Page 51 of Inside the Maelstrom: Part One
Mmm, Sampson wasn’t amused. I gripped her delectable ass and squeezed hard, making her let out another little moan, then dropped her in the center seat.
I pointed at Sampson. “Don’t be a hypocrite, Sam. Sharing is caring, or didn’t your nanny ever teach you that?” He muttered under his breath, while I just laughed. “We’re heading toward the Pantheon, Rue Descartes.”
I’d feed her and then later, I’d fuck her. I reached out, wrapping my hand around her thigh.
Everyone would be happy, but mostly Viva. And definitely me as well.
Chapter27
Aviva
We ate dinner in a quintessential French bistro, complete with red-checked tablecloths and food that made you want to spontaneously orgasm. After we left, we walked down to the Seine River, night falling and making the whole place like a dream.
“I can see why they call it the city of romance.”
“Mmm, if you don’t look at the trash, pigeons or people sleeping under the bridge down there,” Sampson replied casually.
“Sampson is the last true romantic,” Otto teased, and I leaned into him. My new Verne book was tucked in my bag, I was full of good food from the most romantic place I’d ever been, and I was hopped up on happy hormones from the orgasms.
I stopped, looking at Notre Dame, lit up from the inside. Boats motored softly up and down the river below us, and I just breathed it all in. The guys kept walking slowly, but I just wanted to take a moment. Otto paused to stand beside me, his shoulder touching mine.
“You okay, Viva?”
I nudged him with my hip. “You’ve already asked me that once today, Otto.”
He wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “Pretty sure I’m going to ask it ten more times this week, so you better get used to it.”
“I’m fine. Excited. It’s been a while since I’ve felt that.”
He made a noise of agreement, and just stood with me as we gazed into the swirling water. Even this late at night, there were tourists about, though I guess that applied to us as well. A man smiled at me as he leaned on the wall a few feet from us.
We stared at the scene before us a little longer, and then I sighed. “Come on. We better catch up.”
Otto wrapped his arm around my shoulder again, and stepped away from the wall. The tourist beside me stepped off the wall, and in a movement too quick for me to comprehend, held a switchblade to my stomach.
“Your purse,mademoiselle. And your wallet,” he said in a low voice to Otto. Otto looked confused for three seconds, until he looked down at the guy's hand, and back up to his face. The mugger—because there was no doubt in my mind we were about to be a statistic—was a generic-looking guy, blond but not attractive, with a hat pulled down low over his face. “Now,” he hissed, and it shook Otto from his stupor.
He pulled out his wallet, handing it to the guy, and I slipped my purse from my shoulder. “There’s a book in there…” I started, but the guy just pressed the knife harder into my stomach and the words dried up in my throat.
He looked back at Otto. “Your phone and watch too, into the bag.” He said it all with a smile on his face, like he was having a friendly conversation with us about Notre Dame.
“You need to back the fuck up before I rip your head off, asshole,” Otto growled, but he was still removing his watch, dropping it into my handbag. Then he pulled out his phone and placed it in there too. “This isn’t going to end well for you.”
The man shrugged. “What will happen? You will describe every man under forty in Paris to the police, they will give you a number to claim on travel insurance and we are all happy,oui?”
Otto started laughing. “Yeah,oui,motherfucker.”
The guy's face went pale, and when I looked around his shoulder, Evan was there. The look on his face was calm, like this was a regular occurrence. “I am holding a 9mm Sig Sauer to your spine. You so much as move, I’m going to use a bullet to sever it and eviscerate more than a few of your internal organs. Do you understand?”
“Oui.Y-yes,” the guy stammered.
“Good. Now give back their stuff.” The guy handed over my bag, and I clutched it to my chest. “Aviva, Otto, walk around me and back toward Hendrick, please.”
I did as I was told, and once I was behind Evan, I sprinted toward Hendrick and Sampson. Hendrick grabbed me up, spinning me so his body was between me and Evan with the mugger.
“Are you okay? Fuck, I was scared as hell, Viva.” He clutched me to his chest too tightly, like he was still scared something would go wrong and we’d be dead. Otto came up behind us then, and Hendrick gently pushed me into Sampson’s arms to grab Otto into a tight hug. Then he leaned back, scowling at his full-time friend and part-time lover. “What were you thinking? Did you forget all of Evan’s training? Give them what they want. Disengage and walk away with your damn life.”
“He had a knife pressed into her stomach, Drix. A fucking knife. One accidental bump from a pedestrian and she would’ve been dead.”
