Shit. I rolled my stiff shoulders and neck. Maybe this was exactly the fight I needed all along.
“Michel on duty at the house tonight?” I shoved the door open to my suite.
Leontyev hadn’t refused the money we returned when we voided the contract. There had also been little to no chatter against Endgame or me in the weeks since. However, this could have been Rurik’s plan all along. The man wasn’t known for his sanity, only his brutality.
“Yes, he’s already aware to stay vigilant. Persetta’s safe. I’m just pulling up to the property myself. I’ve mustered all the men here. If needed, our other two Endgame teams are on standby.”
It was going to be a bloodbath if Leontyev got within even ten meters of her. I started packing up my few belongings. Normally, in a rush like this, I’d leave it behind for someone to pick up later, but if found by anyone other than my men, the number of knives stored within my carry-on would arouse too much suspicion.
“My mother? Alizé? What’s the detail on them?”
“Océane is at the guesthouse. Alizé took the helicopter to Lyon earlier today, soon after Franc flagged the Russians’ arrival, but she took four guards with her without protest. I doubt she’ll have a problem.”
“Lyon? What the hell does she have—”
Tessa’s audition. Tomorrow was the second of July. Shit, I forgot. Completely and utterly forgot. After all the favors I called in to get her that audition, just to have her smile, and give her another reason to stay in France. There was no way she was going to choose to miss it.
“Erel,” I said with renewed urgency. “Tessa’s not at the house.”
I zipped up my bag and exited the room.
“There’s nowhere else she could be. She didn’t make any requests for a car.”
“She’s with Alizé. Alizé took her to Lyon. Call her guards and locate my sister’s tracker.”
After Yannick’s and my kidnapping, my father mandated we always wear one in some way or another. Mine was implanted into my hip. My mother’s was in her earrings. My sister Maribelle’s, who lived in Chicago, was in a necklace. Alizé’s was in her belly ring. Tessa’s was set into the engagement ring I had yet to give her.
“I’m headed to the airport now. Barring air traffic complications, my pilot should have me in Lyon within two hours. Mobilize the Endgame crews to Lyon and pull half my men there now. We move on Alizé’s position. There’s not a moment to lose.”
“It could all be a coincidence.”
“When have we ever believed in that? I can’t lose her, Erel. Not again.”
“I know. We’ll get to her.”
I never should have left her back there. I was supposed to be the one taking her to Lyon. Instead, I failed her. Again.
Chapter 38
A Few Hours Earlier
“Putthataway.We’realmost to the helicopter. And keep your head down.” Alizé wrapped her arm around mine as I folded the mobility cane back up. She escorted me across the flattened lawn they apparently used as a helipad. “Try to look less blind.”
I’d be offended if this wasn’t Alizé. She always seemed to be up to something.
“Why do I feel like this has turned into aMission Impossiblescenario where we are stealing off with a big secret?”
“We are in a way. Whatever’s causing friction between you and my brother, it made him fly away, and it made you ask me to take you to Lyon. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out he’d lose his mind if he found out what you were doing without him. I mean, come on, he’s barely left your side since you came back into his life.”
Deep satisfaction stirred within. “So?”
“So…up you go. Duck.” She helped me position my hands around the handles to pull myself up into the helicopter. “What do you think Adrien will do if he finds out you’re not at the house as he expects?”
“I’m not his prisoner.”
“No, but that doesn’t mean much with over-the-top protective men.”
Even upset with him, those words did something to me.
