Page 58 of Marked By Moonlight

“Since he attacked me?” I filled in, then grunted, not all politely, “Good.”

Bene smiled, but his eyes didn’t sparkle with humor the way they usually did. We spent the next few minutes in silence— silence so profound, it practically echoed through the empty rooms of the château.

Minutes later, I sighed and spoke my mind. “I liked it better when you were all here.”

He nodded quietly. “I liked it better too.”

As we lapsed back into silence, I rued the decisions I’d made. Did I really want to kick Bene, Roux, and Marius out of the château? Or should I accept reality, host the police championships, and move on with my life?

I found myself clenching my fists, telling myself to fight like hell for the man I loved — and for my friends. They’d always come through for me when it really counted, but they had a way of letting me down when it came to countless smaller things.

My mood changed gears. Clem, in contrast, brought me cake, tore up parking tickets, and generally treated me like a goddess. Wasn’t friendship a better foundation for a strong relationship than raw passion?

I sighed again. Maybe if I focused on renovations for a few days, things would fall into place. I just hoped they wouldn’t plunge into an abyss.

“More coffee?” Bene offered.

“Please.” I set my mug in front of him.

The morning had been chilly, so I’d started with my hoodie zipped tight. As the coffee warmed me up, I unzipped the hoodie a few inches.

Bene glanced up briefly, then did a double take, splattering coffee over the table as he stared at my neck.

Crap. Had Marius given me a hickey that night we’d gotten all hot and heavy in Paris?

“Dammit,” he muttered, grabbing a napkin to blot the spill, though he peeked at me several more times.

I zipped my sweatshirt high and hid behind my coffee cup.

Bene gulped down his own refill, then stood abruptly. “Gotta go, sorry. Work calls.”

I watched him go, unsettled. Bene only ever rushed to meals. What had gotten into him?

I touched my neck, then shook my head and finished my own coffee. I had a château to fix, and progress wouldn’t be made sitting around feeling sorry for myself.

* * *

I walked around the house, reviewing where I’d left off on various tasks. I started in the ballroom, where I was sure I’d only scraped paint from two of the floor-to-ceiling windows and stripped wallpaper from one corner. But I found all five windows scraped, sanded, and primed, along with two walls free of wallpaper.

I continued upstairs, where I’d tested how time-consuming it would be to remove hopelessly outdated bathroom tiles. And, oh. The walls were bare. Two big boxes stood in a corner, one with rubble, another with carefully stacked tiles and remnants.

Wow. Roux and Bene hadn’t been lazing around while I’d been away.

Next, I wandered through the dining room, where I’d fought an ongoing battle to keep the area free of half-filled mugs, dirty plates, and used silverware. Now, it was spotless.

I swallowed hard, looking around.

Madame Picard had left a dinner ofcoq au vin,and Roux, Bene, and I shared it that evening in silence. They kept peeking at my neck, and I kept cursing the hickey Marius had given me. I hadn’t been able to spot it in a mirror, but I could feel the warmth emanating from it.

We sat in the dining room, a vast, empty space that crowded in from every direction, all the more so when I pictured eating alone once everyone moved out. Was that really what I wanted?

“Thank you,” I murmured at some point. “For the ballroom. For the bathroom tiles. For everything.”

Roux kept his eyes on his plate. Bene shrugged. “Must have been the house elves.”

Ha. Lion- and tiger-size house elves, no doubt.

“Well, the elves accomplished a lot, and I’m grateful.”