Blitzed(147)

“Perhaps,” I replied, sighing. “This is hard. I still love him.”

She looked over, her gray eyes wise and full of compassion. “You have said that, and I don’t fault you for it. I have seen too many strange things in my life to ignore the fact that love is often, as the poets say, blind. We love those who we should not, or those who we are not supposed to. People love abusive spouses, even as they are injured and beaten. People are fools, women especially.”

I sat back and considered her words, but before I could reply, we saw Charani approaching the barge. She’d taken the morning to go out shopping and now came back in the Renault SUV that we were to use during our time in Paris. “When should we tell Charani? She is your sister.”

“And Francois’s mother. I would never believe she was a part of it, but I wouldn’t expect her to keep it from her son if she knew. When we have an answer from my sources, we will approach both of them, at the same time.”

Charani parked the car and got out, waving. “Hey you two. Can I get some help?”

“I'll help,” I said. “Good shopping?” I asked, trying to put an innocent smile on my face. “I know that after last night's feast, my appetite is high for more. Whatever you made, it was delicious.”

She smiled, her long hair hanging over her shoulders in an ebony wave. “I have worried about you, Jordan. Even though you have improved, I still worry.”

“I know. But it’s getting better,” I said. Reaching inside, I took one of the bags of groceries and lifted it out and into my arms. “I appreciate your support.”

Charani took a bag into her own arms and looked up at the barge, where Syeira had turned her head away to watch the river flow by. “My sister is still haunted, despite her efforts to rid herself of the ghosts,” she said sadly. “I will continue to help her, though, and will be there for her for as long as she needs me.”

I could see in her eyes that she truly meant what she was saying, and I resolved in my heart that she had nothing to do with Felix's disappearance. Whatever happened, if Francois had done it on purpose or not, his mother hadn’t known. I reminded myself to mention it to Syeira later. The twins had so much in common, and they depended on each other.

I used my free hand to reach out and take her hand, giving it a squeeze. “You are a wonderful woman, Charani Hardy, you know that?”

“You will make a wonderful Gypsy Queen,” Charani replied. “Come, let us get these inside and unload the rest. After that, I’m making a late lunch for the three of us. Francois can eat when he comes back.”

I helped Charani, but Francois came back before she finished her cooking, looking handsome and happy in his suit. I came over and gave him a hug, as my love at least temporarily overcame my wavering trust in him. Maybe it was the rakish slant to his smile or the way his eyebrows framed his dark eyes so well, but I had to admit that my pulse quickened when he raised my chin up and kissed me softly. “I missed you too, mon chere.”

“I take it things went well at the bank?” I asked, my hands resting lightly on the swells of his chest muscles, and warmth spread through my body.

Francois nodded. “Very. Our system worked perfectly, thanks to Felix's foresight. I even had time to stop on the way home and have an espresso. I'm glad though that I came home when I did. Mother, that smells divine.”

“I'm sure you would come over here and criticize me in at least three different ways, probably including the overuse of paprika,” Charani teased, “but thank you. Go, change, and I will save lunch until after you’re done.”

I set out plates for the four of us, Syeira helping with the glasses while Francois changed, coming back looking like he was prepared for exercise. “Going to do a workout?”

“I was thinking, after lunch, I would like to get the kinks worked out,” he said, playing with the zipper on his Le Coq Sportif running suit. “My back feels good enough to handle some exercise, and I don't want to lose too much.”

“Yes, you might go from superhuman to merely human,” I joked, setting the last plate on the table. “You just want to show off, don't you?”

“Maybe,” he chuckled. “But I would only be able to do that if you were willing to come with me. What do you say? Later I can take you to a little bistro for dinner. Mother, Syeira, you two fine with that?”

“Enjoy the evening,” Charani said with a smile. “It is good to see the youthful fire rekindle some.”

“We do what we can,” I said, looking over at Syeira who gave me a small nod. She understood, and I knew that regardless of the situation, as soon as she knew something, she'd tell me. “But first, let's enjoy some lunch.”





Chapter 36





Felix





Trembling, I knocked on Mistress' bedroom door at precisely eight in the evening as she had commanded me to do. Part of my trembling was caused by pure physical exhaustion, as after my normal morning workout, she’d commanded that instead of coming to see her, I was to be working with Sacha. The burly ex-member of the Russian Army was a bear for work, and had taken me along with two other men out into the forest for what he said was both physical labor and training.

“You three may at some point be tasked with accompanying Mistress Svetlana to cities and other areas off of the property,” he began in his barely understandable Ukrainian. “While she has informed me that all of you have the social grace and skills to be a worthy companion, she can’t evaluate you in the area that I and her uncle Vladimir feel is most important.”