by Jani Kay
Her voice got louder. “Which is it, Becca? Were you in love with him or not? No, let me rephrase, are you in love with Alain or not?”
I shook my head, certain about my answer. “No, I’m not.”
“Thank you. That’s all I wanted to know. That means he’s fair game. He’s not married yet, and I don’t give a fuck about the countess and her claims to him.” She took the bottle of water from my hand and drank a few mouthfuls before handing it back to me. “If you still had feelings for him, I'd step back, but since you emphatically told me you don’t, I'm planning to get to know him a hell of a lot better.” She grinned at me. “I already know what he likes in a woman, so it should be easy to get him to like me too.”
My jaw was about to hit the floor. “Why would you want Alain?”
She laughed. “I'm sure he’s hung like a stallion. I'm looking forward to riding French cock.”
“Chloe!”
“What? Since the first moment I laid eyes on him at the airport, I've been wet for him. I would have dragged him into the SUV and fucked his brains out if he hadn’t mentioned you. Thanks for smashing that fantasy of mine.”
I shook my head. “You really have middle child syndrome.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
I closed my eyes and rubbed my throbbing temples. “You always want what I have. You had a high-school crush on Julian, now you want Alain—”
She shrugged, taking another bite of her apple. “Can I help that you have excellent taste in men? Guys who are hot as hell and built like sex gods? We’re more alike than you want to admit, Becca.” Silent for a few moments as she chewed, I thought about her statement. No way in hell did I have to share anything with her. I’d had enough of that as a kid. Sisters were such a pain in the arse.
I grimaced. “First my shoes and clothes...now my men—”
“For the record, Maxwell Grant is yummy too. If you ever decide to invite others into your love nest, give me the heads up, okay? I'd fuck him in a heartbeat. Only problem is, he has eyes for no one else but you.”
“You’re such a slut, Chloe. Alain and Max are both out of bounds. Find your own man for a change.” I was seriously close to losing my shit with her.
“I’ll stay away from Alain for one reason only... if you tell me you still want him and plan to fuck him again. If not, he’s fair game. I’ll be his next woman.”
She wasn’t going to listen to a damn thing I was saying. Maybe she had to learn her lesson the hard way. “You’re playing with fire, little sister. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Chloe stiffened. Her face turned red as she glared at me. “Yeah? You’re a hypocrite. You fucked Julian after he was married to Melanie. You fucked Alain when he was engaged, and Maxwell is still married!”
Her words stung, lashing like a whip over broken skin. I sucked in a deep breath. “It's different and you know it. Julian was my boyfriend before he got Melanie pregnant. We’d be married now if she didn’t seduce him that one night. As for Alain, I didn’t know about the witch. And if you knew anything, you'd know Maxwell isn’t really married; it's just a contract.”
“She doth protest too much. Look, I totally get what you’re going through. That’s why I was expecting more understanding from you.” Her eyes softened and her voice was low and raspy as she continued, “The truth is...there was a spark when I first saw Alain. Something that’s never happened to me before. I don’t know what it is, but I sure as hell plan on finding out. I know he felt it too. It just happened, Becca, out of the blue. I have as little control over it as you have over how you feel about Maxwell. It hit me like a lightning bolt.” Vulnerable Chloe rarely appeared, tripling my worry. She was on a collision course and nothing I said was going to change her mind.
“Ohhh, shit, Chloe. That sounds like trouble. Be careful though. Don’t get your heart broken.”
She shrugged, a frown between her perfect brows. “Like I have a choice here. I need to explore this thing. I would prefer if I had your blessing. Yeah, it will be difficult knowing you’ve been with him, but I can look past that if he can.”
Scared for Chloe, I pulled her to me for a hug. Showing her soft side wasn’t something she often did. “Sis, I can't speak for Alain. He did come here to ask me to take him back. Being his rebound woman is dangerous. Why can't you fall for a man who can give you everything—including truth and honesty? Alain has so many skeletons. Things that are coming out of the woodwork that...frighten me.”
She pulled away and stared into my eyes for a beat. “Now see, I don’t get that vibe from him. I get that he’s searching for true love and happiness just as hard as any one of us. You’ve said yourself that the heart cannot be told who to love. Alain draws me to him. I can't help how he makes me feel.”
I sucked in a breath. “Chloe, when you say it like that, how can I deny you that chance? I want you to be as happy as I am, whoever the man is. I wish that for you, Sis.”
Tears brimmed her eyes. She swallowed hard before changing the topic. “Let’s go to the hospital to see Lily. Now that she’s woken from the coma, she must be wondering where we are.”
“I’m sure Kurt is with her. He hasn’t left her side since she landed in hospital. I think he’s smitten with our baby sister.”
She frowned. “Who the hell is Kurt again? His name keeps popping up.”
I chuckled. “If you listened, you’d remember he’s the doctor I told you about over the phone. The friend who saved me from throwing myself in the gutter after Alain and I broke up. He’s been really good to me. Like the brother we never had and I always wanted.”
“Yeah, you were so mad when Mum had another girl when Lily was born. Wanted to send her back to the hospital.”
“God, I know. But I wouldn’t change Lil for the world. Her soft and gentle soul calms the two of us.”
Chloe laughed. “I think all the fire was poured into you and me. There wasn’t any left for Lily.”
Maxwell came up behind me and slid his arms around my waist, hugging me to his body. “Just as well. Two fiery sisters are enough, don’t you think?”
Chloe nodded. “Yeah, I guess we cause enough mayhem. Someone needs to balance our fire. It's just so horrible what happened to her. It will scar her for life.” She indicated between the two of us. “We’re fighters, but Lily, she doesn’t have a mean or angry bone in her body.”
I nodded, feeling worse for her than before. “I’m horrified she was mistaken for me. It's all my fault she’s battered and in hospital. I wish I could change that. Kurt doesn’t know about that part yet. He’s not going to like it.”
“Rebecca, you can't blame yourself. How were you to know there’s some crazy out there wanting to harm you? And I'd feel just as bad if it was you lying there,” Chloe said. Tears welled up behind my eyelids. That was the closest Chloe would get to admitting she cared about me.
“We’ve got to find the fucker. Fast. Ladies, neither of you can leave this house without the protection of one of my guys. Not until we’ve caught the sick fuck. Do I make myself clear?” Although Maxwell’s voice was stern, it was laced with concern.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I nodded.
Please let this nightmare end soon so we can go back to our normal lives.
“I'm sending Brent and James to take you to the hospital while I take care of urgent business.” He turned to Chloe, his tone serious. “They’re both ex-Marine and know how to take care of you, so stay close to them at all times.”
Chloe nodded.
Thank God, she didn’t argue. She was probably just as freaked out as I was by the thought of a crazy person out there. We’d never experienced anything like this before. It made me long for uncomplicated times when our biggest worry was what we were wearing to a party.
Chapter 35 — Rebecca
Tears threatened to overwhelm me. I grabbed Chloe’s hand and squeezed hard as we shuffled closer to Lily’s bed. Lying back against the stark white linen, Lily looked fragile, her hair
spread around her angelic face like a halo, tubes stuck into her arms and machines rhythmically going about their work.
Kurt sat holding her hand, gently rubbing over her knuckles with his thumb. Her eyes were closed and she looked as if she was sleeping. Kurt raised his head, eyes widening as his gaze went from Chloe to me to Lily and back again.
“Rebecca?” His gaze rested on my face, but I sensed his uncertainty.
“It's me, Kurt, and this is Chloe.” I pushed her forward to shake his outreached hand.
“Wow. You could be triplets.” If I had a dollar for every time someone made that comparison, I’d be a wealthy woman. I smiled at him, nodding toward Lily. “How is she? We were told she woke from the coma?”
“Becca.” The voice from the bed sounded weak and small. Her eyes fluttered open and rested on Chloe. “You came too,” she whispered, a small smile turning up the corners of her mouth. I noticed the swelling of her lips and bruise marks across her body that were turning from purple to yellow. A sigh of relief escaped my lips. Although she sounded tired, she was at least awake. Alive.
“Lil, I'm so sorry, baby girl.” My throat thickened, my chest burning with tears I fought to hold back. I needed to be strong for Lily. This wasn’t the time or place to fall apart.
“The one night I decided to be brave and venture out by myself, didn’t turn out so good, did it?” Her hand went up and ran over the bandage still tightly wrapped around her head and over one ear. Kurt had told me over the phone that her eardrum had burst with the impact of the blows to her head.
“Darling, you have to promise to never do that again. Not without me,” Kurt said, his voice filled with concern.
Darling? Chloe pumped me in the ribs. Yeah, I heard it.
Lily nodded, smiling at a frowning Kurt. She turned her gaze to Chloe. “So you came to Munich after all. Sorry it had to take this to get you on that plane.”
“Cupcake, I'm sorry. If I came like you asked me to, you wouldn’t have been alone.” Chloe swallowed hard, tears streaming down her cheeks. “You wouldn’t be here,” she sobbed, clutching Lily’s hand.
Earlier I’d planned a weekend away in Paris for the three of us for my birthday, where Jade and Lexi would join us. I'd also invited the only girlfriend I’d made in France and was looking forward to introducing Celeste to my family. Chloe had skirted the issue repeatedly when I’d offered her a return ticket to join us in celebrating my thirtieth in style.
“Don’t be silly. You passed out on the couch, Becca It happened. Neither of you are to blame for my impulsiveness.” Lily turned her gaze back to Kurt. “But I never want to go out alone again. Not without Kurt.” Their fingers were intertwined on top of the bed covers, and he leaned down to plant a soft kiss on her forehead. Oh my, Kurt and Lily. I should have known from the first day they met, all that talk about books and studying and reading. They were made for one another.
Kurt looked up, training his gaze on me, silently asking for my blessing. I nodded my head slightly, a moment passing between the two of us. I couldn’t be happier, knowing the caliber of man he was. Lily was a lucky girl to snag a man like the young doctor. He’d look after her and protect her.
“Well, I should be out of here in time for our Parisian weekend. Only two weeks to your thirtieth birthday, Becca.”
“I’m not sure we’ll still be going, baby girl. I doubt Maxwell, or Kurt will let us loose,” I said, not wanting to go too deeply into the reasons why.
“Why on earth would your boss object, Becca? I don’t understand.”
“Because her boss is also her boyfriend now,” Chloe piped up. I shoved her in the ribs.
“What do you mean? Are we talking about Maxwell?” Kurt raised both eyebrows as he waited for Chloe to share more information.
Heat rose to my face as three pairs of eyes trained on me. “Maxwell is still my boss,” I said in self-defense. The conversation was damn awkward. How could I explain without it sounding cheesy as hell?
“I thought the guy who broke your heart was a Frenchman? Am I missing something here?” Lily asked.
Chloe’s agitation at the mention of Alain didn’t escape Kurt’s eyes. He was smart and quick. He gestured toward Chloe. “You know the Frenchman too?”
“She met him today. At the airport. Long story—we’ll fill you in later,” I said, wanting to avoid having this conversation here.
A nurse stood in the doorway. “Doctor Muller, we need you in Emergency. Can you come now?”
Kurt pushed to his feet, nodding. “I’ll be there in a minute.” He waited for her to scurry off before he leaned over and kissed Lily on the lips, softly and sweetly. Color rose to her cheeks and she bit her bottom lip in an effort to stop from smiling, but she couldn’t hide the gleam in her eyes.
“I’ll be back soon, get some rest,” he said, grabbing the white jacket that hung over the back of his chair. He slipped into it and fastened the buttons. “Don’t stay long. Lily needs to rest.” He changed from my sweet friend to the doctor giving the orders in a matter of seconds.
“Yes, Doctor Muller, we’ll be leaving soon,” I teased, suppressing a smile.
“Good. I’ll talk to you soon, Rebecca.” He turned to Chloe. “Nice meeting you. Although, three of you looking so similar—” he laughed and shook his head, then hung a stethoscope around his neck and left the room.
Leaning over, I kissed the freckles on the bridge of Lily’s nose. “Kurt’s a good man. You’re a lucky girl,” I said, winking at her. She pulled the sheets up to cover her cheeks, only her large eyes peering over the edges.
“Rest now, cupcake, we’ll be back to visit soon. Seems like you’re in good...um, hands...with Doctor Kurt.” Chloe kissed her cheek.
As we left the room, I noticed the two cops sitting outside the door. They’d been there when we’d arrived, but I was much too anxious to get to see Lily to stop to talk to them. They greeted us with a smile, wishing us a good evening. I introduced Chloe and myself, and thanked them for looking after Lily. They assured us it was their pleasure and that they wouldn’t let anyone near her.
“Um...do me a favor? Under no circumstances must you allow a French gentleman in to see her.” I took out my phone and scrolled to a picture of Alain. “If he arrives, please call me immediately, and keep him away from my sister.”
They nodded, promising to do so.
Down the hallway, just before we reached the elevator, Chloe grabbed hold of my arm and ground me to a halt.
“What the fuck was that about? You think Alain will hurt Lily? Are you crazy?” Her voice sounded too loud in the stillness, echoing back at us.
“I'm not taking any chances. You heard the cops say the attacker spoke French. Even if it's not Alain, I don’t want his voice and French accent to alarm her.”
She sucked in a breath and glared at me. “It's not Alain. I’d put money on it. How can you believe he’d do such a thing?”
“Trust once broken is difficult to repair. I don’t think I’ll ever fully trust Alain again. So yeah, he remains on my list of suspects until proven innocent.”
“Becca, you’re judging and finding him guilty even before the law does. That’s fucking harsh.” She pressed her lips together as we stepped into the elevator, her eyes blazing.
“I know Alain a lot better than you do. I know what he’s capable of. In a moment of passion, he’d do things that other men wouldn’t. Until we get to the bottom of who wanted to attack me, I’m not trusting anyone.”
Chapter 36 — Alain
“We have news of your father, Mr. du Bois. He had a nasty fall down a flight of stairs. We believe you were there when it happened?” The young officer was a lot more at ease in his own domain than he’d been at Grant’s fortress.
I nodded. “Yes, I was.”
Police stations were the same all over the world, stark and uninviting.
“The information we received was that the two of you had...a heated argument. That the fall happened during the disagreement.”
I shifted in the hard plastic chair. Talking about my father was the last thing I was in the mood for. Heat spread through my body and I clenched my fists by my sides.
“He attacked me. I stepped away. He fell down the stairs. The countess was there. She can verify my story.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. Why in fuck’s name were they questioning me about that day? It had nothing to do with the attack on Rebecca’s sister.
The cop cleared his throat, his gaze scrutinizing my face. “Countess de la Ray claims you pushed your father down the stairs, sir.”
“Merde. The witch. The opposite is true. He was going to push me down the stairs in a fit of rage. I simply sidestepped him.”
The older man, Sergeant Weiss, stared at me for a beat. “Well, it's your word against hers.” He let out a long breath. “Your father died this morning. Bleeding of the brain. He had a massive stroke.”
“This morning? Nobody has notified me.”
The fucker is finally dead.
“That’s because it only happened over an hour ago. We knew you were coming in anyway.” Weiss narrowed his eyes, glaring at me with a cynical expression on his face. I'd seen it so often on the duke’s face it made my stomach turn.
“Where is he?”
“His body is at the hospital. The one he was taken to after the incident. He never opened his eyes after the fall. And you never tried to see him or find out how he was.” His tone was hard. Unforgiving.
How much did they know? Were they aware of his assertion that he wasn’t my biological father?
The older man smirked. Deep lines etched into his forehead and sides of his mouth. “That’s strange behavior for a son to leave his father bleeding on the floor—if it was indeed an accident.”
I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath. I could see how this looked to outsiders. They didn’t live my life. The rest of the world only saw the charming side of Duke Philippe du Bois. His cruel, coldhearted character was reserved for my mother and me.