Page 37 of Illusive
Eva swallowed past the lump in her throat. She wanted desperately to reassure and comfort him. But they both knew that all they could do was wait, hope, and pray.
For a long moment, Ronan mistook the vibrating of an incoming call for Blizzard’s purrs. Just by chance, he glanced away from the search he was conducting on his laptop and saw his sister’s contact photo brightening his phone’s screen. Noting the time, he sighed before answering her call. “Don’t you have anything better to do on a Saturday evening than worry about me?”
“If only,beau-frère,” Claudette said in an exasperated tone. “Genevieve said the police came by looking for you.”
“So I’ve been told.”
“She wants me to convince you to come home,bête. Have you called Harper yet?”
His brow arched at the segue and he removed his glasses, tossing them on the keyboard. “I see what you did there. You know I haven’t. My grand-mère will insist I return immediately, and I don’t have the energy to placate her now.”
“It would be so much easier to do what everyone wants,non?”
“What about what I want?” He slid off the kitchen island barstool.
“Let’s focus on what you need for now. You told me last night that you’d stay near Genevieve, and I could trust that you’d be looked after. Now, I hear you’ve already left and taken your things with you.”
“What few things I have.” Moving the short distance into the living room, he half-sat on the back of the sofa. “You do recall that I’m the eldest in our family, and it’s my job to look after you and not the reverse?”
“Yes, well, I’m at the boarding gate for my flight to LaGuardia now. So, you can remind me of how old you are when I see you. Where am I going when I get there?”
Ronan could picture her at the airport, elegantly dressed, with minimal but expensive accessories, her dark mass of hair framing her lovely face. Their mother had been blond, but he could sometimes catch glimpses of her in Claudette.
That she was already at the airport told him she’d planned to come to the city regardless of where he stayed or with whom. “You won’t be joining me where I’m at,” he warned.
“Which is where? And why not?”
Gripping the back of his neck, he said ruefully, “I’m squatting at Ireland’s.”
Claudette’s sharp inhalation made him wince. “Beau-frère, this midlife crisis will be the end of you if you don’t find your common sense and start using it.”
“She has a cat,” he explained. “A massive creature. Someone has to take care of him until she can. And her home isn’t ready for her to recuperate comfortably in. Someone has to see to that, too.”
There was a long pause. Long enough that he was about to break it when she spoke. “Oh, Ronan. That’s probably the most ridiculously, ludicrously romantic gesture I’ve ever heard of a real person making.”
“As opposed to a fake person?” he queried.
She sighed. “You hardly know this woman. I hope she appreciates how far you’ve stuck your neck out for her.”
“She’s defied her family to be with me,petite sœur.It takes two to tango, as they say.”
Claudette hummed dubiously. “Since you’re determined to dance, I’ll do what I can to keep you out of trouble. I’m coming in late tonight, and I’ll stay with Genevieve and Valentin, but you’ll have a meal with me tomorrow. Breakfast…lunch…dinner… I don’t care which, but I will watch you eat.”
Knowing how stubborn she could be, he simply agreed. “C’est bon.”
“Are you sure you shouldn’t have someone with you as an alibi? I’m very worried about Gideon Cross escalating things the way he has.”
Blizzard walked along the back of the couch to Ronan, then flopped shamelessly onto his side and stretched his tremendous length so that his rear paws pressed hard into Ronan’s thigh.
“What’s foolhardy is for the kidnappers to drag this out any further.” He gently smoothed the cat’s sensitive belly. “I was with Cross when he learned what happened, and his initial reaction was rage. If Ireland were home, he’d be focused on her. Because she’s not, he’s focused on the kidnappers—that’s not good for them.”
“Maisyeah.”
“And if she never comes home…” His eyes closed on a hard swallow. “Cross will never stop hunting them. If he’s willing to pay one hundred million for her return, I imagine he’s willing to spend all of his billions to avenge her.”
“Merde,” Claudette breathed.
“He told me something last night, and I keep thinking about it. He said the toll his vengeance takes on me depends on how quickly he forgets I exist. I expect that’s true for anyone who incites his wrath.”
