Chapter 26 - You should have trusted me (1/2)

Phillipe counted in his head to three. He always did that when he struggled for composure. Then he took off his gray jacket and hung it over the baroque chair next to him. With wiry fingers, he then loosened his navy blue tie, which he also hung over the back of the chair.

He made sure the door was really closed before he opened the bottle of cognac and generously poured the golden liquid into his glass.

”A son?” Tired, he sat down on one of the royal blue chairs in Baroque style. His eyes were iron. ”How old is he? How long does this been going on between you? She must have been a child?”

”He's two.” Alexandre lied calmly. Although Adrien was three, he was small and petite. Alexandre could spend him well as a two-year-old. He knew his friend was a true moral apostle. Gentleman through and through. Such men were rarely encountered. He was honest and righteous. ”She was five months pregnant before I abducted her. She is very petite, so that the belly was really visible only at the end of the sixth month.” He poured oil into the fire. He heard Phillipe gasp. ”She was only seventeen!”

”And incredibly beautiful.”

”If that had come out. She would be ruined!” He laughed hard.

”She is not ruined. I married her.” Alexandre took a long sip. The alcohol burned down his throat.

”He really is your son?”

”Yes! Do you want a DNA test?” He lied in a rough voice. He did not like it. He did not like to lie in front of his friends and family. But now it was his best choice. He had faked documents. Alexandre would do anything to use his lie skillfully. He would do anything to pay this old bastard back.

”And Danielle?” That name, it was so sweet and yet so painful. Although he did not try to relive the horror of those days, there were days when the terror overtook him. It devoured him. He would not forget. Her face was still buzzing in his mind's eye. Her smile. But he knew he would never be able to touch her again. Now she was cold.

”It's been five years, Phillipe.”