Page 84 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 2

He bit down on his bottom lip and looked me straight in the eyes for quite a while before he eventually said, “I think you may be right.”

* * * *

The morning brought with it a boisterous Emily who was chatting a mile a minute while stuffing her mouth with breakfast.

“So, are we going to Galeries Layfette today with Maia?” Emily asked with her mouth full.

“Darling do not speak with your mouth full. If I wanted seafood, I would have asked Aurelie to cook it for us.” I half-smiled as Emily burst into laughter. I loved hearing that sound. Children laughing, even teenagers—actually,especially teenagers—since they were always so filled with warring emotions about this or that.

Emily’s cheeks turned red as she swallowed and then wiped her mouth. Her eyes widened as she asked more politely. “Do you think we can go shopping today?”

Her excitement was contagious, filling the room with undeniable joy. “I do believe you and I can go shopping. I’m not sure about Rhodes and Maia though.” I hoped to quell any sadness she might have if the two of them were not up to going after the night they’d had.

She frowned deeply. “But Dad said they would go tomorrow. And today is tomorrow…”

I moved to redirect her when Maia quietly entered. “Go where?” Maia tucked her hands into the pockets of the hooded sweatshirt she wore, which was at least two sizes too large. The woman desperately needed a new wardrobe.

“Shopping at Galeries Layfette!” Emily squeaked, her excitement coming back to the surface at full speed.

“What’s Galeries Layfette?” Maia wrapped her hands around a cup as Aurelie poured coffee. “Merci,” Maia responded.

“It’s only the coolest, most awesome, swanky store in Paris!” Emily gushed.

Maia inhaled and held her breath as her gaze went to mine. “Um, I don’t usually shop at swanky places.”

Emily snorted and prodded a sausage link with her fork. “Well, you do now. Dad is loaded, remember.”

“I…uh…Emily, I don’t expect your father to buy me a bunch of fancy things. I don’t need much.”

Emily looked at Maia as though she was a ghost, then turned to me and pouted.

“Maia, darling, if Rhodes wants to splurge on his daughter and girlfriend while in Paris, I believe it’s perfectly normal to accept such kindness. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Sure, but, um…” Maia started as Rhodes entered.

He clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “Who wants to go shopping today?”

Emily jumped out of her chair and bounced over and into his embrace. “Yay! Thank you, Daddy. I’m going to go get ready!” She stood on tiptoe and kissed her father’s cheek, then ran up the backstairs to where the master suite and Emily’s guest room were.

Christophe smiled at her as he came down the stairs, his phone pressed to his ear. “Merci beaucoup.” He finished hiscall. “That was the Las Vegas authorities. They interviewed the courier who brought the note to the hotel. He claimed he was paid in cash by a large man with dark hair, dark eyes, and an accent. But he didn’t know what the accent was. He needed the money, so he delivered the letter. The guy gave him a hundred-dollar bill and disappeared. There was nothing more to share.”

“What about having him sit with a sketch artist?” Rhodes suggested.

Christophe frowned deeply. “Unfortunately, since there hasn’t been an attempt on Alana’s life—just a threat via the letter— the authorities believe it isn’t serious. They’ve done their due diligence, and the case is closed.”

“Basically, they are going to wait until someone actually hurts Alana,” Rhodes hissed.

Christophe nodded, came to my side, bent, and kissed the crown of my head. “No one will get near my wife or your fiancée and child. Security guards are arriving shortly for all three of them.”

“Wait, what? You’re going to assign a guard to me?” Maia scoffed. “That’s a bit overbearing, don’t you think?”

“Are you serious, Maia? Your house was trashed, and threatening messages were written on your walls. No, I do not think it’s going overboard at all,” Rhodes responded, a hint of possessiveness in his tone. I chose to ignore that alpha side to my friend because I actually agreed that we’d be safer with protection.

“Maia it’s just until we get more information about the threat.”

“It still feels like a lot.” She sipped her coffee.

Rhodes’ phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket. “It’s Sam.”

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