A Sister's Quest by Jo Ann Ferguson Read Free Book Online

Paris called Mauriac’s.”
    â€œWhy would you remember that?”
    He put his hand on the foot of the bed and smiled. “Your mother is impossible to forget.”
    â€œI know.” She stood and wrapped her arms around herself. “I think of her so often.”
    â€œAs I do.” He touched the ring again. “Sophie told me the rings were designed as a play on their name. Orage is French for storm, so I guess Michel used the lightning bolt to signify that.”
    â€œMichel was my father’s name!”
    â€œSo Sophie mentioned often. She loved him very much. He must have been an extraordinary man.”
    â€œI wish I had had a chance to know him.”
    â€œSo do you believe me now? Will you come with me?”
    She turned away and twisted the ring on her middle finger. If Alexei was telling the truth—and he knew so much about her family she had to believe him—there had been a side of her mother’s life she had been too blind to see.
    Now it all seemed clear. Those infrequent visits to her mother’s apartment must have been when her mother had not been working for a foreign government. Tears bubbled over the edges of her lashes. She hated weepy women, but she could not halt the sobs that burst from her aching heart. Why had Maman not been honest with her?
    â€œMichelle?”
    She whispered, “Today is the anniversary of Maman ’s death, but the pain makes it seem as if it were yesterday.”
    â€œAnd you have no one else.”
    Surprised that he did not make it a question, she nodded. “You know so much about me.”
    â€œI know about Sophie.”
    â€œYou remember after six years?”
    â€œI know.” He smiled wryly. “I never forget the most minuscule details, although I must own Sophie’s death was not minuscule. My memory is why I am considered so valuable to my government. They know I won’t forget anything I hear.” He looked directly into her eyes. “I do know a little about you, Michelle. Enough so I suspected you would be willing to come with me to Vienna to help combat those whom your mother fought to keep them from controlling Europe.”
    â€œ Maman was a spy?” She nearly choked on the words, which were as bitter as bile.
    â€œThere are nicer terms for it, but that is what she was.”
    â€œAnd you?”
    â€œYou must know that if I worked with your mother, I have been involved in espionage, too. Now the war is over, and I can travel as Alexei Vatutin. This assignment is something of a reward for what I have done in the past.” He stroked the tears from her cheek. “Will you come with me, Michelle? I intend to enjoy Vienna. We could have such fun.”
    She put her hand over his. “Yes, I will come with you.”
    With a laugh, he planted a smacking kiss on her cheek. Then he slapped her on the bottom. When she gasped, stunned by his outlandish behavior, he chuckled again. “I thought you would see sense.”
    â€œIf you ever do that again, I shall—”
    â€œDo what? This?” He tapped her bottom again. When she started to whirl away, he grasped her arms and pulled her to him. His voice dropped to a roguish whisper. “Or this?”
    There was nothing teasing about his mouth over hers. Fire seared her as her hands slipped up his back. He tugged her more tightly against him until every inch of him urged her to soften. A breathless sigh burst from her when his lips tasted the curve of her chin and traced heated joy along her throat.
    Rapid flicks of his tongue teased her skin as the sparks deep within her grew into a flame. When her hand curved along his neck, she discovered the warm skin beneath his loose collar.
    His mouth found hers again, but demanded entrance to the shadows within as his tongue sought to explore every sleek surface. Urging her to caress him as intimately, he twisted his fingers through her hair. She delighted in the splendid