Authors: Julie Ortolon
“Why would you ask that?” He leaned back, stunned. “You’re not thinking about helping them get it, are you?”
“No! I swear, I won’t give in to John. I don’t care how angry he gets over this, but I need my mother to forgive me for not helping her. She’s sure that getting that necklace will save her from having to marry Harold.”
“And if it could, would you help them get it?”
“No.” When her brow wrinkled, he wondered at the strength of her conviction. “I don’t think getting her out of this marriage would be helping her. I think Harold may be the best thing that ever happened to her. I need to convince her, though, that the necklace won’t miraculously turn John’s finances around so she’ll let it go. Is there anything you can tell me that will help?”
“Well, you saw how my family lives.” He sat up, the covers pooling at his hips. “Did that look like we were ever rolling in money?”
“You’re right.” She nodded. “I can try telling her that.”
“The only power the necklace has, other than letting some people see things, is the power to strengthen love. When it’s given as a token of love, the way my grandfather gave it to my grandmother, that love lasts for as long as those people live.”
Her face softened with awe. “That is more powerful than money.”
“I think so,” he agreed.
“I hope you get it back for your grandmother.” She squeezed his hand. “Especially now that I know it was a gift from her husband. That had to make losing it even more painful.”
“It did.” Her sincerity helped tamp down his doubt. He understood why Chloe couldn’t help him, but she wouldn’t betray him. She was too much of a fighter for that. “So, what do you think about moving in?”
“I still wonder what I would do here.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know.” She massaged a temple. “I already told you I don’t need a job. And I refuse, absolutely refuse to take the path of chairing committees for fundraisers. I’m all for charity, but I do not want my grandmother’s life.”
“What about your photography?”
“That’s just a hobby.”
“So, make it more than a hobby,” he suggested. “Because I agree with Harold; everyone needs a purpose. People think happiness is lying on a beach somewhere with nothing to do. It’s not. Happiness is kicking ass, slaying dragons, and stealing pirate treasure. That’s happiness.”
Laughter transformed her face.
“I love you,” she said with admiration filling her eyes.
The air left his lungs in a rush just as her eyes widened with horror.
“Oh God!” She slapped both hands over her mouth. “I didn’t say that.”
Oh, yes you did,
he thought. Grabbing her wrists, he pulled her hands from her mouth. “Did you mean it?”
His heart pounded painfully as he waited for her to answer. All he saw was panic staring back at him.
No glory for the gutless,
he told himself, and took his own fear in hand. “Because I love you. And I would really, really like it if you loved me back.”
She caught her breath in surprise and wonder. He definitely saw wonder shining in her eyes, thank God.
“I love you, too,” she said past a tight throat.
Leaning forward, he pressed his lips to hers, pouring out all the love and relief swelling inside him. His heart soared as she responded with equal fervor.
Ending the kiss, he rested his forehead against hers. A bright future opened up before him. He wanted to spend his life with this woman. Get married, have babies, go to pig roasts, and kill each other in laser tag.
Pulling air into his lungs, he raised his head and looked into her eyes. “Chloe, will you—”
Panic flashed across her face. Shit! She wasn’t ready for this.
“—move in with me?” he finished.
She sagged visibly in relief, confirming he needed to take this a step at a time. He didn’t want to wait, though. He wanted all of it, all of her, now. His heart pounded as he waited for her answer.
“Tempting,” she finally said, a hesitant smile tugging at her lips.
“Tempting enough for you to say yes?” He traced a fingertip down her cheek to her chin.
Her smile turned impish. “Tempting enough for me to say maybe.”
“Okay.” He kissed her lips. “I can work with maybe.”
“You aren’t one to give up easily, are you?” Her arms went around his neck.
“Never,” he confirmed, and lowered her onto the bed.
Chapter 21
Chloe refused to let go of her good mood even as Luc pulled his Porsche to a stop before the LeRoche mansion. They’d had a lazy morning in his apartment, eating breakfast, playing Vortal, and making love. Beneath her surface happiness, though, ran a current of ill ease each time she remembered John ordering her to help him get the necklace.
“You sure you don’t want to grab your things while I wait?” Luc asked. Concern lined his face as he looked past her to the imposing mansion. “We can go back to Vortal until your flight.”
“No, I need to do this.” She turned to face him. “For us.”
“Why for us?”
“I’ve thought about this, and if we’re going to have any chance of being together, I have to convince John and Diane that the necklace won’t solve John’s financial problems. Otherwise, if I move in with you and you do manage to get the necklace, they’ll think I helped you.”
“Does that mean you’re going to move in with me?” Pleasure lit his eyes.
“That means I’m thinking about it.” A grin tugged her lips. “First, though, I need to deal with John and Diane.”
He sighed. “As much as I want to get the necklace for my grandmother, I hate that it’s causing friction for you with your family.”
“I do, too.” Worry gnawed at her. “I wish they hadn’t found out that you filed a claim with the Historical Commission.”
“How angry are they going to be that you obviously spent the night with me?”
She rolled her eyes. “DeeDee will frown at my lack of propriety. My mother will probably worry that you’ll seduce me into helping you. As for John, he’ll assume I was following orders.”
“Following orders?” Luc’s brows snapped together.
“He wants me to use my womanly wiles to convince you to drop your claim.”
“Are you kidding me?” He gaped at her.
“I wish I were.”
“Chloe, I don’t want you to go in there.” His face took on the same fierce expression he wore when battling pirates and dragons. “Forget your clothes; I’ll buy you new ones. Let’s just go back to Vortal and—”
“Stop.” She pressed a finger over his lips. His vehemence made her smile. “I’ll be fine. They’re my family. I know how to deal with them.”
“I don’t like you having to deal with them.” He scowled. “Especially not by yourself. Why don’t I go in with you? I’ll help you convince them the necklace doesn’t have the power they think it does.”
“Are you joking?” She pulled back. “As far as they’re concerned, you’re the competition. They won’t believe anything you say. You need to trust me on this.”
“Maybe.” His jaw set. “But I don’t have to like it.”
“I’ll be fine.” Leaning toward him, she cupped his tense jaw. When he looked ready to argue, she touched her lips to his.
A heartbeat passed before his mouth responded with a gentleness that grew gradually more demanding until his lips claimed hers as if he might never see her again. Kissing him back with equal intensity, she wished she could do what he’d suggested, return to Vortal and make love until it was time for her to leave for the airport. She couldn’t, though. Not if they were going to have a future together.
When Luc pulled back, he stared into her eyes. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” The words still played havoc with her heart, a tug of war between joy and fear.
“Call me when you get to Pearl Island,” he said as she climbed out of the car.
“Of course.” She gave him a reassuring smile. “Now, stop worrying. Everything will be fine.”
As Luc watched Chloe go through the wrought-iron gate, he fought the urge to go after her, either to whisk her away or stand at her side. While her courage made him love her even more, he wanted her to realize she didn’t have to fight all her battles on her own.
“It’ll be okay,” he muttered as he started the car.
~ ~ ~
By evening, Luc was pacing his apartment, cursing himself for not following his gut. Every instinct told him Chloe was going through hell, and he wasn’t there with her.
Finally, the phone rang. Seeing her name on the screen, he scooped it up.
“Chloe, hey, you made it back. I was starting to get worried—”
“L-luc?”
His stomach dropped. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know what to do.” He heard her take a ragged breath.
“What happened?”
“It was so much worse than I expected. I’ve never seen John so furious. At least not with me. Maybe because I’ve never defied him before.”
“Tell me what happened.” He felt every beat of his heart as he longed to climb through the phone and hold her.
“It started out really well. I went to my mother’s room since she was just waking up. We sat on her bed and talked like girlfriends. We haven’t done that in so long.” The pain in her voice told him how much Chloe must have craved moments like that growing up. How much she still craved them. “I don’t know what happened to change her mind, but she finally seems excited about marrying Harold. Maybe it was having some of her friends at the party last night tell her they thought Harold Bradford was a great catch despite how he looks. She hadn’t introduced him to any of her friends before, and some of them adore him. So now she’s eager for the wedding.”
“That’s great,” he said, thrown off kilter by the good news.
“It is great,” she agreed. “But then we joined John and DeeDee for lunch. John was in a surprisingly good mood, which should have tipped me off that something was up. When Diane mentioned that she’s so happy she doesn’t care about the necklace anymore, John said getting the necklace had nothing to do with her. He wants it so he can get out of the partnership deal with Harold and keep control of LeRoche Shipping in his own hands.”
“I’m sure he does,” Luc said, having a hard time imagining John LeRoche stepping aside for anyone.
“He was so calm, almost smug about it, I could tell he assumed that I would do whatever he said to help him get the necklace. I knew I had to say something. So I—” She took a shaky breath. “I told him I wouldn’t help you get the necklace, but I wouldn’t try to talk you into dropping your claim either. That I was going to leave it up to the Historical Commission.”
“What did he say?” Dread tightened Luc’s chest.
“He smiled at me the way he does when he knows he’s won, and said I didn’t have to talk you into anything. It was already decided.” Anguish filled her voice. “Apparently he knows someone in the Historical Commission. I don’t know if he used blackmail or a bribe or both, but he said that tomorrow morning, I’m going to get a call letting me know that the commission has decided to reject your claim.”
Luc clenched his teeth against the urge to call her grandfather a tyrannical bastard.
“It gets worse.” Her voice tightened. “Since your testimony proves that the necklace didn’t come from the shipwreck, the state can no longer claim it as part of the salvage. So, the commission is going to give the necklace to me. No conditions this time. They’re just going to give it to me.” Her voice broke. “John expects me to go straight back to New Orleans and hand it over to him.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know!” she said. “I told him I wouldn’t, that the necklace belongs to your grandmother. That’s when he got angry. He tossed out his usual threats at first, saying he’d take away my trust fund. I’m so sick of him using money as a leash to get Diane and me to do as we’re told. I don’t want to lose that money because it means I’d have to get a job that will interfere with working for Allison, but this time, I told him I didn’t care. I told him to go ahead and do it.”
“Why would losing your trust fund interfere with your job on Pearl Island?”
“The gift shop doesn’t generate enough money to support a wage, so I basically work in exchange for free rent. It was a perfect situation for both Allison and me, but it won’t work without my trust fund.”
“Then move here,” he insisted. “It’s the obvious solution. Live with me. Get a job here in New Orleans.”
“I can’t!”
“Why not?”
“Because if I don’t give the necklace to John, he’ll make sure life in New Orleans is miserable for me.”
“Jesus.” He pinched his brow.
“It didn’t end there,” she said growing more upset. “Luc, he was so furious, I thought he was going to have a heart attack. He told me that if I gave the necklace to your grandmother, he’d disown me and forbid Diane and DeeDee from ever having any contact with me. Diane started to object, so he turned on her. He made such awful threats, he sounded insane.”