Read Online Besotted by Georgia le Carre - Free Book Online Page B

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    ‘Because he has you ? A two bit whore that he paid to acquire.’ His voice is contemptuous.
    ‘Love even in the arms of a two bit whore can be precious.’
    ‘No thanks.’
    From the corners of my eyes I see Blake walking towards us. I turn eagerly towards him. He is watching my face carefully.
    ‘Everything all right?’ he asks.
    ‘Yes,’ I answer, but my expression is stony. At that moment Alain Roux who is doing his customary tour of the dining room stops at our table. I smile stiffly and assure him that everything was wonderful. He nods graciously and moves on. I am ready to go home, but there is still the cheese trolley to endure.
    Marcus pronounces the Auvergne cheese flawlessly ‘kept’, whatever that means.
    Blake shrugs non-committally.
    ‘How’s your soufflé?’ Marcus enquires, suave mask tightly in place.
    I look him in the eye. ‘Faultless.’ 
    Marcus’s smile does not reach his eyes. Mine slide over to Blake and he is smiling into his cheese. I spoon a mouthful of raspberry soufflé into my mouth and know that I have won this round.
    Blake orders a box of petits fours.
    I look at him questioningly.
    ‘For Billie,’ he says and winks at me, and I feel a surge of joy. He is nothing like his brother. This horrible ordeal with Marcus is almost over and it will be just us again.
    We say goodbye by Marcus’s Bugatti Black Bess. Marcus shakes his brother’s hand and touches his shoulder in an attempt to ingratiate himself with Blake. I stand apart and he does not attempt to kiss or touch me. I nod coldly—now you will have to win me over. Hands entwined we watch the lights of his car disappear into the darkness.
    ‘I was proud of you tonight.’
    ‘You left the table on purpose, didn’t you?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘Because you have to get used to it. Marcus’s disapproval is subtle and mild. If you can’t hold your own with him, my mother will decimate you.’
    ‘You’re scaring me.’
    He takes his eyes away from the darkness and focuses them on me. They are full of an emotion I cannot place. Maybe because, even though I love him with every ounce of my being, I don’t know him well enough. Maybe because I am a fool in love with a man I cannot understand.
    All I know is I love him no matter what.
    ‘I’m preparing you. I wish I could always be by your side to protect you, but I can’t. You must learn to fend for yourself. You must realize on your own that they are nothing. You are better than all of them put together.’ 
    I break eye contact and look down at my hands. I am the girl from the council estate. I won tonight, but with great difficulty.
    ‘Be confident, my love. Don’t ever ask for their approval or work for it. They will respect you more for it. You will never be one of them, but that’s OK. I’d hate it if you were.’
    ‘Are all of them going to be hateful to me, then?’
    ‘They won’t dare say anything while I am around, but you’ll have to learn to handle the odd catty remark in my absence.’
    ‘Right.’
    ‘Marcus looked like a whipped dog when I came back to the table.’
    ‘He did?’
    He grins wolfishly. ‘Absolutely.’
    I smile but I am thinking of the woman in black who stood next to Blake at the funeral. I know he is her favorite son and she will hate me with a passion. ‘When am I meeting your mother?’
    He laughs. ‘We’ll avoid that torture for as long as possible.’
    ‘She’s going to hate me, isn’t she?’
    ‘Yes. But as the two of you will hardly ever meet that shouldn’t bother you at all.’
    I sigh loudly. ‘They all want you to be with Victoria.’
    ‘That’s never going to happen and it’s time they got used to it.’
    I thrust the box of petits fours into Billie’s stomach and she opens it immediately. Blake goes on into Sorab’s room, and I stand talking to her as she eats the sweets and looks at me with shrewd eyes.
    ‘Anything to tell me?’ she whispers as soon as Blake is out of earshot.
    ‘Tell