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stared into her eyes, suddenly releasing some of his power.
    “Oh well.  I’m young, right?  Guess I’ll just get over it.”
    “Arabella…” he whispered. 
    She turned his way and glanced, not quite smiling or frowning.  Just doing as she was told.
    “What about the second session?”
    “I have too much work to do.  Mister Darque.  Sorry.”
    She turned around and walked away.  Just as Bastien started breathing hard and feeling his anger return, Carter Abrams walked in.  He noticed Bastien seemed agitated.  And did make a note that Bella had just left the room. 
    The look on his face almost said, “What’s going on with you two?”  But he wisely deduced now wasn’t the time.  Abrams just smirked and left the room, perhaps hoping to leave Bastien with a deeper thought: You’re not fooling anyone.
                  For the first time, Bastien felt the danger in the air.  Maybe he was pushing too hard, too fast.  But he had never met anyone like Arabella.  She put a trance on him, just as tight a hold as he wished to put on her. 
                  He sighed and looked down, breaking his intense concentration. 
    If she only knew.
     
    Bella had determined not to see Bastien for the next session, or perhaps for any reason ever again outside of work.  The worst thing about it was not knowing whether Bastien would have the strength to go public…rather than live in denial and possible…maybe…kill her to keep the story quiet?
    They all said Bastien was a dangerous man.  How much was real and how much was urban legend?  She decided it was time to start researching him again.  Even if he caught her doing it, it was beyond the point of respecting him enough to keep her job.  Her life was more important than a job. 
    Then, as she searched for Bastion’s pictures in the media, she was struck with how congenial a man he could be—smiling for the cameras, giving them a warm avuncular face…sometimes even hugging his ghoul of a mother in public.
    The man was capable of compassion, or at least the illusion of it. 
    So why was love so out of his league?  Why was he incapable of any real human emotion?  Her marketing experience in college taught Bella the importance of understanding human psychology.  Men never stray far from what they are taught in their youth.  Was he taught that he should hurt women?  Or could it be that something or someone was taken from him?
    All the records she searched on official websites gave the same story.  His biological father was from a small town in Campo, Portugal and swept Bastien Darque’s mother off her feet when they were both in college and she was attending Pompeu Fabra University.  Thus far, a rather innocent portrait of a family.  The senator certainly appears on television to be an upright citizen, even if politically ambitious. 
    Nothing else was turned up from an online search.  If there was more to the story, it might require a more intensive investigation—perhaps even a private investigator.  Wow, wouldn’t that provoke Darque if he knew she was tailing him with hired help.  That does seem like the kind of stupid thing a college intern might do…only to have her body dumped in a lake somewhere. 
    Santo was his father’s name.  She tried searching Santo, hoping maybe a mention of him somewhere in the press might reveal something about his marriage.  Usually misogynistic children had terrible relationships with their mother.  But from all apparent news sources, he had appeared in public with his mother frequently, smiling and hugging like they were a real family.  Could it all be an act?
    Then, just as she was ready to give up she found a small snippet of a headline that caught her attention.
    Aspiring Political Mind Agnes Mallory on Widowhood – An interview About Moving On
                  What if Bastien never knew his father?  Could that have been the start of a huge downward spiral ending with his