Aveline

Chapter Seven

I enter the dining room and spot who I guess is Lilian. And she is beautiful. I notice how her light blonde hair is loose down her back and she wears a warm cocoa colored off the shoulder romper.

She turns around and meets my stare, a friendly smile on her face. Her eyes are a light piercing green.

"When I heard you were coming here, I was so excited to finally have a break in routine," she rants, exhaling heavily and taking a seat. "It's always business this and business that but nothing else. And then you came but I couldn't see you because Leo said you were off limits but now you're not!"

I laugh a little as she comes to an end and gestures to all the food. I take a seat next to her and look at all of it.

There's spaghetti, garlic bread, steak, salad, and dressings.

"Anyways, I'm Lilian, Leo's cousin," she introduces herself.

His cousin? I didn't think he really had any family. At least not around.

"I'm Aveline though you already know that," I say with a smile.

Lilian leans forward and starts piling food onto her plate so I follow suit. "I thought it was completely spontaneous of Leo to do something like this. But I can see he must have been enraptured by your beauty."

"He's never seen me before," I attempt to cover for him. Or myself. "I'm just a part of a mutual deal that could help us both."

She makes a humming noise as if she doesn't buy it. "I understand."

It doesn't sound like she understands. It sounds like she understands something completely different and won't tell me about it.

I use this as my time to gain information on Leo and his business.

"So what is it you do for Leo?" I ask, taking a bite of the spaghetti.

Lilian smiles and replies, "I don't really do much. I kind of just tend to the estate, honestly."

"You don't help with the torture?" I ask curiously.

She regards me strangely for a moment before laughing. "What? No, God no, of course not. That gets messy and I can't handle it."

She then meets my eyes and asks, "do you?"

After a moment of silence she rephrased her question, "I mean—do you help torture  at your fathers estate?"

I drink some of my water and nod my head. "Sometimes. I'm obligated to."

It's silent for another moment before she nods slowly. "Do you expect to do the same here?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I wouldn't mind it. If the person deserves it though. It's what I was made to do so it's not like I'm repulsed by it."

I smile a bit towards the end but cringe as I realize how bad it sounds. I look up from my plate and into her gaze again.