Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
A high-pitched shriek from the far end of the room nearly had Soren jumping out of his skin. He would never have believed that Alexei could make such a noise. Without being able to stop himself, he looked up to see Alexei at the far end of the room, waving his arms and shrieking at the top of his lungs. “Rat!”
Around Soren, other visitors started heading toward where he was pointing at a cluster of large, heavy furniture, including a rather divine divan that they could not risk having ruined by vermin. As Alexei’s shouting grew louder and the crowd of people grew larger, leaning closer to the display, the two security guards hurried over to him and the people to make sure that no one had crossed the line.
It was almost too easy to stretch across the low barrier and reach under the table. For a couple of heartbeats, panic tightened his chest as his fingers brushed nothing but rough wood. Was it gone? Had someone beaten him to it?
Finally, his fingers slipped over the cool, smooth cover of plastic and tape. He could breathe again. He snatched it up and shoved it into his pocket without looking.
From scream to pocket, the whole process took less than ten seconds. He pushed his way into the crowd to where Alexei was giving an Oscar-worthy performance to the guards and anyone who would listen, describing the enormous rat that had apparently run through the display. More Louvre staff members were being called on phones and walkie-talkies as visitors were reassured that the museum did not have a vermin problem. Alexei’s sighting would be thoroughly investigated.
Soren wrapped an arm around Alexei’s slim shoulders, gathering him close. “Angel, why don’t we go home? You’ve had a terrible scare.”
Alexei stared at him with enormous, watery eyes and gave a pathetic nod. Soren prayed the man never dared to turn that look on him in all seriousness, because he would be utterly helpless to deny him anything.
Taking the quickest route out of the Louvre, they remained close, with Alexei leaning into him at every opportunity, as if he needed to be supported by Soren. But being so close, he could easily feel the rapid beat of Alexei’s heart, and he could see the way the young man’s eyes darted here and there as he kept a close eye on every guard they passed.
But even outside the museum, Soren wasn’t sure he’d feel safe until they were inside of Alexei’s apartment and away from potential prying eyes.
“We have a problem,” Alexei murmured in a low, urgent voice.
A joke landed on Soren’s tongue but he swallowed it again, trying to spot what Alexei had seen. They were already out of the Louvre and crossing the main courtyard toward the street where they could catch the metro. If the guards had suspected something, they would have been stopped in the museum rather than outside when they could potentially reach a waiting getaway car.
“More hit men?” He’d expected them to be found again. He didn’t think they were tracking him by his phone any longer, but there was a good chance Alexei’s apartment was being watched. They had to have been followed to the Louvre.
“No, something worse.”
Chapter 13
Alexei had spotted them when he and Soren had gotten no more than a couple of feet away from the Louvre’s exit. He’d taken one deep breath of sweet fresh air, believing they’d escaped the notice of not only the museum security but any assassins who had been following them. He’d spotted a tail outside his apartment building, but they’d lost him in the crush as they changed trains on their way to the Louvre.
There had been no one outside the Louvre waiting for them, and no one to follow them inside. And it would have been easy to spot someone inside the museum, considering the strange and winding path they’d taken through the old palace.
No, their latest tail had decided to wait outside the museum and was approaching them right now despite the presence of so many witnesses.
Not a normal hit man, then.
Grabbing Soren’s arm, he stopped them in the middle of the plaza and did a full three-sixty. It wasn’t the best place. Plenty of opportunities for a sniper, assuming the hit man could sneak onto the rooftop of the Louvre with a sniper rifle unnoticed. Not the easiest of tasks, but not impossible either.
For now, no one else was moving or even paying attention to them except for the man and woman walking in their direction. Both of them were in jeans and T-shirts, appearing to be the normal American tourist types. She was even wearing a shirt emblazoned with a flirty Minnie Mouse, but she wasn’t American. Neither of them was. Alexei wasn’t quite sure who they were, but he’d kill them both in a heartbeat if they so much as flinched in Soren’s direction. A thought he refused to look too closely at right now.