AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"I thought at your apartment until I found out your wife is living therewithoutyou. So, I booked a suite here."
It was obvious to me that I'd bungled this whole thing. I'd left Elsa alone with Madame Tight Arse, as Dean liked to call Madame Lefèvre. I was ignoring her calls and messages. I lied to her, telling her I was traveling. I was a complete jackass.
Chapter 9
Elsa
If you asked anyone I knew, they'd tell you that I was even-tempered, calm, happy, cheerful, and full of sunshine. They'd tell you I rarely got angry.
This was one of those rare times.
"He's not traveling; he's staying at his suite at the Ritz," Madame Lefèvre informed me smugly when I asked her how long Duncan was gone for when he usually traveled on business.
That's all I needed to hear to start packing my bags. I called Thierry, and he said he'd bring his car over to drive me home. This time, he didn't ask me to try to make it work. Duncan was gone for a week,andhe was staying at his suite, where he fucked escorts.
I was done.And, I wasangry.
"That didn't last long," Madame Lefèvre declared when she saw me with my bags.
"What is your problem with me?"
She quirked an insolent eyebrow. "I don't want to deal with the likes of you. The criminal class has no place as an Archer. If Mrs. Archer found out, she'd kick you out so fast, girl, it would make your head spin."
"Criminal class? Me?" I laughed. "Lady, you're out of your mind."
I was about to storm out when a man walked into the living room where Madame Lefèvre and I were having our unpleasant conversation. The man looked familiar. He was in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. He had the same body build as Duncan, but this man didn't work out as much as my adulterous husband did. His hair was messy. His face was younger.
I decided he was Duncan's brother, the younger one. When I had done a Google search after discovering who my baby daddy was, I saw pictures of the middle brother who lived in San Francisco, but not this one's. Even on the Archer company website, his photo wasn't there.
He held out a hand. "Dean Archer."
I shook it politely. "Elsa Sainte-Croix." I hadn't officially changed my last name to Archer, though that was the plan. Now, I was glad I hadn't wasted my time.One weekof marriage and my husband couldn't keep it in his pants. This relationship was not going to work. My father could shoot the son of a bitch for all I cared.
"Madame Lefèvre," he murmured, and it was obvious he didn't like Mrs. Danvers. That warmed my heart.
"MonsieurArcher, so nice to—"
"Did I just hear you tell Duncan'swifethat Mom would kick her out of his apartment?"
She gasped.
"Did I,MadameLefèvre, hear you insult my sister-in-law?"
I took a step back, entertained even if I was stillmad.
Duncan behaved like Madame Lefèvre didn't exist. He just went about his business. And she behaved like she ran this place and was somehow superior to me.
"Well, she is a criminal's daughter, andshe trapped—"
"You're fired," Dean said softly.
"Monsieur," she cried out. "Your mother will—"
"Agree with me," Dean finished for her. "Please leave. Mom said we'll give you six months' payandreferences if you need it."
"Mrs. Archer would never do that," Madame Lefèvre said confidently.
Dean shrugged. "You have her number; you can call her. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to have a conversation with my new sister-in-law."
