14. Chapter Thirteen Laurent
Chapter Thirteen: Laurent
Standing on the tarmac, glaring at the jet that’s about to whisk Savannah away, has me questioning everything.
Particularly my life choices. The one woman who I’d like to spend time getting to know better is about to leave me, and there’s nothing I can do to stop her.
Apparently, I’m too adventure-y for her.
Once she’s given the okay to board, she turns to me and a half-smile curves her lips. “I guess this is it.”
“I guess so.”
Neither of us moves.
“I hope you find the sapphire in Istanbul.” She glances over at the waiting jet, not appearing too thrilled to be going home.
Then stay, I want to cry as I crush her to my chest and shower her beautiful face with kisses. But I don’t dare.
Don’t leave me. The plea reverberates through my mind, sounding sad and desperate. So much like the lost little boy I used to be after losing Maman.
Instead of telling her exactly how I feel, I straighten up and push down my incredible need for her to stay with me.
“Text me when you land, so I know you got home safely.” For the first time in a very long time, I’m not obsessing over finding the gem.
Instead, I’m consumed by this little bookworm who I’m afraid to say has stolen my heart. Ironic, considering I’m the thief.
She nods, but before she can walk away, I reach out and caress the back of my hand along her cheek. When she leans into my touch, I can’t help myself. I lean in and kiss her. Controlled and far more gently than I’d like, but no need to give anyone a show. It ends before it can even begin.
Biting her lip, she starts to turn, then abruptly stops. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you showed up on my doorstep.”
“Me, too.” I can barely get the words out, and they sound choked. An unbearable heaviness settles in my chest as I watch her walk away. Everything in me rebels at her leaving, but what the hell can I do? She has a life in California. And I have…
My feet refuse to move and I watch, waiting until she’s safely boarded, sitting at the window and sending me a little wave. I toss her a two-fingered salute, then press those same fingers to my lips and lift them.
And I have…nothing. Even though it’s not exactly true because I have the book, I’ve never felt so confused and lost. Like I’m standing on a wobbly platform and I can’t get my balance.
Savannah is leaving and there’s nothing I can do except honor her wish to go home. My heart folds in on itself as I turn around and walk away from the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
Fuck. I hate this. But she wants to go back to her family, and I have to respect that.
Our lives are so different, and there’s nothing I can do to change things.
Right now, I need to get my head in the game.
Time is ticking, and I need to find the sapphire before Adam Voss does.
Because I’m not stupid, and I’d be willing to bet my last dollar he made a copy of the book’s interior.
He’ll have the best possible team working on it, trying to decipher the clues hidden within.
Then he won’t hesitate to assemble the most competent and deadly group imaginable to track it down.
I’d like to think I have a head start on the billionaire, but my flight to Istanbul isn’t leaving for another few hours.
God help me, it’s a commercial flight. But I wanted to send Savvy home on the private charter I usually use.
So now if I wait for the private company, I wouldn’t be leaving until late tomorrow afternoon.
Unfortunately for me, I’m going to have to suck it up and deal with sticky screens and screaming kids, but at least I know she’ll be comfortable.
And hopefully I won’t suffer too much in first class.
Instead of aimlessly roaming around the airport, I return to my suite at the Ritz.
Without Savvy, it feels entirely too empty.
Her lemon chiffon scent still lingers in the air, and when I wander into the bedroom, the first thing I notice is her robe on the bed.
Lifting it up under my nose, I breathe deeply.
Putain! I don’t think I’ve ever been this unhappy. Like a lightning strike from the blue, it hits me that I care for Savannah more than I wanted to admit. The sex was incredible, I enjoyed our time together immensely and found her to be a breath of fresh air. But it’s more than that. So much more.
Hell, I’m falling for her.
I’ve never fallen for a woman in my life. Sure, I’ve enjoyed their company, occasionally spending a pleasurable night with one, but I’ve always been able to walk away and not look back.
With Savannah, I keep looking back.
Knowing she keeps getting further and further away from me with every passing second makes me incredibly unhappy.
The truth is, I’m scared I’m going to find The Heart of Azure and it’s going to be completely anticlimactic—even though it’s what I’ve wanted more than anything, ever since the day that pompous asshole guard told twelve-year-old me to keep my grubby hands off the glass.
I always believed finding the gem and keeping it would fulfill something inside myself. Make me somehow worthy.
But now I only want to be worthy of Savannah. What if I screwed it all up by letting her go? Merde. I hope that’s not the case.
Okay, I need a plan. I’ll feel much better once I figure out what to do about Savannah and the sapphire.
It’s not like I have to choose. I’ll still fly to Istanbul tonight.
Still move forward following the clues she pointed out.
When she texts me she’s home safely, I’ll respond with some beautifully-written sentiment that she won’t be able to resist. I’ll be my usual charming self.
That’s not going to work, dummy, a little voice chides. Maybe she’s not interested in the infamous Laurent. Maybe she wants Rhys.
I’m not sure who the wise voice in my head is, but I’m picturing my mom, and she’s shaking her head and telling me to get my own head out of my ass.
Dropping down on the edge of the bed, holding Savvy’s robe against my chest, I realize it makes sense. She chose home over another adventure with Laurent. And that has me wondering… If I—Rhys—choose home, will it lead me back to her?
I haven’t had a real home in so long. Fancy hotel suites like this one are where I usually stay.
I flit from one temporary and impersonal locale to another.
Putting down roots never appealed to me.
I’ve been a man of the world since I left the only home I’d ever known, alone, destitute, but determined to find my way.
I’ve seen and done it all. And now, the endless traveling and occasional heist seems to have lost its appeal.
I’ve been growing jaded. Bored. And now that I really look at it all, there’s no way to deny it.
Savvy lit a spark in my life. And I’ll be damned if I let it go out.
The idea of settling down and moving to Coronado, of laying down actual roots, is starting to appeal to me.
Instead of being a show-off and having a ridiculously huge house directly on the shoreline, I’ll buy a nice place within walking distance of the beach.
I can downsize my life a bit. Simplify. Surely, it’s not going to kill me.
Ditch the designer tuxes and buy some boardshorts.
Trade my loafers for sandals. Although, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to wear flip flops.
Or those hideous Croc things. Dieu m'en garde.
Just the thought makes my fashion sense rebel.
Yes, that’s it. I’m going to slow down and make it up to her.
Woo her with daisies instead of roses. Tempt her with long walks along the Pacific instead of the Mediterranean.
Help her rebuild Charlie’s Place. Maybe I’ll even accompany her and Sienna to Disneyland.
Perhaps it won’t be as bad as I think. Millions of people visit there every year, right? That has to mean something.
Sitting up straighter, I smile for real for the first time since…
Well, since I had Savvy here with me. It’s good to have a plan.
One I can work with and be happy about. I’ll keep my dual personas for as long as it takes Laurent to track down that sapphire.
Then, once I retrieve it, Rhys is going to head straight to San Diego and get himself a girlfriend.
That is, if Savannah will have me. And then I’m hanging up my alter ego and his bespoke suits.
If Savannah wants Rhys, then I’m all hers.
Content with what I need to do, I start packing my suitcase. I need to check out and head back to the airport.
It doesn’t take long for me to get organized, and I catch myself staring at the rumpled bed where Savvy and I did so many wickedly delicious things to, for, and with each other.
My phone starts ringing, jerking me out of the sexy daydream, and I scoop it off the nightstand.
I’m hoping it’s Savannah, calling me from the plane, but I look down and frown when I see “Unknown.” Very few people have my number, so I answer. “Hello?”
“Hello, Laurent,” a male voice says. “I’m sitting here with your girlfriend and we decided to give you a call.”
My blood turns to ice. I recognize Adam Voss’s voice and I’m frantically trying to piece the situation together in my head. Savannah is currently flying back to San Diego, so how could she be sitting somewhere with him? Unless she never made it off the ground.
Fuck! Why didn’t I stay and watch to make sure the flight took off?
“I’m going to offer you a deal,” he states, all business, “and I suggest you take it. Otherwise, I promise you things will get very messy. Especially for Ms. Grant.”
“Let me talk to Savannah,” I demand. Maybe he’s lying and she’s not there. I wouldn’t put any level of fuckery past that asshole.
Instead of letting me speak to her, I hear her cry out in pain then call my name. And she calls for Rhys.
Every protective instinct in me flares to life. I want to reach through the phone and pull her into my arms. Then beat the hell out of Voss.
“Leave her alone!” I yell, fury radiating through every syllable.
I start pacing, anger and fear driving me back and forth. A horrible helplessness twists my gut, because I have no idea how to help her.
“Listen closely, Rhys,” he continues, sounding smug and dangerous at the same time. “Savannah is taking a little detour with me, and if you haven’t already guessed, we’re heading to Istanbul.”
Putain de merde! How is this happening?
“You’re going to meet us there with the book you stole from my library the night of the masquerade. Don’t try to deny it. Your man missed a security cam, and I caught you both on the footage.”
Shit. I stop pacing, cursing Ryder for his slip-up, and listen carefully to his demands.
“If you don’t come to the address I text you by noon tomorrow, your lady friend will blow up into tiny little pieces. Just like her restaurant did. A shame, too, because she is lovely.”
My hands fist and rage flows through my blood, making the room turn a hazy red. “Don’t you touch her, enculé,” I growl, sounding like a feral beast. I don’t know if Voss speaks French, so I translate for him. “Understand, motherfucker?”
“Bring the book,” he hisses, then he hangs up.
With a roar, I hurl my phone into the mattress and rake both hands through my hair. This is all my fault. I never should’ve dragged Savvy into my dangerous game. Getting her back safely is my first priority, and I can’t do it all by myself.
I need backup.
I need help.
I need Addie and her crew.
Grabbing my phone back up, I don’t waste a second, calling Addie and praying she answers. After a few rings, she picks up. “Hello, Laurent.”
And I break.
“Addie, I need your help! I’ll owe you whatever you want—anything—but I need you and your crew right now!” The words spew out of me, desperate and more than a little frantic. This is nothing like my usual theatrics, and I know Addison hears it.
She inhales swiftly, not exactly prepared. “Calm down and tell me what’s happening.”
There’s no way I can be calm. Not when that fucker has Savvy. “Voss took Savannah. He wants the book. They’re on their way to Turkey and… And I can’t do this alone. I—”
“We’ll help you. Breathe, okay?”
“I can’t fucking breathe!” My hand shakes, and my grip is so tight I’m surprised the phone doesn’t crack in half. “He’s going to kill her if I don’t give him the goddamn book!”
She starts talking to someone, and I hear voices in the background, but I’m too frazzled to figure out who. “Laurent, come to A-Squared. Hunter will fly us to wherever they’re taking Savannah. We will get her back.”
“Thank you, Addie,” I rasp, my shoulders sagging. “Thank you so much.”
“You can’t help Savannah when you’re so upset,” she states, always the voice of logic and reason. “Take a few deep breaths, calm down, and get your ass over here. We’re going to Turkey to get your girl back.”
My girl. Fuck, yes, she’s my girl. And for the first time in my life, I want to be someone’s hero. I want to be Savannah’s hero.