Because he didn’t love her.He’d even told her it didn’t exist.Whatdidexist between them was supposed to be stronger than fickle emotions.A foundation which benefited both of them.But, as she stared at him, she knew deep in her soul that what she felt was love.There wasn’t any other word to describe it.It was the need to laugh with him.Be with him.Take care of him.Fuck him as well as make love with him.Be the mother of his children, and his partner in life.Afraid he would see too much, she turned away.
She would have to safeguard her heart.The last thing she wanted was his pity.
Chapter Fifteen
That evening, theyleft Max’s apartment to eat at the restaurantLa Paysage.Since it wasn’t too far away, they chose to stroll.Holding hands as they walked along the Seine River.The water reflected the moon and stars upon its shallow ripples.It was a beautiful night, with romance heavy in the warm air.Quinn was struck with a sense of surrealism.An almost dreamlike haze that wrapped around them in a magical moment, the two of them all alone in their own private world.
When they arrived, Max talked to the host who led them toward the back into a private room.Quinn ordered lobster.Max ordered a steak.They talked, drank wine, and she was more than a little mellow as they finished and started their journey back home.
“I have a joke for you,” she said.
He took hold of her hand, threading it through the crook of his arm.“All right.Let me hear it.”
“What is one hundred fifty minus one?”She didn’t let him respond.“Fifty!Get it?”
He rolled his eyes but smiled.“Clever.”
Her foot hit an uneven shift in the pavement and she tripped, almost falling as she grabbed hold of Max.At the same moment, the bark of the tree behind them suddenly exploded.
“Get down!”he told her, shoving her and falling on top in a protective cocoon.
The two guards that had maintained their distance ran up to them, guns out as they monitored the perimeter.Since it was nighttime, there were very few people in the park and they simply ran away.Quinn peeked through Max’s arms.In the darkness, it was hard to tell where the shooter was located.She couldn’t see a thing.The whoosh of a silencer went off and one guard fell with a bullet in his forehead.The other guard swung around to face the trajectory, only to have the back of his head explode as another bullet ripped through him.
“Fuck,” Max swore.“We have to run.”
He rose and grabbed her hand to help her to her feet, and then they were running, too.She knew he was carrying, but without a pinpoint location, they were sitting ducks.They ran behind some monument in the park they were walking through just as another shot was fired, flaking off a piece of the stone.
“Is this Voclain?”she asked, breathing heavy, her heart racing.
“No doubt about it,” he muttered.He pulled out his phone and a moment later was speaking French to someone on the other end.When the call ended, he slipped his phone back into his pocket.“Help is on the way.”
“Come out, come out, wherever you are!”
She knew that voice all too well.“It’s him,” she whispered.Anxiety tore through her.
“Yeah.”He peeked around the corner of the statue.“I don’t see him.”
