Page 49 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 3

The guards must have called for help. Thank goodness. My shoulders fell in relief, as I saw Christophe’s head shake and his eyes bulge in fear.

I looked at him as he suddenly screamed, “Alana! No! Run!”

But I was too late. The SUV peeled to a halt in front of me and Emily. Two men in masks poured out both the side doors.

“No, no, no!” I cried as Emily screamed. One of them yanked her brutally out of my arms. Another came up behind me and locked his massive arms around my body, forcing my arms to my sides, putting me in a human vise grip so tight I screamed at the top of my lungs. “Let her go!”

Muted gunshots were fired in Christophe’s direction, and I screamed bloody murder as I watched him duck behind one of the other SUVs. They shoved Emily into the car kicking and hollering. I went willingly at that point. “I’ll go, just don’t hurt her,” I yelled and got into the car. Emily immediately clung to me as she shook like a leaf and sobbed.

“Go, go, go!” one of the men yelled as he hammered at the leather seat in front of him. He then slammed the car door,shoving us into the middle seat, wedged between two masked men.

The tires screeched as they shot forward racing through the parking lot. I turned the best I could to see out the back window. Christo stood up from where he’d been crouching, his hand clutching his arm where blood poured down the sleeve of his shirt. He’d been shot, but he seemed to be okay…for now.

The masked man in the front passenger seat turned around to face us, gun pointed right at my head. “Shut up, stay calm, or you’re both dead.”

Episode 73

Collateral Damage

RHODES

There was a pep in my step as I held Maia’s hand, and we walked along the Seine River in the heart of Paris. I’d shown her the Rodin Museum, the funky and quirky St. Germaine district and now the Seine. Seeing things through the eyes of someone I cared for was more rewarding than seeing those same things for the first time myself. And Maia was enthralled with the city. Her dark-brown eyes were big and sparkling every time she pointed to a unique building or something beautiful that caught her eye. My gaze, however, was entirely on her. I thought she was beautiful when I bid on her, when I first kissed her, the time I first saw her smile, and certainly when I made love to her, but seeing her so genuinely happy and carefree? Priceless.

She clung to my hand and pointed at a boat trailing through the water. “They look like they’re having fun,” she murmured.

“If you’d like to take a boat ride down the river, we can do that. They offer the excursion regularly.”

She shook her head. “No, I prefer walking alongside it with you.”

I looked down at the same time she looked up at me. It was the perfect opportunity to kiss her, so I did. She tasted of the raspberry macarons we’d just purchased from a local vendor and snacked on while we walked.

“Mmmm,” I hummed and flicked my tongue across her bottom lip. “You’re delicious,” I said against her soft lips.

She sighed and looped her arms around my neck. “So are you.”

I kissed her a couple more times, enjoying the sunshine, the taste of raspberry-coated kisses, and the cool Parisian breeze until my ringing phone broke us from our reverie.

One of our bodyguards interrupted before I could answer the phone. “Mr. Davenport, I’m sorry to bother you, but we have a problem.” I let the call go to voicemail as the large man shared more. “The team assigned to the Toussaints and Ms. Davenport haven’t checked in. We connect with one another every hour to ensure all charges are safe,” he added, his tone openly concerned.

I hugged Maia to my front while I took in the two bodyguards that I’d forgotten had been following us through our weekend away. They were excellent at keeping a distance and not disrupting us.

“Okay, what does that mean exactly?” I asked.

“We don’t know. It’s unusual, and when something like this occurs, we prefer to take extra precautions by getting you and your fiancée to safety while we look further into it.”

My phone started blaring once more, so I pulled it out of my pocket and noted Christophe’s name. “It’s Mr. Toussaint now. I’ll check on things.” I gestured for them to wait a moment.

“Hey Christo…” I started jovially.

“They’ve been taken!” Christophe roared brokenly.

“What? Taken? What are you talking about?”

“Alana and Emily were just kidnapped. I’ve been shot in the arm. But they are fucking gone. The guards are all dead!”

My entire body went stone cold. Icy fear chilled my blood and made gooseflesh rise from head to toe. The back of my neck prickled like a fire poker was stabbing me.

“Did you hear me?” he yelled. “Alana and Emily have been kidnapped! We need to do something. Oh my God. I couldn’t get to them. I screamed…then the bullets started flying and I…” I could hear a muffled choked sob as he continued. “I’m sorry, I…Alana was annoyed with the guards. We went to Versailles, a very public place, so we let them wait in the car.Stupide! Désolé! Je suis vraiment désolé!”He kept repeating the apology.

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