Honeymoon in Paris (20 page)

“That’s exactly why I hadn’t brought it up yet,” I said. “In our first week and a half of marriage, we’ve already had enough drama to last a lifetime. The last thing I wanted to do was tell you that in addition to paying lawyer fees and gearing up for another dramatic legal battle with Brigitte, right as you’re starting your new university job no less, you’re going to have to support your new wife while she looks for another job. But, what I was planning to tell you tonight over dinner is that you won’t have to worry about that now because I’ve found a job.” I finally let out the breath I’d been holding and took a bite of my chicken. The creamy mushroom sauce melted in my mouth, making me realize how hungry I was.

“First of all,
chérie
, I am happy to support you, to take care of you in every way, and that means financially too,” Luc reassured me. “We are husband and wife now. You don’t have to do everything on your own anymore.”

“I know, but it’s not healthy for a woman to depend solely on her husband for income. Look at what happened to both of our
mothers. Your mother was left in financial ruin after her divorces with your father and with Vincent. And as for my mom, during her thirty years of marriage with my father, she never kept her own career or followed her dreams, and now she’s in her fifties, single, and has no clue what she’s doing with her life.”

Luc set his champagne glass down and covered my hand with his. “I will never do those things to you, though, Charlotte. You will never be left alone like your mother, or like mine. You will always have me to depend on, to trust, to take care of you if or when you need it. I am nothing like
either
of our fathers.” Luc’s deep, reassuring voice drowned out the sounds of clinking wineglasses and French banter swirling through the restaurant.

I thought of what Luc’s sister Sandrine had just said to me. That despite the problems we were facing, Luc had never looked at any woman the way he’d looked at me. That he truly was in love with me.

“You do believe me, don’t you?” he asked.

“Of course I do. But we haven’t sat down and had a real finance discussion since we’ve gotten married. I have no idea how much money you’ve saved or how you’ve managed your finances up to this point. You told me that you put aside a lot during your years working in finance, and that you’re smart with money, but even still, how on earth were you able to afford paying the
entire
hotel bill for all of our wedding guests? And if you do have so much money, why were you living so cheaply in a college dorm last year? Some of this just isn’t adding up.”

“To answer your question about the wedding, I knew that your family and friends had all made a huge financial sacrifice to fly to France on such short notice, and I thought the least I could do was help them with the hotel bill.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I said.

“I don’t think it’s right to bother women with such matters,” Luc said. “I want you to trust that I have it all under control. I am nothing like my father, who, as you now know, managed the family
finances so poorly that he left my mother in complete financial ruin. I have learned from his mistakes, and I would never put us in debt, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Luc, this isn’t the olden days. I
want
to be involved in those types of decisions. And of course I don’t think you’re like your father, but until you’re completely, one hundred percent honest with me about everything, you have to understand where I’m coming from.”

“I do understand because you haven’t been honest with me this week either,” Luc said. “What is this new job you’ve already found?”

“All right, here goes.” I swallowed nervously and looked Luc straight in the eye. “Before I go into the specifics, you need to know that this job will make it possible for Jean-Sébastien to keep the language school open.”

Luc set his fork down, giving me his full attention.

“I signed a contract today with
Bella France,
the new French version of
Bella Magazine
, to be a translator and English teacher for their new publisher, with the promise that they will consider me for a full-time writing position in the not-so-distant future.”

The hope in Luc’s eyes vanished as he drew his lips into a tight line. “In other words, you signed a contract to work for Vincent Boucher.”

“How did you know that Vincent was running
Bella France
?”

“Oh, you are on a first-name basis with him now?” Luc snapped.

“Please don’t be like that. I think that man is just as much of a sleazebag as you do,” I said. “So how did you know already?”

Luc tapped his finger on the stem of his champagne glass. “You must remember that on the day Vincent and Brigitte so kindly crashed our honeymoon, Vincent told us that he was heading up a new magazine based out of Lyon. I didn’t want that man anywhere near my family, let alone
my wife,
so I did some research and found out he was starting up the new
Bella France
here in Lyon.”

“Well, I, on the other hand, had absolutely no idea
he
was the publisher when I went in for an interview. But he made me an offer
I couldn’t pass up, not for myself or the language school. The amount of money he’s offering will keep the school open for at least a few more months, giving Jean-Sébastien time to secure other outside translating and teaching contracts like this one until he can get enrollment back up again. And you know that Jean-Sébastien’s wife just had their second baby.”

“Of course. It is nice of you to want to help him, but it’s not your job to take care of other people’s families. You need to be thinking of
our
family first—of you, me, and Adeline. And signing a contract to work directly underneath Vincent Boucher will serve no other purpose than to tear us apart. How could you not understand that?”

“I would understand more if you would tell me the entire truth about your involvement with Vincent and his sons.”

“I am not involved with them in any way,” Luc snapped.

I raised a doubtful brow at him and went back to telling him about the job. “I obviously knew you wouldn’t be happy with this, but you also need to understand that this could open huge career doors for me. And as much as I love teaching, to be honest, I wouldn’t mind making a career switch into something that pays a little better. Something more exciting. You should’ve seen how everyone buzzed around that magazine today. The energy in that place was so motivating. Regardless, you’ll be relieved to know that I worked with their legal department and asked them to rewrite the contract to allow for a thirty-day trial period. That way if this is a complete disaster—”

“Which, with Vincent, it
always
is,” Luc cut in.

“Then I’m clear to leave after thirty days,” I finished.

“Vincent can do a lot of damage in thirty days, Charlotte. I know a writing career sounds glamorous, but you can seek that out at another magazine. With Vincent, you simply have no idea what you’re dealing with.” A hardness settled in Luc’s jaw as he stared down at his plate, not touching his food any longer.

“There’s more,” I said.

Luc’s gaze lifted slowly to mine, almost as if he were forcing himself to stay calm.

“After I accepted Vincent’s offer today, my first assignment was to do some translation work during
Bella France
’s first cover shoot. And of course, as luck would have it, Brigitte was the cover model.”

“You’re telling me you spent the day translating for both Vincent
and
Brigitte?”

“Yes. I didn’t do this to upset you, Luc. Honestly I—”

Luc’s jaw tightened as he wiped any last traces of kindness from his eyes. “Charlotte, you have no idea what you’re dealing with here. Please, finish out your thirty days, then take your magazine writing dreams and your teaching and translating abilities elsewhere. I promise you, I have enough money to support both you and Adeline while you’re looking for work.
D’accord?
”

I nodded slowly, then took a long sip of my champagne before asking Luc one last question. “Luc, you do know that this isn’t normal, right? To keep secrets from your wife, especially during the very first weeks of a marriage.”

“In the weeks that come, the truths you are searching for will come to light,” Luc said firmly. “And in not telling you certain things right now, I’m only trying to protect you. Very soon, you will understand everything, I promise. And in the meantime, you must try the
fondant au chocolat
for dessert. Trust me,
ma belle,
it is simply divine.” Luc’s gaze finally softened as he flashed a devious grin my way.

That French husband of mine wasn’t stupid—he knew that there were only two things in this world that would shut me up: sex and chocolate.

Fifteen minutes later, my secret-keeping husband and I were devouring the most decadent dessert I’d ever tasted. A volcano of hot, melted dark chocolate poured out of a moist chocolate cake, each sinful bite that hit my tongue making me realize that if Luc wouldn’t
give me the truth just yet, at least he could give me orgasmic chocolate.

Later that night, after Luc had fallen asleep and my chocolate haze was beginning to wear off, I lay awake thinking about what Luc had said to me over dinner. That the truths I was searching for would come to light. That in keeping secrets from me, he was only trying to protect me. And that I needed to have faith in him… and just wait it out.

While I believed Luc had only good intentions, I also wasn’t one to sit around and wait for the shit to hit the fan. And by the anger that boiled over in him every time I mentioned Vincent Boucher’s name, I could only assume that whatever was going on behind the scenes between Luc, Vincent, and Luc’s father, was big… and potentially dangerous.

Now that I would be spending quite a bit of time in close proximity with Vincent, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to do a little investigation of my own. And maybe, whatever I found out would actually help Luc… and help me to be able to place all of my trust in him once again.

In the meantime, since there was no way this confused head of mine was going to allow me to sleep, I fetched the Paris journal from my purse and crept out to the living room to write the introduction to the most life-altering chapter in my guidebook: “
Le Fondant au Chocolat
and What It Can Do for Your Marriage.”

In a previous chapter, we’ve already discussed the point that hot sex doesn’t fix everything (yes, even if your husband is an incredibly sensual French lover). Well, tonight I discovered something that doesn’t fix everything per se, but it comes pretty damn close:

Le fondant au chocolat.

In case you’ve never tried this magnificent dessert, allow me to elaborate.

First you have a moist, warm, gooey piece of chocolate cake (not American chocolate cake—I’m talking chocolate cake
à la française
, which automatically makes it a rich, chocolaty culinary masterpiece). Typically this magnificent cake is in a circular shape, but any shape will do.

Now, for the best part: inside the best piece of cake you’ve ever tasted, you will find an explosion of melted dark chocolate. Not just a little bit, either—think molten lava in chocolate form overflowing from the center of the cake.

This dessert is literally a volcano of chocolate, and it will sweep away all of your marriage troubles (guaranteed to work for at least one evening, and possibly more, depending on the severity of your marriage issues).

The heavenly
fondant au chocolat
may very well be the key to surviving a rocky start to your marriage (French or otherwise).

I recommend eating this decadent, sinful dessert with your husband anytime you want to spice up the pleasure level in your relationship, and especially if you are at odds with each other.

The magic of
le fondant au chocolat
is that in just one little cake, you will find peace, romance, and orgasms without all the work. Happy indulging!

TWENTY

It had been almost one week since my dinner at Le Nord with Luc, and the high from the delectable
fondant au chocolat
dessert that we had drowned our troubles in had officially worn off. Nothing had “come to light” as Luc had promised me it would, and every night when he returned home from his long teaching days, he
pretended
that everything was fine, but I knew him better than that. I could see the stress lines around his eyes, the worry tracing his brow. One night, when I’d surprised him but putting on the sexiest piece of lingerie I owned from Chez Isabelle, he was too worn out to take me up on my offer—which was
so
not like Luc. And as much as I was truly beginning to worry about him, I was also tired of being left in the dark.

Now, more than ever, I was determined to get to the bottom of all of this.

As I hurried into the elevators inside
le crayon
on what should’ve been day seventeen of honeymoon ecstasy, I reminded myself that I was also determined to make this new career path work out. After a brief discussion with Jean-Sébastien last Friday to inform him of the new contract I’d scored for the school, I would do almost anything to prove myself at
Bella France
. Not only to save the language school I loved so dearly and help Jean-Sébastien and his family in the process, but also to pave the way for my future magazine and,
hopefully,
book-writing career.