The Paris Assignment (11 page)

“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 addition 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 carry 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.”

“Doesn’t that make you sad?”

“It did until you left me with the thought I could have ended up with snakes in my bed. Thanks. I just feel a whole lot better about being an only child.”

Campbell knew it was a dumb story—heck, he hadn’t thought about poor cold Blinky in years—but it was nice to see her smile again. And the image of his grandmother screaming from her room never failed to...

“The attic.”

The words hovered on his lips as his mind flashed to the current problem with Abby’s Paris home.

“What do you mean?”

“The attic is where it is.”

“Where what is?”

Campbell got up from his spot and crossed to sit next to her. “Your neighbors. Whatever’s in their house is in the attic.”

“Why?”

“Why not? Nothing was reported stolen, right?”

“Sure, but...”

“No, think about it, Abby.” He laid a hand on her arm, willing her to understand. “Think about it. It’s a city home, right?”

“Sure.”

“Big, arching eaves that encompass the attic, likely running across the entire top of the house?”

“Yes.” As she nodded, he saw the understanding dawn slowly in her gaze. “And neither of my neighbors found anything missing after the break-ins.”

“Because there was nothing to miss.”

“There was something to leave behind.”

Chapter 8

C
ampbell dropped his bags in the guest room Abby had chosen for him before crossing to the wide-framed window. The room was impressively large, with two windows that looked down on the street and a third that sat on the far side of the room, facing the house next door.

The security team he’d lined up had already spent the day in Abby’s home. While half the team had focused on setting up the surveillance equipment he’d requested, another put together a discreet watch up and down Abby’s street and yet another had searched the entire house for bugs.

As T-Bone had predicted, nothing was turned up in the sweep.

Campbell had already spent another hour with the security team upon their arrival and agreed to another briefing at eight. Which meant he had around two hours to get in some sleep.

So why the hell was he wide-awake?

He pulled out his computer and set it aside almost as quickly, followed by his tablet which he also set aside. While his electronics—usually an appendage on the best of days—kept him occupied, he couldn’t get settled.

Couldn’t concentrate.

Abby had shared plans of the house the night before in the kitchen and Campbell realized he hadn’t gone to the study yet. If he remembered the renderings, the study should be up a floor and on the opposite end of the hall.

Since sleep seemed elusive, a visit to the study might help calm his thoughts. If he could get a solid image in his mind, maybe he could fall asleep and let his subconscious work on a plan for how to trap their ghost in there.

The remembered directions were pretty accurate and he found the study on his second try, after first entering another large guest room.

And walked in on Abby, seated behind a large desk, a small lamp illuminating her face.

“What are you doing up?”

Campbell crossed the room, the aged hardwoods under his bare feet quickly giving way to a thick rug. “I could ask you the same.”

“I figured I’d be out before my head hit the pillow and surprise. Here I am, wide-awake.”

“Must be that meal on the plane because I’m in the same boat.”

“Maybe it’s the brute squad you hired.”

“The security team?” At the smudges that rimmed her eyes he crossed around the desk, pulling a chair with him. “Did someone say something to you?”

“Nothing specific, but I can’t stop thinking about what they said. About what they’ve done inside my home.”

“Abby.” He laid a hand over hers, shocked when her flesh was ice-cold. “Come on. It’s their job to keep you safe.”

“Safe, Campbell? Or scared out of my mind?”

He lifted her hand, bringing his other around to cup her palm, anxious to warm her. “They’re trying to assess threats and identify the best way to keep you out of harm’s way.”

She shook her head and he felt tremors rock her body where they were connected.

And it wasn’t nearly enough.

Standing, Campbell dragged her to her feet.

“What are you doing?”

He reached around her and lifted her, her slender frame light as he wrapped her up in his arms. A large couch dominated the center of the room and he dropped into it, keeping her tightly cradled against his body as he nestled them both into the couch. “Grab that blanket.”

She pulled the heavy throw off the couch arm and he took it from her, spreading it over both of them. “You need to warm up.”

“It’s not that cold.”

“Then why are you shivering?”

As if on cue, a hard shudder racked her body and he pulled her closer, using one hand to smooth the blanket more tightly around her body.

“There’s someone in my life who wants to do me harm.”

Another tremor went through her body and he tightened his grip, waiting for her to continue.

“Up until the briefing I’d put it out of my mind that it was really real, you know? And before you say I’m not taking it seriously, I
am
taking it seriously. But it’s hard. I run a major corporation. I’ve had threats before and they have always been nothing.”

“None of those have been personal.”

“No.” She shook her head, the crown of her head bumping lightly against his chin with the movement. “No, they haven’t.”

“I didn’t hire the security team to scare you.”

“I know.”

Campbell shifted his head so he could look her in the eye. “Do you really? It seems as if you’ve looked at this threat as something distant from you because it’s come in electronically.”

“The events of the last few days have made it more and more evident that’s just the opening gambit.” Abby nestled more deeply into his arms and Campbell warred with the need to protect her and the increasing urgency of his attraction to her. “But it doesn’t change the fact that I can’t stop living my life. Nor does it mean I want to live in fear.”

Campbell recognized the desperate truth underlying her words. Had seen it in his own sisters and their professional choices.

Hell, he’d seen it in himself.

A half life wasn’t really living a life, no matter how you looked at it. When that knowledge was further informed by loss, as both he and Abby had suffered, you learned to realize just how precious time was.

How important it was to live fully.

So why did he continue to pull back from her? Why did they both continue to pull back?

“Do you fear loss?”

“What?” Campbell shifted again so that he could look into Abby’s eyes. The soft light of the room danced in their dark depths and Campbell marveled at how her thoughts so closely mirrored his own.

“Loss? Because of losing your parents, do you fear it?”

“I suppose I do on some level, but I don’t know if I feel it any more or less than anyone else. Fear of loss is a fairly standard human emotion.”

While Campbell knew full well the death of his parents had shaped him and his siblings, he also knew it had been other events in his life that had put up the walls.

Losing his parents—while difficult—had been a part of the natural order of things.

“I lost a friend once.”

“What happened?”

“You mean Kensington never told you?”

Abby’s eyes narrowed. “Your sister is loyal to you and your family. We’re friends, but it doesn’t mean she’s told me things that are private to your family.”

He nodded at that and knew it wasn’t fair to assume Kenzi wasn’t discreet. Of all the qualities his sister possessed, her loyalty was one of the ones that most defined her.

“Sarah was a friend of mine. We’d known each other since we were small. Her family’s estate was next to my grandparents’ estate and we both used to spend our summers in the English countryside. Attend those garden parties you referenced yesterday.”

He saw the faint smile hover over Abby’s face. “Was she your girlfriend?”

“I wanted her to be my girlfriend but it never happened.”

“Why not?”

“When we were kids it wasn’t something that occurred to either of us. And as we got older I was too shy to do anything about it.”

“And then, of course, you were busy impressing cheerleaders with your skills.”

The gentle tease in her voice was somehow exactly what he needed as he thought back to those dark days. He’d spent his early teenage years feeling awkward and whatever tender emotions he’d had for Sarah he’d pushed aside in his embarrassment over his gangly body and decided lack of social skills.

And instead, he’d delved deeper and deeper into the electronic world that offered him endless hours of comfort and acceptance.

“Those skills that so impressed the cheerleader when I was sixteen?”

“That would be the ones.”

“Technology was my escape. It was like a big puzzle that I was always piecing together and I was good at it during a time when I felt like I wasn’t good at anything.”

“I’m not sure there’s anyone who’d pay to go back to their teenage years. Except for the occasional prom queen and star jock and even then, I’d wager not very many of them.”

“And that’s more true for some of us than others.”

“What happened to Sarah?”

“She was dealing with her own issues, including parents going through a divorce. She was vulnerable and a predator lured her online.”

“Oh, no.” Emotions he’d thought he’d long buried rushed to the fore of his mind as Abby shifted in his arms. He felt her move under the blanket before she reached out and gripped his hand. “What happened to her?”

“She made the decision to meet him and he ultimately took her life.”

“Oh, Campbell. I’m so, so sorry.”

His family had spared him the specifics, but with his computer skills it hadn’t taken him long to discover what had happened to Sarah. And after he hacked into the police records, he’d seen her battered body.

Had read the reports of what had been done to her.

In that moment his life had changed, any shred of innocence he still possessed vanishing as if it had never existed.

“I decided I was going to find the man who did it to her. I had the skills and the tools so I moved forward on luring him out.”

“Did you catch him for the police?”

“I caught him.”

The words hovered between them and Campbell felt the imperceptible tightening of her body.

“You were only a child. On your way to becoming a man, but still fundamentally a child.”

“It didn’t feel like it at the time. And then when my parents died a few months later it didn’t feel like it at all.”

“A loss of innocence and too much responsibility way too soon.” Abby lifted a hand and pressed it to his cheek. “And lessons no one should ever have to learn about someone they love.”

The warmth of her palm—the opposite of the cold he’d felt when he’d first come into the room—heated his cheek as the bluish hues of early morning shone through the study windows.

“Another morning we’re awake to see begin after a sleepless night.”

“We’re lucky, Campbell. We’ve got another day. Another chance. Something Sarah never got.”

“I know.”

She ran her hand down his cheek, over his neck to settle on his shoulder. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you.”

For the moment, they simply sat like that, their gazes locked.

Campbell wanted to lean forward—to take the comfort so clearly offered in her eyes—but something held him back. Whether it was the fragile bubble of a moment that had wrapped itself around them or the simple fact that it seemed to tarnish Sarah’s memory to do more, he didn’t know.

Instead, he simply tightened his hold and pulled her against his chest as they watched the sun rise over the streets of Paris.

* * *

Abby laced up her sneakers and dug around the kitchen for the spare key she kept in a small catchall drawer. The security team Campbell had hired had already arrived and she’d spent the past hour briefing them on the layout of the house while getting a briefing in return of how they were going to protect each ingress and egress.

The very fact her home was referred to as having ingresses and egresses was enough to have her running for the hills.

Add on the news Campbell had shared in the study and she needed to clear her head.

Desperately.

I caught him.

Campbell’s words were vague enough to leave her wondering exactly what he had done all those years ago and she was just concerned enough to not fully want to know the truth.

Although she’d gotten past it, the incident she’d faced years before in the London office had left its marks. Scarred her with the knowledge that she was vulnerable.

Campbell’s friend had been vulnerable and no one was able to help her until it was too late.

The hard core she’d only sensed up until this point had become very real in those long lingering minutes they’d shared in the study and the man she’d originally thought of as lighthearted and easygoing was anything but. With the news of Sarah’s death, she realized Campbell used the casual facets of his personality to keep a person from digging too deeply.

As if her thoughts of him conjured him up, Campbell plowed through the swinging door into the kitchen just as she moved into a few stretches to warm up her muscles. “What are you doing?”

“Going for a run.”

“Come on, Abby. You can’t just leave.”

“I’m a runner, Campbell. I’m not giving up the one thing that keeps me calm.”

“Use the treadmill.”

“I want to go outside. And aside from the glorious benefits of fresh air, it’ll give me a chance to unobtrusively take a look around the neighborhood.”

She saw his speculative gaze and knew she’d at least made a small dent into his argument even as a frown rode his features in clear lines of annoyance. “It still isn’t safe.”

“Well, seeing as how I’m wrapped up in a bulletproof vest underneath my sweatshirt, I’m rather convinced it is.”

“You can run in that?”

“Looks like I’m going to find out.” Abby couldn’t quite hold back the triumphant grin as he just stood and stared at her. “Are you actually speechless?”

“No.”

“Then can we quit talking so I can get going?”

“Wait two minutes and I’ll join you.”

“Be my guest.”

When he left, her gaze alighted on her work bag where she’d set it on one of the kitchen table chairs the night before. A glance at the open top had her remembering the mail she’d grabbed from Stef on her way out of town.

Abby pulled the stack of mail out, the majority of the letters hard, square envelopes that would be invitations to some event or another. And as she thought of all the RSVP’d regrets, she was once again pleased she’d made the call to add a second assistant to her team.

A small box sat on the top of the stack, attached to a fancy envelope, and Abby selected it first. Her curiosity was high as to its contents as she turned it over in her hands. The envelope was a rich creamy vellum, cool and smooth to the touch. She flipped it over once more, curious there wasn’t any postmark, then assumed Stef had pulled it from a messenger’s outer wrapping.

She pulled at the subtle wrappings, separating the box from the envelope. Following custom—even as she was dying to know what was in the box—she opened the envelope first.

SURPRISE