A Woman's Empire

XXX

CHAPTER THIRTY

Audrielle stared at the tea swirling around in the teacup in front of her. Steam evaporated from the hot liquid as she tapped the spoon against the side of the cup, the clunking noise echoing through the silent dining room.

Leo sat beside her, his hand rested on top of hers as he traced little circles on her soft skin.

"I'm sorry about your loss." Leo mumbled and Audrielle shrugged her shoulders.

"Don't be, he didn't mean much to me and I sure as hell wasn't much to him either." Audrielle muttered, taking a small sip of her tea. The hot tea burned the back of Audrielle's throat but she welcomed it, the tea making her feel warm and relaxed.

Leo didn't say anything else, he thought he shouldn't push his boundaries and sensed that Audrielle wasn't in the mood to talk.

When Leo was about to ask Audrielle something else, Antonio walked into the room in just a pair of basketball shorts that hung lowly, showing off his toned abs. It was obvious he had just finished working out because the sweet glazed his muscles nicely and made him look even more tanned. Audrielle couldn't help but blush and had to look away to stop herself from gawking when she caught Leo's gaze and he raised an eyebrow.

"Good morning." Antonio politely greeted, taking a seat at the opposite end of the table.

"Morning." Audrielle mumbled, sending him a small smile while Leo just nodded his head.

"Did you send out the invitations?" Leo asked as he closed his laptop screen down and diverted his full attention to his brother.

"Yes, I did that yesterday afternoon."

"What invitations?" Audrielle asked, looking into Leo's green eyes.

"Every year we hold a ball here for our employees all over the world. Of course we don't invite everyone that works for us because it's a danger, enemies could attack and wipe us all out in one go so we just invite the important people. The ones who help run it all." Leo mentioned, finishing his cup of black coffee.

"This year it is Masquerade themed." Antonio added and sent a small smile to Audrielle.

"Yes, this afternoon we will be heading into the city to look at costumes." Leo said, looking at Audrielle who had a smile on her face. She liked it when the ball's had themes. Her birthday balls were always themed and one year they had a Hawaiian themed, which was her favourite.

The three of them chatted first a little more before Christian suddenly walked in. When Audrielle looked up and made eye contact with his dark eyes, she froze.

Christian tried to say something when Leo stood up, his facial expressions hardening. He grabbed Audrielle's hand and dragged her out of the dining area until they were back upstairs.

"What was that all about?" Audrielle asked, sitting down on the bed and staring at Leo's muscular back.

"I don't want you in the same room as him, it's just a recipe for disaster." Leo grumbled, picking up a white t-shirt off of the floor and putting it on. Audrielle watched him walk into the wardrobe. She could hear him rustling through the drawers until he came out wearing a pair of khaki pants. He walked up to Audrielle and kissed her forehead before reaching over and grabbing the Rolex watch that sat on the bedside table.

"We're going shopping so get dressed."

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The dresses were expensive but that didn't surprise Audrielle. Instead, she was stunned at the minimal amount of fabric they were made out of. "What about this one?" Leo asked, turning around while holding a bright red colored dress in his hands.

"Leo, that will cover nothing." She whispered harshly while looking back at the store assistants that stood behind the checkout, big grins plastered on their face.

"Hm, I guess we'll just have to save this dress for the bedroom then." He winked, hanging it back up on the rack. Audrielle blushed at the comment and decided to do some browsing herself. They didn't spend long in the shop because Audrielle didn't find any dresses she liked.

They walked into the next store and the sale assistants immediately snapped their attention to the couple. One of them, who was busy filing her nails, had the courage to walk up to them, a fake smile on her face. Leo and Audrielle looked like a power couple from a high end fashion magazine. Audrielle had the long legs and petite figure of a super model and Leo had the sharp jawline and intimidating eyes. It just happened to be a bonus that they screamed of money wherever they went.

The girl couldn't help but look Leo up and down. Her smile grew when she saw the gold Rolex on his wrist. "Mr. Amour, how may we help you and your-" the girl started to say before looking at Audrielle.

"-friend today?" She muttered when she saw the giant diamond ring on Audrielle's left hand.

"My wife is needing a dress for a dinner date this evening." Leo answered, emphasising that Audrielle was his wife. He also didn't go into full detail, deciding it probably was the best idea that the lady didn't know about the masquerade ball he was holding the following weekend. The less people that knew, the better.

"Oh, yes. Is it formal?"

Leo nodded and the lady smiled before sending the couple to the back of the store where the changing rooms were located. Soon she came back with four dresses. One was black and made of velvet, another was a dark purple which was at an unusual length and the other two were a pale pink which Leo didn't like.

After trying on numerous dresses as well as heels, Audrielle was exhausted. It started to remind her of her wedding when her mom would have her try on every single dress at least three times until they were adamant that "it was the one".

The shop assistant came back into the room with one last dress. It looked nice but Audrielle wasn't too sure if she would be able to pull it off.

"This is our last formal dress we have in store." The girl huffed, holding up the dress.

"Try it on." Leo demanded and Audrielle sighed loudly before walking into the changing room with the dress in hand. Several minutes later, and with help from the shop assistant, Audrielle was able to get the dress on and walked out of the dressing room. Leo was busy typing away on his phone and Audrielle had to clear her throat to get his attention, but when he looked up, he was in awe with the woman standing in front of him.

The dress hugged her perfectly and the off the shoulders straps helped enhance her hourglass figure. It was shortened at the front a tiny bit so it didn't drag along the floor and Audrielle couldn't trip over it. The colour was gorgeous, complimenting her tan skin and brown eyes.

Leo smiled genuinely. "This is the one."