Chapter 44
***
Sponsored chapter by LC (⅗) ❤️
***
Her heart was pounding unpleasantly. She could feel the pulse in her wrist, even behind her ear. A light chuckle came from overhead, as if her reaction was funny. Aubrey looked up at the sound.
"What's that look on your face?"
Khaled said.
"Because I didn't know this. There was a simple, easy way to do this, and I got kicked out because I didn't know it."
In short, he was saying, take what you want by exploiting your opponent's weaknesses. No flimsy scenarios, this was his way of survival. The bastard, who had been thrown out with nothing and then dragged back in, took advantage of his opponents' weaknesses and climbed on their backs. He would have done anything to rise above the scorn heaped upon him, even if it meant being knighted. Even if it was a crude and despicable way. But not her. No matter how much she thought about it, she didn't want to.
"I don't want to."
"Why?"
"Because I'm not you."
This was Jeffrik, the uncle who had supported her all these years. She couldn't blackmail him with a secret. Besides, if Barbara were to find out, she felt her breath tighten, as if she were on the verge of doing something irreparable. If anything happened to the Ravants because of her, she would not survive.
"I'm going to write a screenplay," she said, "and I'm going to use the money to get out of the mansion."
"..."
"I've clung to you to make that happen, and now it's your turn to answer to me."
Aubrey sat up straight and stared at him.
"So what you need is money?"
Khaled asked, raising one eyebrow.
"Yes. I need money."
He winced at the blunt answer.
"What if I expose your secret?"
Her heart sank at the words. But Aubrey didn't waver. There was no way she could back down now, not to mention undo everything she'd worked for.
"Trust me, you wouldn't go that far."
Khaled frowned at the word trust. As if he'd never heard that word before.
"Actually, I was scared at first, because there was someone who knew something about my past that I wanted to hide. After what happened, I thought we'd never see each other again....... But the more I thought about it, I realized that no one is as tight-lipped as you."
Aubrey realized as she spoke, what she had just spat out was true to a certain extent. Indeed, Khaled Karnus had known her secret and had kept his mouth shut all this time. He hadn't told anyone, or even cared to tell anyone. Aubrey thought of Nicholas, who had told her story to the world. She knew he didn't mean any harm. But when it came to trust, this man was more trustworthy than Nicholas. For this moment.
"You're such an honest man, there's no reason I shouldn't trust you."
Aubrey was ready to lift him, scoop him up, and drain him, and she was going to lie flat on her back and roll him like a tongue in her mouth. It wasn't hard; the man had no idea what it took to survive on that island without being sold.
Khaled was silent for a moment, as if mulling over Aubrey's words. And so began a confrontation that was not a confrontation. The two sat in their respective stiff, twisted positions, staring at each other. After what seemed like an eternity, his stiffly set lips parted, and Aubrey's own lips moved in mesmerized response.
"Here's the deal, then. I'll buy your scenario for 50,000 livres."
Aubrey's parted lips twitched at the unexpected amount. Fifty thousand levres, a denomination she'd never even considered. At most, she'd hoped for a thousand or two gournets. Fifty thousand levres would buy her a house right now. It would have been enough to buy a sturdy house, one that could withstand the elements.
"Instead, you'll have to write a scenario worth the money."
"..."
“Lest my Cannon Hall look ridiculous."
She didn't hear the last word, just the staggering sum of 50,000 levs and the pressure to write a story worthy of it weighing heavily on her heart.
"Well. Do you like the deal?"
Wait. Aubrey unconsciously smoothed the hem of her dress. She squinted at the stage on the first floor, where two bare-chested women were slapping each other's asses and mimicking gentlemanly speech.
"What do you want?"
Khaled's brow furrowed at the question.
"Tell me what you want, for a deal has been made that you said could not be fulfilled."
"Nothing."
Aubrey strained her ears. Could this man be showing her mercy, when he had no deep empathy for her plight?
"You don't have anything."
Whatever. There was no such thing as mercy.
"I'll think about it later. It was your price, after all, and I included it in the deal."
With that, Khaled put his hand to his chest and sighed. He seemed to be reaching for a cigar out of habit.
"The contract will be sent out shortly. Review it and bring it back next time."
"When is the next time?"
"It will be enclosed with the contract, Miss Sandalwood."
For a moment, Aubrey thought he looked like a real businessman, and she felt like a novice businesswoman, barely enough of a writer to be called a businesswoman, who had made a ridiculous deal with him. Khaled stood up. It was dark enough in the room, but as he stood, another huge shadow fell over her face.
"So next time we'll see a scenario for fifty thousand livres."
Aubrey looked him in the eye, his dark blue eyes almost mocking her.
"Of course."
***
As time went on, he became more and more dazed. An overdose or something. Khaled laughed lightly. He strode briskly out of the alleyway, his stride unmistakable as someone who hadn't eaten anything but water for two days.
"Because I'm not you.”
The woman's voice, coming through his headache, brought another faint smile. Once again, Khaled had to admit it. He'd seen her too easily. Aubrey Sandalwood had not disappointed him. In a very good way, no, in a very bad way. He hadn't expected to find the woman he'd been trying to ignore right next to that filthy fat man, sweating profusely, unable to run away from a man with a filthy laugh. He couldn't believe it.
Why did he only do that to other people, not him? Khaled hated it. This was the same woman who'd glared at him and craned her neck to get his attention, and yet she'd forced herself to laugh at the unworthy bastards. She smirked, but she didn't glare at them with contempt. It was something Khaled didn't understand, and it made his hard-won emotions explode.
"You should be ashamed of yourself. To abandon your business like that, to pretend to get a lady you know nothing about. Did you learn that from the great sixth Duke of Hamburg?”
He didn't mean to say so; he ought to have told him to get the hell out of his Lavonne. Murfrio spat out the words without the slightest processing, but he forced himself not to laugh.
"That's what I expect from a man like the Earl of Salisbury.”
Murfrio's wrinkled eyes gleamed with a certain gleam. A man like the Count. In other words, from the likes of him.
“You've had it bad, and you deserve to hear it from a man like me.”
He handed it back to Murfrio, who made no secret of his hostility, with a final warning.
“If the same thing happens again, your business will be closed.”
"By what authority does the Count decide that?”
"Lavonne is my estate.”
"That's ridiculous!”
“Not only that, but it's written into the contract. It says that either party may break the contract if the other's honor is prejudiced. I seem to recall your Lordship was particularly fond of that clause.”
Of course, objectively speaking, it was more likely to be Khaled Karnus, not Murfrio, who would be able to bring each other's honor into question. Murfrio pouted his lips like a fat crucian carp and turned away. "We'll see," he said, and left it at that. Okay, that's what he was going to do. Khaled had thought it was Murfrio, not Aubrey, who had aroused his ire. He believed it thoroughly.
But the moment she came to his cabin, the solid illusion began to crack. It all came crashing down when her calm green eyes turned to him and she laid her small hand over his. The woman's hand was warm. At first glance, the tiny hand, barely covering his own, seemed to be a bit rough. But her palms and knuckles were pockmarked with calluses that hadn't yet faded.
The marks of her hard labor were like the brand on her back, and Khaled had to admit, he couldn't ignore them. He knew she wasn't honest. He knew she wasn't forthright. She was lying when she said she'd listen to anything. But when she looked up at him pleadingly, those eyes that had been so busy trying to build him up, everything was confusing, and he realized that if she had her way, he'd be the one who'd get cut.
But admitting it didn't make everything okay; he still couldn't sleep. His body was filled with feelings he'd never experienced before, and he didn't like them. It was uncomfortable. He wondered if eating some food would make it better, but it didn't.
The ridiculously loud boiling in his stomach subsided like a lie as soon as he saw her. His stomach, which couldn't be controlled even with a handful of prescribed medication, was cured by the mere fact that she was sitting across from him. He hated it. He had a feeling he wouldn't be able to handle the aftermath if he took her up on her offer.
"I'm not you.”
The unblinking face when he had told her how to be charming, however cheesy, seemed like an illusion. Khaled gave a self-deprecating laugh, as if he had given up all hope. I know. You're not me, and I can't push you away.
"Wait. Don't start, wait."
Climbing into the carriage, Khaled gave a quick order and stared out the window into the alleyways of Touraine. It wasn't long before the gnome walked out. Without delay, Khaled dismounted and approached him.
"Count!"
The spy had barely uttered a few words before he was trudging toward him. In one swift motion, Khaled grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and twisted him around. The matching silk hat he was wearing clattered to the floor.
"What shall we do?"
His voice was chilling. The spy sucked in a ragged breath, his face paled.
"Come with me, then."
Khaled dragged him to his feet and threw him into the carriage.
***
To donate for extra chapters for my series or to tip me visit my kofi page
Write a comment