Page 91 of Shades of Ruin

“Get your mind out of the gutter, filthy girl,” Grey chides. “I only meant I could get you another espresso martini.”

“Yeah, sure you did,” I huff. I drain what’s left in my glass and hand it out to him. “Top me up, then we’re talking this shit out.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Grey quips with a smirk. He leans over to press a sugary kiss against my lips before striding back to the bar. And I take the moment to brace myself for what comes next.

“Cheers,” he announces while sliding onto the sofa beside me. “To dirty secrets, psycho exes, and the prettiest damn chef I’ve ever seen.”

I clink my glass against his. “That better be me you’re talking about.”

“Well, I gave you some stiff competition, but you won out in the end.”

“Good answer,” I laugh. “Now get to the dirty secrets and psycho exes part before these cocktails put me to sleep.”

Grey stares off into the distance, his expression unreadable. “I’m not really sure where to start,” he admits finally.

“Start at the beginning.”

And so he does.

“Ten years ago, a young boy left Chicago and traveled to Paris for the first time. It all felt golden and new, and he fell in love with everything he tasted and saw and touched. Eventually, a girl crossed his path when he was trying to become the best chefhe could be. The girl was a distraction that couldn’t be ignored, no matter how hard he tried.

“She was a mystery to him, everything about her coy, seductive nature luring him in like a challenge he was fixated on solving. There were times when the girl was sweet as cherries, and the boy thought he’d found love for the first time. But she was an illusion—a pretty, sweet, delicate facade that concealed a rotten, poisonous core.

“The boy offered her everything he had, and she turned him away. The boy tried to save her in the only way he knew how—with violence and blood and vengeance. The golden girl loved to see the young boy hurt and kill for her, but she had no real love to offer him. So he sent her away and poured all of his pain and love into his food. And eventually, he did become the best chef he could be.

“The young boy grew older. He returned to the home he left to start again. He worked hard until he eventually had everything he thought he wanted. But a piece of his happiness was missing. He felt empty until the day a pretty, ruined angel fell into his life and set his broken heart beating once more. Suddenly, that piece he knew was missing fit right where it was supposed to be, and he’d never felt so whole.

“The boy thought the golden girl had forgotten him, but she hadn’t. She found a child who reminded her of the young boy. She raised him in fear and cruelty. Her secrets grew darker over time. Her love of suffering and pain blossomed into madness. Eventually, she started to take the hearts of those she knew belonged to the boy—the people he cared about. She thought if she could hurt him enough, she could break him and pick up the pieces for herself.

“But she could never break him. Because this time, the boy wasn’t alone. He had his fallen angel by his side. And with her, he would never break again.”

I stare at him, my heart twisting at the tragic story of how Grey came to be this sharp-edged version of himself. I would never change him—but I wish I could change the pain and heartbreak that’s shaped him.

“So Tobias isn’t your son?” I ask, trying to sift through the bits and pieces of vital information that he’s strung together like a dark fairytale.

“No, she adopted him shortly after I left her. I understand why she wanted to torment me with the lie of having a son, but I can’t explain why she told him I was his father. He’s been raised to believe his father is a famous chef who never wanted him. He’s been raised to believe that a vile bitch is his mother. The poor kid would have been better off never knowing either of us.”

I flinch from how hard he is being on himself. “I don’t think that’s true,” I argue. “You’ve not seen the way Tobias looks up to you. You’re the father he’s always wanted. He doesn’t want anything more than for you to be a part of his life.” Grey’s blue eyes capture mine, reminding me of the boy who isn’t truly his by blood.

“What right do I have to fuck up his life any more than Aurélie already did?”

“You would be an improvement on the blonde bitch at the very least,” I respond, knowing he’s not in the right mindset to hear what a great dad he would be. And he would be, if that was something he and Tobias both wanted.

“Speaking of Aurélie,” I hesitate, not sure if I’m ready to hear the answer. “You said she took the hearts of those you cared about. Was that a metaphor or—or is she the killer?”

“She murdered Satine Daubert, Collette Roche, and Sophie du Maurier. There are likely other victims, but those are the names I know.”

“Sophie too?” I gasp in shock, remembering how the sorrow of her death almost broke him.

He sighs, his eyes bleak. “Yeah, Sophie too. And that’s not even fucking all. Do you remember when you entered the Dix competition? They gave you the position of ten before ripping it away?”

“Yes,” I answer slowly, anxious about where this is headed.

“She stole your spot ten years ago. Her husband financed the restaurant, and they pressured the executive chef into letting her compete instead of you. Youearnedthat spot in the kitchen with the rest of us. And you were meant to be mine all those years ago, it just took me ten years to find you again.”

I gape at him in shock. Aurélie ripped such a significant culinary opportunity away from me without a second thought. My whole life would have been so different if I’d been able to escape to Paris when things with Tío were at their worst. I wouldn’t be a murderer. Maybe I wouldn’t be so broken. And I would have spent the last decade with the man who owns every piece of my damaged heart.

In a way, I feel like I’m mourning the life we could have had like it’s another victim—just another casualty in Aurélie’s toxic trail of destruction.

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