CHAPTER 264: CHAPTER 264 ASHTON: FLASHING RED FLAG

‘I called the lawyer. He’s on his way.’

Lea came into the interview room after the police officer left.

She looked guilty. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Not your fault.’ That was only partly true. My face still ached from the punch thrown by one of the bouncers, and I was still furious at Lea for agreeing to leave with her abusive, waste of oxygen husband.

‘You okay?’ She winced at the bruises on my face. ‘Once we get bail, you should get checked out at a hospital.’

‘I’m fine. You’re the one who needs her head examined. What were you thinking?’

She sank into the chair the officer had just vacated. ‘I wasn’t.’

‘No shit. You turn into a completely different person around Pierre. No brains, no self-preservation. Just blind loyalty.’ I was starting to doubt whether she’d actually go through with the divorce.

Mira would’ve walked away from a man like Pierre without even turning her head. She was usually warm, easygoing, always seemed to say yes to everything, but there were hard lines she didn’t cross. And when it came to those, she didn’t negotiate.

Right now, I was starting to wonder if I’d crossed one of them myself.

‘Maybe I am a different person.’ Lea gave a long, tired sigh. She looked completely adrift. ‘I don’t know why. This is going to sound pathetic, but I still have feelings for Pierre.’

She raised a hand, palm out. ‘Before you judge, let me finish. He was the perfect guy for me. And I don’t just mean the usual surface-level stuff like shared interests and hobbies. We got each other. Properly. In a life-or-death situation, I know he’d take a bullet for me, and I’d do the same for him.’

I looked at her and saw a woman completely detached from reality. Was this what love did? Made people ignore every flashing red flag and walk willingly into traffic?

Lea carried on, oblivious. ‘I know you’re going to say he’s a violent piece of work. And maybe he is. But the thing is, I’d have done the same. If I thought he was cheating on me, I’d have gone for him too. Probably worse than he ever went for me. Yeah, he got physical when he was drunk sometimes, but what I didn’t tell you before is that I gave back just as much. Maybe more. A few times, he ended up in hospital in worse shape than I did.’

‘That’s not an excuse,’ I said flatly. It was just more proof of how toxic the whole thing was.

‘I knew you wouldn’t get it.’ She sighed again. ‘Never mind. I’m just saying, Pierre’s not this monster I made him out to be. He’s just... possessive. And yeah, he loses it, but only when it’s about me. He attacked you at the bar because he thought we were... you know.’

I had plenty of things I wanted to say, but I kept quiet.

What about the drinking and the drugs? Was that just more of his undying devotion too?

There was no point. You can’t wake someone who’s pretending to be asleep. My words would only bounce off deaf ears.

Lea’s lawyer arrived quickly. After slipping cash into the right hands, I was released on bail. I had to hand over my passport, which was annoying, but fine. I wasn’t leaving Paris until I’d sorted things out with Mira anyway.

What annoyed me more was the court date. The lawyer looked proud of himself, bragging about how fast he’d gotten the case pushed through.

‘Quicker it gets processed, quicker it’s closed,’ he said.

‘I’ve got plans tomorrow,’ I told him. I needed to see Mira.

‘Then cancel them,’ the lawyer replied. ‘I paid good money to get your file to the top of the docket. If you don’t show up, the judge will be furious. And Parisian judges don’t take kindly to having their time wasted.’

‘He’s right,’ Lea said quietly.

‘Fine,’ I muttered.

I pulled out my phone to text Mira, but paused.

What was I going to say? That I’d ended up in a bar fight and now had to be in court the next morning? That would only drag down her already low opinion of me.

Instead, I typed: [Have business to take care of. See you tomorrow night.]

‘Want me to go talk to Mirabelle?’ Lea offered.

‘Bad idea.’ There was nothing between me and Lea, but Mira didn’t know that. No way was I sending another woman to speak to my fiancée, especially not now.

‘I should warn you,’ Lea said. ‘Pierre’s parents are flying in. Could land any time. They’re going to be furious once they hear their precious boy got punched. They’ll want blood. Probably yours.’

‘I can handle it.’

‘I know. Titanova was practically built to fix other people’s messes. You’re good at it. But you should know, the Marchands don’t play clean. They’ll dig into your past, try to paint you as a dangerous thug. They’re media-savvy and well-connected. If there’s dirt, they’ll find it.’

‘Let them dig. I’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.’

‘I know that. And it’s not like the Marchands built their empire on Sunday school morals either. I’m just thinking about what happens when the press gets involved. What Mirabelle might think if she reads about it. Have you told her? About your past?’

‘No.’

How was I supposed to explain to the woman I loved, a woman whose world revolved around jewellery and who got excited playing undercover cop, that my old life had been lived mostly in the grey areas of the law? That I’d solved more problems with fists and firearms than with contracts and clever words?

‘Then you’d better hope the Marchands don’t release anything,’ Lea said. ‘Mirabelle’s not like us. She won’t understand that you only did what you had to do to survive.’

I unlocked the car and Lea got in.

‘I will,’ I said.