Page 24

"Now, see here,monsieur..."

He may have the whole of Paris cowering from him asMonsieur Le Dernier, but I don't give a whit. From the moment he married me, he also becamemyhusband, and that's why—

"You are my wife, Liana," Sylvain says quietly. "Other women can afford to look weak and helpless. But I will not allow it from you. My wife must be my equal in strength and courage."

—I'm secretly flattered at how he holds me in such a high regard.

"And you are that,oui?"

"Yes, I am that."

"So what was it that you wanted to say earlier?"

"You already said it."

His security team is coughing again, and it's starting to bother me. Shouldn't Sylvain have them checked for asthma or something?

"I am a woman of strength and courage," I repeat, "and I just wanted to remind you of it."

"Ah."

Sylvain takes my hand across the table, and my heart flutters as he presses his lips to my knuckles.

"Outside this house,ma petite...our reality demands that you present a picture of fierceness. But within these walls, I want to spoil you every moment. Will you let me?"

"Absolutely."

The swiftness of my reply has my husband laughing softly, and my heart sinks.

Oh no.

It's my first time to hear Sylvain's laugh, my first time to see how it transforms his beautiful face, and I am mesmerized.

Pas bon. Not good.

The rest of breakfast is a blur. I think we must've talked of important things. I'm not quite sure. My world is still spinning off-tangent, the foundation of my existence shaken by the possibility that this early on...

No, no, no.

"Liana?"

His tone is sharp, his gaze narrowed, and my cheeks burn at having him catch me thinking of other things.

"What's wrong?"

I'm in love with you?

I love you?

I really honestly love you?

"Are you sure we're not related?" I blurt out instead.

His eyebrows shoot up. "Excuse me?"

"Your eyes, um, and mine."

My mother was right, is all I'm thinking now.