Chapter 4
As though she’d been punched in the gut, Jasmine sat back in the taxi, pressing her hand to her belly.
That Ace had suggested the café where they’d met could mean something or nothing at all. Not as familiar with Athens as she was, he could have said the only place he remembered.
Or was the café as dear a memory to him as it was to her? It was the place they’d met. The place where everything in her life had changed the moment Ace had sat at her table and turned her world upside down with his smile.
She didn’t want to read too much into his choice but couldn’t help it. She’d tried twice to tell him about Eli while they’d been sitting on the plane. Twice, she’d been interrupted, finally feeling like it was a sign that she wasn’t supposed to tell him yet.
When she’d been accused of treason and booted out of the army, she’d felt so alone. Her first thought had been to contact Ace. Shame had made her hesitate. Wanting to establish herself in another profession first, she’d gone about looking for work only to discover she wasn’t suited for anything in an office.
Her search had become more desperate when she’d learned she was pregnant. At her lowest, running out of money, having moved into a smaller apartment and scraping by, a chance encounter with a friend of her mother’s had led to her decision to become a private investigator. Who would suspect a pregnant woman of spying on them?
She’d wanted to tell Ace he had a child on the way but hadn’t wanted him to feel obligated to marry her because of it. When she’d finally tried to get in touch, he hadn’t answered the phone number he’d given her, and she hadn’t left a message, figuring he might not be answering because he didn’t want to hear from her.
Life became a daily battle to keep her head above water with work, pregnancy and then baby Eli.
Her heart swelled with the love she had for her child—the boy who looked more like his father every day.
Her fists clenched. She had to get her son back. He was everything to her. When she’d thought she’d never see Ace again, her entire world had focused on Eli. She’d done her best to provide for him, wanting to give him everything to make up for the lack of a father.
She glanced at Ace, still shocked that he’d just appeared in her life again. His timing couldn’t have been better…or worse. Better because she needed all the help she could get to save Eli. Worse because she couldn’t find the words to tell him who Eli was to her...as well as him.
Jasmine knew she should tell him and opened her mouth to do so.
His cell phone chirped at that moment, drawing his attention to the device. “It’s Swede.” As he read the text, his body stiffened beside hers.
When she leaned over to see what he was reading, he pulled the phone up to his chest and stared into her eyes, his brow dipping low. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Her heart dropped like a lead weight into the pit of her belly. “Tell you what?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She knew before he answered.
“Eli,” he said, his jaw tight. “Why didn’t you tell me he was your son?”
Jasmine could feel the blood draining from her face. “I tried to tell you,” she said. “On the plane. Twice.”
He shook his head. “You should’ve told me from the beginning.”
“I wanted to,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. “I just didn’t know how.”
Ace took her hands in his. “You must be beside yourself from worry.”
She nodded, confused. His concern and understanding were the last things she’d expected. “You’re not mad?”
He shook his head. “I’d be frantic if my son were kidnapped.”
Jasmine’s gaze shot up to Ace’s, and she frowned. In that moment, she realized Ace only had half the story right. She’d assumed he knew her son was also his son when he only knew that she had a son.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said, holding her hands tighter, his chin lifting. “We will get him back.”
Jasmine opened her mouth to set him straight, then closed it. Once again, the timing seemed wrong. She’d wanted to tell him from the very beginning and, more recently, on the plane. With him being so gentle and reassuring about losing her son, she just couldn’t do it.
Her chest ached so badly with the need to hold her child that she wasn’t sure she could handle Ace’s wrath when he finally discovered Eli was his son.
The taxi pulled up in front of the café.
Ace paid the driver with his credit card, thanked him and stepped out of the cab. He met Jasmine at the rear of the vehicle and pulled the stolen suitcase from the trunk.
After the taxi driver left, Jasmine stared at the café where she’d met Ace. Since that fateful day when she’d invited the handsome American to share her table, her life had never been the same.
The café was every bit as cute now as it had been four years earlier. It had the same little bistro tables sitting out front, and a busy waiter was weaving between tables and chairs to deliver glasses of wine and plates of food.
Jasmine’s chest swelled as she stared at the empty table in the far corner of the grouping.
“Our table is available.” Ace turned that killer grin toward Jasmine, and the sun seemed to shine a little brighter as it had that day so long ago. For a moment, she stared into his eyes, unable to look away.
The waiter approached and spoke to them in Greek, pulling Jasmine back to the present, back to the fact her son was missing and that she was still withholding information Ace deserved to know.
Was withholding that information like lying? Because she felt as guilty as if she’d flat-out lied to the father of her child.
The waiter addressed them again, asking if they wanted to sit inside or outside.
Jasmine answered him in fluent Greek that they would sit outside. She nodded toward their table.
The waiter told her to take a seat and waved a hand toward the table sitting in the far corner of the space. He promised to be back soon with menus.
Jasmine led the way.
Ace pulled out a chair for her. Once she was seated, he dropped into the chair beside her.
Jasmine couldn’t stop the rush of déjà vu washing over her. She’d managed to revisit the little restaurant in Athens on several occasions. Each time, she’d imagined what it would be like if Ace just happened to show up at the exact same time, asking for this table.
In her mind, they’d smile cautiously at each other, then sink into their chairs and into the same familiarity they’d enjoyed the last time they’d been together.
Her imagination had come up with a lot better reunion than the one they were having now. She was too tense to relax and too worried to think beyond getting Eli back in her arms.
Jasmine pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut.
Think. What contacts did she have in Athens that would know where to find Athanasios Demopoulos?
A hand touched her arm.
Jasmine didn’t have to open her eyes to know whose hand it was.
The electric shock ripping across her nerve endings told her it was Ace.
“Are you okay?” He spoke softly, the rich timbre of his voice melting into her skin and her heart.
“No,” she admitted. “My son has been kidnapped, time is running out and I don’t know where to find Demopoulos to get back what he stole from me.” Her lips twisted. “And, yes, I realize the irony. He stole what I stole from the museum and the people of Jordan.” She shook her head. “And I’d do it again to save my son.”
He covered her hand with his. “I’m waiting for Swede to get back to us with information on Demopoulos’s location.”
Her brow dipped. “We need an insider in the criminal underground. I might know someone who can help.” The first time she’d been back to Athens, she’d been hired by a wealthy Greek shipping tycoon to follow his wife to see if she was cheating on him.
The tycoon had introduced her to a man with connections throughout the city and beyond who could help her with anything she needed, from access to elite country clubs to entrance into exclusive gambling halls.
Jasmine pulled out her cell phone and scrolled through her contacts to Dmytro, hoping he still had the same number since the last time she’d contacted him had been over six months ago.
A lazy, gravelly voice answered in Ukrainian on the second ring. “Moya lyubov, yak spravy?” My love, how are you?
A smile spread across Jasmine’s face. “I hope you, your wife and your daughter are well,” Jasmine responded in Dmytro’s native Ukrainian. “I need your help.”
“Anything for you,” he said.
Jasmine’s chest swelled. She’d spent some time with the man after her job had ended with the tycoon. He’d invited her to his home for dinner and poker with his wife and daughter.
She’d learned how he and his family had escaped Ukraine when Russia had ravaged his hometown in an attempt to bring Ukraine back into the Russian borders. They’d lost loved ones and had to start over in a country where they hadn’t spoken the language. Dmytro had done his best for what was left of his family.
Jasmine suspected she’d reminded Dmytro of his daughter Ana. He’d taken her under his wing and helped her get her feet on the ground as an international freelancer and entrepreneur.
He’d even hooked her up with a man who made fake passports. By the time she’d returned to Israel and Eli, she’d had passports for Russia, Italy, Greece, Spain, Germany and the UK. And she had a friend she could count on when she was in Athens.
“I need to get to Athanasios Demopoulos. He stole something from me that I need to get back.” She paused for a breath, then continued, “My son’s life depends on getting the items back.”
“Does Demopoulos have Eli?” Dmytro’s voice went from lazy to tight.
“No. Someone else does. If he doesn’t get the item Demopoulos took from me, he will kill Eli.”
“No, no,” Dmytro said. “We cannot let that happen. You need to know where you can find Demopoulos. I will text his address. He has a compound just outside Athens. It is heavily guarded. You will not get past his security.”
“Does he leave the compound often?” Jasmine asked. “Is there a place he frequents daily? I don’t have much time.”
“No, but his son, Christos, is a gambler. You can find him at the Olympus Casino every afternoon. His father has threatened to disown him for the debts he accrues.”
“I need to get to the father,” Jasmine insisted. “Not the son.”
“The son lives on the compound with his father,” Dmytro’s voice softened. “A cunning woman could find a way to be invited into the compound by the son, especially if the son is known to have a great love for all women. You will find him in a private poker game. You play poker, yes?”
Jasmine nodded with a grin, though Dmytro couldn’t see. “I have. With you.”
“Then you learned from the best. I will arrange for you to play to win. You will have to take it from there.”
“It has to be today,” Jasmine urged. “I don’t have much time.”
“I will ensure it happens. Christos will be there within the next two hours.” Dmytro chuckled. “The boy cannot resist a high-stakes poker game with an elite player he has yet to match his wits against. I’m sure he’ll be eager to test his skills against the notorious daughter of a wealthy Italian family.”
A grin quirked at the corners of Jasmine’s mouth. “A certain Francesca Giordano?”
“Si, bella mia,” he said in his flawless Italian before switching back to Ukrainian. “Now, let me set it up. Can you be at the casino in two hours?”
“We can be there in fifteen minutes,” she said, her jaw tightening.
“Two hours, assuming I can connect with the right people.” Dmytro paused. “Bodyguard?”
“Francesca Giordano wouldn’t go anywhere without a bodyguard,” Jasmine said in her haughtiest tone.
Dmytro chuckled. “Is he to be trusted?”
“With my life.”
“And Eli’s?” Dmytro persisted.
She looked up into Ace’s eyes. “Absolutely.”
“Good,” the Ukrainian said. “Otherwise, I would arrange for someone to go with you. Demopoulos is not to be trusted. Once you’re inside the compound, you will find it almost as difficult to get out as it is to get in.”
“I’ll bear that in mind.” Jasmine drew a deep breath and let it out. “I have to do this. I can’t lose Eli.”
“Understood,” Dmytro said. “We do whatever it takes for family.”
“Thank you, Dmytro,” she said softly. “Ty sim”ya.” You are family.
“As are you and Eli,” he responded and ended the call.
Jasmine glanced up at Ace.
“I take it that was your insider,” he said.
“It was.” She glanced down at her watch. “We have two hours to get ready.”
“Ready for what?”
Her eyes narrowed as she studied him. “You’ll need to wear something a little more intimidating, and I need a new dress and shoes.”
Ace frowned. “What’s happening in two hours? And what do you mean I need something more intimidating?”
“I’m going to play poker,” she said and waved toward the waiter. “You’re going as my bodyguard. Let’s eat quickly. We need enough time to go shopping and still arrive at our destination on time.”
They ordered light sandwiches and a glass of wine. Though they needed to fuel their bodies for whatever was to come, it was about more than keeping up their physical strength. Being with Ace gave Jasmine the emotional strength she needed to weather this storm.
If her son wasn’t being held hostage, Jasmine would have enjoyed the meal with Ace. She’d dreamed about it for so long that it was surreal having him there, sitting across the table, barely looking a day older. Yes, the lines were deeper around his eyes, and his shoulders might have been a little broader, but he was the same man she’d fallen in love with four years ago.
Was she still in love with him?
Jasmine stopped in mid-chew.
Was she?
With her eyelids lowered, she studied him through her lashes.
Her heart skipped several beats as she absorbed the impact of him. When he touched her, she got the same little jolt of electricity shooting through her. He made her catch her breath so often she feared she might pass out.
If only Eli was safe, she’d explore their relationship. She felt 99.9 percent certain her feelings remained strong.
What about Ace?
He’d never answered her calls. After he’d left Greece, she hadn’t seen or heard from him until now. What did that say about his level of commitment to whatever they’d shared for that one week?
A week had been long enough for her to fall in love. Maybe it hadn’t been for Ace. Obviously, it hadn’t been enough, or he would have answered her calls or looked her up.
She laid her half-eaten sandwich on the plate, no longer hungry. The wine had taken the edge off her anxiety without dulling her senses.
Ace finished his sandwich, drank the last of his wine and met her gaze across the table. “Ready?”
She nodded and waved to the waiter.
He arrived with their check.
Ace insisted on paying for the meal. Once the transaction was complete, he stood and held Jasmine’s chair as she rose.
His arm brushed against hers. A ripple of awareness spread through her body, and heat coiled at her core. A flash of memory filled her mind.
Her lying naked in his arms after making love in the middle of the afternoon. She’d never felt so sexy and utterly decadent.
The overwhelming longing to make love with him again filled her soul. She turned away, afraid he’d somehow read her mind and see her lusty thoughts written plainly across her face.
Ace cupped her elbow and led her through the maze of tables until they stood on the curb by the street.
When a taxi slid to a stop in front of them, Ace opened the door, handed her in, stowed the suitcase in the trunk and slid in beside her.
Jasmine fought the urge to reach for his hand and hold on, never to let go again. She’d lost him once. She wasn’t sure her heart could handle losing him again.
Jasmine gave the driver the address of the clothing store she’d used the last time she’d been there. It would have what she needed in the way of a sophisticated dress and shoes. She’d speak with the proprietor and ask where they could find a leather jacket to fit Ace.
Ace leaned close and took her hand. “Are you all right?”
“Why?” she quipped. “Don’t I look all right?”
“No. That’s not it.” He ran a finger along her forearm, sending shivers across her skin and down her spine. “You look amazing. And very worried. I wish I could tell you that we’re getting Eli back tonight.”
“You can’t tell me that,” she said, sadness weighing heavily on her shoulders. “We don’t even know exactly where he is.” She held up the burner phone. “This is my only link to my son.”
“Would they know that you lost the scroll?”
Jasmine shrugged. “For all I know, they might have spies watching my every move.”
“They might not have caught the plane we got on,” Ace pointed out. “We barely caught it with Swede making the reservations.”
“True.” Her lips pressed together. “They knew enough about my movements and whereabouts to know when I was away, and my son was with the nanny.” The phone call she’d received from the nanny still echoed in her memory.
Ace sat back in his seat. “I’d think they’d call if they thought the scroll was in jeopardy.”
Jasmine nodded. “That’s what I hope.”
“Okay.” Ace clapped his hands together. “What’s this about poker?”
Jasmine told him what Dmytro had said about the compound being heavily guarded with no way in other than by invitation. “Athanasios doesn’t get out as often as his son, Christos. He’s our target. Apparently, he has a gambling habit.”
Ace’s brow wrinkled. “He plays poker?”
Jasmine nodded. “Yes. At a local casino in one of the back rooms. Invitation only.”
“Your contact is getting us an invitation?”
“Not us,” she said. “Wealthy Italian heiress Francesca Giordano and her bodyguard.”
His lips quirked as he held back a smile. “Bodyguard, huh?”
“Unless you want to wear a dress and shave your legs, you’ll be the bodyguard.” Jasmine challenged him with a cocked eyebrow.
“The dress, I might be all right with,” he said, touching a finger to his chin. Then he shook his head. “I draw the line at shaving my legs. I’ll be the bodyguard. You can be Frances what’s-her-name.”
“Francesca Giordano,” Jasmine corrected though she suspected Ace knew exactly how to pronounce the name but was poking fun at her. “The idea is to get Christos to invite me to the compound.”
“And if he doesn’t?” Ace asked.
“Not an option. I have to make him want to invite me to the compound, one way or another.”
“He might expect more than a chance to share a drink with you.”
Jasmine snorted softly. “If he gets me onto the compound, he can expect all he wants. I don’t plan on delivering anything more than, Thank you, give me my scroll and I’ll be on my way.”
“If it’s so hard to get into the compound, it has to be equally hard to get out.”
Her jaw hardened. “One step at a time. I need to locate and obtain that scroll.”
“I’m used to planning ingress and egress on a mission,” Ace said with a frown. “It can mean the difference between life and death.”
“You forget.” Her chin rose. “I was with the Sayeret Matkal. I’ve learned that no matter how expertly you plan and practice, nothing ever goes according to the plan. You have to roll with the punches and reevaluate on the fly.” She laid a hand on his arm. “We don’t have much time.”
He covered her hand on his arm and squeezed gently. “No. We don’t have much time.”
“How are you with all this?” she asked.
He shrugged. “I’m here to help any way I can. You heard me...I’d even wear the dress if it gets me into that compound.”
The taxi stopped in front of the store Jasmine had requested.
Ace slipped out of the back seat, rounded to the other side and opened Jasmine’s door. “Madame.” Ace held out his hand.
Jasmine laid her palm in his.
He wrapped his fingers around her hand and helped her to her feet.
She stumbled on the curb and pitched forward.
Both of Ace’s arms encircled her and held on until she’d regained her balance.
Her cheeks heated as she stared up at Ace, in no hurry to leave the safety of his arms. She had no desire to step out on her own. This was her place, her person. If she could, she’d stay there forever.
Forever.
Eli didn’t have forever.
“We need to hurry.” Jasmine stepped around Ace, grabbed her suitcase handle and rolled it into the store as if shoppers always rolled their suitcases into stores.
The clock was ticking on Eli’s life. She had to get her hands on that scroll. It was her only bargaining chip.