Tangle (BWWM)

Chapter 6 - Press Reset

"Jacques, what the actual fuck?" Vincent groaned as his hands rubbed at his exhausted eyes. "Why were you in her house?!"

The other man sat back on the leather couch in Vincent's study, toying with sherry he had just poured out for himself. "I went there to apologize on your behalf for your foolish actions. Frankly, you should have been the one to do it, but I know you so well. I took the liberty of building the bridge between the two of you." He took a quick sip before shooting a satisfied look at his cousin. "You're welcome."

"Oh yeah? Pray tell, how did she react to your 'bridge building' exercise?"

"Well..."

Vincent's eyebrows raised in anticipation.

He paused for a second and gave a shrug. "She yelled at me to 'get the fuck out' and tried to push me out the door of her apartment."

Vincent let out an exasperated sigh. "For fuck's sake..." He stood up and rounded his desk, beginning to pace. It wasn't just enough that he had messed up his own chances. Now Jacques had to go and do... whatever it is he did.

"Look, Vincent, what you did was wrong and you know it. You say you love her or are in love with her or whatever. But your arrogance gets in the way and you end up taking advantage of her. Yes, I understand that you want her, but right now, she DOES NOT want you. You need to accept that. Forcibly bonding her to you would only elicit an eternity of resentment toward you. You can either walk away and move on," that statement earned a dangerous glare from Vincent, which Jacques ignored, "or you can earn her the correct way. Start all over."

"Start all over..." Vincent repeated.

Jacques nodded. "It's not the first time you've pursued a woman before, Vincent. Like I told you before, use your charm."

Vincent sighed. "Jacques, what if I don't have enough time..."

He tilted his head to the side, finally realizing what was troubling his cousin. "Vincent, are you acting with so much urgency because of what happened with-?"

"Please, Jacques," he begged, stopping the other man in his tracks. He could not bear hearing her name right now. He'd made a hell of an effort all those years ago to suppress the memories, to overcome the trauma of losing her.

"Desolé."

Vincent took a deep breath, trying to rebury all the things he wanted to forget. "And what if she never grows to love me? What would I do then?"

Jacques shrugged. "Let me help you. I know it's been a while since you've tried to take a wife. I can remind you of how the wooing is done."

He looked at Jacques as if he'd grown two heads. "Hold on," he chuckled. "You," he emphasized the word with a harsh point of his finger in Jacques' direction. "You are going to remind me of how to woo a woman? Remind me of how many women you've been with again?" His laughing continued while Jacques eyed him, not at all amused. "Oh, that's right. One."

"Vincent, I'm French." That earned him an eyeroll from Vincent. "We invented romance."

"Fuck off," Vincent muttered under his breath.

"I heard that, twat."

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It had been three days since Jacques appeared in Gabrielle's apartment and tried to force that sham of an "apology" on her. Since that night, she had barely seen either Dragonoff. They would pop in and out of the building, supposedly doing important company things. However, she would not know what they were, which was odd. She was supposed to be Vincent's "right-hand lady", but she had been left out of the loop for the past couple of days.