Chapter Ten
The restaurant Gabriel picked was much classier than her previous date’s choice. While Daniel took her to some hipster East Village restaurant, Gabriel seemed to pull out all the stops. It was French, of course, and ,according to Gabriel, it was very hard to secure a reservation. Luckily, the chef was a former client from his last job and agreed to give them a table on very short notice.
“Are you enjoying your Matelote, cher?” Gabriel asked.
“Yes, it’s excellent.” Jade took a spoonful of the fish stew. “Thank you for recommending it.”
“De rien, ma petite,” he replied, giving her another one of his charming smiles.
“My French is rusty,” she said, putting her spoon down. “I hope you don’t mind if we switch back to English for a bit.”
“Not at all,” he said. “But we can always practice your French later.”
“So, tell me why you decided to work for Fenrir?” Jade asked, changing the subject. She caught the meaning in his voice, not that Gabriel was hiding it. The Frenchman was obviously trying to seduce her, giving small touches here and there, telling her she was beautiful. And she did feel beautiful. Tonight, Lara picked out her dress. It was a vintage red cocktail dress with a full skirt. Since it covered her back, she let the witch sweep her hair up in a fashionable updo. With the dress and the hair, Gabriel declared she looked like Audrey Hepburn.
“…And so when the opportunity came up, I thought, why not?” Gabriel finished his story of how Fenrir recruited him. Jade caught only half of it, but nodded anyway. “And how about you?” he asked. “You’re quite young to be a Doctor, non?”
“Uh, yes, well, I finished school quite early,” she explained. She gave Gabriel the details of her study and work history, a carefully crafted cover she and Mr. Vrost worked on—one that wasn’t too different from her real background but didn’t give away any details of her research.
“Ah, beautiful and smart,” Gabriel declared, grabbing her hand from across the table. His hands were smooth and warm, and his fingertips were tracing lazy circles on her palms.
Jade couldn’t help but frown. Here was a gorgeous and sexy man, paying her compliments and attention, but still she felt…nothing.
“Jade?” Gabriel asked, his brows drawing together. “Are you all right, cher?”
She pasted a bright smile on her face. “Yes, of course,” she said, giving a small laugh. “I was thinking of something I forgot back at the office.”
“Ah, well, sometimes it’s hard to leave work, right?” he laughed. “How about some dessert? I was thinking we can have it to go and head back to my place? I have this lovely digestif that would go well with the apple tart.”
***
“C’mon, Smith, I need something.”
“Sorry, boss, I’m workin’ as fast as I can.” The voice from the comm unit in his ear sounded agitated, but Sebastian didn’t care. That stupid Frenchman was probably charming the pants off Jade right now. He needed some dirt on him, like that idiot Daniel the other night. Smith was a genius, head of Creed Security’s tech department and there wasn’t anything on the planet he couldn’t find.
“Um, boss,” Zac whispered. “You ok?”
“Yeah,” he said gruffly. “I’m fine.”
“Don’t break the steering wheel, though, yeah, boss?”
Sebastian looked at his hands as they gripped the wheel. His knuckles were white, and he could almost hear the plastic creaking under his fingers. Releasing his grip, he relaxed back into his seat and scowled.
He wasn’t planning on being here tonight. The conversation yesterday with Grant and his perceptive little wife had rattled him. No, he didn’t want to spend more time with Jade. Just the opposite. So, he decided to rotate Jade’s protection detail among his best guys and have them log hourly reports. Last night, he didn’t get anything unusual, just Jade going home after work, so he didn’t pay much attention to what was happening.
Tonight, however, he was sitting at home, ready to head out to Luxe when he saw the latest report. Jade left her apartment at 7:06 p.m. with an unknown male subject and got into a cab headed uptown. Sebastian ignored it at first, but all the time he was sitting at Luxe, he kept waiting for the next report. When it arrived, saying that Jade and the unknown man were sitting inside some fancy restaurant with a name he couldn’t even pronounce, Sebastian lost his cool. Leaving Luxe in a huff, he drove downtown as fast as he could, calling Smith on the way to have him find out who this man was.
He found the car tailing Jade tonight parked across from the restaurant. Sebastian must have scared the shit out of Zac when he pulled open the door and ordered the younger man to move to the passenger seat. By the time Sebastian had turned on his in-ear comm unit to call Smith, he already had a name. Gabriel Marchand, an employee at Fenrir Corporation, but nothing else.
“What’s going on, boss?”
“None of your business,” he growled.
“I mean, with the Doc and her date?” the younger man clarified. “They still in there? How long does it take to eat French food? Don’t they have those tiny servings of leaves and sauce an’ shit?”
“I wouldn’t know, Zac,” Sebastian replied. This place was fancy, for sure, and someplace you’d take a hot date to impress her. He wished he could get a visual of what was happening inside, but he couldn’t see from the street, and he damn well couldn’t just walk in there and tip them off before he found something incriminating on Marchand.
“Anything, Smith?” he called again.
“Workin’ on it, boss,” came the gruff voice in his ear. “No criminal records, no immigration flags, not even a parking ticket. But, I’m working an angle, I just need some time.”
“Do what you can,” he ordered and then switched the comm unit to mute.
“Boss,” Zac nodded his head towards the restaurant.
Jade was leaving the restaurant with her date. Some blonde, male model-type Sebastian had never seen before. So that was Gabriel Marchand, he huffed. He didn’t understand why women fell for men like Marchand. Too pretty and dressed way too fancy.
They were chatting as they stood on the street, and the way Jade looked up at Gabriel with a smile on her face set Sebastian’s teeth on edge. He wanted to punch something right now, preferably that Frenchman’s jaw.
Gabriel waved down a passing cab, opened the door, and ushered Jade in. He then joined her in the back seat, and the cab sped away.
“I’m gonna need your car, Zac,” he said as he turned the key in the ignition of the younger man’s ancient Toyota. “Why aren’t you driving one of the company cars, by the way? We have tons of new cars in the garage for you to use for stakeouts, you know that, right?”
“This seemed more authentic, boss,” the younger man explained. “But, what about your ride?” he asked, tipping his chin towards the black Tesla Roadster parked behind them.
Sebastian didn’t even glance at the car, but instead, tossed a set of keys to the other man. “Here,” he said. “Take my car back to my apartment. I’ll take it from here.”
Zac looked at the keys like they were the Holy Grail. “Um…you sure, boss?”
“Yeah, go ahead. The key to my apartment’s in there, too. You can crash at my place or get yourself a cab home.” He nodded towards the passenger side door.
“Thanks, boss!” Zac said as he quickly exited the car.
It didn’t take long for Sebastian to catch up with the cab. He memorized the plate number, and soon was following them discretely, staying at least two cars behind. They went all the way to the Upper West Side where the cab deposited the couple in front of a brownstone apartment building.
“Shit!” Sebastian cursed as he watched them walk up the stoop. He parked the car a few houses down, slamming the door shut as he exited the vehicle.
“Hey!” a voice called out to him. “You can’t park there, buddy!”
He ignored the voice and instead turned on the comm unit as he strode towards the brownstone. “Smith,” he barked. “Whatever you have on Marchand, I need it, now.”
“Just sent it to you, boss,” Smith said, relief in his voice.
“Thanks.” Sebastian fished his phone from his pocket, opening the secure message from Smith. His eyes widened as he opened the link. “That fucking bastard!”
Luck must have been on his side because as soon as he reached the brownstone, one of Marchand’s neighbors was leaving. He quickly slipped his hand into the door before it shut completely, glancing at the list of tenants to find Marchand’s apartment. It was on the third floor, and he took the steps two at a time to get there.
Sebastian stalked down the hallway, all the way to the end. When he reached the door to Marchand’s apartment, he stopped suddenly. Shit. Fuck. What exactly was his plan? Break in there? The Beast was howling. Yes, it said. Get her. Kill him.
With a growl, he pivoted away from the door. No. He couldn’t. This obsession with Jade had to stop. Before she got hurt.
He must die. He touched her. Mine. Ours.
“Shut. The Fuck. Up!” he yelled as he slammed his hand into the wall. His fist went right through the plaster. Damn these old buildings. Practically made of paper.
“Sebastian?”
He turned around, following the voice, though it was no mistaking who it was. The sweet scent of cherries and vanilla filled his senses. “Jade,” he whispered.
She blinked up at him. Once. Twice. There was a look of shock on her pretty face, which quickly scrunched in anger.
“What are you doing here?” she cried, marching up to him. “Are you foll—”
“Jade?” A voice interrupted her. “Everything all right?”
Sebastian swung his head towards the door behind them. Gabriel Marchand stood in the hallway, casually leaning against the wall. He wasn’t wearing his suit jacket and tie, and his shirt was opened halfway down his chest. Jade backed away from Sebastian, running back towards Gabriel.
“I changed my mind again, Gabriel,” she said. “Let’s go back inside.”
Gabriel flashed Sebastian a smug smile and put his hand on Jade’s back. “Whatever you want, cher.”
“You!” Sebastian stalked towards the other man, slamming his hand on the door.
“Do I know you?” he asked in heavily-accented English. “Are you one of my neighbors?”
“No,” he replied and took his phone out of his pocket. He dialed the number that Smith had sent him. “But I bet you know who this is.”
Gabriel frowned, looking at the screen. Then, his eyes widened in shock when the screen flickered to life.
“Gabriel?” The blonde woman on the tiny display had a confused look on her face.
“Sylvie!” he exclaimed. He tried to grab the phone, but Sebastian kept it out of his reach.
“Gabriel, who is that?” Jade asked as she peered up at the screen.
“Gabriel!” The woman on the phone screamed and let out a string of French. Both Gabriel and Jade flinched, and Sebastian didn’t need to understand the language to know what she was saying. He tapped the red button on the screen and put his phone away.
“You asshole!” Jade shoved at Gabriel. “You’re married? That was your wife?”
“Listen to me, Jade, cher,” the Frenchman pleaded. “Yes, I’m married, but I thought you knew! You were the one who asked me to dinner!”
“Because you’ve been flirting with me for months!” Jade put her hands up. “And why didn’t you say no when I asked you out.”
Gabriel gave a shrug.
“That’s what I thought, wanker!” She hit him on the shoulder with her bag. Turning around, she stormed past Sebastian, stomping angrily towards the elevators.
“Merde!” Gabriel cursed. “How dare you come in here and—” The Frenchman’s head reeled back as a large fist connected with his jaw. He went straight down, his eyes rolling back and then closing.
“Fuck you, asshole,” Sebastian said, as he rubbed his fist. It barely even hurt. Giving Gabriel one last disgusted look, Sebastian barreled down the stairs and out the door, chasing Jade down the street. “Stop!”
“What do you want?” Jade whipped around, raising her clutch at him. “Why won’t you leave me alone!”
“I’m trying to keep you safe!”
“You’re only supposed to guard me against the m—” She stopped short, putting her hand over her mouth.
“From who, Jade?” he asked, gripping her by her upper arms “Tell me who’s trying to kill you!”
“Stay away from me!” she hissed, wrenching away from him.
“I’m taking you home,” he said, taking Zac’s keys out of his pocket. He pointed the key fob towards the direction of where he parked the car. “Fuck!” he cursed. A tow truck was pulling away, the Toyota hooked to its back. An old woman stood where the car was, her arms crossed over her chest. She gave Sebastian a dirty look, then flashed him the finger before disappearing into the nearest apartment building.
“Fucking New Yorkers,” he muttered under his breath. He looked back and saw Jade climbing into a cab. “Shit. Jade!” It was too late. For the second time in a week, Jade Cross had once again run away from him.