French Connection Vol. 3

by M. S. Parker

  I needed to talk to him. Find out what the hell he was doing with the woman I loved. I stood, ready to follow and confront. I'd taken only a couple steps when my phone rang. I cursed, wanting to ignore it, but it was my business ringtone. It was probably Vincent, since Alizee wasn't likely to speak to me again anytime soon. I could only hope. After what had happened with her, I needed to talk to Vincent and see if things were still on track.

  I swore again and pulled out my phone. I was starting to regret having purchased a waterproof one. If my phone had been destroyed when Alizee made me swim to shore, it would've been a good excuse to not take the call. Since I didn't have that excuse, and I was too tired to lie, I answered.

  “Yes?” It took all of my self-control not to snap at him.

  “What the hell happened this morning, Gavin?” Vincent sounded mildly amused. “Alizee called me, said you weren't anything like she expected.”

  I scowled. “Did she tell you to kill the deal?”

  “No.” Now he sounded curious. “Why would she have done that?”

  I didn't answer. This wasn't something I wanted to talk about over the phone.

  “Meet me at La Femme en Bleu,” he said, sensing my hesitation.

  “A strip club at two in the afternoon?” I asked. I wasn't sure why that surprised me.

  “It's never too early to watch beautiful women dance,” he countered.

  I sighed. “I'm on my way.” When I hung up, I looked down the street, but Pierre was gone.

  Dammit!

  Now I had only two choices. Go talk to Carrie or meet with Vincent. Either way, I was going to have to talk about things I wanted to avoid. Maybe if I talked to Vincent and got that all taken care of, I'd be able to tell Carrie that work wouldn't interfere with us again.

  I sighed and hailed a cab. Putting it off wasn't going to make this any easier. During the ride, I thought about how I would explain things to Vincent. Should I try to cushion it? Make it sound like Alizee hadn't been out of line? Leave out what she'd said after I'd turned her down? Or did I lay it all out for him, tell him everything exactly how it went down? No emotion, no inflection. Just the facts.

  I still hadn't made up my mind which tact I would take when the cab pulled in front of the club. It was one more thing I didn't know how to handle, which only served to piss me off further. I walked into the club, barely glancing at the scantily-clad women walking by with trays of drinks, and only then because I was trying not to run into them. The doorman pointed me toward a corner booth and that's where I went now, fully expecting to see Vincent with a couple girls hanging all over him. Instead, he was sitting by himself, looking less than interested in the pair of girls on stage who were writhing all over each other. That was a little strange, but not enough to squash the anger I felt about everything that had happened today.

  I sat down on the edge of the booth seat.

  “So, Gavin, what happened?” Vincent turned toward me, his eyes narrowed. “You don't look very happy.” His gaze went from top to bottom. “Or very dry.”

  “I'm not,” I said. “Either one, actually.”

  He leaned his arms on the table. “What's going on?”

  “Alizee came on to me,” I said and ran my hand through my still-wet hair. “Fuck that. She full-on propositioned me and then kissed me. Threatened to kill the deal if I didn't fuck her.” It all came out a bit harsher than I'd originally intended, but I didn't apologize.

  “And?” he asked, his tone mild.

  “And nothing,” I snapped. “I’m not going to betray Carrie like that.” I tried not to think about how Carrie might be betraying me.

  “Even if it cost you the deal? The club here?” he asked.

  I gave him a hard look. “Even if it cost me everything.”

  “Good.” He beamed at me.

  I stared at him. What the hell was that about? Why did he look so fucking happy? The anger I'd kept in check threatened to crack the surface.

  “I'm glad you didn't give in to her,” he said. “If you had, the deal would've been off and I would've been looking for a new partner.”

  Now I was really confused. What the fuck was going on? Vincent gave me a smile and I slammed my hand down on the table.

  Before I could say anything though, Vincent spoke, “Do you know how I got my start?”

  “I don't care,” I said through gritted teeth. “Alizee threatened me, kissed me, then made me swim to shore when I turned her down. I've had a shitty day so far and I want to know why the hell you think this is funny.”

  “I'll get there, I promise.” Vincent's expression sobered. “Trust me, Gavin. You're going to want to hear this.”

  I wasn't sure I agreed with him, but calmed down enough to nod for him to go on.

  “I came from Corsica,” he began. “I was poor, but I worked hard. I am a self-made businessman, a success story, though not our island's biggest one. That,” he said, “is Alizee.”

  I remembered how they'd talked in a language I hadn't recognized. “You knew her?”

  “In a way,” he admitted. “Everyone on Corsica knows Alizee because she is a member of the biggest crime family on the island. Me, she did not recognize, but that was not a surprise.”

  “So you're, what, working with her because of some weird childhood jealousy thing?”

  His face hardened and I instantly knew there was something more here, something much stronger than anything I held against Alizee.

  “Self-made business man.” There was bitterness in his voice. “Married my childhood sweetheart. Had a beautiful little girl who I gave everything she wanted. Had the perfect life.”

  I had a bad feeling I wasn't going to like what came next. As soon as he spoke, I found out I was right.

  “Three years ago, when she was sixteen, my daughter became angry because I wouldn’t let her go out with an older boy she liked. She ran away to Cannes with him, and it turned out he was a recruiter for one of Alizee's clubs.” He looked down at the table, and then back up at me. “It took me a year but I finally tracked her here. I was too late. What I found was that she had been turned out, forced into prostitution and several months before I arrived in Cannes, her body was found in an alley. The police ruled it a suicide.”

  Damn. I didn't know what to say. I knew if my daughter had disappeared, been hurt, been murdered... I shook away the thought, unable to imagine it. Skylar was my world, the only person I cared about more than Carrie.

  “I know Alizee was responsible for her death. Even if not directly, then indirectly. The police did not care, no matter how much pressure I put on them.” Vincent's normally jovial voice was laced with anger and pain worse than anything I'd ever felt. “I have been trying to gather evidence, proof of what she’s done.”

  “I'm truly sorry for your loss,” I said. “But I don't understand what that has to do with Alizee hitting on me or why you're working with her.”

  “Because you turned her down, I know I can trust you,” he said. “And I needed a partner I could trust to take Alizee down. You are that partner.”

  What he'd been telling me finally sunk in. Alizee wasn't just a flirt or a blackmailer. She was dangerous. A trafficker. Possibly a murderer. A murderer who was pissed at me.

  Carrie.

  Shit.

  Alizee could go after Carrie because of what I'd done.

  I pulled out my phone and hit her contact number.

  Voicemail.

  I left a message and then dialed again.

  Dammit Carrie. My heart pounded. Pick up.

  Chapter 6

  Carrie

  I was standing on the balcony, looking out at the ocean and trying to figure out how to handle this thing with Gavin when he called the first time. I let it go to voicemail. I didn't want to have this conversation over the phone. Hell, I didn't want to have it at all, but it needed to be done. The phone dinged to say he'd left a message and I sighed. It was probably just a 'call me, we need to talk' or 'where are you' message. I should've
been the one asked where he was. I'd reluctantly come back to the room after Pierre left the restaurant, knowing I couldn't leave things with Gavin the way they'd been, but he'd been gone. No note, no indication of where he'd gone or when he'd be back. Of course, my thoughts had automatically gone a negative route.

  My phone rang again. Gavin's ringtone. I frowned. He must've called back right after leaving the voicemail. That didn't seem like the kind of thing he'd do unless something was wrong. I wasn't quite sure I was ready to talk to him, but I did go to my voicemail.

  “Babe, please call me.”

  I could hear the worry in Gavin's voice and immediately tensed.

  “I'm with Vincent right now at La Femme en Bleu and I need you to call me. Please, Carrie.”

  I frowned at the phone. I was pretty sure the place Gavin mentioned was a strip club, but the fact that he'd told me his location spoke volumes. I wasn't stupid enough to think Gavin never took a business meeting at a strip club, but he also didn't generally offer the information.

  I sent a quick text saying I was coming to him and waited for his response. If he said just to call him, I'd know it wasn't as urgent as he'd made it sound. Instead, I got a message that simply said, “Hurry.”

  It didn't matter how angry I'd been or where things had been left between us. I went. I'd never forgive myself if something happened to him.

  The cab driver didn't even blink when I gave him the name of the club and I tried desperate to keep my mind off of all the possibilities that swirled in my head. By the time we reached the club, my nerves were frayed and I barely even glanced at the bills I gave to the driver.

  The man at the door opened it for me and gave a polite nod as I walked by. The place was half-full of people I assumed were mostly tourists and half-naked waitresses who were barely wearing more than the women on stage. I found it strange that a country with topless beaches still had strip clubs that thrived. I supposed it was the difference between women just walking around and seeing them dance and grind.

  I caught movement toward the back and looked up. Gavin was coming toward me, an expression of pure relief on his face. I started his way, now even more worried about what was going on. It couldn't have been just because I'd gone to see Pierre. That would've been a bit of an overreaction.

  He pulled me into his arms without saying a word and, for a moment, I relaxed into his embrace. I let myself pretend everything was okay and then pulled back. Gavin didn't let me go far though. He slid his arm around my shoulders and led me back to the booth next to where Vincent was standing.

  “Carrie.” Vincent nodded.

  “Vincent.”

  He glanced at Gavin and a silent message seemed to pass between the two of them. “I think I will leave you two alone to talk. You can speak freely here.”

  “Thanks, Vincent,” Gavin said. He waited until Vincent started toward the front of the club before motioning for me to sit.

  Now that it was just the two of us in a secluded booth I assumed was meant for private dances, all of the day's previous emotions came flooding back. I stayed on the opposite side of the table, my hands clenched on my lap, and waited for him to explain himself.

  He raked his hand through his hair and I saw that it was still damp. “I'm not sure where to start.”

  I tried not to scowl as I leaned in so that I was sitting closer to him. The music was too loud for us to have an entire conversation sitting across from each other without leaning in. Probably why Vincent had said we were free to talk here.

  “Just say it, Gavin,” I said.

  A flash of something crossed his face and then vanished. I recognized that look, the guarded expression, and I hated it.

  “There are some things about Vincent and Alizee that you need to know.”

  I wasn't going to sit here and let him treat me like I was too stupid or naïve to know what was going on. “I know.”

  His eyes widened. “What do you mean you know? How?”

  “I was there.”

  Now he looked confused. “I just found out what was going on not more than twenty minutes ago. I don't understand.”

  “Do I need to spell it out for you?” I snapped. “I was at the docks this morning and saw you on your little 'business trip.' You know, the one supposedly with Vincent. The one with your lips wrapped around Alizee on her yacht. Yeah. That one.”

  All the color drained from Gavin's face and I saw him putting pieces together.

  “You – you were there?”

  “Yes, Gavin, I was there. And I got quite the eyeful.” I crossed my arms, digging my nails into my upper arms to keep myself from crying. I needed to channel my anger, not my hurt.

  “Carrie, babe, that's not... I mean, it isn't...” He slammed his hand down on the table. “Dammit!” His eyes flashed. “Why didn't you just say something?”

  “What was I supposed to say?” I avoided the question. “You lied to me about where you were going and who you were going to be with. Unless, of course, you didn't know you'd be hanging out on Alizee's yacht with her.” I raised an eyebrow as he flushed. “That's what I thought.”

  He started to reach across the table as if he expected me to hold his hands, then he stopped and pulled back. “It's not what you think.”

  “Really? Because I think you didn't want me to know you were meeting her and not Vincent. And I think that's because...” I let my voice trail off as tears started to form in my eyes. I wasn't going to cry, not here. “It doesn't matter the reason. You lied and you kissed her.”

  “You must've missed the finale then,” he snapped. “Where she made me swim back to shore because I refused to fuck her, even though she threatened to kill the deal.”

  My eyes went wide. That certainly explained why he'd been soaked when he'd gotten back to the hotel.

  “And you're one to talk.” He leaned toward me, his eyes flashing now. “I saw you with Pierre.”

  I frowned. “That's not the same thing. I told you I was going to meet him. And I sure as hell didn't kiss him!”

  “You two looked awfully cozy.”

  “You followed me?” What was happening to us?

  “And how did you see me with Alizee if you hadn't been following me?”

  “I apparently had a reason to,” I countered. “You lied about where you were going.”

  “Yes,” he admitted. “I wasn't entirely honest about where I was going because I didn't want you to worry. I got the impression you didn't like Alizee very much.”

  I gave a snort of laughter. “How very observant of you. That's an understatement.”

  “I shouldn't have lied,” he said. “Okay? It was a mistake. I should've just been honest and even invited you to come along.” He started to say something else and then stopped.

  “Spill it,” I said. “We might as well get everything out in the open.”

  “Is what you saw... is that why you said those things earlier?”

  There was a cautious hope in his eyes that reminded me of the pain I'd seen on his face back at the hotel.

  “Because if what happened last night freaked you out or scared you,” he continued. “And that's why you went to Pierre, we don't have to do any of that–”

  “Wait,” I cut him off. “You think I'm cheating on you with Pierre because of what we did last night?” The expression on his face said it all. “I'm not interested in Pierre. Not that way.” I sighed and slid over so that we were side-by-side. “I'm sorry I made you feel like I didn't love every moment of last night. I loved you sharing that part of yourself with me.” I reached up and brushed his hair back, letting my fingers linger on his cheek.

  “Why did you say it then? Payback for what you thought was going on between Alizee and me?” He caught my hand in his and pressed his lips against the tips of my fingers.

  I sighed and said a silent apology to Pierre. “It's complicated because I wasn't at the docks alone.”

  Gavin's eyes narrowed. “You were there with the journalist.”

&nb
sp; I nodded. “He's investigating Alizee and that's what we were doing when I saw you. Pierre said I couldn't talk to you about it because if Alizee knew he was looking into her, she'd bolt.”

  “And he wouldn't be able to expose her illegal activities,” Gavin finished my thought.

  I looked up at him, surprised.

  “You know how I said I had to tell you some things about Vincent and Alizee?” he asked. “Well, that's part of it.”

  I leaned my head against his shoulder, the flood of relief going through me leaving me trembling. He put his arms around me and pulled me close. “I'm so sorry,” I repeated. “I should've trusted you, and not just about the meeting, but also that you'd believe me when I said she was up to no good.”

  He kissed the top of my head. “And I'm sorry I lied to you about where I was going this morning and for following you to meet Pierre. I should've trusted you, too. Hearing you say those things about me spanking you...” His voice trailed off for a moment before he continued, “That's what I've been scared of, Carrie. This past year, a part of me has always been waiting for this. For you to realize you could do so much better than me. I thought that showing you what I really wanted was the last straw.”

  I laughed and felt him stiffen. I tilted my head back so I could look at him. “And here I've been worrying that you wanted Alizee because I didn't respond the way you wanted me to, that you'd finally realized you were way out of my league.”

  He looked startled for a moment and then cupped the side of my face. “Carrie, I don't want anyone except you.” He ran his thumb along my bottom lip. “I don't know what I did to deserve you.”

  I slid my hand behind his neck and pulled his head down until his mouth met mine. I kept the kiss brief and chaste, aware that we were in public, but even that small contact was enough to send heat blazing through me. I closed my eyes, love for Gavin washing over me, chasing away all the negative.

  “There are still things I need to tell you,” he said, his voice low. “But I'm thinking they can wait a bit longer.” He released me and stood, holding out his hand to me. “We come first.”