Claimed by Tara Crescent

Author:Tara Crescent [Crescent, Tara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Suspense, Contemporary
Amazon: B00XB2HVDI
Goodreads: 25623442
Published: 2015-06-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Ellie:

We both flew under assumed identities. My fake passport identified me as Nadia Mitchell, an American national who was a French resident. Alexander was my husband, Dominic Mitchell. I ignored the pang in my heart when I saw that. Marriage seemed so normal and so far away, especially when the plane was taking me back towards a place that I thought I’d left forever.

Alexander eyed me carefully. Last night, I’d burst into uncontrollable tears half-way through our session, tears that I couldn’t seem to stop from streaming down my cheeks. He’d quickly untied the ropes and cuffs that had tethered me and he’d scooped me into his arms, rocking me back and forth until I finally calmed down. Then he’d gone downstairs and fetched ice-cream from the refrigerator. “Will that help?” he’d asked quietly, concern etched in his gaze and I had to giggle. Of course, because it was Alexander, the ice-cream wasn’t some cheap grocery store brand. It was a tub from Berthillon, which was widely considered to be the best ice-cream in Paris.

Now, I knew that he was seriously re-evaluating taking me to Nigeria. I needed to nip this in the bud. “You have that look,” I said sternly, glaring at him.

“What look?”

We showed the immigration officials our passports and cleared the security line. Charles de Gaulle airport teemed with people from all over the world. Families flying home for Christmas, lovers who thought a winter in Paris would be romantic. I wished fervently that our lives were that simple.

“The ‘I’m about to make some kind of unilateral decision concerning my girlfriend even though she’s warned me not to do that’ look,” I responded. “I’m on to you, Alexander.”

He started to chuckle. “Okay,” he raised his hands in defense. “I was thinking that you shouldn’t have to endure this. Bectell is gunning for me, not you.”

“Tell me something,” I gritted out. “If the situation was flipped around, would you leave me to Lucien’s mercy?”

No, of course he wouldn’t. I had him there. “I can fire guns. I can throw knives. I might not be the best deep-cover operative but I can take care of myself. And I am not leaving you.” My voice lowered to voice the threat. “Are we clear?”

He could have said something about my tears from last night, but he didn’t. Instead, he grinned easily at me. “Yes ma’am,” he quipped before turning serious. “I would gladly walk into a fight with you, Ellie,” he said. “But from personal experience, I recognize that emotional trauma is different.” He kissed my lips. “I wouldn’t think any less of you if you don’t want to come with me.”

“You can’t get rid of me that easily,” I replied.

In the crush of anxiety about going back to Nigeria, the fact that somehow Lucien seemed privy to Alexander’s movements had receded to the background, but as we got closer to the gate, that fact dominated my thoughts once again. Jean-Luc had taken Pavel and Katrina to Lagos. It didn’t escape me that these two were also with Alexander in Hanoi.

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