“What do we do?” I ask him after a short silence.
“We go home,” he answers.
I look up, startled. “But we’ve barely been here two days.”
“I know,” he says, sounding sad and distant. “But the truth is, staying here longer will be a waste. Maybe Maxime will come back to the table when we’re gone or maybe not. But if we stay here, we’ll lose all power.”
I stare at him, not sure what to say. “That can’t be true. They wouldn’t have us come all the way out here for nothing.”
“They would,” he says sadly. “This negotiation has been a power trip from the start. They want to push my buttons, keep me hanging around here for days or weeks, until eventually I get desperate and start giving in to their demands.”
“They haven’t made demands,” I say.
“They will.” He shakes his head sadly. “I’m sorry I dragged you here, Paige. I really am. I hope… I don’t know what I hoped. I guess I’m too blinded by my own ambition to see that this is all bullshit and has been from the start. But if we want to salvage any of this, we have to walk out, and we have to do it now.”
I stare into his eyes and as much as I want to argue, I don’t. In the end, this is his deal and he knows more about it than I do.
I just hate seeing that hurt deep inside of him. I hate seeing that anger. I wish I could do something for him… take away some of that. But the only thing I know will work would be highly inappropriate right here in the middle of a dirt field with Claude watching.
“Okay,” I say softly, nearly a whisper. “I’ll do whatever you want, Daddy.”
His eyes go slightly wide for a beat and then a little smile flits across his features. “You know what to say, don’t you?”
“I just don’t want to see you angry.”
“I’ll be okay, I promise.” He stares at me for a second and I can see the hesitation there… but he leans forward and kisses me.
It’s soft and quick but there’s no mistaking what that kiss means.
If Claude has any questions about it, he doesn’t let it show on his face. We turn and walk back to him and he stares at us with a flat expression.
“Take us back to the hotel,” Leon says.
“Ah, but the spot is not to your liking? We shall go for a walk around the area, yes?”
“The hotel,” Leon repeats, staring daggers at Claude.
The man hesitates for a moment. “But Maxime and Cerise—”
“If they’re coming, say so, and I’ll wait. If you keep me waiting here and they never show, I swear to you, Claude, I’ll make sure your employers find an excuse to cut you loose. Even if they’re ducking me now, I’m still powerful enough to curry some favor.” Leon cocks his head slightly. “So, what will it be, Claude? Do you trust them not to fire you just to win favor with me? Or are they really coming?”
The man squirms for a moment, glancing around nervously. He doesn’t say anything but it’s obvious that he’s torn.
“Right,” Leon says. “The hotel then.”
Claude nods once and leads us back to the car.
We don’t speak again but that kiss still lingers on my lips.
I have to trust that Leon knows what he’s doing, that he’s playing a game at a higher level than I understand. He’s been doing this for a long time and very successfully, so if he thinks this is the right move, then I’ll do it with him.
And that kiss tells me everything else I need to know.
Even if this is the end of our little relationship farce, even if I’m done faking it for him…
Well, something real has bloomed in the space we created. Where there was just a fake relationship, now there’s something real and something good.
So we’re going home, so what?
Maybe at home we can finally figure out what we want and what we’re going to be.14PaigeWe pack in a hurry.
Leon doesn’t pause to explain. He just throws all his things into a bag and I do the same. I want to talk this out a little more but he’s in a rush.
“Come on,” he says, glancing at his watch.
“Why are we rushing? We could stay another night at least, go out and have a good time, leave in the morning.”
“They can’t know we’re going.”
I frown. “Why not?”
“They’ll try to stop us. Maxime and Cerise may be absurd people but they really do have power in this country and they can make things happen. We need to get out of here before they even realize it.”
“This is all just a power play?” I ask him.
“That’s right. They’ll figure out we’re gone, but it’ll be too late. That’ll make them angry and put some power back in our hands. When we’re in the States, we have more control.”