seeing a straight line --

It felt wrong to be here, but here he was. He was here, in France, even though every aching part of him told him not to. He was weak, he was so damned weak.

He was weak because he refused to resist.

Weakness was imperfection. Weakness was not who he was, not who he was raised to be. He was strong, powerful, and the best Hansoff heir there was.

Yet he had given in, out of all things, to love.

"Alex," he whispered, burying his head on the table. "Alex, I need you, goddammit."

Alex walked into the cafe, ready for her usual cup of coffee. Yay for coffee, right? She was going to get one for Dani too, come to think of it. Not Raymond, because he was too young.

"I want my cappuccino!" she announced to the lady in the counter. "My usual. Two sugars and cream."

After some impatient waiting, Alex got her coffee and walked into a familiar face mumbling to himself. Her eyes widened.

Minos, she thought. "What's wrong, kitten?" she asked.

Minos groaned when someone had poked him like that. No one dared to call him kitten, unless they were ready to die at his hands.

And being in a cafe, this was bound not to end pretty.

"Kitten?" snarled the Russian male. He stuck his head out of the table gently, turning round to see who it was, "Who the hell do you - "

Alex, my saviour.

"Nice to see you here," Minos firmly replied, "how are you doing since our last metting?"

Alex laughed, sitting down next to Minos and she began to massage his shoulders. "Calm down, kitten. You're so hot sometimes," she laughed. She didn't care that she was married and even if she did her ring was off today.

"We talked to each other last on my wedding day," Alex said, reminding Minos. "Well, not a lot of talking because remember what happened?" She winked at him. "Don't be so sad." She kissed Minos on the cheek.

"I hate marriage, Minos. It sucks not being able to fuck all the men I like," Alex said.

"Hot?" Minos questioned wearily. Really, he was too tired to bother with compliments, but at least Alex was willing to speak to him, so he supposed it was better than nothing. "In which sense are you speaking of the word?"

The man merely ignored the girl and what she said about the night of her wedding. It was a mistake. A huge, careless mistake. Yet what made it all worse was the fact that it was the best night of his life; Alex Lamoureux was good in bed.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Why are you here, Alex? Where's your husband?"