Page 161 of Blue Gold

His expression softened before he pulled me back into his arms.

Resting against his strong body, I breathed him in.

“Promise me you won’t let me run away.”

“I won’t,” he said.

In this moment, despite all the pain, I felt blessed, like I was the luckiest man on Earth.

“Elliot?”

“Yeah?”

“Your skin is cold. How about that shower now?”

I pulled back, my eyes dropping to my naked body. “Oh,” I muttered, realizing I’d made my confession in the nude. “Yeah, a bath would be nice.”

I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my body when I remembered something.

“How did you know where to find me?”

Daniel chuckled, leaving me confused as he went over to his bags. Searching in them, he pulled out something—a letter. My brows creased when he waved it.

“I owe that ex of yours and my father a big thank-you.”

“Huh?”

Handing me the letter, I saw it was Jacques’s.

“How did you get this? I mean, I threw it away,” I said, shocked.

“Just as I suspected, my father had us followed.”

The pig.

“So I guess his person fished it out of the garbage,” he added.

My eyes widened, and I quickly stared at Daniel, my heart beating fast. “I didn’t even read it, I swear. I couldn’t care at all about what he had to say.”

“Hey, hey, relax.” He grabbed my shoulders and massaged them a bit. “I trust you. But even if you did read it, it’s your right, Elliot. You’re entitled to have a past.”

I gaped at him because, “Who are you, and what did you do with my jealous man?”

Daniel let out a rolling laugh that filled my small room with so much warmth it turned it into a sauna.

“This Frenchman I met made me grow up.”

Daniel

“I see where Elliot got his talent for cooking,” I said after we sat down for dinner, impressed by the food on the table. “This all looks amazing.”

Mathilde, Elliot’s lovely mother, waved me off. “Oh, please. I’m embarrassed that this is what I’m serving the first time I meet my son’s boyfriend.”

I had no idea what she was talking about, considering how the bowl of soup she just placed before me smelled so good I nearly drooled.

“If I knew you were coming, I would have cooked you my famous veal,” she said as she went back to the pots to pour another bowl of soup.

“Maman is a fantastic cook.” Elliot’s eyes moved to look at me. “She knows it, too. For a change, she’s being modest.”