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  “I have a feeling I’m not on your father’s birthday invitation list.”

  She laughed. “He needs a little warming up before he finally graces you with a smile. He doesn’t know you like I do.”

  His hand stiffened on my back and a soft growl came from the back of his throat.

  “What do you want?” He gritted out the words.

  I whipped my head around toward the driveway, searching for the source of Remington’s shift of mood. His father was walking up the small drive toward us. He halted before us, his eyes moving from his son and back to me.

  “Son,” he said by way of greeting.

  “What do you want?” Remington asked again and I swear the temperature dropped twenty degrees.

  Oh, wow.

  Remington had the power to make a person feel like shit. Subtly, I took his hand in mine and linked our fingers. He flicked a gaze at me, his eyes softening a notch and his body loosened at my side.

  “You haven’t been answering my calls,” Remington Sr. announced, his hands clasped in front of him, his head tilted to the side. He reminded me of a mafia boss.

  “I see you can’t take a hint,” Remington said. “I don’t have time for this.” He turned me around, ready to leave.

  “Son.” His father took a step forward and onto the path that led to the townhouse. “Remington.”

  Remington halted, the grip on my hand tightening. He cursed in French before dropping my hand and turning around to face his father.

  “Is Caleb doing all right?”

  His father nodded.

  “Good. I have nothing further to say to you. We said our goodbyes in London. I don’t remember asking or inviting you to my home.”

  Remington Sr. stared at his son for a few seconds, before frowning and quickly dropping his gaze to his shoes.

  I slid a hand up my man’s lower back, pressing lightly. I leaned into him and kissed his shoulder. “Give him a chance, baby,” I whispered into his ear. He turned and scowled at me. “And stop scowling at me. I told you it turns me on. You don’t want me to unleash my skills in front of your father, do you?” I winked at him. His lips twitched as he fought a smile in the midst of that fierce scowl.

  The sound of a door opening interrupted us. I shifted around just as Adrien darted out the door.

  “Papa! Mama!” he shouted as he barreled toward us. Remington stepped around me and grabbed Adrien before he could slam his tiny body into me. Remington seemed eager to protect me from anything. But watching them like this made my chest tighten. God, I love them.

  “Is that . . . my . . . grandson?”

  Remington shook his head. “We’re not going to do this here in the presence of my son.”

  MERDE!

  I couldn’t do this here. What the hell did he want now? The last time we saw each other in London, he had been his usual pompous arse. He’d hardly spoken to me, not that I cared. I had been there for Caleb and that was all that mattered.

  “Remington?” I followed the shocked sound to find my mother standing in the doorway. Her eyes were wide as they moved from me to my father. She seemed to recover fast, straightened her shoulders and strode toward us in short, purposeful steps. “Remington Newport. What are you doing here?”

  “I was hoping for a chance to speak with our son.” My father switched his gaze to me, then looked at Adrien and finally to Selene. “Look, I just need to say something, then I will leave you. I’ll never bother you again after this.”

  “Who’s that, Papa?” Adrien asked in a small voice, his gaze on my father.

  Fucking hell! This wasn’t how I wanted him to know he had a grandfather. I slid Adrien to the floor and nudged him in Selene’s direction. “Take him inside, please.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  I froze, shifted around, searching for the source of that voice, so familiar.

  “Colette?” My voice sounded shocked even to my ears. I shouldn’t be surprised that she was here, yet, I was. I stood there, watching helplessly as my past collided with my present. She rounded the corner of the house and strolled confidently toward us, but her eyes said differently. They were bloodshot and possessed a wild look that had me inching closer to Selene. Her lips were painted in red lipstick that made her face appear paler. A knee-length dark jacket that hid her thin frame completed the haggard appearance. “What are you doing here?” I took two steps to make sure my body acted as a shield for Adrien and Selene. I glanced at my mother, hoping she would take my cue and return inside the house. But her gaze never left Colette.

  “Hmm, let me see. What am I doing here,” Colette drawled. “I’m here because I want to be with you and Adrien. Remington, my love, I’ve been waiting so long to be with you. Be a family again.”

  I heard Selene suck in a breath. Shit. Where were Gilles’ men? The one day I asked them to meet me at the house, this happens.

  “Don’t bother, Remington. Your security isn’t here at the moment.”

  I looked over my shoulder. “Mother, Selene. Get inside the house and take Adrien with you.”

  “No, no one is leaving. We have to sort this out now and I need witnesses to when you finally agree to be with me. Hello, Adrien, remember me?”

  Adrien whimpered from somewhere behind me.

  “Get inside the house now!”

  “I just said fucking no!” I heard something click and quickly turned around. Colette stood barely five meters away with a gun pointed in our direction.

  “Put that gun away, Colette. You and I will go somewhere and talk, all right? We don’t need them,” I said, hoping to placate her with my words.

  “Remington, no,” Selene’s pleading voice, filled with anguish reached me. “Colette? Your dead wife? What’s going on? And . . . oh, my God, her face . . . I remember her . . . that voice. She attacked me in Provence. She—she looks like . . . my mother.”

  “Selene?” Ines called out from the door, her voice so similar to Selene’s. “Is that you? We heard a commotion out here and thought we’d check what’s going on.”

  “Mom? Oh, Mom.” She sounded as though she was about to burst into tears, but then she asked angrily, “Why does that woman look like you?”

  I heard a sharp intake of breath but I couldn’t turn. There was no way I would take my eyes off Colette. She was done hurting people around me.

  “Diane?” Ines and Anthony’s voices called out in unison.

  “She is the woman you told us about, Remington?” Ines asked, hope and longing clear in her voice.

  “What? Remington, you knew who she was? How long have you known about this?”

  Everything was getting out of control. Pulling my mobile out of my pocket, I made sure Colette was distracted by the drama unfolding in front of us before dialing Gilles’ number and then hastily slipped it inside my shirt’s front pocket, praying he’d pick up the call.

  “SHUT THE HELL UP!” Colette shouted, her face red and eyes bulging. I couldn’t believe this was the woman I had fallen in love with many years ago. “Now, can someone tell me who the hell these people are, other than the cow trying to steal my husband?”

  Was she so blind she couldn’t see the resemblance between Ines and herself? Or was she locked so deep in madness she couldn’t see anything beyond her selfishness?

  “Colette. My name is Ines. I’m positive you’re my daughter, Diane.”

  “Oh, my God, Colette . . . she is my sister?” Selene asked. “So . . . you were married . . . to my half-sister?” Her breaths were coming out fast and I was worried she was going to pass out. All this stress straight after leaving the hospital especially after the doctor warned us to try to avoid situations that would heighten her stress wasn’t good. I had to get her inside. Colette had shown what heinous acts she was capable of. Selene shocked me with what came out of her mouth next. “Was it why you chose me?” The words were so softly spoken.

  Surely, she can’t believe this again. I love her.

  “No. Mon Dieu, where are you g
etting this notion from?”

  “The evidence is right here in front of us, Remington!” Selene’s voice trembled. “This is so messed up.

  This seemed to distract Colette. She frowned, her gaze focused over my shoulder, then her mouth dropped open. “What kind of treachery is this?” she yelled. “Who are you?” She pointed in my general vicinity with the hand holding the gun.

  “Hear me out, please,” Ines said. From the corner of my eye, I saw Anthony inch closer, half of his body protecting his wife. “I had a daughter and her name was Diane. She disappeared when she was four years old. The police looked for her for so many years, to no avail. I hadn’t seen you from that day until today. You are Diane, I can feel it in my blood. You’re the spitting image of me.”

  Colette narrowed her eyes, seeming to mull the words in her head. “So you gave up on this Diane after what . . . a few years searching for her? Where have you been all these years? Definitely not in France. After my mother told me I was adopted and that they took me in after a woman handed me to her for a special price,” she sneered, “I hired a private detective to look for my real parents. He couldn’t find you, but he said he had information that you were no longer in the country. And since I didn’t have enough money, I halted the investigation. Did I mean that little to you?”

  “Please understand, we left information with the police to contact us if—”

  Colette waved the gun in the air. “Stop, stop. Too late. Too fucking late.” She shifted her gaze to me. “Hmm, husband. I see you and my sister are a couple now, hmm? Were you looking to replace me?” She took a step forward. “You don’t need her now. I’m here.”

  “Well, for someone who claims to love her husband, you have a funny way of showing it,” Selene said, stepping in front of me.

  I grabbed her arm and pushed her behind me, growling under my breath. “Christ, Selene. Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

  She ignored me and ducked around me so that only her head was poking out. “You left him. You cheated on him. You lied to him and faked your own death. What kind of woman does that to the man she loves, huh? Well, listen to me, sister,” she jabbed a finger in the air toward Colette, “you treated him like he was worth shit. But guess what? You were blind enough to turn away from this special man. But now, he has me. He has Adrien, he has a whole fucking family that loves him. If you want him and Adrien, you will have to go through me.”

  Silence followed. I was sure everyone could hear my heart pounding in my chest.

  “Selene,” I said, unable to get any more words out of my throat. “That was the most incredible bloody speech I’ve ever heard.”

  “Shut up. I’ll deal with you later.”

  I couldn’t believe even after shutting me down, I was still turned on and that I loved her even more.

  “Well, well. Why don’t you stop hiding behind ‘your man’ and come out. Tell me that to my face.”

  “Like hell she will,” I snarled. “You want me. You got me.” I took a step forward, ignoring the shocked gasps behind me.

  “Don’t do this, Remington.” My mother.

  “Papa, stay here with us. She will hurt you. She has a gun.” Adrien.

  “I didn’t give that speech for you to offer yourself as the sacrificial lamb, baby. If you go, I go too.”

  “Don’t be stupid, Selene,” I growled over my shoulder. She gasped, her eyes widening in shock. I hope she understood what I was doing. If there was a way to convince Colette, I had to at least show I didn’t really care about Selene. It might be too late after I spent the first half of this standoff defending her.

  But I had to try.

  I ignored the pleas. I had to; otherwise, this woman trying to take away my family would do something drastic.

  Colette studied me, obviously weighing my words in her head.

  “Come, Colette.” I stepped away, making sure my body blocked her aim. As soon as she whipped out that gun, I knew she wasn’t here for me, but to finish what she’d started years ago when she began sending those anonymous text messages and letters. “Just you and me.”

  I fixed my gaze on hers, smiled and inched forward. Then I was standing in front of her. “Put that gun away.” She shook her head. From the corner of my eye I saw Gilles’ car pull to a stop in a parking lot a few meters away.

  It’s about damn time.

  Two of his men stepped out of the car, followed by Èric and Gilles. As soon as they noticed what was going on, Gilles used different signs with his hands to communicate with his men.

  I focused my gaze back on Colette while keeping an eye on Èric and Gilles, now advancing.

  “Where would you like for us to go and talk? No distractions, I promise. Do you remember the café we visited on our second date, right after the day we met?”

  She nodded, her eyes gleaming and a smile on her lips. I heard a sob from Selene, the sound almost breaking my resolve to take Colette away from my house. My family.

  Almost.

  “All right. We can drive my car.” I had installed a tracker in case of anything untoward happening. I would be traceable.

  She quickly looked at the Phantom and back at me. “Get in and start the car.”

  “Give me the gun first. If you want to go with me, you have to give me the gun.”

  I didn’t trust her with it. The first time Colette and I met, she had told me she had taken shooting and archery classes. We had done a few sessions in a local shooting range before I finally gave up after realizing it wasn’t for me, and I knew she had excellent aim. A ten-meter target wouldn’t be a problem for her.

  She flipped the gun and held it out to me with the butt of it facing me. I exhaled and took it.

  One step passed. Now, to make sure she was off my property.

  I rounded the car to the driver’s side, slid into the seat and quickly leaned over the passenger side to open the door for her and froze. She held another gun and was sprinting toward Selene. Everything seemed to slow down as I jumped out of the car. A shot rang through the air, shattering the quiet atmosphere. Selene, Ines and my mother dropped to the ground after the shot went off. Èric, having caught up with Colette, tackled her, wrestling the gun out of her hands, while Gilles and two of his men sprinted toward Selene, Ines and my mother, Anthony and my father. Where was Adrien? Had he gone inside the house like I told him?

  Please, God, don’t do this to me.

  I prayed while sprinting toward Selene, my gaze darting around, searching for Adrien.

  “Madame Michaels, are you all right? Madame Michaels!” Gilles asked. My legs weren’t working as they should as I rushed toward her.

  “Adrien!” I yelled, my heart in my throat. “Adrien!”

  But hearing Gilles ask if she was okay hit me with a whole new level of fear. Where was my son?

  “Madame Michaels! Open your eyes.” Gilles slapped her cheeks softly.

  “Someone please help!” My mother voice drifted through the air. I glanced over my shoulder to where she knelt on the ground beside my father.

  “What the hell?” I had to make sure Selene and Adrien were okay first.

  I pushed through the huge bodies to get to Selene, lying on the ground with Adrien tucked safely in her arms. Her back was facing the direction Colette’s shot had come from.

  “Oh, God.” I dropped to my knees and began searching her body for any injuries before moving to Adrien. Her body shivered uncontrollably, but she kept her eyes squeezed tight. I touched her cheek to let her know it was me. “It’s over now, Selene. Open your eyes and look at me.” Panic twisted in my chest when she didn’t respond. “Come on, ma belle.”

  “Papa?” Adrien called out in a small voice. Immediately, Selene’s eyes popped open. She blinked rapidly before her eyes found mine.

  Mon Dieu! I’d died several times between Colette pulling the gun and hearing Adrien’s voice.

  “Are you all right?” I asked as I extracted Adrien from her secure hold and quickly scanned his body for
injuries while asking if he felt any pain. After confirming he was okay, I hugged him tightly, praising him for being brave, then told my mother to keep an eye on him before I turned to help Selene up.

  “But, Colette fired her gun, oui?” I asked no one in particular, still puzzled.

  “We need help over here!” Èric yelled. I turned around quickly to find him kneeling next to my father. Colette was lying on the ground unconscious with a pair of shackles around her wrists.

  “Monsieur Newport needs urgent medical care,” Èric said, his hand on my father’s shoulder. “Call the ambulance.”

  “What happened—” Fuck, no! I stared in horror at the growing red patch on his shoulder to the blood darkening the tarmac, then quickly pulled the mobile from my pocket to call the ambulance, but shoved it back in. I would probably get to the hospital faster than it would take them to drive here.

  “Get him in the car, and keep pressure on the wound.” Èric nodded. I turned to Selene; her eyes were staring into space.

  “Colette is my sister?” she whispered. “Colette was your wife?”

  “Let’s talk about that later, all right?” When she didn’t answer, I grabbed her chin and forced her to focus her eyes on mine as I tried to keep the mounting fear from my voice. “We have to get you to the hospital.”

  “I feel fine,” she said, running a hand over her stomach.

  “I can’t risk you and the baby. We are leaving now.” I wasn’t sure how much force she had used when she dropped to the ground to protect Adrien.

  She nodded, allowing me to help her to her feet.

  “Is Adrien okay? What about everyone else? Mom and Dad?” she asked, scanning around in panic as soon as she was settled in the car. After reassuring her everyone was safe and Gilles let me know he was driving Colette to the police station, I informed my mother which hospital we were going to and drove away.

  “Are you okay back there?”

  I heard a grunt of pain.

  A few moments into the trip, I glanced at Selene. She lay with her head back, her eyes closed and her hands curled loosely into fists on her lap. I wanted to reassure her, touch her. Because that was the only way I knew to comfort her. I slid my hand to touch hers, but she flinched and jerked back her hand as if my touch repelled her. I couldn’t blame her if it did. I hadn’t told her the truth and I didn’t regret my decision. Not when I hadn’t known how the truth would affect her. The stress of it. Seconds later, her fingers tangled with mine and I exhaled, relieved.