Chapter 294
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Chapter 294:
He gently moved Jocelyn behind him and walked slowly toward the brick wall. The bodyguards tightened their grip. Gaston stopped inches from Kieran’s face and looked down at the broken man with no anger in his eyes — only absolute, chilling contempt.
He leaned in and spoke in a whisper so quiet that only Kieran and Jocelyn could hear.
“Your biggest mistake in this life, Kieran,” Gaston murmured, “was believing the tabloids p>
Kieran’s pupils dilated. The blood drained from his face as the full weight of those words crashed into him.
𝗧𝘩e 𝖻𝘦ѕ𝗍 rеa𝗱𝗶𝗇𝘨 e𝘅рe𝘳𝗶𝖾𝘯𝗰𝖾 o𝗻.с𝘰m
Gaston didn’t wait for a response. He turned his back, held out his arm to Jocelyn, and she took it. Together they walked through the heavy oak doors into the warmth of the restaurant.
Behind them, the bodyguards released their hold. Kieran crumpled onto the freezing concrete sidewalk like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
The dinner at the Michelin restaurant had been flawless, but the air between Jocelyn and Gaston was thick with unspoken tension.
When the meal ended, Justin took Carmen and Aaden in the first SUV, claiming the boy needed to get to bed.
Jocelyn and Gaston stepped into the back of the black Maybach. The moment the heavy doors clicked shut, the privacy partition hummed upward behind the driver’s seat, sealing them in a soundproof bubble.
Soft cello music filtered through the surround-sound speakers.
Jocelyn let out a long, exhausted sigh. She kicked off her heels and curled her legs up onto the plush leather seat, leaning her head against the window.
Gaston shifted. He reached over, lifted her feet, and drew her legs across his lap. His large, warm hands wrapped around her calves, thumbs pressing deeply into her tired muscles.
Jocelyn’s breath caught. The heat of his palms seeped through her sheer pantyhose. She moved to pull her legs back. “Gaston, you don’t have to p>
His grip tightened gently, holding her in place. “Relax p>
To distract herself from the warmth spreading up from her calves, Jocelyn cast around for something to say.
“Carmen and Aaden looked so happy tonight,” she said, studying the ceiling of the car. “It is really sweet. Justin must have such a difficult time raising a boy alone after his wife died. No wonder Carmen’s maternal instincts kicked in p>
Gaston’s hands went still.
He turned his head slowly and looked at her. One dark eyebrow arched. His expression was peculiar.
“Who told you Justin is a widower?” he asked, his voice carrying a sharp edge of amusement.
Jocelyn blinked. “Everyone knows that. He is a single father. The tragic politician p>
Gaston let out a dark, cynical laugh and leaned back against the leather seat, hands still resting on her legs.
“Let’s just say Justin’s past is far more complicated than the press releases suggest,” Gaston said, his tone laced with dry amusement. “He has never been married, Jocelyn. The grieving widower is a very useful narrative for a politician collecting sympathy votes p>
Jocelyn stared at him. The pieces clicked into place. Justin had been deliberately letting Carmen believe he was a grieving widower — weaponizing his son’s lack of a mother to dismantle her emotional defenses.