Dustin felt his hackles rise.
The two kissed each other on both cheeks and then hugged again. When they finally stood apart, that stared at each other, grinning. Eventually, William asked, “It’s been a while. How long have you been back?”
She waved her hand. “A few weeks.”
Dustin was aware that this William guy was throwing him curious glances, and he found himself stepping closer to Chantelle, like a large guard dog signaling his readiness to protect his mistress at her command.
“Oh,” she said, as if suddenly remembering he was there, “I’m so sorry. Dustin, this is my childhood friend, William Dubois. Our mothers knew each other as young women. They taught at the same school. William, his brother Alex and I all went to the same private primary school.” She surprised Dustin by laying a hand on his upper arm. “William, this is my husband, Dustin.”
The other man was so taken aback he didn’t have time to cover his shocked expression. “Husband? I wasn’t aware of your marriage.” And then he mustered his equilibrium and gave Dustin a warm smile. “I’m pleased to meet you.”
Then, addressing himself to Chantelle once again, he said, “We must have you over to dinner next week. You have to meet my wife, Naisha. Sorry for not sending an invitation to my wedding, the ceremony was impromptu. Willa probably can’t remember you from your last visit.”
“She is a teenager now? I can’t wait to see how grown up she is!!” Chantelle enthused, but Dustin found himself compelled to politely decline.
“My girl has grown a lot. Very tall now and she excels in her subjects,” William said proudly.
“I’m flying back to the States in two days.” Dustin added.
William glanced at Chantelle for confirmation. “Are you also—”
“No,” she said hastily. “Dustin will be traveling alone.”
“Family business,” Dustin added helpfully. In case the guy read too much into that statement.
“Oh.” Then, “Well, what about dinner the night after tomorrow? Doable,oui?”
“We’d love that,” Chantelle assured him.
Dustin decided it was best to say nothing.
The two friends exchanged pleasantries, agreed on a time, and Dustin stood to one side as William collected a packaged order, nodded to them both, and left. Only then did Dustin feel safe to ask, “How come you told him we’re married? I thought that was need-to-know information only.” After all, she was the one who’d been furious the last time he’d let that particular cat out of the bag.
She shrugged. “That was purely strategic. The Dubois family is a pillar of the community. They’re of royal blood, and very influential in the business world. If they know of our marriage, then it could go a long way to establishing the legitimacy of this marriage for its purpose.”
“I hear you,” he said. And then after a pause, he ventured to ask, “Did you guys date when you were younger?”
She laughed off the idea. “Never. This is friendship, pure and simple.”
He wouldn’t speculate on why he was so relieved to hear that.
Chapter 18
It had been years since Chantelle had visited the Old Town; even when she came to Aix on business or for a few days away from the stress of work, she stuck to her estate. So she’d thoroughly enjoyed her morning out with Dustin. She even tried to convince herself that it had been the visit itself that lightened her mood so much, rather than the company.
Couldn’t possibly be that she’d simply liked walking next to Dustin, exploring.
“Did our connection go down?” On the other end of the video call, Sienna was frowning, peering at the screen. “Chantelle, can you hear me?”
Oh.Chantelle shook herself. She’d gone dreaming off into wonderland, so much so that she’d half forgotten she was in the middle of a conference call with her assistant. “Sorry,” she said, shuffling the documents on her desk and finding her place again. “I was asking whether you heard back from Grady about those contracts—”
Before Sienna could even respond, there was an unholy racket out in the garden. It sounded like Dustin calling her name. Even Minerva looked surprised, lifting her head and looking around, curious, alert.
What the hell?
“What is that?” Sienna asked, looking around as if the noise was coming from inside her own office.
“I have no idea,” Chantelle said, rising. Puzzled. “I’d better go find out.”