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Olivier scrolls on his phone. “We’ve been driving in the darkness for a couple of hours now, you haven’t missed anything.” He looks up and purses his lips. “But you might want to…”
He points at my cheek.
I wipe it with the back of my hand. Drool. Awesome.
Best to change the subject. “Mr. Dubois, at what point are you going to tell me what I’m doing for this special project?”
“Tomorrow. You have tonight to settle in.”
“Oh my gosh,” I clap my hand over my mouth, the realization hitting me like a dart in the face. “You’re not involved in human trafficking, are you?”
“If I were, then asking the question outright probably wouldn’t help. The good news is, I’m not. The bad news is…” he sighs, “once you learn more about your special project, you might wish I was.”
I search his face for some sign he’s making a joke, but I don’t see one.
“You make it sound awfully ominous.” Maybe he’s being dramatic. The French are known for having a flair that way. “But if there’s nothing illegal involved—”
“There isn’t.”
“Or immoral—”
“There’s not.”
“Then I’ll be fine.” I straighten my spine, feeling the need to redeem myself from the earlier drooling incident. “The deal hasn’t changed, right?”
“It has not.” He looks straight at me, the moonlight reflecting off his eyes. “Two weeks. You are on call twenty-four hours a day for this special project. I continue to pay your salary and at the end of this period, your debt will be considered repaid. Fortunately Marie is picking up your shifts, and I arranged some flowers and a bonus for her. Here we are.”
He gestures in front of us as the headlights illuminate a sculpted iron gate opening onto a gravel driveway.
“Already,” I say with a tone of irony.
“In fact, no.” Olivier says. “We have four kilometers to drive within the domaine before we reach the house.”
“Wait, three miles of driveway?”
“More like two and a half.” A grin is apparent on his face even without light. “On your left are the vineyards for our more full-bodied wines. We separate them this way as we have different agriculturalists managing the lands according to grape variety. Ahead on the right is the Riesling, who enjoy the afternoon sun. Over there is the main mill…”
Olivier continues, but as we approach, my eyes are set through the windshield, straight ahead. On a hill in the distance, a home is lit like a beacon in the night. Beams of illumination capture the yellow stone and white trim. It’s a house fit for royalty. This can’t possibly be where we are going.
“Ah,” Olivier says leaning close to my ear, “that’s why you’ve tuned me out. Welcome to your new home for the next two weeks.”
Pinch me. Pinch me now. I think it, but don’t dare say it aloud in case I wake up and we haven’t actually arrived yet. If I had known that ruining ten thousand euros worth of crystal would result in two weeks living in a château that rivals Disney World, I would have done it a lot sooner.
Dial it back, Natalie. Don’t be the American tourist. Remember rule number four about understating. I secretly tap my handbag to make sure my rule book is still there. I’d better get reading faster, if this is where I’m going to be living out my punishment.
“It looks lovely,” I say. The outside is lit up, but every interior light is turned off. “Is anyone here?”
“Oh yes, the house is quite full. But we start our days early at Dubois Estates. We will have to be silent when we enter. Everything else can wait until tomorrow.”
Marcial follows behind us as we walk to the front door—if you can even call it that. It’s a double-door, three times the width of what you’d expect and at least twice the height, like a giant lives here and not regular earthly beings.
“Remember what I said.” Olivier puts his finger to his lips in a motion of silence. In this light, he looks more like a dream than a man.
“Silence,” I mouth and give a thumbs up.
He nearly laughs out loud but instead just puffs air out his lips and shakes his head.
I stuff my hand into my pocket as Olivier leads the way. It’s hard for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, but there are lush fabrics and rich colors, and the ceiling is three floors high.
