SAFEHOUSE

I definitely wasn’t about to complain. Even as tired as I was I could feel my blood warming up in my cheeks. He just had that effect on me, I guessed.

“So… Who opens the first one?” I asked, looking toward the foot of the bed. A few of the staff had piled all the little gift boxes into the room, and I couldn’t wait to see what was inside.

“I guess I’ll do the honors,” Julien said, grabbing a little box and bringing it up onto the bed. I held my breath as he opened it up, peeling away the beautiful wrapping paper.

“Oh my God! Look at it! It’s so cute!”

I practically squealed when Julien pulled the tiny pair of baby Veritas cross-trainers out from the small blue bag filled with tissue paper.

“I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. I’m one of the heads of the company, for God’s sake!” Julien mused, passing over the tiny shoes to me. “I don’t recall seeing this product. I wonder if it’s new?”

I rolled my eyes. “No shop talk, Julien.”

He smiled sheepishly at me before turning around to grab another present from behind him. I grabbed the bag and placed the shoes back inside of it. Before I could open it, one of the security guards appeared at the door.

“Excuse me Julien, I need to speak with you for a moment.”

“Is everything ok?” Julien asked, concern filling his voice. The look on the man’s face wasn’t inspiring confidence. Julien didn’t wait for a response. He leapt from the bed and cast me a quick glance.

“I’ll be right back. Keep the bed warm for me.”

“Just don’t be too long, please!” I called after him as he walked out of the room, my heart racing as he quickly followed the security guard out of the room.

I couldn’t just sit here… When I heard his voice raise u

p a few levels, I hopped up as fast as I could and tried to quietly make my way down the hall after him.

I crept around one of the end of the corridors, keeping an eye out for him. He was pacing back and forth at the end of the hall across from me, his eyes trained on the floor. One of the bodyguards, Rafe, came up to him, pulling him away from his conversation with the security guard. Julien turned towards Rafe expectantly.

I couldn’t quite hear what they were saying, which didn’t really matter considering they were speaking in French… But judging by Julien’s tone it wasn’t good. The more he talked with Rafe the angrier he got. I didn’t know what to make of it.

I didn’t exactly want to get my anxiety levels up, but it was hard not to. For all I knew he could be talking about something work-related. But something deep down inside me told me that wasn’t the case. I really wished I had taken high school French when I had the chance.

Julien called out for Johan, one of the other bodyguards, who came hulking around the corner. He was a huge Swedish dude, who looked like he could easily pass for a Viking on Halloween... And I’m not talking about the ones from Minnesota, either.

Luckily for me, Johan didn’t speak a lick of French, and they had their conversation in English. I made my way quietly down the hall.

“Explain this to me. How did he get past you?” Julien demanded from Johan.

“I am sorry, Mr. Malveaux. He gave me his name, and it was on the list. Here, I have it with me in fact,” Johan grunted, pulling a clipboard and paper from the table beside them. “See? He gave me his name, right here. Augustus Fendi. His name was on the list . . . so I let him in. He gave me his photo ID and everything.”

Julien pinched the bridge of his nose as he usually did when he was stressed out, slowly shaking his head. “I just don’t understand. How did this name get on the list? Who was in charge of the list?”

Both of the bodyguards shrugged.

“That doesn’t make me feel any better. I need to know who was in charge of printing this list, and if anyone knows and is not willing to give me the information that they know they will be immediately relieved from their duty. Someone put Fendi’s name on this list and it sure as hell wasn’t me.”

It struck me how odd it was to see Julien like this. He was clearly livid at whatever situation had arose, and watching him yelling at two grown men was just so out of character.

We can certainly find out for you, Mr. Malveaux. I know it wasn’t one of us, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find out who it was. If I had to make any guesses, I would say it was the party planner that your mother hired. Maybe that’s where you could start?”

Julien stood there scratching his chin, mumbling to himself. “That does sound like a proper place to start. Please let me know if you hear of anything else, Johan. Vous aussi, Rafe.”

My stomach dropped. Sabine? She hired the party planner? That seemed oddly weird to me. For someone who had only spoken a few short sentences to me at the party, she was clearly more involved than I knew.

The two men walked off, mumbling to one another, and Julien walked back towards the bedroom. I scrambled to get out of his sight, ducking into an alcove and skipped down the main hallway to the end where the kitchen was, hoping that maybe if he found me there he wouldn’t be surprised. After all, it was usually where he found me these days…

Gervaise was nowhere to be found. I helped myself to some of the leftovers that were sitting out on the giant kitchen island, groaning as I finally tasted some of the food I hadn’t had the chance to test out earlier at the baby shower. I didn’t know what the little pâté was that went on top of the special crackers, but whatever it was, it was delicious. I swore up and down that Gervaise needed to open up his own five-star restaurant. But that would mean he would have to leave us, and I liked having him all to ourselves at the château.