Page 67 of Her Inconvenient Groom (French Conquests 4)

“How could you not know?” he asked in anguish.

She shook her head. “Why would you want me? What could I give you? I lost our child.”

“No sweetheart, our baby was taken from us.”

She hung her head, fighting back the tears. “He’s gone, my little one. There’ll be no little baby footprint tattoo. No baby Kai.”

“We could have another,” he suggested. “You and I, we could make another baby.”

“They aren’t puppies!” she burst out. “They can’t just be replaced.”

Instead of reacting with anger to her outburst, he pulled her against him so that her head lay on his chest. “I know. That didn’t come out right. What I was trying to say, Chantelle, is that I love you. I want to make a life with you. Be a father to our children, if you’re willing to have them.”

She didn’t want to give herself hope that such a life could be possible. What if she believed in it, only to have happiness torn from her grasp, as this baby had been torn from her womb?

After she was silent for several moments, he lightly kissed her eyelids and said reassuringly, “It’s okay, darling. You don’t have to answer now. I’m just glad you know how I feel. And glad to know that, thank God, you’re okay.”

Chapter 36

Dustin was so anxious that he was certain his stomach was eating itself, corrosive acid burning its way through the lining until it destroyed his other internal organs. A day had passed, and he’d found himself embroiled in an elaborate plan to find out once and for all who had tried to kill Chantelle.

He’d called the Dubois brothers to let them know where he was. Although, as he had guessed, they’d long figured it out. Once Chantelle had called off the bloodhound that had been stationed at the door of her room, he was allowed to stay the night, dozing in her visitor’s chair.

And now he was in the room adjoining hers, which was hastily paid for and prepared with simple but sensitive surveillance equipment. And now, the plan that Sienna and Chantelle’s friends had concocted was underway.

If all went well, by the end of the night, they would have an answer.

Quietly, Dustin, Sienna, and Jacyn watched as Naisha, dressed in a white doctor’s coat with a stethoscope dramatically draped around her neck and Shaundra, flanked next to her in a nurse’s scrubs. They did a convincing job of masquerading as Chantelle’s doctor and nurse in the hospital hallway.

“I’m sorry,” Naisha said gravely to Dennis, Tom and Samantha, who had all been called back to France as a matter of urgency. “But we don’t believe Ms. Moreau will last the night. The damage to her internal organs has been substantial.”

Samantha gasped and leaned limply against her husband’s shoulder. Dennis hugged her reassuringly. “Are you sure, doctor?” he demanded. “We’re a family of means. If we need to fly in some experts from the United States, this is what we will do.”

Naisha shook her head. “She has had the benefit of an international team of experts, and we have been working fervently to save her for the past few weeks. The loss of her baby was grievous,” Dennis flinched. “But even beyond that, the toxic effects are too great. Our tests indicate that they are irreversible.”

“Have you made any determination as to the exact source of the poison?” Dennis asked.

I can’t believe he’s asking that,Dustin thought. He wanted to leap through the monitor and deck him.

Naisha handled the question with quiet dignity. “Considering the nature of the crime, and the fact that her husband has been charged with it, I am not at liberty to discuss these details. And while I respect that you are her next of kin, I haven’t been given the necessary clearance to share that information.”

Dennis only nodded.

Tom’s voice was a croak. “How much longer does she have?”

Naisha hung her head respectfully, glancing at Chantelle’s silent form as if afraid that she might hear. “Mere hours. I’m sorry, but if you would like to say your goodbyes, please do so now.” She added meaningfully, “If there is anything you wish to say to her, anything that’s weighing on your mind, now is the time.”

Dennis nodded. “Can we go in now?”

“It would be better for one person to go in at a time. But I’m sure the doctor here would permit two maximum two people in her room at once,” Shaundra.

Naisha nodded enthusiastically. “That’s an excellent idea.”

“She can hear us?” Samantha asked.

“No, I doubt that. But the human soul inside her can sense you are there.”

The three of them looked at each other, and then Tom volunteered, “I’ll go first.”

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