Arielle Immortal Journey (The Immortal Rapture Series Book 5) (8 page)

Stefan’s voice startled Arielle. “I sure missed you, Arielle,”
Stefan said. “Where have you been?”

“I’ve been right here,” Arielle replied.
Why would he be looking for me?

“I returned to Brighton each semester break and tried looking for you. Somehow our paths never crossed. It has been quite frustrating for me,” he said, swallowing hard.

Arielle tilted her head, regarding him, and shrugged her
shoulders.
“I’ve been right here,” she repeated. She shifted from one leg to the
other uncomfortably.

Stefan didn’t notice her uneasiness. “And here you are!” he
exclaimed, waving his hands up and down her body. “I’m thrilled!”

Arielle cleared her throat distinctly. “Stefan…I don’t know what
to say. It has been a while, many things have changed.” Her gaze swept over his face and she gave him a light smile. He inhaled
sharply. She
paused and, without giving him a chance to say a word, she
continued.

“It has been a while indeed,” she said. She studied him with
narrowed eyes.

“Ah, yes—it has been a while, but my memories of you haven’t faded away.” He fought to keep his face under control, but Arielle could tell he was struggling with strong emotions.

“What are you guys doing here? I thought you were in school?
And
how did you end up on this part of the beach?” Gabrielle’s voice
came out clear and loud, snapping Arielle out of her deep thoughts.

“So many questions? So little time! Aren’t you happy to see us?” Stefan asked, turning his gaze to Gabrielle. He laughed playfully.

Gabby took a long time answering. “Um, yes, of course we are, we were just very surprised to see you here. This section of the beach is private, and we usually know the folks that live here. So, we never expected to see you two here, especially this time of the year.”

“Well, that's easy to explain, we are spending the weekend with
the Saxtons. Their home is up that way.” He pointed behind them
towards a house up on the hill. “We met their son, Eric, during the
first
year at the university and since then we’ve been great friends. He
asked us to spend the weekend with his family and go surfing. So, here we are,” Stefan said.

“Eric should be coming along shortly,” James added.

“We’re just as surprised to see you here,” Stefan said as he
assessed
Arielle from head to toe. His excited expression told her that he
loved what he saw. “You are more beautiful than I remember.” He dragged his gaze away from her to check out Gabby. He then looked to James and grinned.

“James, they are both beautiful aren’t they?” James hadn’t taken his eyes off of Gabby since the first moment they walked up.

“They’re a sight for sore eyes,” James murmured, as if in a
trance. “Stefan and I have spent quite a lot of time thinking about you two over the past two and a half years. I guess it’s hard to get over your first sweetheart,” he said sadly.

Gabrielle blinked at his words and exchanged a puzzled look with Arielle. James and Stefan were undeniably attractive—tall, lean
with muscular bodies, and possessing beautiful faces—but they had never been sweethearts. It was hard to believe that these two handsome
guys had spent the past two and half years thinking about them.
They
remembered girls fighting over the boys back in secondary school. Arielle thought the guys looked even more stunning now, so why
would they waste their time with old memories?

Arielle remembered how crazy she was about Stefan the first time she laid eyes on him, and how much she wished he had asked
her out.
She muttered bitterly under her breath remembering his rejection.
She was certainly never Stefan’s sweetheart.

“So, what have you been doing?” Stefan asked, watching Arielle intently.

“We’ve been busy at school. This last semester has been rough, and we can’t wait for graduation.”

“Gabrielle, we had some great times in school, didn’t we?” James
chimed in. “I was crazy about you then, and my feeling haven’t changed.
It has been very hard to get over you. The truth is that I haven’t gotten over you,” James admitted. “I’m stunned that we ran into each other today.”

A low curse escaped Troy’s lips.

Sebastian said, “They sound pretty determined, don’t they?” He
found the guy's behavior amusing but it was also unsettling. He looked at Troy and frowned seeing how upset this was making his friend.

Gabrielle’s lips curved. “James, we did have some great times, but that was a very long time ago. I’m in love now and engaged to be married to the most wonderful man on this earth.” Troy’s face filled
her
mind, and she felt as if a volcano erupted inside her. Heat spread
through
her veins and her heartbeat increased; her grin stretched ear to ear.
Arielle
felt Gabby's emotions and smiled with joy at how happy her friend
was.

James’ smile faded away, and he pressed his lips together into a thin line. Silence fell between them. Stefan stilled. His face conveyed that he was struggling not to speak. He couldn't hold it in.

“What about you, Arielle?” he asked reluctantly as if he didn’t
want to hear her answer. “I told you a long time ago that I’d wait for you. I thought that you were the perfect girl for me the first day I
laid
eyes on you, and my feelings have never changed.” His gaze swept
over
her. Arielle didn't need to read his thoughts to see that Stefan was
hoping that she felt the same way, that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her.

Arielle set her hand on his arm. She assessed him through
narrowed
eyes. He appeared to be telling the truth. Slowly, she raised her
eyebrows and smiled. “Sorry, Stefan, I’m engaged to be married as well, and
very much in love with the man in my life. He is, and will remain,
the only man in my life.”

Stefan and James tried to remain cool. Arielle attempted to smooth everything over. “Stefan, Gabrielle and I don’t believe a
word of your assertions.” She chuckled. “We’re sure that there are a couple of girls
waiting for you back at school, if not a long line of them.” Both
Gabby and Arielle laughed. Stefan and James remained silent.

“Friends?” Arielle asked with a soft smile, and reached out for
Stefan’s hand. He in turn leaned in, and gave her a warm hug and a soft kiss on the lips.

“Friends,” he replied softly, and forced a smile.

“What about you, James?” Gabrielle asked.

“It’ll be hard, but I’ll try.” He reached over and hugged
Gabrielle. He planted a firm kiss on her lips.

Troy growled again at the sight, and Sebastian laughed. He felt
better now that Arielle had told Stefan that she was taken. They
watched a third guy running toward the group carrying a surfboard, calling
out the names of the men. When he reached his friends, Stefan
introduced Arielle and Gabrielle to Eric.

The two women and three men walked together, chatting away about surfing, school, and graduation. When they reached the edge
of the water, there were a few more hugs and then everyone said their goodbyes. The boys got on their surfboards and swam out to join the
others waiting for the next wave. Gabrielle and Arielle chuckled as
they stood there and watched them for a short time. They finally turned around and collided against two hard, muscled bodies.

“Ah!” they both shrieked as they came face to face with Troy and Sebastian.

“Whe—where did you come from?” Arielle stammered. “You were nowhere nearby a second ago.” She hauled in a deep breath,
and
scolded them with a soft smile. “You have to stop doing that—both of you—or you are going to give us a heart attack.” They laughed
and
swept the girls into their arms, locking them in passionate kisses before they could protest. The two couples sat together and hung
out, just talking about all kinds of things. The guys chose not to say a word about eavesdropping on their fiancées with their school friends.

Troy and Gabby left late in the afternoon, but not before Troy and Sebastian agreed to meet at the office early Monday morning. The girls exchanged hugs, pleased to have shared such a charming day together. They silently agreed not to speak another word about James and Stefan, quickly forgetting all about them.

Chapter 7

THE COLOSSAL BUILDING
in the center of St. Petersburg Square
displayed an impressive architectural style with a strong Byzantine influence. The corbel arches and domes were gilded or brightly painted, giving the building a seventeenth century appearance. The walls and ceilings throughout the building were covered with
decorative carved panels. The staircases leading to the upper floors were with fitted bookcases. Each door was carefully made from walnut with heavy
bronze handles attached on either side. The leather upholstery for
the walls was carefully selected. The carpets, the curtain fabric, and the
upholstery for the furniture were imported from Europe. The
furniture was exquisite, each piece made of the fashionable walnut with rich texture. Every desk, table, and bench was fretted in Gothic patterns, including lancet arches, rosettes, and trefoils. Nikola Vasilovitch, the head of Russian Intelligence, was sprawled in a huge chair behind one of those amazing desks. He held a cigar in his left hand, and his eyes were half closed.

The sun burst through the huge window on the east side of the room, creating an unusual brilliance. There were three tall, broad-
shouldered men sitting on the large sofa across from Nikola’s desk, waiting in silence for their boss to speak. Rainer Heinrich and Hahn Dussel were German born theoretical physicists, both experts in creating and handling bombs. They had spied for the Russians while working
in England as well as the United States. The third man on the sofa
was
Larue Legrand, a French born citizen who stole secret documents
from
the French military and passed them along to the Russians. He was
an expert in penetrating and decoding secret documents and designs. Nikola was their single point of contact. He was the one they turned
over secret information to, not caring whether the information
harmed an individual, a business, or an entire country.

These three individuals oversaw an espionage ring with cells working throughout the world. They had central posts in Paris,
Berlin, Milan,
Athens, Brussels, Vienna, and Warsaw. From these cities, their spies received assignments, and then moved quietly to swap identical black bags containing important items or information. They
possessed skills to uncover, steal, or forcefully take what they wanted for their own
purposes, keeping the heat away from St. Petersburg. They
embedded coded texts in ordinary-looking images posted on the Internet and
communicated with one another using special software on their
laptops.
They had bombing specialists working for them, specialists who developed many types of bombs and detonated them remotely to
create chaos in train stations and government buildings. The men did not care who was killed and who survived.

Nikola coughed, clearing his throat as he lit the cigar in his hand. He blew thick circles of smoke towards the ceiling. He stood up and started to pace back and forth in front of the three men. Nikola was a stocky man with thick brown hair and dark brown eyes that seemed full of anger and contempt.

“What have you got worth discussing on the International
Industrial Research Laboratories?” His voice was husky and cold. He spoke in
a no-nonsense tone. “I want to know the history behind this
company, and why our first attempt failed so miserably.” He stood in front of
the large sofa looking down on the men, grinding his teeth while waiting for an answer. They knew their boss wouldn't accept
excuses. The three exchanged nervous glances. Hahn was the first to speak.

“I did a background check on IIRL after the first attempt to steal the designs. I found out that the company has roots that go back to the sixteenth century. The Gaulle family started the business, which changed names three times in the last five hundred years. The name
IIRL was established during the nineteenth century, and the only
heir to
the business is the young Sebastian Gaulle. He’s a brilliant
businessman
who has established offices and laboratories around the world. He works very closely with his chief advisers at each location, however
he is closest to Nathan Shilton, his chief adviser at the London
headquarters. A few months ago, he hired Troy Vasser, a young Italian man, as his chief security officer for the entire company. The strange thing is that both Sebastian and Troy attend the University of Brighton while running the business.”