Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Fabien
If she knew what I’ve done to keep her with me, she’d probably run.
Hell, it feels like she’s looking for an escape even now. But we’re right on the cusp of a breakthrough, on finally achieving what we set out to do, and I can’t allow reason to get in the way.
I may have taken things too far. For years, I’ve been telling myself that the ends justify the means.
Do they?
I can’t think about this now. We have to get to security.
We have a job to do.
We exit the car and head into La Maison.
No one follows us.
No one attacks.
I need to shut this place down and secure everyone before Nicolette and I head to the security detail.
Gwen paces the entryway when we enter.
“There you are! My God!” she says and throws her hands up in the air. “I’ve been frantic!” She gathers Nicolette up and gives her a massive hug. She stares at Nicolette’s bloodstained clothing. “Oh my God, are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” Nicolette says, before she releases a breath. “I… we had an incident. Several, actually, but I’m okay. Fabien—” she looks over at me. “Fabien made sure of that.”
My conscience—which I didn’t even fucking know I still had—pricks me.
Gwen glares at me and finally gives a reluctant nod. She knows as well as I do that making sure that Nicolette is safe doesn’t negate the fact that Nicolette wouldn’t have been in danger like this to begin with if it weren’t for me.
“We have a few things to do,” Nicolette says as she draws in a deep breath. “But let’s catch up later, okay?” She leans in and gives Gwen another impulsive hug.
“Definitely, and we have to include Joelle, or she’ll kill me.”
Nicolette doesn’t laugh. Poor girl.
“We’re going to my room,” I tell Gwen. “We’re locked down for the night. No more clients. Everyone will be paid double time, and tomorrow, we’re going to discuss our options.”
Gwen nods. “Yes, sir. Thank you.”
“How’s Cosette?”
“A bit shaken but otherwise fine.”
“Good. We’ll check on her.” New security guards march by the door.
“Might be a good idea to do that tomorrow?” Gwen suggests gently. “She was so anxious after what happened I gave her a sleeping pill. She’s in my room for now.”
I nod. “Of course. If you need anything, you know how to reach me. Good night.”
We walk hand in hand up to my room.
“Poor Cosette,” Nicolette says with a sigh.
“She’s a strong woman. You all are. She’ll be alright, you’ll see.”
We walk in silence.
I open the door to my room and lead her inside. I walk over to the sofa by the window that overlooks the mountains and pull her onto my lap.
“Fabien—”
“Don’t talk me out of this. There’s plenty of time. Give me thirty seconds to be with you before we get into disguise, it’s the least we can do.”
She opens her mouth as if to protest, then snaps it shut.
“Good girl.” I stroke my hand through her hair. “You did a very good job there. How are you feeling about what happened?”
“I feel like…” When she inhales, her slight body expands against mine.
She exhales, and rests against me. “There’s too much for me to process right now.
Like I can’t… I can’t move beyond this until I’ve given it some thought.
But the most difficult thing right now is that I can’t get in touch with Savannah.
Like, logically, I can tell myself that she’s fine and I don’t have to worry, but at the same time, after what happened today, I can’t shut off that part of my brain that’s really worrying. ”
“I understand.”
I won’t let her run away from me. I won’t let her go. But I won’t keep her like a bird in a cage. I want her to know she’s safe with me.
I pull out my phone and make a phone call. Louis answers on the first ring.
“Boss? What can I do for you?”
“Thought you were in the hospital?”
“Nah, you know me. Got patched up and I’m home, ready to work. What’s going on?”
I fill him in briefly. “Her sister’s in Boston. Can you call in a favor?”
“Rossis?”
“You know it.”
Romeo Rossi, the most powerful mob boss in the Boston Underworld, owes us a favor.
His youngest sister got herself in trouble and was sent to Tuscany a few years ago, and he had no one stationed to guard her.
We sent guards to bridge the gap between her arrival and theirs, and just in time to save her from a vicious attack from one of their enemies.
He promised he’d do anything for us in return.
“Report back, will you?”
“Of course. On it.”
I hang up the phone. “We’ve got friends in Boston.”
“Okay,” she says, nodding. “Thanks. And they’re going to check in on her?”
“They will and they’ll report right back to me. I can tell you right now that she’s probably fine, Nicolette, but I wouldn’t want to take any chances.”
“Good. Alright then. Thank you.” She glances at the clock on the wall. “And it’s probably time for us to get into disguise. My God, I feel like I need a drink, but I don’t want to lose any of my control.”
I can’t help it. I pull her over to me and kiss her temple. I kiss her cheeks and then brush my lips over hers. “I’ll help you lose control.”
“I know you will,” she says with a sigh. “Why does that both excite and terrify me all at once?”
“Because control is a heavy thing to carry. It can be erotic surrendering to someone, because it makes you vulnerable and pushes the element of trust. But it’s also scary because you have no idea what this actually means, do you? What I’ll do.”
Nodding, she turns to me and frames my face in her hands.
I blink, suddenly strangely emotional at the tender look she gives me.
“What?” I ask on a whisper.
“I want to remember you like this,” she whispers back.
I want to tell her she doesn’t have to commit me to memory.
I want to tell her that we can stay together and will, because I won’t let her leave even if she wants to.
I want to tell her that if she feels what I do, that we can make this last, that we can make this work, that the two of us were meant to be together.
“I’m getting nervous about the time,” she finally whispers. I glance at the clock. We have fifteen minutes before the security shift.
“Let’s go. Thankfully these disguises are simple enough to do, right?”
“Yes.”
We won’t dress here so we don’t rouse suspicion. Instead, we’ll dress in the car on the way there.
“We’ll exit through the back entrance.” This entrance is the one reserved for V.I.P.s for a price, for people of incredible stature who would be recognized immediately if anyone saw them.
We charge a substantial fee for privacy, so no paparazzi ever suspects a Prime Minister or celebrity’s slipping into Corsica’s most popular brothel.
Nicolette nods, and we leave my place hand in hand just as her phone beeps.
“Oh, it’s Savannah,” she says on a sigh. “Thank God.” Pushing a button on her phone, she answers in a rush of words. “Savannah? Is that you?”
She pauses long enough to listen, then slumps against me and sobs. Poor girl was more keyed up than I thought. A pang of guilt stabs me.
I hold her to me. “She’s alright,” she whispers, though her brow is knit with concentration as she listens. “No! Oh my God, no! Are you serious?” Her eyes come to me and she quickly takes her phone from her ear long enough so she can put it on speaker. Her hands shake.
“Savannah, this is my friend Fabien. Fabien, my sister Savannah. Savannah, Fabien’s sending his team to check in on you.”
We walk quickly down the hall to get to the car I’ve ordered to be brought to us. We have ten minutes to get to security.
I push open the door and step outside into the darkening night. I hold her hand.
“Fabien, thank you,” Savannah says. “Last night, I was being followed by a guy and it scared me so I went to my friend’s house. He tried to take my purse, but I managed to get away. I called the police, and they couldn’t catch him, but I was nervous to go back to my place.”
“Of course you were,” Nicolette says passionately. “Oh you poor thing!”
I open the car door and retrieve the keys, then open her door for her.
She slides in the seat beside me, and I listen to her sister’s details. “I’m glad you’re alright,” I say to Savannah finally.
“Me, too,” Nicolette adds. “Listen, honey, we have a quick job to do and then I’ll call you when I get back, okay?”
“Sounds good. And thanks again.” Savannah clicks off and Nicolette puts the phone down. “I wish she was here. Okay, so let’s go over this again, shall we?” Nicolette asks.
“Yep.”
“We’re going in… disguised. I’ve got the tight-fitting purple thing with those boots that go up the wazoo. We’ve rented a private room so after we make our appearance in the community room, we head to the private rooms. The talisman’s in room number six.”
“Right. Milo’s set it up so that there is no security guard for a ten-minute block.”
“I’ll note the way the talisman’s secured, and you’ll slip the new one in place.”
“And we’ll leave before the next guard comes.”
“With the replicated talisman in place. So where’s the dupe?”
“It was arranged ahead of time and should be right there in the glove compartment. Open it, please.”
She leans over and opens the glove box.
“It’s supposed to be in here? How big is it?”
“It can fit in the palm of your hand.”
I glance over in a panic. Fuck.
There’s nothing there.
“Who was supposed to put it there?”
“One of Thayer’s people.” Cursing under my breath, I hit the button on the car speaker and dial him.
“Was just gonna call you,” he answers. “They didn’t get there in time.”
Right. Of course. We rearranged the time. We weren’t supposed to be leaving until tomorrow morning.
I’m slipping.
I curse under my breath. Somewhere out there, an exact replica of Napoleon’s talisman is in a velvet box.
I need it.
“Plan B?” Nicolette asks curiously. “You think?”
“Yes,” I say in a rushed whisper. “Plan B.”
“We take it and screw?”
No way in hell.
“Are you crazy? You think I’d put you at risk like that? We find Thayer’s assistant and get it now. Show up at The Underground later than planned and take it from there.”
Frowning, she looks at me curiously. “And... how will that change things, do you think?”
“The security detail will be on, for one. So we’ll have to find a way past them. Secondly, we may be more exposed. Not sure it would have made it to the room or if they’ve changed that plan.”
“Exposed… in what way?”
“I’m not sure.” I exhale. “I promise, I won’t let you get hurt.”
“Aw, shucks,” she says with a sidelong glance. “Was kinda hoping things would get a little kinky.”
I have to remind myself not to pull this car over and make things “a little kinky” right now. “You don’t have to worry about that. You have to be my slave, don’t you?”
Nodding, she runs her finger along the window button. She swallows audibly. “I do.”
The vision of her on her knees in front of me, submissive and ready to serve, makes me hard.
“Fabien?”
“Mmm?”
“Where’d you go just now? You were here and then you weren’t, it’s like you didn’t even hear me talking.”
I lower my voice as I grip her knee. “I was focused on what I’d do to you once I got you there.”
“You can’t be serious,” she whispers, pink cheeks and wide eyes betraying how aroused she is by the idea.
“Of course I'm serious. Do you think I would joke about something like that?" I'm going to enjoy every damn minute.
Having her alone. Her obedience and submission. I can do whatever I want to her…
She’ll find out what you did.
I clench my teeth and make myself focus on what I need to do, what has to happen next. I can’t allow myself to lose sight of what’s most important.
We have to get the talisman.
We have to get Lyam.
Nicolette will be mine.
I tell myself, if she knows why I made the choices I have… maybe she’d forgive me.
Or will she fulfill her end of the bargain, take her money, and leave?
She isn’t here because she loves me. She’s here because I’ve bought her and will pay her two million dollars.
If I handed her that money right now, she’d leave.
She’d go back to her sister in the States and I’d never see her again.
I had to do it.
I’ve let her think I’ll let her go, but I won’t.
That was never part of the plan.
I’ll pay her, like I said I would.
I’ll give her anything she needs. Anything she wants.
“Where do we meet him?”
“Who said it was a him?”
A silent eyebrow raise is her only response.
“There’s a place to park right near the entrance to The Underground. Small restaurant on the corner. A woman from the establishment will meet us outside. You’ll greet her and take the package. We’ll walk together to The Underground.”
“What does she look like?”
“Thayer said she’d be wearing red and black.”
“Is that all?”
I sniff. “He said she was sexy.”
“Does he say that about everyone?” I wonder if I imagine her jealousy. Does she not want me around other attractive women?
Could she be jealous?
If she were planning on leaving when her job was done, she’d have no need to be jealous…
“No. He’s… discriminating. Some might even say impossible to please. He has… discerning tastes.”
I definitely don’t imagine that look as she purses her lips and rolls her eyes. “Does he, then?”
First she’s jealous, now she’s offended. I can’t get her to The Underground fast enough.
I keep my tone sharp. “In minutes, we’ll be entering The Underground.
While we’re there, you’re my slave. You’ll obey or be punished.
You’re there to serve. You do not question me, talk back, or disobey me with even a thought, never mind an action.
Do you understand me? This is important, Nicolette, because this isn’t just a group of men and women.
There are monsters in there. People that would hurt you.
Men with the ability to end your life and dispose of you without leaving a single trace behind. ”
I watch as she swallows and finally nods. “I do. Of course. Yes, I understand.”
I reach for her. I cup her jaw in the palm of my hand. The look in her beautiful eyes softens my tone before I even realize it.
“Nicolette.”
I love you.
I can’t risk her running away. I can’t risk her being scared. She needs to know now, before anything else happens, that she can trust me.
“Yes?”
“Do you trust me?”
She leans closer to me, stunning in her disguise. Her eyes, though. Those are the eyes of the woman I love.
“Of course I do.”
I lean in to kiss her when my phone buzzes.
“We have to go,” she whispers.
I glance out the window as a woman walks with purpose to our car, dressed from head to toe in black and red.