American Heroes Series - 01 - Resurrection (24 page)

Ethan watched as his son raced into the room and began throwing his stuff around.  Helplessly, he looked at Cydney.

“I was hoping…,” he whispered. “Well, I guess it was a stupid hope.”

Cydney read his mind. “Did you really think we’d be able to share a bedroom?” she whispered back, a grin on her face. “Furthermore, do you really think I’d let my daughter bunk with a teenage boy?”

He sighed heavily. “I was hoping we’d at least…,” he trailed off when Tyler yelled at him. “Coming, bud,” he called to his son.

He took a moment to kiss Cydney quite seductively before following his son into the room. It was the first time since they had left her house that he had been provided with the opportunity to kiss her. He suckled her bottom lip gently, responding to her hungry reaction. He was about to drop the bags in his arms and pull her against him when she abruptly pulled away.

“Go,” she murmured, “before he comes out looking for you.”

Ethan growled low in his throat. “Cyd, I don’t know how I’m going to handle not being able to touch you every waking moment.”

“We’ll figure out something,” she assured him softly.

“But it’s more than that. I just want to shout to the world how happy I am right now. And I just want to be with you.”

She smiled and touched his cheek. “Me, too,” she whispered. “Honestly, this has been pretty difficult for me with Olivia on one hand and you on the other. I’m so concerned for my daughter, yet now I have this new-found relationship with you and I don’t know whether to cry or laugh. I just feel so… lucky. Really, really lucky.”

He kissed the hand that was against his cheek and she turned away with a wink, meandering off towards the other bedroom. His gaze lingered on her, her great butt inside her tight jeans and the way her hair fell so gracefully against her back.  When Tyler yelled again about a ‘free’ robe in the bathroom, Ethan finally went to tend his son. But not before he stopped briefly at the phone in the living room and called down to the front desk.  The concierge picked up.

“Ceci est la suite huit quinze,” he said in his perfect French. “Il y a des magasins de bijouterie dans le voisinage?”

“I speak English if that is your pleasure, sir,” the concierge said.

“Either language is fine,” Ethan said, but caught sight of his son out of the corner of his eye and lapsed back into French. “Il y a des magasins de bijouterie dans le secteur?”

“Oui, monsieur,” the woman replied. “Il y a Dubail dans cet hôtel et il y a deux très biens magasins dans quelques kilomètres. Peux-je vous aider avec quelque chose ?”

Ethan watched Tyler as the kid yanked back the curtains of the room so hard that he nearly pulled them off the rod.

“Yes, I think you can help me,” he lowered his voice and switched back to English. “Would you call those jewelry stores and see if they’ll send a choice of rings to the hotel? Diamonds. Engagement rings. See if they’ll deliver them to you and I’ll come down and take a look when I have a chance.”

“Of course, sir,” the woman replied. “I’m sure Dubail, located in the hotel, would provide you with a lovely selection. Would you not like for me to send them to your room?”

“No,” he said quickly, startled when Tyler bolted out of the room, zipped passed him, and began yanking open the curtains in the living room. “Garder les sonneries avec vous et je viendrai les voir quand je peux. Ceci est une surprise.”

“I understand, sir.”

Cydney suddenly stuck her head out from the bedroom and looked straight at him, making him feel like he just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.  His first reaction was to slam the phone down but that would make it way too obvious. So he just stood there and looked at her.

“Is that the front desk?” she asked.

He nodded dumbly. “Yes,” he tried not to stammer. “I wanted to find out about… um, renting a car, maybe for later.”

She bought it. There was no reason not to. “Can you ask them about sending up another bathrobe?” she asked. “There’s only one in here and I need one for Olivia.”

“Sure,” he said, relieved beyond words that he hadn’t been caught in his covert deeds. He asked the concierge in French for another bathrobe, with Cydney still watching him, and hung up the phone.

She cocked her head as he went to pick up his luggage again. “Where in the world did you learn to speak such fluent French?” she asked.  “That’s a very impressive talent.”

He lifted an eyebrow at her. “My last name is Serreaux,” he stated the obvious. “It’s an old and distinguished French name. We can trace our family back for hundreds of years, through the French Revolution and even further than that. Justine and Jean-Pierre Serreaux, my grandparents, only spoke French, as did my mother, the former Charlotte de Saulet, for many years. I learned French before I learned English.”

Her features screwed up with confusion. “Your French parents relocated to Australia and then to America?”

“Dad worked for the French Embassy.  He was a diplomat. He went where they sent him.”

“Then you’ve been to Paris before?”

He nodded. “Many times. My grandmother still lives in France in the old family homestead.”

Cydney’s eyebrows lifted.  “Really? A lovely French Castle?”

She thought she was teasing him, but it was close to the truth. He grinned. “If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.”

“Try me.”

“Yes, a lovely French Castle,” he said, “built five hundred years ago.”

Cydney’s eyes widened. “Seriously? Can we visit?”

He shrugged. “Maybe,” he replied. “I’d like Ty to see it. It’s his heritage, after all.”

Excited at the prospect, Cydney disappeared back into her bedroom and Ethan went into the other bedroom as his son opened the windows and turned on the television. Just as he was lifting his suitcase up onto the suitcase stand, he heard Cydney call for him again.

“In here,” he called back.

She came into the room, shoes off and hairbrush in hand.  He was unzipping his suitcase but smiled at her as she moved towards him.

“I know I said I wanted to get Olivia right away, but I need to change my clothes first,” she fingered her blouse. “I slept in this thing and I just noticed a big stain on it.”

He shrugged. “Sure; whatever you want. J.D. was going to call Inspector Dulay as soon as we got here to let him know we’re on our way.”

She began to scoot away. “Then give me five minutes to change and I’ll be ready to go.”

“No worries,” he said, eyeing her shapely body. “Do you need any help changing?”

She paused in the doorway, grinning devilishly. “I’d love it. But I don’t think we could adequately explain that little encounter to your son.”

He wriggled his eyebrows and turned back to his suitcase. “Then get out of here before I lose control.”

She laughed softly and padded out of the room on her bare feet.  Tyler bolted past Cydney as she exited the room, nearly bowling her over as he took a flying leap and landed on the bed nearest the window. As Cydney giggled and proceeded on to her room, Ethan frowned.

“Hey, man,” he said, soft and stern. “Take it easy. There are women about.”

Tyler was lying with his hands behind his head, all stretched out over the over-stuffed bed.

“This is a really cool hotel,” he said. “I’m going to have to tell Mom about it.”

“Why?” Ethan looked up from taking his shoes out of his suitcase. “Does she want to come to Paris?”

“Sort of; because she might want to come here after she marries Dan,” Tyler rolled on to his side and looked at his father. “I’ve heard them talking about coming here on their honeymoon.”

Ethan gazed steadily at his son, pausing for a brief moment before continuing. “That guy she’s been dating for the past year?”

Tyler couldn’t lie still long; he resumed rolling around on the bed. “Yeah,” he said. ‘’They’re getting married this summer.”

“Really?” Ethan didn’t know why he felt a great deal of relief at that news, but he did.  “That’s great. Dan’s a pretty good guy, isn’t he?”

He shrugged. “He’s okay,” he said, wrinkling his nose. “He tries to tell me what to do but I don’t listen.”

“When he’s your step-dad, you’re going to have to listen.”

“Why?” Tyler sat up and looked at him. “You’re my dad and I don’t need another. I don’t want to listen to some guy just because he married my mother.”

Ethan could see some rebellion in his son, something he hadn’t seen in him yet. Tyler was just finishing his first year of high school now and he was growing up, becoming a young man. He was coming to know his own mind and strengths. Ethan thought carefully of how to handle this as he pulled off his tie and began to remove his shirt.

“Dan’s a cop, right?” he asked softly.

“Yeah, why?”

“Doesn’t he have two boys?”

“Yeah. They’re okay. Pretty cool, I guess.”

Ethan lifted an eyebrow at his son. “I’m sure Dan is an okay guy, Tyler. I’m sure he doesn’t tell you what to do just to boss you around. He tells you because it’s for your own good. Son, your mom and I have been divorced for eight years. Life goes on. She’ll get remarried and I will too, someday. You’ll have a new step dad, a new step mom, and who knows how many step brothers, sisters, half brothers or sisters… do you see where I’m going with this? You are my son. You will always be my son. Just because Dan marries your mom, it doesn’t take that away from us. It’s okay to listen to him and to do what he says. I would like to know that my son is being respectful and kind, not rebellious. That means a lot to me.”

By this time, Tyler was sitting up and staring at him with wide eyes. “You’re getting married, too?”

Ethan averted his eyes and pulled his white t-shirt over his head, revealing his magnificent build. If Cydney was going to change, he thought it might be a good idea for him to as well.

 “I’m not getting married right this second,” he didn’t want to lie to the boy but he wasn’t going to spill anything, either. “I’m just saying that life goes on. You will have step-parents in your life at some point and I would like for you to always be respectful.”

Tyler scratched his dark head. “I wasn’t trying to be mean,” he said, though there was no force behind it. “I just meant that you’re my dad. I want to live with you, not Mom and Dan. Can I come live with you in California?”

Ethan looked at his son, feeling more happiness at that question than he could comprehend. For eight long years he had been waiting for that inquiry. He went over to the boy and put a big hand on his head.

“You’d like that?” he asked.

“Uh-huh.”

“But it would move you away from your friends. You’d have to start a new school and everything.”

“I don’t care. I don’t want to live with mom anymore. I want to be with you.”

Ethan ruffled the dark hair and moved towards the bathroom. “Okay, bud,” he said. “Let’s get through this vacation and then we’ll talk about it.”

They quickly unpacked in relative silence as they wait for Cydney to change. Tyler’s unpacking was more of just opening his suitcase and throwing stuff around, while Ethan was neat as he put his clothes into the closet and into the drawers. 

When they were finished, they went into the living room to wait. J.D. called a short time later and told them he would meet them downstairs in a few minutes, as they had a car coming to take them to the Prefecture of Police. Ethan relayed that information to Cydney through the closed bedroom door and she assured him that she was ready to go, anxious to get to her child.

When she emerged from the bedroom a minute later in black slacks, a black blouse with a strategically placed ruffle along the neckline and black pumps, she looked absolutely marvelous. Her blond hair was pulled back into an attractive casual ponytail and Ethan gazed at her like a man who had fallen in love.  He had, in fact.

“Ready?” he asked her.

She nodded, grabbing her black and silver designer purse and stepping through the front door when Ethan opened it. 

“What’s going to happen once we get to the police station?” Cydney asked Ethan as they waited for the elevator.

He gazed down at her, still feeling that giddy warmth that he had moments earlier when she had stepped from the bedroom.

 “I’m not sure at this point,” he said. “She has been thoroughly interrogated by the French Police but we need to do our own investigation, hence the two other agents we brought with us. They’ll be interrogating and recording.”

“Interrogating?” she eyed him warily as the elevator doors opened and they stepped in. “I don’t like the sound of that word.”

He smiled and hit the button for the lobby. “Just a figure of speech. It’s really just an interview to get her side of the story.”

“How long will this take?”

“Hard to say. We’ll be there most of the afternoon, probably.”

“Me, too?” Tyler wanted to know.

Ethan lifted his shoulders. “You knew I was working today, Ty. You can sit and watch television somewhere until we’re done.”

He snorted with displeasure. “Why is her daughter at the police station?”

Cydney looked up at Ethan; she would let him answer that question.  Ethan’s gaze lingered on Cydney a moment before turning to his son.

“Because Cydney’s daughter was the victim of a kidnapping,” he said quietly. “Cydney and her daughter are part of the case I’ve been working on.”

Tyler thought a moment about that. “Why did she get kidnapped?”

The doors to the elevator opened. “That is a long story for another time, son,” Ethan replied.

He put his hand on the boy’s shoulder and guided him out into the modern deco lobby before he could ask any more questions. The boy changed focus quickly and asked for some money to go to the gift shop and buy a soda. Ethan handed him a few Euros and sent him on his way. Cydney and Ethan stood together and watched him disappear into the crowded shop.

“I knew he’d ask that question sooner or later,” he muttered. “I’ve been debating how much to tell him.”

Cydney shrugged. “You did fine,” she said. “I’m sure he’ll learn more as the days pass, especially when we end up spending time together with the kids. They’ll get to know each other and Olivia will eventually talk.”