By mid-afternoon, Lucien felt better and wanted to get out of bed and walk around. Guy and Ryenne helped him down the stairs to the back patio. It would still be a day or two before he’d be able to shift and run as a wolf in the Bois de Boulogne, but at least he could sit in a real chair while getting fresh air in the backyard.
Françoise, of course, attempted to spoil him, bustling around and bringing him treats from the neighborhood patisserie, while brewing him fresh cups of coffee every couple of hours.
The sun felt good on Ryenne’s skin after having been cooped up inside with Lucien and the Malraux all day.
Guy stood. “You doing okay?”
Lucien nodded.
“Then I’m going to head home to shower and change for the family dinner tonight. I’ll see you guys in a couple of hours.”
Ryenne jumped to her feet, not wanting to be left alone out here with Lucien. Françoise was inside brewing coffee again, and Ryenne didn’t know how long she would be. “Oh, um, I’ll go with you.”
Guy gave her a funny look. So did Lucien.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she glanced at the display. “It’s Gavin. I’d better take it.”
Lucien nodded. “Yeah, I’m guessing he’ll be pretty upset about you missing the wedding.”
Ryenne nodded and dashed into the house and up the stairs to their room, answering the phone on the way up. “Hey Gav.”
“No, Ry, you’re not doing this to me. You promised.”
“I know and I’m so sorry.”
Gavin sighed. “How is he?”
“He’s doing a lot better, but not as well as he should be. Somehow the Fangs are involved in this. They’re targeting the Malraux just like they targeted me in Kenya. I can’t leave them alone to deal with this. Lucien and I know them the best. I have to help them.”
“I get it. I really do. I just wish it weren’t now.”
“Hi, sweetie,” a new voice said.
It was her mother’s voice, so unexpected that Ryenne’s stomach clenched. “Mom? What are you doing there?”
“Gavin called and told me what happened so I came over to be on the call. I’m sorry I’ll miss you for dinner on Sunday. I was looking forward to seeing you and hearing about your trip.”
Ryenne grimaced. Another important person in her life disappointed with her. She started to apologize again but her mother cut her off.
“It’s okay, Ryenne, I understand. I’m here about something else.”
Ryenne’s intuition pinged at a sour note in her mother’s tone and wished Gavin had video-called so she could see their faces. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“Not exactly,” her mother said. “Do you know someone with the initials T.O.?”
“Not off the top of my head. Why?”
“I got a letter signed by a T.O. He or she—I have no idea—claims to have information I might find interesting and they want to set up a meeting.”
“That sounds really sketchy, Mom. Ignore it for now. I hope to be back next week and we can deal with it then. If we have to, we’ll call Scotty and see if he can get fingerprints off the letter or something. I just need to put off coming home for a couple of days to make sure Lucien gets back on his feet and is healthy enough to deal with the Fangs. Something is going on here, but I hope we can resolve it quickly, maybe by the end of the weekend.”
“Okay, sweetie. Stay safe. I love you. Here’s Gavin.”
Ryenne could hear muffled words on the other end of the line, and then Gavin returned.
“I’m really sorry I can’t go to the wedding with you,” she told him.
“Yeah, I just didn’t want to have to go alone.”
“If it really bothers you, email them and say something has come up and you can’t go. Tell them you’re deathly ill. Christopher wouldn’t want to risk getting sick, especially before his honeymoon.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me my ex actually has sex with the toad he’s marrying.”
Ryenne grinned. “Oh hey, why don’t you take Mom?”
Tinkling laughter met her words. “You don’t want to bring an old lady like me,” her mom said in the background.
“Nonsense, Willow. You’re the hottest woman over forty I know.”
“Oh, Gavin. You’re like a son to me. I wouldn’t take my son to his ex’s wedding.”
“It was just a thought.” Ryenne heard movement on the other side of the bedroom door. “I’d better go. We have a family dinner tonight and I need to help Lucien get ready.” She tapped the button to hang up and tossed her phone on the bed.
As if saying his name had conjured him, Lucien opened the door and stood alone in the doorway. “We need to talk.”
Ryenne blew out a big gust of air from between her lips. She had dreaded this moment all day, but it was bound to happen. She couldn’t avoid him forever. And even if she had managed to avoid him until dinner, at some point afterward, the two of them would be left alone in Lucien’s room.
“Why does it feel like you’ve been avoiding me?” he asked.
She bit her lip and tried to decide what to say. But, other than for work purposes, she didn’t know how to lie and hide her feelings. “Last night you said you loved me.”
“I did?”
Confusion made her mouth drop open. “Yeah, when we were talking about your family not liking me, you said I should give it time and eventually they would come to love me like you do.”
The furrows of confusion on his face smoothed away and he approached the bed. “Oh. Wow. This is awkward. I didn’t mean I love you like I’m in love with you. I meant that I care about you. We’ve been through a lot together so, of course, I love you.”
She sat on the bed and stared at him. Could this be the truth? Relief warred inside her with disappointment. All this time while she didn’t think she wanted him to be in love with her, now that he said he wasn’t, her feelings were hurt.
“Oh,” she finally said.
“Of course, I’ve been falling in love with you pretty much ever since we left Kenya together,” he continued. “But I haven’t dropped over the edge yet.”
Her stomach flipped. So, he wasn’t saying he couldn’t ever love her, he just didn’t yet. She supposed that was better.
“Okay, yeah, that makes sense. I’m sorry, then, for my behavior today.”
His face crinkled in confusion once again. “Why did thinking I was in love with you make you avoid me? I guess you don’t feel the same way about me?” His tone dropped and she could hear the pain she had caused.
“It’s the same for me, it really is.” The words tumbled out. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt Lucien. “Like you, I’m just not fully there yet. And I’ve never been there with anyone before, so the feelings, and your feelings especially, had me really confused and I didn’t know what to say or how to act. And you’re injured, so this isn’t the best time for emotional drama.” She swallowed. “You need to focus on healing.”
He stared at her for a moment and then nodded. “I’d like to shower before dinner. Can you help me? The wound has closed but it still hurts to twist.”
“Sure. Sure,” she rushed to say.
She guided him into the bathroom and turned on the hot water while he undressed. He stepped into the narrow stall and scrubbed his hands through his hair, head tipped back into the stream. Ryenne watched the water flow down the strong lines of his face, down his hard pecs, down his tan skin, into the tumble of hair at his groin.
Lucien’s hands fell to his sides and Ryenne averted her gaze to find him staring at her. She licked her lips, guilty and aroused. His palm opened toward her. Returning her gaze to his normally bright golden eyes, she was surprised to see sadness clouding them.
Undressing quickly and dropping her clothes on the floor next to his, she took his hand and allowed him to pull her into the stall. A few drops of water reached her around his body and she shivered.
He wrapped his arms around her and she leaned into him.
His arms tightened in response. Her own rested on his hips. Passing her left hand over his wound, she verified it had closed. She dropped her hands to the dip above his butt and savored the feel of his soft skin.
“I’m sorry, too,” he whispered.
She shook her head, her cheek rubbing against the top of his chest. He hadn’t done anything wrong.
He said something in French but she didn’t understand. Tilting her head up, she gazed into his eyes. He kissed her, so softly, so wet, and she melted even more.
They’d be okay.
NINE
Lucien heard his uncle Mathieu on the back patio before he could see him. Ryenne helped him down the stairs even though the hot shower had loosened up his muscles enough he no longer needed her. But he’d decided not to tell her. Not yet.
Mathieu’s booming voice stopped Ryenne at the bottom of the stairs. She raised her eyebrows.
Lucien smiled. “It’s okay. He’s all bark and no bite.”
She snorted.
“In fact, although he’s loud, it’s not really a bark. You’ll be fine, I promise.”
She gave a little nod and wrapped her arm around his waist.
He leaned down to whisper into her still-wet hair. “Really, he’ll love you.” He almost made another stupid comment like he had the night before, but he didn’t want to jeopardize their newfound peace and affection.
The way she’d avoided him all day had left him feeling confused and sad. He’d almost convinced himself she’d had enough of him and Paris and shifters, that she was ready to leave them all behind and go home. The thought twisted his insides. He wasn’t ready for her to leave.
On the back patio, Lucien’s mother presided over a tray with a variety of bottles, an ice bucket, and glasses of different shapes and sizes. She looked up at their approach and straightened.
“Ryenne, this is my brother-in-law, Mathieu, brother to my late husband, Michel,” she said. “As you may know, Michel and Mathieu took over the Malraux business together after their father died.”
Ryenne stepped forward, her hand outstretched. “It’s so nice to meet you, Monsieur Malraux.”
Mathieu looked her up and down and a smile broke over his face. He vigorously shook her hand and wrapped her in a hug. Her wide eyes found Lucien’s gaze and he smiled. He knew Mathieu would love her.
“Oh, Ryenne, it is so nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.” He released her and she stumbled back.
“You have?”
Lucien imagined Ryenne’s confusion and worry about what Mathieu may have heard from his mother and Emma. Lucien caught his mother giving Mathieu a disapproving glance.
Lucien knew his mother had had a hard time accepting Ryenne. A human, an American. And she had made her claim obvious that what happened in Kenya was all Ryenne’s fault. That Ryenne had been targeted. But Stephen Muteti had hired Lucien, too, so clearly, the Malraux had been part of the Fangs’ plan for months, if not longer.
But his mother was always a perfect and gracious French host. “Ryenne, can I offer you an apéritif? A martini, maybe?”
Ryenne glanced at the bottle his mother held of a red liquid, and Lucien jumped in to clear up the confusion. “Not a martini, the clear drink made with vodka or gin, made famous by James Bond,” he explained. “This is red vermouth, made by the Martini & Rossi company, so we call it martini here.”
“Sure, I’ll try some,” she said.
Lucien nodded at his mother, who poured them two glasses.
As they sat together on a wrought iron bench, Ryenne leaned over and whispered, “I see what you mean now about not having to worry about your uncle.”
A twinge of guilt passed through Lucien. He’d forgotten to warn her about how expansive Mathieu was, and to expect a hug, something she’d already learned not to expect from the French. “Which makes you more uncomfortable, a hug or all the kissing of cheeks?”
The flurry of noise and activity accompanying the arrival of Emma, Pascal, and their two kids, seemed to save Ryenne from answering. Lucien saw her sigh. He took pity on her and turned to his nieces, scooping one of them into his arms and spinning her around.
“Moi aussi, moi aussi,” the older one, Aurélie, clamored. At six years old, she was getting big for such games, but not too big yet.
He caught Ryenne watching him with a funny expression on her face. Was she touched by how close he was to his nieces or worried because she wasn’t ready for kids? Maybe she didn’t want kids at all. Lucien didn’t know. They’d never had this conversation because they’d been busy having fun and fighting for their lives.
Soon, Françoise invited everyone to the long table, deeper within the backyard, set for ten. Dany brought out two tartes aux tomates and Lucien rubbed his hands together.
“Tomates? Is this the dish Inspector Côtard said he misses?” Ryenne asked.
Lucien nodded. “Wait until you taste this. It’s summer in a bite.”
“Yes, your mother told me you saw him the other day after the unfortunate incident at the café.” Mathieu took a plate of tomato tart from Dany. “How is the old devil?”
“Looking good. He has his hands full with these Fang-related robberies,” Lucien responded.
At the mention of the Fangs, Lucien’s mother’s face went rigid.
“Ah yes, the Fangs,” Mathieu said.
“What are the Fangs?” asked his four-year-old niece, Sophie.
“Nothing,” Pascal said. He attempted to distract his girls by offering them lemonade.
“They’re the scoundrels who stabbed your uncle Lucien,” Emma said at the same time.
The girls’ eyes went wide and they turned toward their uncle. Lucien gave them a big smile. “But you see I am just fine.”
“We don’t know it was the Fangs,” Guy said. “We didn’t see who...” He glanced at the girls. “We didn’t see who did it.”
Françoise turned a furious face on him. “How can you say that? Who else would it be? They have us in their sights now. They may never give up.”
“Maman.” Lucien made a calming gesture with his hands. Clearly, now wasn’t the time to bring up his slower healing. He had begun to suspect the knife had been coated with something. He’d given his shirt from last night to Pascal and asked him to analyze the stains.
“I know you’re very sure about the identity of the culprit,” Mathieu said. “But what if it wasn’t them?”
“Of course it was them,” Emma said in harsh tones.
“Yes, okay, but what if it wasn’t? Who else could it have been?” Mathieu asked.
Guy entered the fray once again. “The Malraux have been in business here for a long time. Surely, you’ve made enemies along the way.”
“A business rival?” Mathieu asked, considering.
“Or it could be the boyfriend of one of Lucien’s ex-lovers. There have been plenty of those.” Guy elbowed Lucien in his good side.
Lucien glanced at Ryenne, worried she’d be upset by talk of former lovers, especially considering her reaction to meeting Chantal. But Ryenne’s face was open and amused.
“Really?” she asked. “Exactly how many ex-lovers are we talking about?”
“Oh, hundreds, at least,” Emma shouted from the other end of the table, closer to their mother who held court at the head. “Remember that girl in secondary school whose father caught you in her bedroom?”
Lucien hid his face in his hands.
“Tell me more,” Ryenne said.
Dany opened her mouth, but Lucien waved his hands. “No, no, please. We don’t need to go into ancient history.”
“But you have to admit, dear brother, there have been enough people you’ve angered over the years,” Dany said. “Fathers, boyfriends, brothers.”
“Youthful indiscretions, I promise you,” he said in a low voice to Ryenne.
She grinned. “No worries. I’ve had a few, as well.”
Guy looked sheepish.
“And not to mention you, dear sister,” Lucien said to Dany. “My room may have been up on the third floor, but I could hear below me just fine.”
Dany didn’t even blush, she turned up the wattage on her grin, and took Guy’s beefy arm. “But no one compares to you, mon amour.”
Ryenne leaned close and Lucien got a whiff of the lilac scent of her shampoo, pushing all other thoughts away. The smell reminded him of their time in the shower earlier and he got hard.
“Should they be talking like this in front of the kids?” Ryenne whispered.
He laughed. “Luckily, they don’t understand English.”
Her eyes widened. “So, every time I’ve spoken to them, they haven’t understood me? They looked like they did.”
“They’re very good little actresses.”
She huffed out a breath.
Pascal, who was on Ryenne’s other side, turned to her. “They understood enough to know what you were saying to them. But this conversation is way over their heads.”
Mathieu brought the subject back to Lucien’s attack. “It could be someone who wants personal revenge against Lucien or someone who wants to get back at the business. Anyone else?”
No one spoke up.
“While all of those things are certainly possible,” Mathieu said, “I will admit the Fangs make the most sense.”
“Thank you,” Françoise said, hands tucked primly under her chin.
“What are we going to do about it?” Dany asked.
“I would start with Charles,” Ryenne said.
Everyone stared at her.
Pride swelled in Lucien’s chest along with the feeling in his pants.
“We know Charles works for Lord Enterprises,” Ryenne continued. “We know he wanted to recruit Lucien, if not the whole Malraux family. I think we should pay him a visit.”
Wolves of Paris (Shifter Hunters Ltd. Book 2) Page 5