Found (Assassin's Revenge Book 1) by Tara Crescent Read Free Book Online Page A

eat?” I asked in turn, biting into the delicious pastry. “Oh god, this is so good.”
    We sat in the garden, drinking coffee and eating the croissants he’d brought. “I’m every American tourist stereotype, aren’t I?” I asked.
    He flashed me a look. “American tourists don’t wander into Saint Denis.”
    I didn’t miss a beat. “Yeah,” I lied fluently, making a face. “It was an apartment rental, but I didn’t check the map to see where it was located. I should have known something was wrong when it was so cheap.”
    He smiled and his dimples deepened in a way that made me want to kiss them all over again. “All alone in this neighborhood?” His fingers brushed a strand of hair away. “You are a brave woman, Rachel.”
    “I have friends in the city,” I replied. I looked at him. I needed to pretend that it had just dawned on me that the day was ticking away and I would have to leave. But all morning long, each second had sounded like a gong in my heart. The ending was almost upon me . “I should go. I have to meet up with them.”
    “Let me drive you back,” he said. I nodded my thanks. I was prepared for his offer; I had the address of an apartment building ready. A crumbling concrete slum set in the suburbs of Paris. Our real safe-house was nearby and it looked remarkably similar.
    We got into the car and drove the short distance. When he saw the building, he looked unhappy. “You did get cheated,” he said. “Please find somewhere else to stay. This isn’t the nicest part of town.” His eyes twinkled at me as he repeated the words I’d indignantly uttered to him last night. “Even if you speak excellent French, you will still stand out here.”
    “I’ll take care of it,” I assured him. I turned towards him in the car and looked at him. “I had fun,” I started. It sounded so ridiculously inadequate. I owed him so much for allowing me to finally surmount my fears.
    “I’d like to see you again,” he said directly.
    “Me too,” I replied. The words weren’t a lie but I knew I could never allow it. Dylan McAllister was alive and each day he lived was an intolerable burden on my soul. He had to die. That was my only priority. As much as I wanted to linger here with Marc, this was an end. “Let me give you my number,” I said.
    I gave him the number of my burner phone and he dialled it. When my phone rang, he smiled at me. “Now you have my number as well.” He leaned forward to kiss me. “I’ll see you soon, Rachel,” he promised.
    No you won’t, I thought silently. I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I’d like that,” I replied. “Au revoir, Marc.”
    I refused to let him walk upstairs, telling him I was fine. He stayed as I entered the grimy stairwell and it wasn’t until I was done climbing three stories that I saw his car pull away. I waited ten more minutes as a precaution before coming back downstairs and walking towards the safe-house.
    As I walked, I reached for the burner phone and removed the SIM card, tossing it in a nearby overflowing trashcan. My fingers snapped the instrument into two, and each part was scattered in different bins on my way back to Lucien.
    The tears kept forming in my eyes but I kept blinking them away.
     
     

Chapter 9
    Alexander / Marc:
    Once I dropped her off, I turned my phone on. As I’d expected, there were dozens of missed calls from Jean-Luc.
    I called him and he picked up on the first ring. “Where have you been?” he snapped.
    I didn’t want to explain my night with Rachel. It was too important. Too precious. It felt like a moment of stolen time. I didn’t have the right to seek something real, but for just one night I could forgive myself for forgetting that. I could forgive myself for pretending.
    I could even forgive myself – sort of – for ignoring the mission. Until Jean-Luc spoke his next words.
    “Durov’s dead, as are his guards,” he said. “But we lost a man.”
    I swore. This group of people was my