Chapter 3

Laurent's calm voice cut through the tension like a blade, but Juan wasn't finished with his performance.

"Confused?" Juan laughed, the sound harsh and grating. "Kid, I don't think you understand what you're dealing with here. This woman—" He gestured at me with theatrical disdain. "—is about as exciting as a tax audit. Trust me, I lived with her for eight years."

The words hit like physical blows. I felt my face burn with humiliation as my employees watched this public evisceration. Juan was enjoying himself now, feeding off the audience.

"You want to know why I had to look elsewhere?" His voice grew louder, more vicious. "Because Jessica here has the sex appeal of a spreadsheet. Cold, calculating, all business. A man can only take so much rejection before he finds someone who actually wants him."

The office was dead silent. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. This was my worst nightmare—being torn apart professionally and personally in front of the people who looked up to me.

Then Laurent stepped directly in front of me.

His arm slid around my waist with confident possession, pulling me against his side. The gesture was so natural, so protective, that for a moment I forgot to be shocked.

"Well," Laurent said, his voice carrying easily across the room, "it's a shame you never learned to appreciate a brilliant woman." His smile was sharp, dangerous. "Your loss is my gain."

Juan's face shifted from smugness to confusion. "What the hell—"

"Oh, did I not introduce myself properly on Friday night?" Laurent's tone was conversational, almost friendly. "Laurent Lemoine. Jessica's boyfriend. Though I have to say, meeting you in person really puts things in perspective."

He looked Juan up and down with the kind of casual dismissal that made my ex-boyfriend's jaw clench.

"I mean, Jessica told me about the cheating, of course. How you were sneaking around behind her back for months. But seeing you now?" Laurent shook his head with mock sympathy. "I actually feel sorry for you."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Juan snarled, but his earlier confidence was cracking.

"Don't I?" Laurent's voice grew louder, more commanding. "You threw away eight years with an incredible woman because you were too insecure to handle her success. So you went crawling to some side piece who made you feel important."

The entire office was riveted. I could see Sarah leaning forward at her desk, her eyes wide with fascination. Marcus had abandoned all pretense of working and was watching like this was the best entertainment he'd seen in years.

"That's enough," Juan said, his face flushing red.

"Is it?" Laurent stepped forward, still keeping me close to his side. "Because you seem to think you can waltz in here and insult my girlfriend in front of her employees. You seem to think you can make her feel small just because your ego can't handle the fact that she's better off without you."

His voice carried a steel edge now that made even me shiver.

"But here's what you don't understand, Juan. Jessica is brilliant. She's successful. She's built something amazing here." He gestured around the office with obvious pride. "And she's incredibly sexy—something you were apparently too blind to see."

My cheeks burned, but not from shame this time. Laurent's words, delivered with such conviction, such fierce protectiveness, made something warm and startling unfurl in my chest.

"You know what the best part is?" Laurent continued, his smile turning predatory. "She's already forgotten about you. We both have better things to do than waste time on a cheating coward who can't even end a relationship with dignity."

Juan opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again like a fish gasping for air. The confident predator who'd walked in here five minutes ago had been reduced to a sputtering mess.

"This is ridiculous," he finally managed. "You're just some kid—"

"Some kid who knows how to treat a woman with respect," Laurent cut him off smoothly. "Some kid who doesn't need to sneak around behind his girlfriend's back to feel like a man. Some kid who's apparently more mature than a thirty-year-old who throws tantrums in his ex's workplace."

The silence that followed was deafening. Juan looked around the office, seeming to finally realize that every single person was staring at him with a mixture of disgust and pity. His grand gesture of dominance had backfired spectacularly.

"This isn't over," he said weakly, but the fight had gone out of him.

"Yes, it is," Laurent said with finality. "And if you ever come here again, if you ever try to humiliate Jessica again, you'll be dealing with me. Understood?"

Juan straightened his rumpled suit, trying to salvage some dignity. "You have no idea what you're getting into with her," he said, but it sounded more like desperation than threat.

"I know exactly what I'm getting into," Laurent replied. "The question is whether you know what you gave up."

With that, Juan turned and stalked out, the door slamming behind him with enough force to rattle the windows.

The office remained silent for several heartbeats. Then Sarah started to clap.

The sound broke the spell, and suddenly everyone was talking at once. Marcus was grinning like he'd just witnessed the performance of a lifetime. Jenny was practically bouncing in her chair with excitement.

"Holy shit," Sarah said, standing up from her desk. "That was incredible. Laurent, right? You just became my new favorite person."

Laurent's arm was still around my waist, and I could feel the tension slowly leaving his body. The fierce protector was fading back into the gentle young man I'd gotten to know.

"Thanks," he said with a modest smile. "Though I think Jessica could have handled him just fine on her own."

"Maybe," Sarah said with a grin, "but that was so much more satisfying." She looked between us with obvious curiosity. "So, are you two for real? Because that was some serious boyfriend energy right there."

Panic fluttered in my chest. "Oh, no, we're not—I mean, he was just—"

I turned to look at Laurent, expecting him to help me explain that this was all pretend, just like at the restaurant. But instead of the sheepish denial I was waiting for, he gave Sarah a confident, unmistakable nod.

My words died in my throat. I stared at him, my mouth slightly open, as the implications of that simple gesture crashed over me.

What exactly was happening here?