Chapter 14
Claire’s POV
Azriel wore an irritated frown on his face, provoking me even further. I am the one who should be irritated dammit!
Our brief conversation had ended not on very good terms. He hadn’t said a word to me since we checked into the hotel. But I sort of couldn’t……..well, I didn’t really mind him not paying attention to me for my focus was on something else entirely.
Maison Souquet, the hotel we were staying at was unbelievably luxurious and so unreal……..it was totally deserving of the title of being one of the most embellished hotels not only in Paris but known all over France too.
Walking down the hallways felt like taking a walk through a medieval era gigantic palace, the kind owned by Kings and Queens of England and other insanely rich countries.
I’d learned a lot about luxuries from books and people but experiencing it first hand……nothing could’ve prepared me for it.
Azriel had gone off to who-knows-where and left me all by myself in our hotel room which I was more than happy to explore on my own.
The master bathroom was larger than my family’s whole house, the bedroom was fit to be slept in by Queen Elizabeth herself, lavished with very expensive-looking velvet covers. I jumped up on the bed…….it was so comfy. I could fall asleep right here. But no……I’ve got to go visit the fancy ice cream parlor! But…..I’m so sleepy.
And that’s when jet lag and my fatigue from the more than eventful plane ride of mine struck me down hard and I fell asleep…….like dead asleep!
In my half-asleep, half-awake state, I smiled to myself like the maniac I am when I realized that I hadn’t even cared enough to change into more comfortable clothes or sleepwear. But before I could even think of getting up……well, my body and brain decided to envelop me in deep slumber. My last thoughts being about how comfy the covers were and if they were this soft because they were made of pigskin……’cause pigs are soft and…..clouds are soft, no….clouds are fluffy, pigs are soft or um, I……
Azriel’s POV
I was trying…….trying really hard to do the right thing…….and let her go. But……who was I kidding, I wasn’t the good guy, I could never be the good guy.
‘The virtue of goodness isn’t meant for monsters like us, we take what we want.’ Dad had said that to me 15 years ago but it’d stuck with me. The only thing I remembered about him was this quote……..it served as a memorandum for me. A memory of my father…….the father who cared about his money more than his own family. I’d always been afraid……afraid of becoming a monster like him.
And look at me now………
I guess the apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree.
“Sir, I checked up on Miss Dawson. She’s fast asleep in your suite.” Ross informed me, taking up a position near my seat in one of many parlors in this pretentiously overpriced hotel.
“Good,” I replied, considering something for a moment before deciding to do the latter. “I need you to locate my brother for me.” I handed him the file that I had on my brother, it contained his last whereabouts. Ross would be able to track him from there for sure.
Handing someone info on your own b***d brother just so they could find him so I could maybe see him in person since last time which was exactly 16 years ago. I was 30 now, so Drake must be 24. It’s unbelievable how so much time has passed……he was practically a toddler when I last saw him. The memory brings a sad smile to my face as the image of a young rebellious Drake comes to mind.
I dismissed Ross once I briefed him on Drake, much to his disappointment……let’s just say my brother wasn’t the easiest person to find.
He would never willingly come to me…….he probably couldn’t even stand to be in the same room as me. So I had to choose a more hands-on option.
I let out a sigh as I downed a shot of the whiskey.Material © NôvelDrama.Org.
“Whiskey seems to agree with you, Mr. Clarke.” Surprised to hear a familiar sound, I turned around to put a face to the voice.
“Mr. Colbert, how nice to see you.” I greeted him, keeping it short since I wasn’t really in the mood for small talk. But Dennis was a good friend and an esteemed shareholder in my company, so I had to keep things smooth. Getting up, I extended my hand for him to shake.
“Mrs. Colbert,” I uttered, suddenly noticing the petite blonde woman beside Dennis, giving me a very flirtatious smile.
Oh! And I forgot to mention, his wife was a really good f**k! And I don’t mean it in the ‘I’m f*****g a married woman’ kind of hot s*x. I wasn’t a friggin homewrecker. Dennis knew very well that I’d f****d his wife and he was pretty much ok with it. He wouldn’t admit it but I could tell he cheated on his wife even though Gabriella had no idea what Dennis did on his ‘business trips’. But I had a gut feeling that she wouldn’t mind him shagging some other chick because she herself was practically cheating on him, the only difference was he knew, so technically it wasn’t cheating, was it?
“Uh, Azriel. Always so formal. You’re making me feel old here.” Gabriella replied, giggling like a teenager when I kissed her hand. It was like this in every marriage, even though no one would outright say it. Every man, every woman cheats. So wouldn’t it be better if they just told each other what they wanted and come to terms with their wants and fantasies. The divorce rate would really go down if everyone thought like Gabriella and Dennis.
“What brought you guys here then?” I asked, surprised to see them together here. Because Dennis usually didn’t bring his wife on his business trips.
“I had a couple of clientele meetings to attend and every woman loves Paris.” Dennis joked, smiling down at Gabriella who seemed to be a bit too engaged in ogling me, trying to be as subtle about it as she could. Dennis frowned when he noticed this. But he wasn’t one to mope around for long.
“Are you here with anybody ?” Dennis’s wife suddenly asked, curiosity peaking in her eyes.
The parlor had started to become even more crowded as more people filed in. For some inexplicable reason, people found the evening the pleasantest time to drink and gossip.
“Yea, I’m here with….” I couldn’t exactly say that I was here with a girl whose virginity I’d bought for 10 million dollars.
Yea……that sounded just a little bit offensive.
“My girlfriend.” Gabriella’s eyes widened quite noticeably at that as her nose turned up in a frown. Dennis just seemed shocked.
“Dinner !” Dennis suddenly said, earning peculiar looks from me and his wife.
“I meant we should all go to dinner tonight.” Dennis suggested, a mischievous grin taking over his face, “I’d love to meet the lovely lady who’s managed to bewitch my friend’s heart.” He laughed at his own quip which wasn’t at all funny to Gabriella.
“Text me the address of the restaurant. I’ll meet you there.” I said, my mind drifting off to Claire for whom I had highly mixed feelings, from wanting to give her the entire world to wanting to f**k the life out of her until she couldn’t bear to take more.
I was one sick motherfucker!
“Great. We’ll meet you there then.” Dennis and his wife exited the parlor, Gabriella sashaying out in the most unattractive manner. The weird thing was her round a*s which turned me on quite a bit could do absolutely nothing for me now, nada.
‘f**k! What are you doing to me Claire?’, I thought, heading over to my suite.