Chapter 27
Chapter 27:
She sat up, her heart doing a nervous little flip in her chest. She was in the master suite of the Collins penthouse.
She slid out of bed, her bare feet sinking into the plush carpet. She caught her reflection in the mirror across the room — messy hair, an oversized t-shirt of Gaston’s that she had grabbed from the back of the enormous walk-in closet the night before. He must have left a few casual things behind in his haste to move to the guest suite. She looked small in this cavernous room.
She opened the door and stepped into the hallway. The apartment was quiet — the kind of quiet that only exists at the very top of the world, far above the noise of the city below.
She followed the smell of coffee.
Gaston was sitting at the long marble dining table. He wasn’t wearing a suit. It was the first time she had seen him in anything other than armor: grey sweatpants, a white t-shirt stretched tight across his shoulders, a pair of wire-rimmed glasses perched on his nose. He was reading a physical newspaper.
He looked domestic. It was disarming.
𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻
“Good morning,” he said without looking up.
“Morning,” Jocelyn mumbled, pulling the hem of the shirt down.
Alfred, the butler who moved with the silence of a ghost, materialized beside her with a silver tray.
“Breakfast, madam p>
“Just coffee, please. Black. And maybe a piece of toast p>
As Alfred poured, the landline on the sideboard buzzed — a harsh, jarring sound in the peaceful room.
Alfred picked it up. His face, usually a mask of professional indifference, tightened almost imperceptibly.
“Sir,” Alfred said, holding the receiver toward Gaston with a pained expression. “It’s Mr. Elbert p>
Gaston sighed. He folded the newspaper with unhurried precision and took the phone. He pressed the speaker button.
“Good morning, Father p>
“Don’t you ‘good morning’ me,” Elbert Collins’s voice boomed through the room, distorted by the speaker but unmistakably furious. “I just had my morning report from Alfred p>
Jocelyn froze, her coffee cup halfway to her lips.
“And what does the report say?” Gaston asked, taking a calm sip of his own coffee.
“It says that you and your new bride slept in separate wings of the apartment,” Elbert barked. “Separate rooms? On your first night? Is this how you plan to convince the board of your marital stability p>
Jocelyn’s face burned. Spies. Of course. The staff were his eyes.
“We are taking it slow,” Gaston said, his voice level. “Jocelyn has had a traumatic week. She needs rest, not a performance p>
“I don’t care about rest,” Elbert snapped. “I care about optics. If the staff talks, the rumors spread. If the rumors spread, the stock wobbles. You two had better look like newlyweds by Sunday lunch. I expect you both at the estate. And I want to see chemistry, Gaston. Not a business merger p>
The line went dead.
Gaston placed the receiver back in the cradle. The silence that followed was heavy.
“So,” Jocelyn said, her voice tight. “We’re being watched inside the apartment too p>