Blasphemous (Torn #3)(66)
She was whispering something into Dimitris’s ear before she returned her attention to me. “My friends just arrived. I’m going to go and say hi. I’ll catch up with you later, Emma. I want to take you out for lunch sometime soon.” Claudine gave me a little wave before she strutted towards her friends.
“She’s amazing, D,” I said as I watched Claudine smiling and talking about.
Dimitris returned my smile as we both watched his woman. “Claudine is lovely, but I haven’t decided if she is lovely enough to be my wife.”
I remembered him talking about marriage, but I never realized that he wanted to do it this quickly. “You’re wife hunting? Like now?”
A couple that said something in Greek as they passed by, interrupted us. Dimitris shot something back at them, sharing a laugh before he glanced back at me. “I’m twenty-seven, Emma. Choosing a suitable wife takes a long time. I want to make sure the next one will be everlasting, with or without love.”
“Next one? You mean you were married before?” Duh. That’s usually what it means, my mind answered me with mockery, but I was apoplectic as I waited on him to say something.
Dimitris studied his drink, shaking his head in disbelief before he busted out laughing. His laugh was not the good kind, though. It was harsh, cold even. “Apístef?tos!” Unbelievable. He spit out, shaking his head before he finished the entire contents of his wine. “I’m actually in the process of a divorce. So, yes, I was married before—for ninety-six hours, I f*uking was.”
Ouch. “I’m sorry that you are going through a rough divorce, but is that the reason why you and Lindsey broke up… because you didn’t tell her that you were married before?”
“Lindsey…” he muttered with disdain. “Lindsey Mason Kosta should provide the answer to your question.”
“She can’t be…” I whispered, trailing off as I tried to recall everything in my head. Stalker alert. Brody. The weed. Brody again. f*uk, she was married to Dimitris while she was in love with Brody? WHAT?
“My advice to you, from a friend to a friend, is to never marry for love. Marriage is about working together. Respecting each other with a common goal; to take care of one another and your children. Only then, a stable-kind of love can grow. The passionate ones are only great for memories, nothing more.” Dimitris gave my shoulder a squeeze before striding towards Claudine and her friends.
Hell, Lindsey. What did you get into this time? I thought with concern since she wasn’t talking about any of this. She was actually going through a divorce, yet she was busy working Brody’s sheets. Did Brody even know about Dimitris? Hell.
No wonder she was keeping it hush-hush. Brody might be following her everywhere now, but the moment he found out about this, he was going to flip the f*uk out.
I jumped when a voice came from behind me. “You look superb, ma chèrie.”
I spun around and found the charming Jacques Bertrand smiling down at me, scruffy and looking deadly as ever. “Jacques!!!” Excited to see him as I closed the gap and hugged the life out of him. “I’m so happy that you’re here.”
“Me, too. When Dimitris called saying you were in Paris, I just had to drop by and say hello.” Jacques kissed both of my cheeks before giving my lip a big loud one.
To me, Jacques was a friend, but that didn’t’ stop me from admiring his good looks. When it came to all three lotharios, I wasn’t immune to their rough and roguish handsomeness. It was nothing sexual, just admiring a beauty when you see one. “Still living sexy, fast, and furious?”
“I’m French, ma belle. Everything is sexy,” Jacques stated, flirty and buoyant.
I snorted at his cockiness. Amusement danced in his eyes as watched me. “Luca and Andrès say hello.”
“Tell them I said hi and always stay safe.” I spent the night with these three crazy men on the grid at three in the morning, taking turns to see who drove faster. I had never been so close to death when I was trapped in one of those racecars as the men raced us to our early graves. The adrenaline rush I got, though, was so worth it. If I could, I would do it all over again, but only with any of these drivers. If I had to chase death around, I’d rather have one of the best drivers in Europe do it for me. It was truly a night to remember.
The light banter we just shared disappeared when Jacques appeared disconcerted. “Don’t look, but I’m taking the man next to Dimitris is the ex you were talking about? The actor with the popular vampire movie?”
Maybe. “What made you ask that?”
“If looks could kill, I would be dead the second you gave me a hug.”
Bass was getting jealous? The nerve. “He shouldn’t be acting that way. He just reunited with his girlfriend last night.”
Yep, that was loaded with bitterness.
“I’m sure the girlfriend is—” Jacques tried to make excuses for the idiot, but I wasn’t going to let him.
“Nikki Pavlova,” I effortlessly supplied, knowing the Russian knockout was well known with the men.
Jacques gave a slow, appreciative whistle. “Beautiful. He has good taste, your ex. I’ve never seen any of his films, though. Give me all the Nikki’s in the world, but I’d choose you above them all. If you weren’t so in love with him, I might try to make you mine. I believe in fate, though, and I think you and I are much fated to be good friends.”