The Paris Assignment

by Addison Fox

  “Could have fooled me.”

  “It’s true. I’m not some poor little rich girl and I’m not going to try to pretend I am. Life has its challenges for all of us. No one is immune. I was just making a broader observation that I don’t think the bad guys always get caught.”

  “I guess we’re going to agree to disagree on that one.”

  “What about the problem here? What if you don’t find him? What if there is just a mysterious seven minutes we can’t identify and it ultimately becomes some small blip, annotated in our logs and forgotten about after enough time passes?”

  “You won’t forget.” His hand tightened on hers as his gaze bored into hers. “And you know the seven minutes is only the beginning, not the end.”

  “Which only reinforces my point.”

  He was prevented from answering by the pinging of the elevator as it opened on her floor. She glanced back over her shoulder, his intense gaze never wavering from hers.

  “Good breakfast?” Stef looked up from where she typed out something on her computer.

  “It was nice to get out.” Abby tried for a smile after the sudden realization she was probably still frowning after her strange conversation with Campbell.

  If she noticed the surly mood, Stef was unaffected as she pointed toward the edge of her desk. “Here’s your mail. I haven’t had a chance to go through it.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll toss it in my bag and catch up on the flight.”

  “The car will be here at three to pick you both up.”

  Abby didn’t miss Campbell’s pointed stare that suggested Stef’s comment only reinforced his earlier point. “Have you heard from the other board members?”

  As Stef began rattling off various itineraries of the week’s attendees, Campbell slipped out the exit with a brief excuse. The woman waited until Campbell was out of earshot before switching topics. “He’s awfully easy on the eyes.”

  “He is that.”

  “And even better, you look like you enjoy each other’s company.”

  Stef’s words caught her up short as Abby picked up her mail. She’d been deliberately vague about why she was meeting with him and had put the meeting on her calendar herself. What had started out as a matter of discretion now worked to her advantage.

  “The timing’s not great.”

  “Love rarely is.”

  “Love?” Even though it was only pretend, Stef’s use of the word was like a cold shower. “We should probably take it a day at a time.”

  “Oh, I don’t know.” Her assistant’s eyes held a merry twinkle. “When you know you know.”

  “Is that how you feel about your guy?”

  “Absolutely. He came into my life unexpectedly and was exactly what I didn’t even know I needed.”

  “Poetic.”

  “Nah.” Stef waved a hand. “I’m just happy.”

  Abby replayed the conversation in her mind as she walked back to her office. Although she knew there was no relationship with Campbell, she couldn’t deny the attraction.

  An altogether inconvenient attraction, her conscience whispered.

  With a pile of work that still awaited her, Abby forced thoughts of the delectable Campbell Steele from her mind. It was time to get some work done.

  The walk, food and fresh air had done her good. She was no longer tired, but she was a long way from finding her balance.

  * * *

  Lucas stepped into the waiting area at Charles de Gaulle and saw the driver who held a small placard with his name on it. He’d briefly toyed with having his driver drop him at the apartment he’d set up for what he was fast coming to think of as the final showdown, but knew the eagerness might cost him.

  No need for that trip to show up in the driver’s logs.

  No, he’d continue as planned and head for his hotel. He’d waited this long. There was no reason to let his impatience get the better of him.

  A quick scan of his personal email had confirmed all was moving along right on schedule.

  PACKAGE CONFIRMED.

  It sure was.

  The mousy woman had been a calculated choice, but Lucas couldn’t argue with how much of an asset she’d ended up being. Stef Nichols had been a wild card and he’d played his hand close as they got to know each other. For a woman who didn’t care all that well for her outward appearance, she’d been surprisingly adept naked, which had made the experience more pleasurable than he’d originally anticipated.

  She’d also been more than accommodating when he’d manfully sobbed to her about his mother and her poor, broken life. Dear old Mom’s accidental pregnancy with him and the coldhearted McBane family who had done nothing for her. The repeated attempts through the years to meet and have a relationship with his father which had fallen on deaf ears.

  The hard work he’d exhibited, pulling himself up by the bootstraps as he built his own reputation in the international business community.

  Oh, yes, he’d worked Stef hard and she’d come through like a champ.

  “Welcome to Paris, Mr. Brown. I’ve got the car waiting for you. I’ll just get your bags.”

  Lucas barely paid the man any attention as he shifted his rolling suitcase into the man’s care. “This is all.”

  “Then we can be on our way.”

  Anticipation leaped in his veins as the September air wrapped around him. He’d always enjoyed Paris and knew this would be the best trip he’d ever made to the City of Lights.

  Once they were in motion, Lucas dialed the New York number that never went to voice mail.

  “Hello, love.”

  He rolled his eyes at the platitude but kept the disdain from his words. The voice he’d worked long and hard to culture just so came out with a heavy layer of dark, seductive notes blended in. “Ah, my love. Words that never fail to make me feel better.”

  “How was your flight?”

  “Short and quick. But most important, it has brought me to the last step.”

  “Everything’s in place as you’d asked.”

  “Ah, my sweet. You understand me and it is the greatest gift a man could hope for.” With the promise he’d dangled from the start, Lucas fed her more. “Next week. By next week we will be together and this will be behind us.”

  He didn’t miss the sharp intake of breath on the other end of the phone, or the breathy tone of her voice. “I can’t wait.”

  “All these years of waiting. All the endless hours of grief will be behind me as I begin my new life. As we begin our new life,” he added for good measure at the end.

  Although Stef had been more than willing to go along with his requests, he’d worked hard to paint an image of Abigail that was less than flattering.

  Her irrational outbursts when they sat in meetings.

  Her demands of his company that simply weren’t possible.

  And her inability to lead with the remotest sense of compassion.

  It was lucky for him his half sister was known for her cool head and standoffish manner. He could only be grateful that tone and manner had extended to her dealings with her staff. While Stef had been hesitant at first to believe him, he had worn her down with examples while playing on her innate desperation for a happy ending.

  “I do have an update for you. She seems to have become rather attached to a new man.”

  And there it was. The same bit of information he’d received when his associate had reported in early that morning.

  “This is a new development, yes? Your frigid boss, she doesn’t have much heat.”

  “Seems to have more than enough for this one.”

  Again, Lucas couldn’t hold back the smile at the unexpected vehemence of his little wildcat.

  Who’d have thought it?

  “He’s accompanying her to Paris.”

  “A distraction, then. Perhaps her mood will be improved over her last visit?”

  The lie tripped off his tongue as he turned the new threat over in his mind. The boyfriend seemed like a strange additi
on at an odd time.

  While he’d made up the so-called “incidents” that supported the image of a cold-blooded boss, Abby had made it easy. The woman was cool and aloof and entirely focused on her work.

  So why now?

  He wasn’t going to let anyone stand in the way and knew his instructions had been more than clear to his hit man. The boyfriend wouldn’t stand in the way and he needed to be dealt with.

  It didn’t change the fact that he might be a bigger nuisance than expected before all of Lucas’s plans were finalized.

  This was a new wrinkle he needed to account for.

  “My love. I’m nearly to the hotel and I’m so tired. Can I call you tomorrow?”

  “Of course.”

  Of course. Of course. Of course. Whatever soft feelings Lucas had allowed for her delivery of the package vanished. The woman was so eager to please it dripped from her. He’d be well rid of her.

  He pretended his last few pleasantries, then disconnected the phone.

  As his driver navigated the Champs-Élysées, Lucas turned the problem of the boyfriend over in his mind. A quick glance at his schedule confirmed tomorrow evening’s events kicked off with a dinner at her home.

  Images of the mansion on Avenue Foch floated through his mind. Lavish rooms. Lush amenities.

  They should have been his.

  Mentally forcing down the ever-present anger, he thought instead about the layout of the house and how he might make the best use of his time tomorrow evening. And as he let that thought move to the back of his mind to brew for a while, he tapped a few commands into his phone.

  It was time to take a quick peek into McBane’s computer systems and see if anyone noticed what he’d been up to.

  * * *

  The heavy rumble of engines kept company with her roiling thoughts as Abby stared out the window of the McBane corporate jet. As the plane took to the sky, the island of Manhattan winked like a glittering jewel below them. Although the view was one of her favorites, she took no comfort in the moment as the conversation with Stef continued to rattle around her thoughts.

  Was there something to Campbell’s assessment?

  Or had he just added one more thing to her list to make her paranoid and nervous?

  She looked over at Campbell, her intention to take a quick glance and see that he’d settled in and was comfortable. A set of earbuds were in his ears, playing a tune only for him, and his fingers flew over the keyboard of his laptop.

  The opportunity to observe him without his knowledge was too good to pass up and she gave herself a minute to simply drink him in. He still wore the black T-shirt from earlier that day but he’d paired it with a sport coat. The look should have screamed bohemian businessman or natty college professor, but she saw neither.

  All she did see was a man who seemed innately comfortable in his own skin. That thought had embedded itself earlier and now that it was there she couldn’t let it go. It was part of his appeal and the more time they spent together the more she found herself drawn to that aspect of his personality, especially as it flew in the face of how she saw herself.

  Competent and distant, unwilling to remove her armor.

  Where competent and distant had described a brainy, motherless child throughout her youth, she’d added the rigid armor as she’d grown in her responsibilities at McBane. What had begun as a way to keep some distance between herself and the thousands and thousands of employees who depended on her to lead them had evolved into a mantle of protection she wore like a shield.

  But it was that same attitude that also ensured an increasingly lonely existence she hadn’t altogether realized she lived until faced with the opportunity to partner with an ally.

  Campbell ran a hand over his stubbled jaw, a light curse on his lips before he began typing again in earnest, and she couldn’t fight the spark of awareness that lit under her skin.

  Whatever beanpole qualities he might have possessed as a kid were well and truly in the past. The large man who sat across the cabin had a quiet strength stamped in every line of his body, from the broad shoulders that hunched over the keyboard to the long legs that stretched out in front of him on the bench seat that ran the length of the jet.

  And while the exterior package appealed, it was the other qualities she was coming to know that cemented her interest. His quick and ready smile. A sharp mind that never stilled. The ruthless work ethic that matched her own view of the world.

  Oh, yes, he interested her, in every way possible.

  “You okay?” His words interrupted her musings before he added that devastating smile as he lifted his eyes from the computer.

  “Of course.”

  “I can hear your thoughts from over here.”

  * * *

  Campbell watched a light flush creep over Abby’s neck and couldn’t hold back the smile. He’d felt her scrutiny for the past few minutes and while he was intrigued at the attention, he’d finally grown uncomfortable with the close eye.

  Even as it gave him hope she wasn’t immune to the heat and interest that arced between them.

  “I was just thinking.”

  “About?”

  “Your work ethic.”

  Whatever response he’d hoped for, that one wasn’t it. He knew it wasn’t all that forward-thinking, but somewhere in the back of his mind he was disappointed the answer wasn’t his body and James Bond–esque style.

  It was his mind.

  Always his mind.

  “Why do you look so insulted? There’s nothing wrong with a work ethic.”

  “Until it’s the way someone describes you.”

  The gentle smile he’d come to associate with her—it had a sort of Mona Lisa quality that enticed even as it kept him at a distance—spread at his words. “I truly didn’t mean any insult. I think your work ethic is an appealing quality. Along with a sharp mind and a quick smile. And a really, really nice pair of shoulders.”

  “You like my shoulders?”

  “I do.”

  He wondered what else she liked and nearly took them down that sexy path, but veered off at the last minute. Her light tone and manner was a refreshing change after their morning and he was loath to bring it to an end.

  Even as his body screamed in selfish frustration and tried desperately to get him to switch tactics.

  “You know my mother and grandmother always lamented the combination.”

  “Your shoulders?”

  “No, the sharp mind and the quick smile.”

  “Ahh.” She nodded. “They’re excellent qualities.”

  “Until you’re ten and making endless trouble.”

  “You? I’m shocked and dismayed.”

  “Of course, I then used said smile and considerable charm to get out of punishment.” Campbell closed the lid of the laptop and set it next to him on the seat. “You know the London townhome?”

  “Your grandparents’ city home?”

  “Yep.” The image of a beautifully decorated Hyde Park townhome filled his mind. He loved that house.

  Loved the memories they’d made as a family inside of it even more.

  “Yes, I’ve been there.”

  “Did Kensington ever take you to the attic?”

  “Why would she take me to the attic?”

  “Go with me, then. There’s a huge attic that covers the entire top floor of the house. While it could be incredibly useful space, it’s the exact opposite since it houses generations of Steele family heirlooms.”

  Her gaze narrowed as excitement filled her voice. “Campbell. What sort of heirlooms? Have you gone through it? There could be some incredible treasures up there.”

  “Perhaps heirlooms was too hasty a word. Most would call it years of accumulated junk.”

  “Your father’s family comes from a long line of English lords. There has to be good stuff up there.”

  “Hardly.” Campbell fought the urge to snort, well aware of the absolute junk that sat in the attic. “My grandfather doesn’t car
ry the title so he doesn’t have the really good stuff. His father’s brother’s family got all that.”

  “I’d still like a crack at it.”

  “You’re welcome to it.”

  “Fine, fine. Okay. What horrible evil did you rain down on the London attic?”

  “I went through a snake phase.”

  “I hadn’t realized London was a hotbed for snakes.” The look of distaste that had spread across her face at his use of the word snake grew broader as she obviously thought through the implications. “And you’ve outgrown this phase, I assume?”

  “Yes, you can find snakes in London, especially when you beg and plead for one as a pet. And no, once dear Blinky went on to the dearly departed afterlife I didn’t replace him.”

  “That’s good.”

  “Why?”

  “Snakes belong in zoos. Or on other continents.”

  “They make great pets.”

  Abby waved her hands. “No. No, no, no. Just no.”

  “All right. I’ll argue the merits of reptiles later. Back to the attic. I thought that it wasn’t fair that Blinky had to sit in our old drafty house and I remembered we had a beautiful set of old clothes up in the attic.”

  “Like gowns and stuff?”

  “Exactly.”

  “You wrapped your pet snake up in what was likely gowns from the 1800s?”

  “Probably.” Campbell couldn’t hold back the laugh at her horror. “He wasn’t a rodent. The dresses were as lovely after he got done with them as before.”

  Since Campbell could see he was losing his audience, he rushed through. “Suffice it to say, regardless of the temperature, a curious snake had no more interest sitting around wrapped in a ball gown than I would have. So he got loose.”

  “You just left him up there?”

  “Sure. I figured he was warm enough and would stay put.”

  “But he didn’t?”

  “Nope. Crawled down out of the attic and worked his way through the various floors of the house until he ended up wrapped up in my grandparents’ bed. Apparently their old quilt was way warmer than a bunch of cold silks up in the attic.”

  “And you got out of this with a smile?”

  “Yep.”

  She shook her head. “Clearly this was what I missed not having brothers.”