Crêpe Murder: Book 4 (A Patisserie Mystery with Recipes) by Harper Lin Page B

objectified,” said Madeleine, who was wearing a lovely diamond necklace herself. She leaned in to whisper to Clémence, “I just hope that when Henri proposes, the ring will be as pretty as that one.”  

    She pointed to a square pink diamond lined with smaller diamonds that belonged to a Swedish princess.

    “Every girl deserves a diamond,” said Clémence. “Because every girl is a princess.”  

    Madeleine smiled at her. “You have a generous heart, you know that?”  

    “It’s just the champagne talking,” Clémence joked.

    “Are you getting some ideas?” Arthur and Henri walked to the girls.  

    “ Oui ,” Madeleine said. “We were just window shopping.”  

    “What have you decided on so far?” asked Henri with an amused smile.

    “We both like this pink diamond,” Madeleine said.

    “I don’t even think I’m worth as much as this diamond,” said Arthur.

    “Oh, you’re priceless,” said Clémence.

    More guest filtered in during the next hour, but Livia was still nowhere to be found. Madeline and Henri were lost in the crowd mingling and even Arthur was enjoying a conversation with a man with salt and pepper hair. Everybody looked like they belonged in a magazine, whether they were twenty or sixty.  

    Clémence did some mingling as well, to find out if anyone knew Livia and whether she was really coming. After another half hour, she spotted Marcus Savin in the crowd, arm in arm with an equally dashing blond man. She waved to him.

    “Clémence Damour!” He greeted her with bisous, then turned to his partner. “Didn’t I tell you that this dress belongs on her?”  

    Marcus’s date turned out to be his boyfriend Brice. He greeted Clémence with bisous as well. “This dress looks better on you than on the runway for sure.”  

    “I’m sorry,” Marcus told her. “Livia just called me while I was getting here. I told her you wanted to talk to her, so she’s open to meeting with you. The thing is, her flight got delayed, so she’ll be here in forty minutes or so.”  

    “Oh, okay. I guess that’s fine.” Clémence was disappointed, but she might as well enjoy the party as she waited.  

    “Oh look, someone’s wearing my canary dress.” Marcus was talking about someone behind Clémence and she turned to look.

    The woman in the silk dress had her back to them. She was speaking a man in a tux. He was so big and imposing that he reminded Clémence of the Hulk.  

    “Do you know who she is?” Clémence asked.  

    “No.”  

    The Hulk-like man must’ve told the woman they were staring at her because she turned around.

    “Come on, let’s go say hi.” Marcus made his way through the crowd to her, and Brice and Clémence followed.

    There was something familiar about this woman. She had long dark hair, olive skin and big eyes, somewhat resembling the actress Penelope Cruz. Maybe that was why she looked familiar. There were a lot of people at the party that Clémence vaguely recognized.  

    Marcus introduced himself as the designer. “I’m so flattered to have another beautiful woman wear my dress.”  

    “You’re Marcus Savin? Wow. I was just at your store earlier. I’d buy the whole store if I could.”  

    Marcus laughed. “You are more than welcome to.”  

    “I’m Adana,” she said. Still smiling, her dark eyes fixed on Clémence. “And you are?”  

    “Clémence Damour. Enchantée .”  

    “So we’re wearing the same designer!” she said. “You have good taste.”

    “ Merci. Vous aussi. ”  

    Marcus engaged Adana in a conversation about the dress for a moment. Clémence listened in, but she was distracted by the man beside Adana.  

    Clémence turned and looked at him. She thought there was something strange about the man, the stiff way he stood and the way his eyes avoided eye contact with any of them. With his muscles bulging out of his tight tuxedo, he looked uncomfortable and out of place at the party. His silent