Discovered (8 page)

Chapter Five

“How 'bout a shot of truth in that denial cocktail.”

~ Jennifer Salaiz~

EMILY

The rest of my weekend was a blur. I spent most of it in bed, trying to convince myself that I could stay home forever but Monday morning came and I had to get to work
, despite my body’s urges to hide.

I had finally gotten around to checking my emails
last night and realized that while I was at home depressed about the Frenchman, the universe was plotting other ways to make my life hell. Great!
Why can’t a girl get a break!

Staff:

As you all know, Thomas has been promoted to Sous-Chef and he will need an assistant. Those of you who are interested should let him know as soon as possible as he will be the one to pick his assistant.

Best of Luck to you all!

There was no doubt in my mind that Thomas would use his new found power to make all of the line cooks kiss his butt, but he had another thing coming. After the weekend I’d had, I was in no mood to deal with Thomas, job be damned. I made up my mind that when I arrived at work later, I would let it be known that I wanted nothing to do with the man or that stupid assistant position.

I had two hours to get to work so I took the opportunity to relax a little after I took my shower. I poured myself some coffee and leisurely read the newspaper, something I hardly ever did. I was three pages in when a full page article captured my attention.
No freaking way!

There was a picture of Julien and I entering his mansion with the caption, ‘Belmont shags American – wife away on business!’ I was completely mortified. How in the world did a reporter get this picture?
It really didn’t show my face thankfully but the thought that someone had been there that night watching us was definitely disconcerting. Totally creepy!

I skimmed the article and realized that not only was the reporter at the house, they had followed us from the bar all the way to his home, describing me as a ‘unknown plain American,’ which crushed me. Even the world saw that I didn’t belong with Julien, not that I was planning on being with him anyway but still, I was just a plain, normal girl, nothing special.

As I balled up the newspape
r, I heard a knock on the door.

“Just a minute,” I yelled out as I placed my mug into the sink and tied my open robe close
d, almost sure that it was Suzie at the door coming to check on me.

I opened the door
, but froze the minute I saw the person behind it.
What the…?

“Emily? I know you don’t know me but
my name is Charlette Delacroix and I’m a friend of Julien’s,” the woman said as I stood there staring at her, trying to figure out if I was still dreaming.

“Um… yeah… I… um… what are you doing here?” I stuttered, still holding the door.
I didn’t mean to sound rude, but the sight of her, with that French snobby accent, made my hairs stand on end. It was silly that I found Julien’s accent so incredibly sexy and yet Charlette’s accent grated on my nerves, but her being perfect in every other way made me feel better about my hating her. At least she had one flaw.

“May I come in?” she asked, seemingl
y unsure of how I would respond but still managing to stand tall and confident.

I opened the door wider and stepped aside, signaling
for her to enter.
What was Julien’s wife doing here… in my house… did she find out about last night? This can’t be good!

She walked in and I immediately went to the bar. “Would you like something to drink?” I asked, knowing that whatever she had to say required
that I have some kind of liquid courage in me, especially after the weekend I’d had.
Crap, it’s only eight in the morning; she must think I’m a drunk…
I shook the thought out of my head, deciding that I didn’t care what she thought because there was no way that I would be able to have any conversation with her completely sober.

She declined and I poured myself a stiff scotch and gestured for her to take a seat, while I sat down opposite her
at the kitchen table.

“I know we have not been
formally introduced, but Julien told me what happened and I…” she said before I cut her off.

“Listen
, I had no idea the man was married. Had I known, I would have never… well you know,” I murmured before taking a long pull of my drink.

My mind was racing. Was she here to curse me out or find out more details about her cheating boob-job of a husband? How the heck did she even know where I lived?
Note to self, check Google and make sure my address isn’t on there.
I instantly remembered my last note to self, and made another mental note to self to remember to ask Diana about the look that she had on her face before I left with Julien.

“
Darling, that’s what I have to clear up. Julien informed me of your relationship with him and he was beside himself as he told me about your reaction to my message, I just had to come and explain. Julien is my husband that’s true but it’s a marriage of necessity, not love,” she said as if it made complete sense.

“What the heck are you talking about?” I asked, completely confused.
A marriage of necessity? This woman is freaking nuts!

“Julien and I married as an arrangement to keep our families from pushing us into marriage for
the sole purpose of a legacy. People like Julien and I have our love… our work… and at the time neither one of us wanted to settle down so we made an arrangement to marry.”

“Ok… so you’re married but you don’t love each other?” I c
ouldn’t fully wrap my head around all that she was telling me. Maybe it was because I wasn’t an insanely rich billionaire but this crap about marrying to keep your parents off your back is crazy. The rich obviously had nothing better to do.

“Correct! And we are both free to do whatever we want,
and live the lives we want. Our only obligation to this marriage is to appear to social events and play the happy couple. And, in the event that either one of us decides to marry someone else, we would simply divorce; I hope you understand.”

I didn’t understand, not really anyway. They were married, dating whomever
, and where the heck do I fit into all of this? And, if it was as simple as that, why wouldn’t Julien have told me?
Because you ran off like a baby before he could Emily!

“I appreciate you coming to talk to me about this but I think I just need time to process all
of this,” I said as I stood to my feet.

She stood as well
and walked to the door, then turned slightly, “You know, he really fancies you Ms. Emily. Do give him a chance, won’t you?”

I didn’t respond. Instead I stood there and watched as the woman left my house. It was too much to take in all at once
.

Work!
I only had about an hour to get ready. Julien and his non-wife, wife had to wait.

Chapter Six

The lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, then becomes a host, and then a master.

~ Khalil Gibran ~

JULIEN

News of my
affair
with Emily had reached the news outlets and I couldn’t help but wonder how she was taking it. She had never asked to be dragged into my world, yet now she was being pinned as a harlot on every newspaper and news channel. I had spent the entire weekend trying to find a way to contact her but I had no luck, she had pretty much disappeared.

I had just
arrived at the corporate office and immediately wished I had stayed home. My assistant, Sylvie, gave me a sympathetic look as I exited the elevator onto the Executive floor.

“Mr. Belmont, I hope you had your morning coffee because you’re going to need it sir,” she said as she handed me my messages and morning agenda.

“Sylvie, I have had an incredibly long weekend so if there is something wrong, just please get straight to it,” I insisted as I browsed through the messages in my hand one by one.

“Well sir, that’s what’s wrong
, your weekend events have been all over the news and papers all morning. Apparently a reporter followed you from a bar to your home and your father is quite upset. He wants to speak to you. Should I patch him through to you?”

I sighed, knowing that there was no escaping the conversation. “Patch him through and then kill the story about the woman. Make sure no one finds out who she is. She is to be left alone…” I turned away to walk into my office and then immediately turned back. “Oh and Sylvie, I trust
that you understand that this should stay completely confidential,” I added.

“Not a problem sir,” she said before picking
up the phone to call my father.

Sylvie was a great assistant, one that I had become very fond of since hiring her two years ago. Though we kept a very professional relationship, I knew that she was more to
me; she was a friend… someone I could depend on.

“Mr. Belmont, I have your father on the line… and sir, good luck,” she added, making the
sick feeling in the pit of my stomach even worse.

“Thanks Sylvie, cancel all my morning meetings. I need to take care of a few things after I speak with my father.”

“Right away sir, I’ll connect you right now.”

I didn’t bother to sit at my desk. Instead I paced back and forth
contemplating what I would tell my father.

“
Mon fils
, my son… I can hear you pacing back and forth. Do you mind explaining to me how a married man finds himself picking up strange women at a bar and taking them home?” he asked, his voice sharp and strong.

I hated that my father could read me so well, even without seeing me face to face.

“Hello Father… the woman is a friend of mine, that’s all there is to it,” I responded, making sure to keep my voice even and calm, knowing that my father had an ability to detect even the slightest variation in tone. It was a skill he had taught me since childhood, informing me that a successful business man with that skill could conquer the world. Thankfully, the few times I had used that very skill on him he hadn’t noticed, probably because he thought me too fearful to even bother trying to deceive him.

“And your wife? What does she have to say about your
friendship
with this woman?”

The way he said friendship told me all that I needed to know. He did not believe my story and that made me nervous. How could I explain Emily to him without letting him know that my marriage to Charlette was nothing more than a
ruse?

I must have taken too long to respond to him because he continued, “
Just as I thought! Fix it… now!”

Before I could even muster up
a response, he ended the call.

One woman, one strong willed
, stubborn, incredibly sexy woman, had somehow turned my life upside down. The old me would have dismissed her the minute she’d walked out, thinking nothing more of the night we shared but something about that damn woman wouldn’t leave me alone. Despite all the heat that was on me right now, I still yearned for her. Thoughts of her creamy, silky skin against my body instantly gave me a boner.

I needed to find her.
My Emily, Mon amour.