Page 53 of The Billionaire's Temporary Governess (French Conquests 2)

And finally, tongues of flame leaped out of her heart and licked at William’s ghost. What the hell? Did William know, or had Sofia fooled him, too?

“What do you mean, I can’t touch it?” William demanded irritably. “It’s my limo!”

They were hidden at the edge of a wood surrounding a field of flowers, which in the darkness looked like a deep and dangerous sea, where monsters could be hiding. At the edge of the field was a shed, one that he vaguely remembered from his horse rides in the area. The dilapidated structure stood on land belonging to a cousin of his mother’s, a man called Jean-Louis. The plantation grew botanicals for their small cosmetics company, and in the still of the night, the air stank of a combination of floral scents, so cloying that he wanted to throw up.

He made a move towards the limo as it slowed down and parked outside the shed. Even in poor light, he could see it was in bad shape; half of one side was caved in. It had definitely been in a crash. Had either of the girls been hurt? He decided that whoever emerged from the driver’s side was going to get pounded into a paste.

Juneau, his head of security, put a warning hand on his arm. “Don’t, Boss.”

“But they’re probably in there! My daughter and my—” His what, he wondered. Girlfriend? Lover? Or were they simply back to being employer and employee now, since the last time he’d seen Naisha she wanted to bite his head off.

Juneau flashed subtle hand signals to the other security men, who were slowly and carefully flanking the shed, silently easing their way around to surround it. His response was crisp. “This is my operation. I am the lead on this.Iam in charge. You may sign my checks, but right now,youdo asIsay.”

He knew deep down that Juneau was right: after all, this was the man with the military training. But his soul screamed at the thought that—

There was movement. The door of the limo opened. Out stepped a shadow, a slender man who seemed to be fiddling with something in his hand as he stood outside the door of the shed. Keys, maybe?

The man unlocked the door, and it was violently thrust open, taking him by surprise. His captives had been waiting for him, William realized, and had seized the opportunity for a surprise attack. He felt a mixture of pride and fear. His girls were so brave—but had they made things worse for themselves?

“Allez!”Juneau gave the order, and what followed was bedlam. The man spun around at the sound of his voice, drawing a small pistol from his waistband. At the same time, two figures, one tall and one tiny, burst from the shed.

William began to run toward them, shouting a warning. Yelling at them to get down, retreat back in the shed!

Willa was out in front. She spotted him and screamed, picking up the pace. Naisha was one step behind, yelling at Willa to wait. And all the while, this guy was spinning, spinning around like a trapped animal, gun swerving with him, searching for something to attack.

He looked as if he wanted to retreat into the limo, make good on his escape, but Willa was darting between him and his place of refuge.

William shouted a warning. “Down, Willa! Get—”

His sight of her was obscured as Naisha eclipsed her, like the dark shadow of the moon blotting out the brilliance of the sun. And a crack split the air.

He saw Naisha go down, landing hard on top of Willa like a felled tree.

There were men everywhere, and more explosions filled the night. He was vaguely aware of Juneau streaking on ahead, past him, towards the man who had stolen his family, but he left him to it.

He dropped to his knees beside the small heap of humanity, the two people he loved more than anything, and as he touched them, his hand came away wet.

Who had been shot? One of them? Both?

Willa sat up, screaming, sobbing, calling outpapa, papa, papa,and not stopping even when he gathered her against him. He felt as if he had lost the world and gained it back in a second.

But Naisha… she wasn’t moving. Wasn’t getting up. He wasn’t prone to panic, but now it assailed him, took over. As Willa kneeled next to him, her shoulder pressed against his, he turned her over.

There was blood everywhere. Black in the darkness. Wet and sticky and smelling like a fistful of new copper pennies. It made his stomach roll.

Her eyes were closed, her cloud of hair coated with a film of dirt. He frantically felt for a pulse, but his hands were shaking too hard. He couldn’t lose her. This couldn’t be how it ended.

He pressed his lips against her cheeks and lips, whispering, pleading, begging her to get up. “My love, my love, I can’t lose you again.”

“Let me.” There was another presence behind him and another pair of hands took over, calm and controlled. Juneau, battlefield trained, already opening his field pack and yanking out medical supplies.

William wanted to fight him, like a wolf protecting his mate, but he knew that the best chance Naisha had was for him to relinquish her into the hands of a man who knew what to do.

He watched with his heart so high in his throat that he couldn’t even breathe, his arm around Willa as she clutched him, sobbing, as Juneau began to give the woman he loved the breath of life.

19

Beep. Beep. Beep.

---