Blood Is Thicker...
By
Christine
Part Two
Chapter 14
Those few weeks turned into nearly three months. But conditions did improve a bit for Pik and Madeleine. In a rare move, Pik reminded Fouchon that he was a "professional," and that the business of their game was a responsibility he had been neglecting. Fouchon conceded and began to pay more attention to the businesses he was involved in, freeing some time for both Pik and Madeleine.
The hours Pik kept were, to Madeleine, mysterious and bizarre. They did their best to work around the time he needed to spend with Fouchon and the activities Fouchon had planned for himself and his daughter. Sometimes he would come to her room at all hours of the night, other times he would ask her to meet him in the city in the middle of the day. On these occasions, she would have her driver drop her off at a movie theater or restaurant, and then walk a few blocks to meet Pik, and they would spend their stolen hours together. Sometimes they would actually attend the movie together, always entering and leaving separately. Other times they would dine in one of the more obscure eating establishments, Pik not wanting either of them recognized in one of the finer places. But most times, most time, they spent in each others' arms. Pik had leased a flat in a decent area of the city, and they made their way there as often as they could. But it wasn't enough.
She wanted desperately to bring everything out into the open with her father, but Pik warned sternly against it. At the cottage, in the hours just before dawn, Pik prompted a frank discussion with Madeleine. "Your father suspects your are seeing someone secretly," he told her.
"In fact, he's sure of it. He just doesn't know who."
"What did he say?"
"He told me that you go to restaurants alone, but he never sees the charges for these places on the statements for the accounts he set up for you."
"How does he know where I go?"
"Your driver, Maddie. Do you think he doesn't ask him about you? He also says you say you go shopping and are gone for hours, but he never sees you bring anything back, and there are also no charges on your accounts for the shoppes." She listened intently.
He went on. "You have to know, he's followed you himself. He had seen your driver drop you off one time at the theater, and then saw you get into a taxi a few blocks down the street.
Fortunately for us, he lost you. You must have been on your way to the flat."
"Would it be so terrible if he found out that I'm seeing you, that I love you?"
"Maddie," he sighed, "I don't think you understand. He's asked me to follow you myself now, find out who it is, and to 'do whatever needs to be done' to discourage your young man from continuing this relationship with you. You have no idea what 'whatever' includes."
"But he has no idea who it is?! He could really like him."
"He said he explained to you your position as his daughter, and suggested several young men he considered possibly suitable for you and possibly acceptable to him."
"Yes, but he can't decide that type of thing for me, that's ridiculous!" she rolled her eyes.
"Oh, yes he can. And you know very well that I didn't make the cut." He pulled her close. "I'm sorry to make you upset, but you've got to get it into your head that he still can't know about us. We are going to have to leave here if we want to be together."
"You're wrong, there's got to be another way. I shouldn't have to choose between you. You've been his…partner…or whatever…for years! He couldn't get along without you and you know it and he knows it. So why wouldn't he accept you for me? He loves me, shouldn't he want me to be happy?"
"He doesn't understand love. He thinks he loves you, but all he feels is that you were something that was stolen from him and now that he has you back, and he's not going to let you go, ever. No part of you. Not even your heart."
"But give him some time, I know he'll change."
"My darling Maddie, your optimism brings hope to even the likes of me."
"Let's not talk about it anymore right now. You have to leave soon."
Pik agreed, and loved her all he could before the sun crept over the horizon.
Madeleine learned many of the dynamics surrounding her father and Pik. Although she knew there was something sinister going on involving Pik and her father together, she knew Fouchon himself was a prominent, legitimate businessman, art collector, and renowned world traveler. He had also set himself apart from others. He was successful, wealthy, and enjoyed being admired. She learned that while Fouchon was visible and sought-after at the social engagements and business functions she was privy to at the main house, Pik remained aloof in the shadows, a wraith, the essential but darker side of her father's industry, and she wondered how they had become so deeply entwined. But each one seemed to enjoy being who and what he was. Or at least Pik had been until she entered the picture. There was an unease growing inside her that the more she got to know her father, the more certain she became that there was no man on this earth, let alone Pik, he would consider good enough for her.
And the longer Pik and Madeleine were forced to stay apart because of Fouchon, the more Pik's dangerous resentment grew.
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