Fugitive (Deceptive Series Book 2)

by M. D. Melai

  We didn’t go out as much as we used to. When we did though, he would always take me to the most upscale restaurants, and we would always end up walking around the city, enjoying the night. Sometimes we would just go to the plaza, and sit on a nearby bench and just people watch. Those were some of my most favorite days together.

  Emily and I really didn’t talk much outside of work anymore. She complained how hard this semester was, and when she wasn’t in class or at work, she was at the library studying. I didn’t know exactly what her degree was, but I knew it had an international aspect to it. She and Gabriel had also officially been dating for a while. If she had any free time at all, then it was usually spent with him.

  She was friendlier toward me after I had called Miguel and told him that I didn’t feel the same way about him. He understood and said that he would have rather taken a shot than deal with the regret.

  I ended up telling Emily that Lucas and I were back together. It took me a few days to build up the courage to tell her. I wasn’t sure how she would react. All she really said was, ‘I told you so,’ and ‘it’s your life, do what you want to with it.’ She said that I looked happy and that was all that mattered to her, but just like Violet, it didn’t stop her from playing devil’s advocate. She advised me to make sure I wasn’t masking my need for companionship with love.

  Violet and I talked less than usual. I narrowed it down to only once a week. I think the fact that Lucas was here made her feel better. Plus the less contact we had the better. It was already awkward talking to her as it was. I felt distant from her, and maybe it was my fault, because I was distancing myself slowly. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I wasn’t coming home. I loved Spain, and I had adapted better than I ever thought I would.

  I also didn’t tell her about Lucas and me. I knew when the timing was right, I would tell her, but until then, I told Lucas we could just keep it to ourselves for now.

  Lucas also had started distancing himself from everyone. I didn’t ask questions anymore, but I would sometimes overhear some of his conversations and they would get pretty heated at times. They were usually with either Emilio or Nikolas, and I could only imagine what was being said.

  The search for me was still on as well. My father was relentless and wasting his money trying to find me. Even after six months, he still hadn’t got the hint.

  “So, tomorrow is your day off, do you want to do anything special?” Lucas asked me late one night as we were lying on the terrace.

  “I actually worked it out so I can have the whole weekend off,” I replied.

  “Really? How’d you swing that?” he asked.

  “Because I’ve had to work almost every day since we got back from Ireland and I told them that I needed a break.”

  “That’s an understatement. If you weren’t so stubborn, then you wouldn’t have to work in the first place.”

  “I’m not going to explain my reasons again. You’ve heard them a million times,” I stated.

  He quickly brought the conversation back around. “So, what do you want to do this weekend?”

  “I actually have a surprise for you,” I said with a smile. “I’ll be right back.”

  He loosened his arms around me and I headed back into the apartment. I made my way to my dresser drawer and under my t-shirts was a white envelope that I had placed there last week.

  Lucas was always surprising me with new things, so now it was my turn.

  “Here you go,” I said as I handed him the envelope and took a seat next to him.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “Open it and you’ll find out,” I said, grinning from ear to ear, using his own words against him.

  He opened it so slowly that I almost ripped it out of his hands and did it myself. A smile broke across his face when he looked up at me. He was opening it slowly on purpose.

  “Will you hurry up?” I said impatiently.

  He laughed at me, and then in one swift motion, he tore the whole envelope open. He pulled out the two sheets of paper that I had in there and opened them. His face immediately lit up.

  “We’re going to Paris?” he asked.

  “Yes!” I said ecstatically. “I’ve been saving up some money over the past month, so I could afford the tickets. Plus it’s been almost a month and a half since we took a trip to Ireland and I thought a trip to Paris would be nice.”

  “This is amazing, so unexpected,” he said, leaning in and giving me a kiss.

  “And I know neither of us speaks French, but I figured we’d just wing it.”

  “Speak for yourself,” he laughed. “La façon dont vos lèvres se sentent sur le mien me dit que vous êtes le seul.”

  “Wow, umm okay. What does that mean?” I asked.

  “The way your lips feel on mine tells me that you are the one,” he said making my heart pound. “Although, I think it sounds better in French.”

  “Well, that is definitely something I did not know about you. You speak French?”

  “Nah,” he said laughing. “That’s actually just the translation I looked up on the internet. I don’t even know if it’s right. I just thought I might surprise you if we ever did decide to go to Paris.”

  “Hey! I was supposed to be the only one doing the surprising tonight.”

  “Fair enough, and you did. This is one hell of a surprise. Thanks babe,” he said, kissing me once again.

  ***

  We left for Paris the next day. The whole weekend focused on Lucas and me being there. I still couldn’t believe that we were going there, even though I was the one who initiated the whole trip.

  The flight to Paris took about two hours, and in that time, Lucas and I planned on which places we really wanted to see. We narrowed our top three to the Eiffel Tower, of course, the Louvre Museum, and Notre Dame Cathedral. Anything else we would get to see would just be a bonus.

  Once the flight landed, it didn’t take us very long to exit the airport. We didn’t have to go through customs or baggage claim, which was nice.

  Lucas found us a taxi quickly and we loaded our carry-ons into the trunk and got in the backseat. The driver didn’t speak much English, so I handed him the address of our hotel and we were on our way.

  I could tell that being here in Paris was going to be a lot different than anywhere else. In Italy, Spain, and Ireland, we could have easily got by, because one or both of us spoke the language. But, since neither of us spoke French, we were going to have to rely on finding someone who spoke English, Spanish, or Italian.

  We pulled up to the front of the hotel, and I was in amazement. We were right down the block from the Eiffel Tower and I could see it from where I was standing. I silently made a wish hoping our hotel room faced the view of the tower.

  “Did you plan this?” I asked Lucas, knowing he was the one who had made the reservation for us last night.

  “I searched for hotels that were near the Eiffel Tower, I just didn’t know that we were going to be this close,” he explained.

  “Well, I say you did an excellent job,” I applauded him.

  “Thank you,” he said as he took both of our carry-ons from the driver and escorted me inside.

  “Bonjour,” the front desk lady said as we approached the desk.

  “Bonjour,” Lucas replied. “We have a reservation for Matthews.”

  “Luke Matthews?” she asked after searching for the name.

  “Yes,” he replied.

  “Okay Mr. and Mrs. Matthews. Your room is on the second floor. Here is your key and if you need anything, just call the front desk,” she explained.

  “Merci,” Lucas said as he took my hand and we made our way to the stairs.

  “So, I’m Mrs. Matthews now?” I asked.

  “Don’t worry, it caught me by surprise too,” Lucas replied.

  Once we reached the room, Lucas set down his luggage and opened the door. We walked into what looked like a small apartment. This didn’t look anything like a hotel room I was used to. It ha
d a bedroom with a double bed, a small kitchen with a refrigerator, coffee maker, and dishwasher. It also had a living room, dining room, and sitting room. It was bigger than our apartment back in Barcelona.

  “Hey, come out here,” Lucas called from the other side of the living room.

  I hurried to where he was and saw that he was standing outside on a patio. It was protected by walls, but the top part was open.

  “Look up there,” he said, pointing toward the sky.

  We could see the top half of the Eiffel Tower from our patio. This was absolutely amazing!

  “And look, they have a table and chairs out here, so we can sit out here later tonight,” he said.

  “If I didn’t tell you already, you did an amazing job finding this place,” I said.

  “Thanks, but I didn’t plan this,” he said gesturing around us.

  “Which makes it even better,” I said as I grabbed his neck and pulled his lips to mine. He picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist as he walked us to the bedroom.

  ***

  Lucas and I woke up early the next morning. We wanted to see everything that we could and we only had one full day. As soon as we were dressed and ready, we headed out of the hotel and down the street. We came across several restaurants that were serving breakfast and sat at the one with the best view of the tower.

  We both ordered something that we were familiar with and talked while we waited for our food to be served.

  “So, we can go on a tour of the Eiffel Tower, but by the time we finished, the Louvre might be fairly busy, and I’m not sure how long of a wait it might be,” Lucas said looking over our tourist map.

  “I say that we go to the museum first and then to Notre Dame next. Hopefully by that time it might be getting pretty dark and seeing the Eiffel Tower at night would be amazing,” I suggested.

  “You’re so smart!” Lucas said as he leaned in and kissed my cheek.

  “I was also thinking that maybe we could find a nice place to go have dinner tonight. Somewhere romantic, maybe?”

  “Way ahead of you,” he said. “I already have a place in mind that I was going to surprise you with.”

  “Are you going to tell me the name?” I asked, batting my eyes at him.

  It didn’t work. He declined to say.

  Once we were done eating, we headed toward The Louvre museum. We made it there right as they were opening. Lucas led me to the ticket counter and insisted that he buy our tickets.

  We roamed the museum for several hours, and saw some of the most spectacular and famous pieces of art. Luckily this museum allowed photos to be taken, because I didn’t want to miss anything, and I took as many as my phone would allow. I took countless photos of the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. Those two pieces were my absolute favorites and what I was looking forward to seeing the most.

  After we left the museum, we headed straight for the Notre Dame Cathedral. It was bigger than I had ever imagined and more beautifully structured than any other building that I had ever seen.

  “From what it said on the internet, we get in for free,” Lucas said. “Do you want to go inside?”

  “Yes,” I said as I grabbed his hand and took off towards the door I saw people entering.

  The inside was just as magnificent and big as the outside. There were no words I could ever use to describe how monumental this moment was to me. The sheer fact this place was an architect’s biggest dream was enough to grow my excitement.

  Countless rows of pews took up both sides of the area we were in. There were two levels of balconies on both sides of the room. All of it led up to the front, which was indescribable. I could only imagine how much work went into every single detail.

  I had taken so many pictures at the museum that Lucas let me borrow his phone. I knew as soon as we got back to the hotel, I would need to delete pictures off my phone that either didn’t come out or I really didn’t need. We still had the Eiffel Tower tonight.

  Lucas and I toured the rest of the cathedral. It was just as glorious as the first part we had seen. There was so much to see, and when we would overhear someone talking about a certain part, we would stop and listen. I could have spent all day in there if Lucas would have let me, and we almost did. We emerged three hours later.

  It was almost seven when we arrived back at the hotel. I couldn’t believe it took us almost an hour to walk back. We were not expecting that.

  We hurried to freshen up before we went out to dinner. By the time I was done touching up my makeup and hair, Lucas was waiting on the patio. He had changed into a nice pair of jeans and a blue button up shirt. I laughed when I saw the color of his shirt, because it almost matched my navy blue dress I had just bought for the trip.

  “Next time, we talk about our outfits before we leave,” I laughed as I walked up to him.

  “You look beautiful,” he said as a grin appeared on his face. “People will just think we are one of those color coordinating couples.”

  I rolled my eyes at him.

  “Are you ready to go?” he asked as he stuck out his elbow.

  “Yes, I’m starving,” I replied as I wrapped my arm around his. “Where to?”

  He bent down, kissed me on the forehead, and grinned devilishly at me.

  “You’ll see.”

  ***

  We ate at a restaurant right next to the Eiffel Tower. Lucas had made reservations and requested a window seat, so we could eat and look at the tower. The restaurant was elegant and upscale. It was dimly lit, which set the perfect mood.

  “So, how have you liked Paris?” I asked.

  “It’s been really awesome. I still can’t believe you did this,” he said.

  “Well, you’ve done so much for me, and I thought it would be nice to show you how much you mean to me.”

  “You mean a lot to me too, Lil. I just really hope that you can see that now.”

  “I do,” I said as I reached across table and placed my hand on his.

  “Honestly,” he laughed. “I thought when I revealed myself to you, you were going to completely shun me. I never expected that we would come this far.”

  “Trust me, the thought did cross my mind,” I replied. “But I’m glad I didn’t.”

  “Me too,” he said as he brought my hand up and kissed it.

  Our food came shortly after, and when we were done, Lucas paid the check and we headed over to the Eiffel Tower. Being here at nighttime was incredible. The moon was perfectly situated right over it and gave the tower the perfect touch. I did have time to delete several photos off my cellphone, so I had plenty of room to take more. My favorite one of that night was a picture I had taken of us. The tower was in the background, Lucas was kissing my cheek, and I was smiling like I had just won the lottery.

  We walked around for a while and eventually ran into a group of musicians: one was playing the piano and the other a saxophone. The music was soft and melodious, and I started to sway as I closed my eyes and just listened.

  Lucas came around behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. He would kiss my neck every so often, and then whisper sweet nothings in my ear.

  “Dance with me?” he asked as the songs changed.

  I turned around immediately and put my arms around his neck. His hands found the small of my back and pulled me in close. I rested my head on his chest and breathed in that familiar smell I would never get tired of.

  We swayed back and forth to the music, and Lucas would kiss me every so often. I never wanted this moment to end. My head and my heart were finally in agreement that this was exactly where I wanted to be: in Paris with Lucas.

  “Can we just stay here forever?” I asked as I leaned back and looked up at him.

  “Whatever you want to do,” he said right before kissing my forehead. “I’ll follow you anywhere.”

  I smiled at the thought of that. If we ever needed to relocate, then Paris would definitely be our next stop. Lucas, me, and Paris was the perfect combination.

  **
*

  “Hey, Lily. How are you?” Violet asked as soon as I answered.

  I hadn’t talked to Violet in a while. We had got back from Paris yesterday and I meant to call her, but between unpacking and cleaning up the apartment, I didn’t have much time.

  “I’m amazing actually. Lucas and I just got back from Paris yesterday,” I said with a smile.

  “Ooh, the city of love. How did that go?”

  “Better than you could ever imagine! And by the way, if you ever have to relocate us in a hurry, then I recommend Paris.”

  “Noted,” she said before pausing for a moment.

  “Everything okay Vi?”

  “Oh yeah, sure,” she said, sounding distracted. “The reason I’m calling is actually because of Lucas. I was wondering if you could talk to him about the Heinrichs. Has he talked to them or checked in lately? Apparently they are starting to make some very dangerous threats to your father and the family. It seems to be getting really serious.”

  “Yeah, I can talk to him. I honestly don’t know when the last time he talked to them was, but I will make sure he checks in, and I will call you back when I know something, okay?”

  “Okay, sounds good,” she said, sounding almost sad. “I’m glad that you’re doing okay, Lil. I miss you like crazy though. Please promise that you will come home soon?”

  “I will definitely try. And if and when I do come home, things are going to have to change.”

  “I think they will,” she said sounding more like herself. “You’ve clearly sent everyone a message since you’ve been gone for over six months!”

  “That was my intention,” I said, laughing sarcastically.

  “I know. Well, I have to go, but I will talk to you soon, okay?”

  “Yeah sounds good. Love you, Vi.”

  “Love you too, Lil.”

  Lucas had just got back from grocery shopping when I hung up the phone.

  “Was that Violet?” he asked.

  “Yeah, she was actually calling for you. She wanted me to ask you something about the Heinrichs.”

  “Okay,” he said puzzled. “What does she want to know?”