My phone rings as I’m blowing my nose between two muffled sobs, and Lily is whimpering on the bed.

The caller ID says “Raphael.”

My heart swells with joy before I tell myself I better not answer this. I have nothing to add to what I’ve put in my letter. Which he must have received. Which is why he’s calling.

Problem is Raphael is right—I can’t resist him.

“I’m in the lobby of your hotel,” he says when I finally answer the phone.

“What? How did you find me?”

“I went to see Delphine after I got your letter this morning, hoping you’d confided in her. And you had.”

Damn. “What exactly did she tell you?”

“Only where I could find you. She said the rest wasn’t her secret to tell.”

I exhale in relief.

“Can I come upstairs?” he asks.

“Will you go back to Paris if I say no?”

“Take a guess.”

“Room 210,” I say and go to the door.

Thirty seconds later, he’s inside.

“How could you think I’d believe Genevieve’s preposterous accusation?” he asks, frowning. “I’m not as shallow as I seem.”

I give him a tiny smile. “I know that. I hoped you wouldn’t believe her.”

He draws his brows in concern. “You were crying. What gives?”

“Nothing.” I point to the wooden chair. “Please have a seat.”

Instead, he steps closer and takes my hand.

“Something is obviously very wrong, Mia. Please tell me what it is.”

“I’m fine.” I look down at his hands clutching mine. “And I’ll be even finer in Martinique.”

He tips my head up, forcing me to look at him. “What about your defense? The seminar? The job offer you got?”

“I… I can’t stay.”

He lets go of my hand and sits down. “So here’s the deal. I won’t budge from this chair until you tell me what’s going on.”

With a defiant look, he folds his hands across his chest and crosses his legs.

Motionless, I watch him.

A few long moments later, he shifts, uncrosses his legs, crosses them again, and screws up his handsome face into a comical expression.

My lips curl up, despite my misery.

“Is there a more comfortable chair in this room?” he asks.

I shake my head, struggling to remain serious.

“Then I’m transferring my sit-in to the bed,” he says.

“Sissy.”

“Not a sissy—a result-oriented person.” He stands up and flashes me a sexy smile. “I’ll last longer on the bed.”

I grab his hand to stop him from going to the bed. “Lily is cranky. She needs quiet to fall asleep.”

He cups my cheek, his gaze boring into mine. “What are you running from, Mia?”

“A video,” I say, surprising myself.

His brows go up.

“Someone has a compromising video of me from my college days…” I begin.

Oh, what the hell.

I’m going to tell it like it is. Unembellished. The whole freaking enchilada.

“Someone has a drunken gang bang video with me in it,” I blurt out before I lose the nerve. “If I don’t meet him tomorrow and do what he wants me to do, he’ll make it public.”

Raphael stares at me for a long moment. “Is that why you disappeared a year ago?”

I nod.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” A deep crease appears between his brows. “Why didn’t you ask for my help?”

“This… situation is the result of my mistake. So it’s my problem to deal with.”

“You’re wrong. It’s mine, too.”

“It shouldn’t be,” I say. “It’s not fair.”

“Fair is not how life works.” He pulls me to his chest. “You’re about to bolt—again—because some jerk is blackmailing you. Baby, it is my problem.”

I peer into his eyes.

“Let me handle it,” he says. “Where and at what time tomorrow were you supposed to meet him?”

“What will you do?”

“Whatever it takes.”

“He doesn’t want money—I’ve already offered.” I wring my hands. “He wants… sexual favors every time he’s in France.”

Raphael’s body tenses against mine.

“I wasn’t going to pay him,” he says. “That’s a short-term solution.”

“Then what? Beat him up?”

He smirks. “For starters.”

“And after that?”

“Impress upon him that if he makes his move, I’ll unleash a pack of top-notch lawyers who’ll eat him alive. It’s illegal to post nudes without a person’s consent.”

“I know that, but what if he posts the video anyway?” I sigh. “He isn’t a reasonable person.”

Raphael shrugs. “OK, let’s say he’s a suicidal nutcase and he posts it. So what?”

“What do you mean, so what?”

“Your little sex tape will join millions of other sex tapes the Internet is teeming with. Who cares?”

I chew my lip. “You don’t?”

He shakes his head.

“Will you watch it if he posts it?”

“Absolutely not.” He gives me a stern look. “What kind of douchebag do you think I am?”

Clearly, not the kind Xavier turned out to be.

“It might ruin my academic career,” I say.

He quirks an eyebrow. “Really? You’re concerned about your academic career? Is that why you’re quitting it?”

I look down, flushing.

“Why don’t you tell me what it is you’re really worried about?” he asks.

“He’s going to send the video to my parents.”

“He can’t force them to watch it.”

“He can trick them into watching it.”

Raphael encases my face with his hands. “You have to come clean before they get it.”

“I just did.”

“And?”

“It was too much for them—the gang bang, the video, Lily…”

“They didn’t know about her?”

I shake my head. “I’m not sure they’ll want to see me again.”

“Of course they will. They’re religious people—they’ll find it in themselves to forgive you.”

I shake my head again and let out a sob.

He draws back and stares me in the eye. “Mia?”

“I hate myself for how much I’ve hurt and disappointed them,” I say. “And it breaks my heart that they’ll stop loving me.”

“They won’t,” he says.

“You don’t know them! You have no idea how high their moral standards are. Things like virtue and uprightness mean everything to them.”

He lowers his brows. “Oh come on.”

I draw away, march to the door, and open it wide. “Please go. You’re making this whole thing harder than it already is.”

Not to mention that I’m about to lose it again, and I don’t want to lose it in front of him.

“Mia, please.”

“Just go.”

He walks out.

I grab a pillow from the bed, press it to my face, and wail into it.