36. The French Connection
Chapter thirty-six
The French Connection
Julian
“ H i, Simone. Is Julian available?” I heard Nicolette ask.
I wondered why she hadn’t waited for me.
I was just about to come and get her in the lab and go home for the day.
Honestly, I thought Simone would have left by now.
She always begged off early on Fridays, and most employees had left for the day.
The executive suite was completely empty save Simone and me. And now my bride.
Thankfully, my hearing was as sharp as ever.
I’d heard Nicolette humming to herself before she even stepped out of the elevator onto the private executive floor.
I found an odd comfort in it. It had been a week since I’d last taken her blood.
But while all my vampire senses had returned, something human lingered. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
Perhaps it was simply being able to make love to my wife.
Or the fact that she was my partner in the truest sense.
Whatever it was, it would remain a mystery.
There was no way in hell I was going to ask her to run any more blood tests—not with the killer still on the loose and no one taking our bait.
For the last few days, Nicolette and I had made sure to have “private” conversations within earshot of every member of my family—my parents, Cyrus, Amos, even Simone—and every employee in the “vampire division” of Hart Labs.
Nicolette had mentioned to her father that she’d come across some of her mother’s old research.
And she’d not so subtly dropped to Delia that she might have a hint about what was on her mother’s missing laptop.
As per our plan, Nicolette had been purposely careless about leaving her mother’s laptop in plain sight in her office. Of course, it had been wiped clean of Grace Hart’s actual research. The only thing left on it was the decoy files Nicolette had created.
But there had been no hint that anyone had disturbed the files. Certainly, no one had taken the laptop.
Part of me was relieved it wasn’t anyone in my close circle.
Especially Cyrus. If anything, Cyrus seemed relieved I was abandoning my pursuit of becoming human—for now—though he wished for the same.
He saw the same danger in it that Nicolette and I did.
He was more than interested in what Nicolette had done to me, yet he didn’t press when I asked him not to. That alone was a comfort.
But this entire business was bloody frustrating all the same. I wished to move on. Wished to annihilate any threat against my wife.
“He’s always available for you,” Simone replied.
“Great,” Nicolette chirped, overly cheerly. She’d been on edge for days now. Worried about me and my so-called recovery, this damn vampire we couldn’t seem to catch, and even all the moral implications of not pursuing a cure.
There would be no solving the complexities of it all now—or even in the near future. Perhaps never. I hated that she felt as if it all fell at her feet.
“Are you all right?” Simone asked. “You seem a little jittery.”
“Do I?” Nicolette said, way too pitchy. “It must be all the stress of balancing work and married life.”
She wasn’t doing a great job of lying. Not to say she wasn’t stressed, and being married to me had been no pleasure cruise for her.
“Yes, you’ve been busy. You should take a break, and we should have lunch together. I would love for you to meet my boyfriend,” Simone sang.
“You’re dating someone new?” Nicolette asked.
“No. It’s the guy I told you about before. Luc.”
“The guy you were dating in France? I thought you broke up.”
“Yes, that’s him. I guess true love never dies. He’s been in the States trying to tie up some loose ends, and we’ve been talking.”
“What kind of loose ends?” Nicolette asked.
“You know, business stuff. He owns several prize-winning horses in Kentucky.”
“That’s interesting,” Nicolette’s tone shifted. There was something in the way she said “interesting” that didn’t sit right with me.
It was time to end the conversation.
I raced to my office door and opened it to the private executive anteroom where Simone worked just outside my suite. “Hello, darling. I’m sorry to interrupt, but my lips are in desperate need of yours.”
“Oh, you two are so cute,” Simone trilled as she swiveled in her desk chair to face me. “We should go on a double date. I know Luc would love to meet you too, Julian. I’ve told him your love story and he’s fascinated.”
“Fascinated?” Nicolette echoed.
Simone grinned and pointed between us. “You know . . . because you’re not the same,” she whispered.
“So you and Luc are the same?” Nicolette asked.
“Of course. Don’t get me wrong. I love humans, but your lives are so fragile.”
“I suppose they are,” Nicolette said evenly as she made her way to my side and took my hand. “But I wouldn’t count us out.”
I loved Nicolette’s fire. But I did not love the way Simone was speaking. The way she said she loved humans had sounded almost . . . predatory.
Simone laughed. “Of course not. I like you, Nicolette. I know Luc will too. He has a thing for smart women. Obviously.” She waved a hand over herself.
“Name the date,” I played along, feeling more and more uneasy. “But for now, hold all my calls.”
I ushered Nicolette into my office and straight into the bathroom.
She didn’t question it; nor did she say a word. She knew better now.
“Darling, you are a naughty girl,” I moaned loudly before turning on the shower and the fan.
Nicolette didn’t even crack a smile. She only nodded in understanding. The last thing I wanted was for Simone to think I was deliberately keeping her from hearing us. Let’s just say I was suspicious of my longtime friend.
Wide-eyed, Nicolette leaned against the counter.
I pressed my body against hers, wishing this were simply a wife visiting her husband—that we could take full advantage of the shower.
“Whisper as low as you can,” I warned her.
“Julian,” her muted voice squeaked. “The second note I received. Remember, you said it smelled of an expensive bourbon made in Kentucky . . . and of French shoe polish.”
Damn. I saw the dots she was connecting. And I didn’t like where they were going.
“I think Luc is the killer,” she murmured.
I nodded. But what part did Simone play in it? What was her motive for betraying me? Yet I couldn’t see a way she was innocent.
“What do we do?” Nicolette wrapped her arms around me, clinging.
That was easy. “Kill them. Luc and Simone.”
Hopefully after I discovered what they were searching for.
Nicolette shuddered. “Why hasn’t Simone taken the laptop?”
“That is a good question. Perhaps it isn’t the research they want.”
“What is it, then?”
I rested my chin on her head, thinking. “I don’t know.”
“We have another problem too,” she mumbled against my chest.
“What is that?” The last thing we needed was another problem.
Nicolette leaned away, just barely.
“Delia called me. It’s why I came up here. She’s losing it. She’s afraid she’s going to kill someone.”
Bloody hell.
“And people are talking about why she had to take a sabbatical. Even my dad is asking questions. It’s a mess. All of it,” she breathed out.
“I know. But one problem at a time. My priority is to keep you safe. We need to find out where this Luc is. I’ll have Cyrus follow Simone. I hope you’ll agree we can trust him.”
Nicolette thought for a moment, then nodded. “Or we could just agree to have dinner with him.”
“Absolutely not. You are going nowhere near him. And I believe Simone only said those things to taunt you.”
“You think she wanted us to know. Why?”
“Perhaps they’re tired of the game as well. Or . . .” I exhaled sharply. “Or they’ve discovered the secret.”
Nicolette swallowed hard.
My sentiments exactly. But at least now we could, hopefully, end this bloody cat-and-mouse game.
“Then why is Simone still here?” Nicolette asked, her voice low but unsteady.
I opened my mouth to respond but stopped short at the sound of one of the last voices I wanted to hear right now. Frantic. Too loud.
“I need to see Julian,” Delia demanded.
“Hell,” I groaned. Her timing could not have been worse. What was she doing out while there was still some sunlight? And how had she made it past security to this level?
Nicolette’s brow pinched. “What is it?”
“Delia’s here.” I crept toward the bathroom door and switched off the fan. “Stay here,” I begged her.
“You’re one of us,” Simone questioned outside. “How can this be?”
Something in her tone told me this did not bode well.
I opened the door to retrieve Delia—but faster than even my reflexes could react, it all went sideways.
“The cure,” Delia cried. “It went wrong. It went wrong. I need help now.”
“It’s you,” Simone breathed, as if she’d just been handed a gift. “I know someone who’s been looking for you.”
“Text Cyrus,” I mouthed to Nicolette before I ran out the door.
But by the time I made it into the executive anteroom, everything had already gone to hell.