Page 23 of The Unseen

L UCAS DROVE THE J EEP FROM THE YOUTH CENTER TO THE A NNE Winston Fine Art gallery on Thursday night.

He was taking Nicole out to supper at a quiet little restaurant that was one of his favorites.

She had mentioned French food. In a small vintage white cottage tucked away off the beaten path, Maison Lacour wouldn’t disappoint.

He tried not to think what would happen after, when he drove her back to his town house. The memory of making love to Nicole made his groin thicken and desire race through his blood.

He was smiling as he turned into the parking lot.

The gallery must have just closed. The lights were turned off inside, the windows in the redbrick building dim.

As he pulled the Jeep into one of the spaces in the empty lot, his glance went to two men near the back door who stood over a third person lying on the ground.

One was tall, about Lucas’s height, with stringy brown hair and a bald spot; the other shorter, muscular, with a sleeve of tats down each arm.

Unable to mistake the fiery hair that belonged to Nicole, Lucas slammed on the brakes, jammed the car into Park, and was out of the vehicle and on the move while the engine was still running.

“Tell your brother that Bruno says hello.” The taller man toed Nicole in the ribs. “Next time, he’ll be paying you a visit in person.” He flashed a vicious smile the instant before Lucas spun him around and punched him in the face.

The musclehead with the tats leaped toward him, swinging a vicious blow that clipped Lucas’s jaw and knocked him a few steps backward.

He let the momentum carry him, then whirled toward the first man, punching him in the stomach, doubling him over, throwing a hard uppercut to the jaw, which sent the guy’s head jerking back as his body crashed against the rough brick wall.

The musclehead ran toward him. Lucas hit him with two left jabs and a solid right cross, which sent him flying. The instant the guy hit the ground, he was up and running, his partner already on the move, both of them racing across the parking lot, disappearing around the corner, out of sight.

Lucas ran to Nicole, who lay curled on her side on the pavement. She moaned as he knelt beside her, reached out, and took hold of her hand.

“They’re gone,” he said. “Don’t move. I’m calling an ambulance.”

“No. Please don’t do that.” Ignoring his instructions, she struggled to sit up.

“Take it easy, honey. We don’t know how badly you’re hurt.” He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

“No ambulance,” she repeated more firmly. “I’m—I’m okay. Just … a little bruised. Give me a minute and I’ll be all right.”

“What about your ribs? They must be hurting.”

“They’re sore, but I can tell nothing’s broken. I’ll be okay.”

He caught her chin and looked at her. Her lip was split, and she was going to have one helluva shiner.

“You might have a concussion, baby. You need to get checked out.” He looked into her eyes, but her pupils didn’t look dilated. “Do you have a headache?” He held up three fingers. “How many?”

“Three. A headache, but not that bad.” She tried to get to her feet, but he forced her back down.

“All right, no ambulance.” He shoved the phone back into his pocket. “I’ll drive you to the emergency room and we’ll see what the doctors have to say.”

Nicole shook her head, wincing as her fiery hair swirled around her shoulders. “I’m not going to the hospital.” She looked up at him. “Take me to your house. That was our plan. Right?”

That wasn’t exactly his plan, but close enough. He sighed. “All right. My house. But if you start feeling dizzy or nauseated, I’m taking you in.”

When she didn’t argue, Lucas took it as a win. “Stay here. I’ll get the Jeep.”

A few seconds later, he pulled the vehicle up to where she sat, got out, retrieved her purse from where it had landed near the back door, and helped her into the passenger seat. He fastened her belt and tilted the seat back a little.

“It’ll take us a few minutes to get there. Just relax, okay?”

Nicole nodded.

Opening the glove box, he plucked out a Burger King napkin and pressed it gently against her lip to stop the bleeding. Nicole took it from his hand. “Thanks.”

His town house on Fiero Street was fifteen minutes away. As he drove the route, Nicole closed her eyes, but she seemed to be breathing normally. He pulled into his garage, parked next to his Lexus, and turned off the engine.

He went around to help Nicole out of the car. “Can you walk?”

She took hold of his arm to steady herself. “I’m okay. Really. Let’s go.”

Lucas led her past his Harley, through the garage door into the kitchen, glad he had stocked up the fridge a few days ago.

Guiding her along the hardwood floors into the high-ceilinged living room, he urged her down on the navy-blue sofa.

A glass-topped coffee table sat in front, a matching navy-blue chair at each end.

The whole place was done in white: walls, cabinets in the kitchen, granite countertops. Navy blue was the accent color throughout, giving the place a clean, masculine feel.

He eased Nicole down on the sofa, went to the entry closet, and took down a pillow and a lightweight throw. He returned and placed the pillow under her head and spread the throw over her.

“How are you doing?” he asked.

“My cheek hurts where he punched me, and my lip feels twice its size. My ribs are a little sore. Apart from that, not too bad.”

He almost smiled. She was tougher than she looked. “That’s good. Time to tell me what happened. Are you feeling well enough to do that?”

Nicole sighed. “I’m not exactly sure what happened. It’s all kind of a blurry haze. Anne let me out the back door, locked it, then went out through the front. I didn’t see the men until they were right on top of me. I got in a couple of good kicks, but it didn’t do anything to stop them.”

“You were outnumbered, and they were waiting for you. You get well and I’ll show you some self-defense moves that might even the score a little.”

Nicole managed a half-hearted smile.

“What did they want? Money? Did they rob you?”

“They didn’t rob me.” She glanced away. “That was probably their intention, but you got there before they had a chance.”

She was lying and she wasn’t very good at it.

“I don’t think they wanted your money. The attack had something to do with Sean, didn’t it?

The guy with the stringy hair said to tell your brother that Bruno says hello.

I know you don’t want to get Sean in trouble, but not telling me the truth could land him in the same situation you were just in—or worse. ”

She closed her eyes for a moment, collecting herself. “I honestly don’t know what’s going on, Lucas. Sean’s never mentioned anyone named Bruno, but it was clearly a warning of some kind.”

“We need to talk to Sean as soon as possible.”

“Does it have to be tonight?” she asked, her face still pale.

Lucas took hold of her hand and brought it to his lips. “Not tonight, cher. He’s safe at the center. I’ll drive him out to Belle Reve tomorrow after class lets out for the weekend. We can talk to him then.”

Tears glistened in her eyes. “Thank you. And thank you for standing up to those men tonight. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t come along when you did.”

“They got their message delivered. I think, for tonight, that’s all they wanted.” But what was waiting for Nicole and Sean down the road?

“I planned to take you out to a nice French restaurant,” Lucas said, “but it looks like you’ll be getting a bowl of chicken noodle soup instead.”

Her eyes slid closed, and he could tell she was hurting. He didn’t offer her a pain reliever, since there was a chance she had a concussion. Unconsciously, his hand fisted. It didn’t matter that his knuckles were scraped raw. He wanted to throw half-a-dozen more punches at the men who had hurt her.

She looked up at him with those big green eyes that never failed to move him. “Chicken noodle soup sounds perfect,” she said.

And sinner that he was, he wanted to carry her upstairs right then, strip off her clothes, and take her.

He wanted to spend the night with her in his bed.

He wouldn’t, of course. She could barely move, and he had more urgent matters to worry about than satisfying the sexual need for her that rode him like a hungry beast.

He had to find out who Bruno was, the meaning of the warning the men had delivered, and how he could stop whatever they had planned, before someone else got hurt.

It didn’t matter that the night was moonless, dark, quiet, and still, that the pleasant chirp of crickets seeped through the paned glass windows to comfort her. Rachel’s mind wouldn’t stop spinning, wouldn’t let her rest.

Staring up at the canopy above the bed, she thought of Francois and what Nicole had told her about the discoveries she had made at the library. Rachel now knew a lot more about the family of the man who came to her in dreams. Dreams that were real and made her feel desire as she never had before.

She couldn’t stop thinking about him, imagining his beautiful face, his gorgeous blue eyes, wishing he were there with her now. If she could only fall asleep, perhaps he would come to her as he had before.

But the brass pendulum on the clock kept ticking off the seconds, the minutes, the hours; and though she closed her eyes, sleep would not come.

Time dragged. Her restless mind finally began to calm and she fell into a deep, dreamless slumber. Dreamless, until she heard a voice calling to her in the darkness, whispering her name.

Rachel opened her eyes, her gaze searching the empty bedroom. “Francois?”

He made no sound, but she could feel him moving toward her, feel his weight settle on the mattress.

Ma belle.

He was there, as she had prayed he would be.

She felt the soft brush of his lips against the side of her neck, just the gentlest of touches, then settling lightly over her lips as if he asked permission.

She opened to him without reservation, allowing him to deepen the kiss, wanting everything he could give her, wanting to claim these few impossible moments for herself.

Her nightgown brushed against her skin as it lifted away and disappeared into the darkness. She could feel the wet heat of his kisses moving over her skin, along her throat and shoulders, down to her breasts. A soft moan escaped as she arched upward, silently asking for more.

Around her, the world narrowed to the soft caress of his lips, the glide of his hands over her skin. Desire rose up, hot and fierce, as he claimed her body and invaded her soul. She saw his beautiful blue eyes as he began to move inside her and felt a rush of love for him.

It was impossible. She couldn’t love a man she had never really known, a man who wasn’t actually there.

And yet as they reached the pinnacle together, she knew her feelings for him were real.

He stayed with her for a while, there on the mattress beside her.

Finally at peace, her eyes drifted closed.

The soft brush of his lips in a farewell kiss, and then he was gone.

“Francois!” she called after him, trying to draw him back, but silence was her only reply, and the room remained empty.

Her heart ached. She told herself that this time with Francois was a gift from God. She believed it with all her heart, and the knowledge comforted her. Rachel closed her eyes and gave in to the sleep her frail body so desperately needed.

She dreamed of Francois and prayed he would come to her again.