Page 34 of Right With You
“Talk to you tomorrow,” I said, and grinned when he sent me a wink.
He shuffled down half a flight of stairs while I watched, then turned and notched his chin up. “Lock the door.”
I nodded, confirming I’d do it, but had planned to watch him until he disappeared all the way down the stairs.
He planted his feet, hand on the railing, then squinted.
I waited.
“Go ahead. Do it now.”
I started to argue, then thought better of it, chuckling softly and closing the door as I did. I clicked the lock so loudly it had to have been audible for him.
Bossy, he could be.
But also safe.
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
Luc
My grandfather arrived at the Silverton Regional Airport by private jet exactly on time. Dutiful grandson that I was, I stood waiting on the tarmac when he did. Fortunately, so was my dear pal and excellent buffer, Kenny Carmichael.
“Jean-Luc.” My grandfather nodded regally at me, then extended his hand.
I accepted it, a hint of marvel gliding through me with the first contact between us in years. His hand was dry but the shake firm, despite the fact that he’d aged over a decade since we’d last touched.
“Grand-père. Bienvenue à Silverton.” There was so much to say, but this would be a starting place.
He nodded again, his three security personnel hovering at a distance, then turned to Kenny.
“Kenny Carmichael, sir. I work with your grandson at Saint Security and we served together in the Army.” Kenny extended his hand.
My grandfather accepted it and shook, eyes snagging on Kenny’s left hand. He scowled and said, “You’ve lost your fingers.”
Kenny’s eyes danced and he gasped, clutching that hand to his chest. “I hadn’t realized.”
I cleared my throat to stifle a laugh, and my grandfather’s scowl deepened. Behind him, his assistant tapped on a tablet and stopped at his right without ever looking up. She spoke softly in French, but too quietly for me to hear.
Grand-père nodded, then turned his silver gaze to mine. “We’ll take a car to the resort now. Odette will arrive tomorrow.”
My teeth ground together at his mention of the woman he had chosen for me.
“I hope she’ll enjoy her stay,” I said, unwilling to seem interested in her arrival or anything about her. She was undoubtedly a lovely person, but not someone for me.
His jaw flexed and his nostrils flared slightly. “Aurelie has told me of her plan for dinner tomorrow. Will you be in attendance?”
He meant the family dinner Aurelie had arranged for me, Elise, my grandfather, and her and Michele. No Odette, and no one else. “We will.”
He might not have wanted to ask about Elise, but he’d be meeting her. In a small group with Aurelie and Michele to help defend and protect her, there would be no easier time to make the introduction.
My grandfather’s eyes fell away, and he bid me a quiet farewell as he walked past us to a waiting black Land Rover SUV. The airport staff, all too used to wealthy flyers arriving and never so much as touching their luggage, hustled to load his and his assistant’s bags into the back with the help of the driver. The security team had checked the vehicle, guided him in, and waited for him and his assistant to load in before also sliding in. Kenny and I watched as they pulled away within three or four minutes of exiting the plane.
“Well, he’s warm and fuzzy. I see where you get your kindness and that unflagging commitment to sunscreen.”
A laugh tripped out of me at his unexpected insults. My grandfather’s skin was weathered and deeply tanned thanks to his propensity to spend his time working from a property on the French Riviera.
“He views sunscreen as a generational choice. I guess we’ll see whether skin cancer is, too,” I said, a familiar frustration with him rising.
