting to make that shadow of worry on her features fade. “I’m not sure if he’ll be back from Paris by Monday. I’ll call you when I know. And I promise to make you and Ian a special dinner very soon.”
“You do every time we come to Fusion,” Francesca said wryly as she stood.
“That hardly counts,” Elise said, giving a sunny smile. Inside, though, a storm was brewing. She was angry at Lucien for leaving her to feel so vulnerable and clueless. But she was infuriated that his refusal to prepare her might be the thing that betrayed him. She truly didn’t believe he was up to something criminal, but he was up to something that could land him in trouble. She just knew it.
He had some explaining to do. And this time, some vague half-truths weren’t going to cut it.
Read more of Elise and Lucien’s red-hot romance in
PART VI: When You Trust Me
Chapter Eleven
Elise grimaced as she glanced at the bedside chest at midnight. Part of her regretted not opening that drawer this evening. Part of her longed to do a replay of the past two nights and experience such intense pleasure . . . such intense intimacy with Lucien. They hadn’t just had mutual climaxes for the past two nights; they’d made love while they were half a world apart. He really was magical, the way he could pull off the impossible. Part of her wished she could just ignore her irritation.
But she couldn’t.
She picked up her ringing cell phone.
“Bonjour,” she said crisply into the receiver.
There was a pause. “Bonsoir. Don’t we sound businesslike,” Lucien said, sounding amused and wary.
“I am in the mood for business. And not the business of the past two nights,” she said pointedly. It was technically a lie. She was in the mood for the business of gushing in pleasure and hearing Lucien’s voice go rough and sexy with lust as he instructed her and she did precisely what he commanded. But she had more crucial business at hand. “How was your day?”
“Productive,” he said. “Atale and I are still getting the books in order for the Three Kings. It’s tedious work.”
“I can imagine,” she said, compassion seeping into her awareness. No matter her annoyance at him, Lucien was going through a rough time right now. He sounded exhausted. “Don’t tell me you were up again all night?”
“I’ll catch some sleep this morning,” he said, the hitch in his voice making her think he’d just fallen into bed. A sharp longing went through her to be there with him, to feel his arms around her— She interrupted her own thoughts before she sabotaged herself.
“Francesca stopped by Fusion today. She asked you and me to come to dinner at Ian’s Monday night. Do you want to go?”
“I should be back in town by then. Yes, if you do.” There was a pause and Elise simmered in the silence. “You might as well get to it,” he said.
“Get to what?”
“Whatever you’re pissed about. I assume there’s something, because you clearly haven’t been following my instructions,” he said levelly.
“With good reason. Do you know what else Francesca asked me?” Elise demanded, launching into her attack. “If I would ask my father to design her wedding dress. Ian told her to ask me.”
“Okay,” Lucien said slowly. His cautious confusion at her anger only amplified her irritation.
“Why didn’t you tell me that Ian knew who I was?”
“Was it important to you that he didn’t know?”
“No,” she exclaimed heatedly. “It’s not important to me. I thought it was important to you to keep my family and background hushed up. I thought you were trying to keep people from asking questions about our past connection!”
Lucien sighed. “If it’s any consolation to know it, I never told Ian specifically about your family. He found out himself. He knows everything about people that are in his life, even in the peripheral sense. It’s not only a precaution; it’s in his nature to know as much as he can in any given situation. He’s not the most trusting type, Ian. I imagine he comes by his paranoia honestly.”
Elise’s mouth fell open. Her annoyance segued to outrage.
“By your logic, Ian Noble would know everything about you and your past, then.” The silence rung in her ears. She threw caution to the wind. “He would know all about your father’s prosecution and imprisonment.”
“He does know all about it. I confided in him after my father’s arrest. He supported me during the trial, just by listening. I never told you anything different,” he added when she remained silent in disbelief.
“That’s because you never said anything to me period. Besides, you’ve told me from the beginning you didn’t want me screwing up and spilling the beans about your father and your identity.”
“I never said that about my father. You just assumed it.”
Hurt swamped her at his cool response. Her throat grew tight. For a few seconds, she couldn’t speak. Lucien made a sound of frustration.
“When you stormed into Fusion that day pretending to be my chef, and Ian walked in on us, I just thought it would be easiest and cleanest to say that we didn’t know each other. I couldn’t make things too complicated, given the situation.”
“You couldn’t make your lie too complicated. Isn’t that what you mean?” she seethed.
“If you prefer to put it that way. Yes.”