Bartered (The Encounter #1)(24)

“I love your snarky cattiness, Isobel.” He bestowed his über sexually charged kind of smile, making me weak in the knees.

“It only comes out when I feel threatened or vulnerable.”

He seemed amused. “And which one are you? Threatened… or vulnerable?” He had that look that made me think he was about to kiss me but was trying hard not to.

“Neither. None of this is working for me, Hugo,” I bluffed.

“Be that as it may…” he conceded but remained determined. “Are you up for the challenge, ma belle? It’s only two weeks—fourteen days of your time—and since you’re quite confident, this would be too easy for you not to resist.”

He was right. Of course he was. Still, he remained persistent. Well, I could have my fun by proving him wrong time and time again.

“Fine, two weeks it is.” I braced myself before giving him a dismissive look. “Anyhow, I better get going and start getting ready.”

“Ready for what?” he questioned, appearing as if he wasn’t ready to let me off the hook just yet. “Where are you going?”

“Babysitting duties.”

He sighed. “Elena doesn’t waste time, does she?” His expression changed into a worried one. “Watch her carefully, and don’t let her get too drunk. She has a tendency to kiss whomever she finds attractive, which could mean the entire populace in attendance.”

Was he joking? I’d think it, but his worrisome expression told me he wasn’t bluffing. Damn. “She’s that wild?”

“I wouldn’t ask you to chaperone her if I thought she was angelic. Maybe she could learn a thing or two from you.” He suddenly looked less serious. “Beno?t will drive you both tonight.”

Hmm, I doubted that.

“We shall see,” I murmured for the last time before leaving him on the shore.

I went on my way towards the villa, ready to have fun tonight. Suddenly, this chaperone thing didn’t look as awful as I’d thought it would be.





Chapter 14


Hugo


It was ten at night, and I was in my home office adjacent to the library. Since Isobel and Elena weren’t here and my other two women were gallivanting somewhere else for the time being, I was left to my own devices for the very first time, which I wasn’t accustomed to.

For two hours? I’d been fighting the urge to see what Elena and Isobel were up to. But each time I felt like going, I would argue with myself that Isobel was entitled to have a little enjoyment since she’d lacked that ever since she had moved in with me.

The woman took precedence in my mind, and no matter how much I tried to diminish my want for her by occupying my time with the others, it only made the hunger worsen. Therefore, I was left with no choice other than to come to terms with this—that this wouldn’t go away until I found a solution. I hadn’t had one until the woman herself had thrown a challenging look at me; one that would make any man who was consumed by wanting to possess something… a little crazy. I hadn’t felt this way since I was in my early teens. She exhilarated me in a way that got me more fixated to prove her wrong.

She had admitted that her body responded to me, but she had chosen to ignore it. Because of Damen. Knowing the fact she was in love with another man didn’t bother me an inch because I wasn’t after her heart. This connection I had with her was primal and all about sex. Nothing more, nothing less.

My thoughts halted when my shrilling phone interrupted. Taking the phone out of my pocket, I took the call. “Bonsoir, Père.” (Good evening, Father.) “Julee just called to invite me to lunch with her tomorrow.”

“Maybe it’s time to bury the hatchet? She is Maman’s sister.” Mother’s been dead for over fifteen years now and still those two never got along. Neither one ever, as I recalled, had nice things to say to each other. They were always bickering.

It started when Julee was against my mother marrying him because she deemed him unworthy of her. She went out of her way to make that known by playing tricks on him, however my father was a determined man and kept pursuing my mother until the day she died. My father loved her more than anything, and when she had died during her ski trip with Julee and their friends, my father hadn’t been the same since. Though he had moved on and dated, even remarried a couple of times, his heart had stayed true to my mother.

“You know I never liked her, but it was because of your mother that I tolerated her.” He sounded exasperated, as if talking about Julee was draining all of his energy away. “She also mentioned a woman named Isobel. I’m assuming she’s your new lover to pass the time by?”

Isobel was hardly a lover, let alone mine. Perhaps soon that would change. “Get to the point.”

“You know it’s unwise.”

Like I would ever forget. It was impossible to. He made sure of it. “Sherry and Chantel are very much in the picture. They’re simply taking a break, vacationing in their chosen destination. This hiatus is merely temporary.”

“Thank God,” he grumbled loudly, relieved that whatever my Aunt Julee was speculating was merely that, a speculation. “I’m glad this is nothing serious, but pay heed, my son. Never make the same mistake again.”

Every single time, like I would ever forget it. I wished things were different, but this was apparently our fate. One mistake was all it took before it became a domino effect for everyone. Even when I was indirectly involved, I, too, bore the brunt of his punishment.