I am back! More Erik & Hortense to come, will they murder each other?

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The walk to the Casino Bellevue was made in utter silence. Erik was more and more intrigued in the character of Hortense de Montmarin. What she had said to her father had made him curious about her and what she had been through in her life; however, he still found that she was terribly detestable.

When they entered the building Erik was mesmerised, it was a beautiful piece of architecture, the volumes of the entrance where generous and the marble floor was shining under their steps. Columns were on the side of the huge entrance, giving an ancient Greek style to the room.

"Ah, Jean-Marie, you're here!" Hortense said, a small smile on her lips at the sight of a bald tall man. "How are you today? Good? Mmmh great to hear that because there's much to be done! Please meet the new architect that will work with you on the completions of the concert hall, Erik de Raincourt. I trust you to run him through the plans and give him the last updates about the site. Have you seen Monsieur Aritxmendi? I need to see him about the ball room… By the way I'll need your help on that room Monsieur de Raincourt. Would it be okay to join me at 3pm and look at what can be done? Good. Well, good luck gentlemen and if you need anything you know where to find me."

She quickly smiled and disappeared behind one of the columns. Erik was astonished, who was this woman? How can someone so hysteric can become such a bright and smiley manager? How could he actually feel respect for her in that instant, when he only wanted to squeeze her pretty little neck a few minutes ago? One last thing was still making him angry: he was working for her, so in a way she was controlling him… He didn't like it at all as he couldn't trust her yet. Such a changeable character… Not reliable!

Anyway, he needed to put himself at work; he fired the bald man with questions to understand more what he would have to do. He met the different workers that were now under his command, he felt empowered, like he used to in Persia. He worked quickly and was able to spot the problems before everybody. In 4 hours he had managed to earn every man's respect and planned everything to catch up with the delay. When he was working, he managed to forget his difference and make the other dismiss it as well: he was a genius and that was all that mattered.

Hortense had been watching him for a few minutes. He was very at ease, she wouldn't have guessed such a thing and was impressed. The man couldn't be all bad if he was able to gather a troop of workers and make them follow his every order in half a day. Maybe her father had been right to recruit him… However, it was now 3pm and he seemed to have forgotten their appointment, she would make sure this behaviour wouldn't happen again.

A mere second after she had just proceeded this thought, Erik turned around and stared straight into her eyes. Those eyes, she thought with a shiver. He walked toward her, an enigmatic look on his face.

"Madame, I see it's 3pm, I have just ordered Jean-Marie to have a look at the right side of the stage. The good news is that everything looks quite in order and if the workers keep moving at this pace, it will be finished in less than a week. What is it then that you wanted me to see?"

She cleared her throat, feeling unsure to stand as a manager in front of this intimidating man.

"Well, that's good news. If we manage to get ahead on schedule, we'll be able to spend more time on the decoration and making sure every little detail has been thought out. As I told you earlier today, we have been rebuilding the ball room and seem to have some problems in terms of general fitting with the original building. Wouldn't you mind having a look?"

"Of course."

She nodded and he followed her in silence. Their professional exchanges felt like faked courtesy. She didn't like it. As he walked around the room to inspect its architecture, she watched his feline and gracious pace. She managed to put her strange thoughts aside to pursue with what needed to be done before the end of the day.

"Well… There's still much to be done but I think we've managed to catch up with the delay! Please have all a nice evening of rest and Monsieur de Raincourt will take over tomorrow morning so I'll see you all on Friday. Thank you very much everyone." She announced with a faint smile before heading out. The afternoon had been long and intense and, once their dissident set aside, they were surprised to see how well they could work together. The footsteps of her new architect were a mere meter from her. She realised that they were going in the same direction. Even if they had done a good job together during the day it didn't mean she wanted to prolong the moments in his presence. But she didn't really have the choice did she?

"You did a good job today; I am glad my father can show some good judgment sometimes" She said distantly.

"Thank you, I enjoyed it very much, your men are good and efficient. You're lucky…." He started before pursuing without thinking. "What happened?"

"What happened with what?" She asked turning her head to look at him defiantly.

He regretted his answer the second he pronounced it.

"Your father."

In a split second her face became distorted with rage.

"Do I ask you what happened with your mask?"

He gritted his teeth. He should never had asked, now she had made him upset.

"No, and you'd better never mention it again."

"And why so? Are you a criminal trying to hide from the world? What are you hiding, a battle scar, a mark? You want to know what I am hiding but you recoil if I mention your mask. This discussion is over. We'll keep our talks for business matter, I still don't enjoy talking to you."

"How dare you? Maybe I am a criminal and maybe the only thing that I want is to squeeze your neck…" He hissed dangerously. "Your mouth is poisonous and your words are venom, I don't talk to vipers."

He increased his pace and left her immobile in the middle of the street. He had called her a viper, she wanted to cry out of rage and it was his neck that she wanted to squeeze between her fingers.

Three days later, she woke up earlier than she intended, her meeting with investors was only at 10am and it was 6:30am. Stress was filling her mind and she didn't want to languish in fear of the demanding men in front of whom she would have to present her projects. So she decided to saddle her horse and go to one of her favourite place to swim and empty her mind. It was a little creek protected by rocks where waves were smaller than in the other beaches. Mid-April was early for a first bath and she knew the water would be very cold, but she didn't care, she was used to it.

She dismounted her horse and attached it to a small tree before starting to walk down the path towards the beach. What she missed though, was the beautiful black stallion hidden behind a bigger plane tree.

Before emerging onto the beach she spotted clothes spread on the floor. She immediately squatted down behind a rock afraid of being seen. Who had found her place, it was her guilty pleasure and she was not willing to share it with anyone.

When she took a look at the water she saw a silhouette, it was a man. She could only see his back. As the figure emerged from the water, she felt heat rise to her cheeks. His back was well built and she could see the droplets of water running down his muscles and… Was that scars? Oh it didn't matter; her eyes were following the path of this droplet down to a well-proportioned bottom that sent an unfamiliar warmth to the lower part of her belly. Who was this Greek god bathing in the Ocean? He passed a hand through his dark hair cut to a familiar length. The figure started to turn around slowly so that she could observe his profile. Holy Cow… Why did it have to be HIM? It was him, her infuriating handsome neighbour. His features were relaxed and he was more beautiful that she had ever realised. She could spot the silhouette of his mask above his straight nose. Why was he still wearing it? She wanted to see him, entirely.

Soon he was facing and she could see almost everything down to his… He opened his eyes and stared right towards where she was hiding. She slid down the rock and tried to hide as much as she could. Had he seen her? Oh God, she was very much in troubles if it was the case…