Chapter 249

Finally, Fabrizio said, ‘That’s fine. Just keep them private, that’s all.’ He perked up noticeably after lunch, and I liked to think I had something to do with that. I planned to show Ashton the reports tonight. Who says a fiancé can’t double as your financial analyst? If he said everything checked out, I’d invest in Valmont & Cie. I had enough money—well, technically Ashton’s money, but he’d said it was mine to spend however I wanted. Still, I’d run it by him first. The afternoon drifted by pleasantly. Paris lived up to its reputation as the gourmet capital of Europe. Fabrizio picked a restaurant with zero Michelin stars, and I still ended up going back for seconds. Okay, fine. Thirds. Plus two slices of cake. The mille-feuille alone could make a grown woman weep. Which explained why I asked Fabrizio to drop me off a few blocks from the hotel. That, of course, meant offering an awkward explanation for why I’d moved out of the lovely, work-adjacent house he’d set up for me and into a h