Tempted by Fate (The Fate Trilogy Book Two) by Sherilyn Gray Page A

said in a heavy French
accent. “The front left tire is flat. You must wait until I install a spare.”
     
    Victor closed his eyes and inhaled sharply,
then exhaled and sat back in his seat. When he opened his eyes, they were fixed
dead in front of him, seemingly boring a hole through the car’s front seat. I
didn’t even think of speaking.
     
    “I am fixing it right now, monsieur .
 It will take just a little bit more time. I am sorry.” With that, the
door closed.
     
    A moment later, I heard someone tapping on
Victor’s side of the car. Victor exhaled sharply again and glanced out the
window.
     
    “Victor, is that you?” a voice outside asked.
It was small and sweet.
     
    Victor grimaced before turning his head
towards the window and lowering it a crack. “Evelyn,” he said pleasantly. He
glanced at me. “Stay here,” he whispered.
     
    He got out, and I craned my neck around just
in time to see him hug the same gorgeous, blonde woman I had seen earlier. She
was standing next to a young man around my age. He was slightly shorter than
Victor with dark brown hair and pretty green eyes. The smile on his face looked
plastered on and perfect.
     
    “What brings you to France?” Evelyn asked,
still holding on to Victor’s hand. Victor pulled it away firmly and smiled.
     
    “Last minute trip. Business and pleasure, of
course. I had some things to take care of in Paris."
     
    Yeah, like making me his proper plaything. I
was more than a little bit jealous knowing that this woman had past connections
with Victor. Even if they weren’t married anymore, they would still have a
bond, a history together. I didn’t just not have a history with Victor, I
didn’t have much of a history at all. Not that I could remember, at least. Or
cared to. What was Victor like when they were married?
     
    “I don’t think I ever properly introduced you
to Timothy,” Evelyn said. Two dimples appeared on her cheeks as she smiled. She
was such a natural, I couldn’t even tell how much she was faking this
cordiality. If at all. “Timothy, this is Victor Draper.”
     
    “Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Draper,” Timothy
said. Victor nodded and gave his hand a solid shake. I thought of Victor’s
powerful hands and wondered just how firm that shake was. A cell phone rang,
and Timothy reached into his tuxedo jacket’s inner pocket. “Excuse me,” he said
politely. He walked back toward the chateau.
     
    Victor watched Timothy walk for a moment
until he was out of earshot. “So, you got married again.”
     
    Evelyn glanced down at the diamond ring on
her finger and smiled. “He’s a good man. He treats me well.”
     
    Victor shifted his weight and leaned against
the door, his back blocking my view of Evelyn and her view of me. So he didn't
have plans to introduce me to her. I knew he didn’t have an obligation to, but
I still felt tears beginning to well up and had to fight them back. If he saw
me crying, it would further the distance he had been carefully maintaining. I
couldn’t let him see how much this hurt.
     
    “I’m glad to hear it,” he said flatly.
     
    “We should go out to lunch while you’re
here.” Her voice was still so sweet.
     
    “That won’t work this trip. I’m flying out
tomorrow. Maybe some other time.”
     
    “Victor,” she said, “are you avoiding me?” I
could hear the first note of unpleasantness in her voice. “Despite what
happened, I don't want any bad blood between us.”
     
    “Evelyn, of course I’m not avoiding you. The
past is the past.” His voice had an edge I had never heard before. The control
in every syllable was off-putting. “You put it in a box, lock it up, and forget
it.”
     
    “Forget it? We had so many great times, we
loved each other!”
     
    He shrugged against the glass of the limo
door. “Never crosses my mind.”
     
    “So that’s it.” Her voice drained of any
personality at all. “Like it never happened?”
     
    “Doesn’t matter. There’s