Leaving the hospital would make her more vulnerable than ever. She had to stay as long as possible.
“I can’t leave. I’m not feeling well.”
Luc brushed some of her hair from her face. The move would have been sweet if the man doing it wasn’t trying to harm her. “Can I have a few minutes alone with her?”
“Absolutely. I’ll be in the hall.” The doctor nodded at Luc without a glance toward Alex. Luc’s money would keep him focused on his patron and not his patient.
Alex wanted to scream out to him for help, but remembered the bloody image of the last person she’d asked to help her. Too many innocent people lingered nearby.
“You disappoint me. Where’s the adoration you gave me when we first met?” He pulled out his phone and typed on the screen for a few seconds. “Your future happiness is linked to my happiness and right now, I’m not happy.”
He wouldn’t be receiving her adoration or any positive attention. Instead, she shut her eyes and tried to drown out his image.
The sharp pinch on her arm told her he didn’t appreciate being ignored. “I thought you might like to see your family.”
She opened her eyes again to find Luc’s phone in her face. A photo on the screen showed her family dressed in mourning attire at the security guard’s funeral. “The Northrop family mourns the loss of the head of their security team, Adam Miller. A member of the Northrop staff for five years, he leaves a wife and teenage son. There have been no new leads in the murder investigation.”
Her father and mother stood side by side dressed in black. Julia, Anna, and a man that could be Anna’s husband, Jason, remained behind them. Her mother appeared stoic, but the muscles in her jaw seemed strained. Tension rocked though her, and her stomach heaved. She’d caused this. It was all her fault.
Luc pulled the phone away. “How many pictures of funerals will I be showing you before you obey me?’
After a knock on the door, the doctor popped his head into the room. “Everything all right?”
Alex tried to force a smile, but couldn’t fake it. “Yes. I’m ready to leave.”
“Great. I’ll go finish the paperwork.” The doctor fled the room again without examining her leg, leaving her alone with the two malignant cancers that had caused the injury.
She pasted on her best Gabrielle countenance, the one her mother was wearing at the guard’s funeral. Alex would borrow it for her wedding.
After a painful car drive, they arrived at the mairie, a local government office for civil weddings, near Luxembourg Gardens. It was an impersonal place with black vinyl chairs lined up in rows. A wood podium decorated with silk flowers and vines was positioned at the front of the room for the officiate. Most girls who dream of a wedding envision white gowns, flowing bouquets, and being surrounded by family and friends. For Alex, her wedding involved a bright blue peasant skirt over her cast, two witnesses who loved to watch her cry out in pain, and a groom who would prefer to slit her throat rather than kiss her lips.
The officiate still hadn’t arrived twenty minutes later. Alex continued to stand in pain next to Luc and his guards. She felt like an ugly ducking, but she remained cool by breathing in the fading scent of Henry from his jacket. Pascal and Serge wore tailored pants and nice, button-down shirts. Luc was decked out in an Armani black suit and a red silk tie. At least someone dressed for the occasion. He never held her hand or even looked in her direction. No pretending on his part.
She didn’t want to be the brave one any longer. She missed Henry. She loved Henry. He, no doubt, hated her for leaving him alone in Atlanta. Leaving the engagement ring in his pocket should have convinced him she didn’t want anything to do with him. As painful as that would be, she was glad he wouldn’t be searching for her. She rubbed her thumb against her ring finger, remembering the feel of the engagement ring.
“Will you be putting me up in your summer home on the Riviera? I’ll suffer alone there without complaint,” she asked Luc.
He shook his head, as though the possibility had crossed his mind and he’d dismissed it. “Regrettably, you have to work. I need a qualified appraiser for a few transactions, and you owe me for not killing any family members, yet.”
The thought that he could and would harm her family sucked the air from her lungs. She needed to stay strong. “I might be losing my touch. I’m having a hard time right now determining if those heathens standing behind me are human or ape.”
“Hey.” One of the apes became offended at the accuracy of her description.
“Back off, Pascal. She’ll be available to you later.”
“Shit.” Alex stepped back, her widened eyes mocking them. “Is he going to eat me?”
Pascal closed the gap between them. “I’m going to break your other leg.”
“Good luck with that. You must be embarrassed that you only made a hairline fracture of the tibia and didn’t break it in two. Luc’s standards must have fallen, because he used to employ only the best.”
Luc pulled Pascal away from her and made him stand by the wall. Alex waved as he was placed in a time-out.
When the civil servant arrived, Luc told him to proceed directly to the vows. They had to be spoken in French. Alex almost said them in English, but realized screwing up the wedding might harm her family. She’d go through the motions in order to become a widow before Labor Day.
Committing herself to Luc as his bride bothered her more than she cared to admit. She hated breaking oaths, and yet she had no intention of keeping these vows. For now, however, she had to comply with Luc’s wishes and prayed her wedding night wouldn’t involve agony and humiliation. She’d be obedient until the first moment she had to rip every last bit of life from his heinous existence.
Chapter Twenty-Five