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“You are a very lucky woman,” said the man sitting across from her. “Men whom I have great respect for asked me to be lenient with you. Since you’ve returned the photos and videos, I won’t kill you.”

“Did they tell you that I was here?” she asked with a suspicious glance.

“No. I figured that out all by myself. You forget the resources I have at my fingertips. Why were you standing in that alley by yourself?” he asked.

“I was waiting for a friend, but she didn’t show up.”

“I see,” nodded Nahm. “Does this have anything to do with the treasures stolen from the dig site?”

“I don’t know anything about that,” said Echo. “I didn’t know there were items taken from the site. That was someone else.”

“Your friend,” he said, picking at the imaginary lint on the pleat of his trousers. He looked up at her with a stern look and then back down at her trousers. “You already know that I’m a very powerful and wealthy man. I control a great empire, and I do it all legally.”

“Yeah, right,” she snorted. He glared at her, and she closed her mouth, immediately ashamed of the outburst.

“Call your friend. We want those treasures found and returned to where they belong.”

“I don’t even know what it is,” she said. “Besides, the number she called from doesn’t even exist. It was a throwaway phone or something. I tried calling her back, but she didn’t answer.”

“You’re a woman who enjoys money,” he said calmly. “You don’t have to respond to that. It was rhetorical. You like money and enjoy obtaining it in any way possible. I’m going to give you a way of obtaining a great deal. Five million dollars if you locate your friend and bring her to me.”

Echo stared at the man, then up at his bodyguards, who glared at her as though she were already dead.

“Five million? American dollars?” she asked with doubt.

“Yes. American dollars. I want the woman and what she has.” Echo tilted her head. “If you bring her to me with the items, you will be a wealthy woman and perhaps find a more respectable occupation.”

“I don’t know if she’ll call me again. She doesn’t seem to know what she’s doing, or if she does know, she’s having trouble.”

“We’re going to rid ourselves of this game you’re playing. You and this other woman have worked together on multiple occasions. You were quite upset to find out the man on your last ‘mission’ was of royal German blood. She knew, you did not.”

“H-how could you know that?” she whispered.

“I told you. I have great resources at my fingertips. You two thought you might use him in some way. You just had no idea that he was royalty. But she did. When she found he preferred male company to female, you were no longer of use to her.”

“I had no idea. I didn’t know anything about it until she said it was a bust and we should leave. She was the one who thought we could ransom him and the other woman, Tillie.”

“You thought to ransom the woman Tillie?” he asked with shock. “You are a greater fool than I thought. Had that happened and her family found out, you and your friend would have never been seen alive again.”

Echo frowned at the man, lowering her head. Who the fuck was Tillie? She had those men come in and help to rescue them. They were there when she called for help. What didn’t she tell them about herself?

“I see your wheels spinning. I suggest you, how do you Americans say it, tap the brakes. You won’t win against her family.”

“I have no intentions of going after Tillie or doing anything to her. I just want to live my life.”

“Then I’m giving you the perfect opportunity to live your life. Find the woman, find the items she stole, and bring them both to me.”

“How will I know what the items are?” she asked, standing to leave.

He stood, staring down at her face. She was pretty and had been an exciting diversion in bed, but he’d misjudged her character, and that was not something he was used to. He was usually an excellent judge of character.

“You will know them when you see them.”

Echo turned to leave, and one of the bodyguards opened the door, staring down at her with an intense gaze. She swallowed, knowing what he was capable of but also recognizing that there was something truly appealing about a man with such strength and power.

“Stop tantalizing my bodyguard,” said Nahm, turning his back to her, staring out at the city of Paris. “They are honorable and trustworthy, but they are men. They’ve seen the photos of your body. They would enjoy a tussle with you in bed. You, however, would not survive the experience.”

A chill ran down Echo’s back as she stared at the two bodyguards again. Only the one had a small smirk on his face, the tiniest bit of a smile at the corner of his mouth.

Quickly, she exited the suite and took the steps downstairs. As she reached the lobby, her phone vibrated. An unknown number appeared.

“Hello?” she asked in a quiet voice.

“Jewel? I need to see you,” said Gemma.

“Where the fuck were you last night? I waited, and you never showed up,” she muttered against the phone.

“I was distracted. We need to meet.”

“No. No, we can’t meet. Not here.” There was a silence that made her think the woman had hung up on her, then a resigned sigh.

“Someone told you.”

“Yes. What do you have? Because whatever it is, I’m being offered five million to bring you and it to them.”

“Who wants it?” she asked.

“Nahm.”

“You little idiot. You’re still screwing with that man? I told you that he would overwhelm you, but you wouldn’t listen.”

“Shut up, Gemma! It’s not like you’re doing so well right now. What the fuck do you have that’s worth five million to him?” The older woman laughed into the phone, and Echo wanted to toss it across the Seine.

“What I have is worth ten times that much. Walk toward Notre Dame.”