Beautifully Broken (The Broken Series Book 2) (3 page)

The
driver made a number of turns onto painfully narrow streets. I couldn’t help
but admire the historic architecture of the buildings surrounding me. As I eyed
the vehicles parked along the street, I was certain the limousine looked a
monstrosity next to the tiny eco-friendly cars and Mopeds. I doubted the driver
would find a parking space large enough to fit the vehicle.

The
road widened slightly as we drove through an incredibly affluent neighborhood.
I looked at Michael questioningly.

Michael
seemed to be enjoying my reaction. “This is the
triangle d’or
, otherwise
known as the Golden Triangle,” he explained. The car stopped in front of a very
large stone mansion. “
Bienvenue
à
la maison,
” he whispered softly. His voice thickened with
emotion as he lifted my hand to his lips. “Welcome home,
ma chérie.
”

I
stared at him in shock. “You cannot be serious. We can’t possibly be staying
here.”

Michael
frowned. “
Oui
. This is our home. You do not like it?”

“Like
it? Michael, this place is a mansion.” I watched as a man exited from the
massive stone house. The driver signaled for him to wait, and he immediately
stopped halfway down the stone stairs leading to our car.

I
focused my attention on Michael. “How could this possibly be your house?” Although
Michael’s clothing, his watch, and his car had run on the expensive side; his
apartment in Helena had been quite ordinary. And he had a roommate… or at least
a man I presumed was his roommate. Now I wasn’t so sure.

Michael
looked insulted. “You do not think I can afford this?” He waved toward the
place like it was nothing. “I own six properties, three of which are much
grander than this,” he noted irritably.

I
looked at the house and the man suspended on the stairs. I knew that Michael had
grown up in a French boarding school. He had revealed that much on our first
date. So it was possible that Michael came from money and had simply been
keeping a low profile in Montana. Either that or the white collar crimes he was
charged with in Portugal had paid off in a really big way. My eyes returned to
Michael, who was now sulking next to me. “How many rooms are in this place?”

“There
are sixteen bedrooms and fourteen bathrooms,” Michael grumbled, thoroughly
unimpressed.

“Thirty
rooms?” I asked incredulously.

“
Non
.
That does not include the main living areas, the library, my office, the
kitchens, the pool, or the garden terrace on the second floor.”

My
jaw went slack. I peered back up at the cream colored mansion. The windows were
massive, larger than the average door. The second floor windows were framed
with intricately designed wrought iron balconies, which made me wonder whether
they were windows or French doors that were simply arched at the top. I turned
and looked through the window on Michael’s side of the car. The place had a
view of the Seine and the Eiffel Tower. “Unbelievable,” I muttered.

“Come,”
Michael said. “I’m tired, and we still haven’t eaten.” He spoke abruptly to the
driver.

The
driver dove from the car and immediately opened Michael’s door. “
Monsieur
,”
he responded with a sweep of his hand.

Michael
stepped out of the car. He helped me from the car, then linked his fingers with
mine. As annoying as it was, I considered it a marked improvement over the arm
lock he had maintained through Charles de Gaulle Airport.

The
man on the stairs was suddenly standing in front of us, speaking to Michael. I made
no attempt to understand what he was saying, since he was speaking French. I
was thoroughly distracted by the house and still trying to make sense of it
all.

The
driver and the man from the stairs disappeared as soon as we entered the house.
I came to a complete stop, too stunned by the white marble foyer to move any
further. A cascade of stairs fell directly in front of us, between two very
large pillars. The stairs led to a large opening at the center of the house,
which presumably had served as a ballroom at some point in time. The ceiling
was vaulted and nearly three stories high. A black piano was gleaming at the
far end of the room, just off to the side of a massive staircase with a
beautifully ornate wrought iron railing.

Michael
moved in front of me, effectively blocking the view. His eyes softened as he gazed
down at me. He gently caressed my cheek. “
Mon coeur
, when I purchased
this property, I thought only of sharing it with you. We will be happy here.
You will see.” Michael’s hand cupped the back of my neck as he leaned down and
kissed me on the lips.

I
stood there, too numb to respond.

Michael
pulled me against his chest. He twined his fingers through my hair and gently tugged
my head back to deepen the kiss.

I
wedged my hands between his chest and mine as I struggled to break free.

Michael
growled menacingly as he locked me in his arms. His hand slid possessively down
my backside as he fit his hips to mine. Guilt warred with desire as Michael’s body
hardened against me. My heart lurched as his tongue swept through my lips in a
provocative kiss. My hands fisted in his shirt. Then my entire body softened as
Michael’s will bent mine.

Kadyn
sped down I-395. His motorcycle surged forward as he shifted gears. He had left
the Pentagon as soon as he was released from lockdown. He wove in and out of
cars as he shortened the distance between the Pentagon and the apartment
complex where he and Kri both lived.

He
parked his bike in the no parking zone outside Kri’s apartment and was at her
door in four long strides. Kri had given him a key months ago, but as he went
to unlock the door he found it was already unlocked. Kadyn slowly opened the
door. He froze when he saw Mickey.

She
burst into tears when she saw Kadyn.

He
paused briefly as his eyes scoured the living room and kitchen. He bolted toward
the bedroom, then ducked inside the bathroom looking for Kri. His shoulders
fell when his suspicions were confirmed.

Kadyn
retrieved a utility knife from the kitchen before approaching Mickey. He spoke
to her in a low, soothing tone. “It’s okay, Mickey. I’m going to cut you
loose.” He quickly cut through the duct tape binding her ankles and wrists.

Mickey
flung her arms around Kadyn. He held her for a few minutes, then gently pulled
away. He captured her eyes with his as he spoke. “We need to get this duct tape
off your mouth, but it’s going to hurt. Do you want me to do it, or do you want
to do it?”

Mickey
looked down at her hands. They were trembling violently. She pressed her hand
against Kadyn’s chest and peered up at him pleadingly.

Kadyn
nodded. “Okay. I’ll do it. Please bear with me, Mickey.” He worked the tape off
her mouth as gently as he could. He winced when he saw how raw the skin was underneath.

Mickey
began sobbing as soon as the tape was off. Kadyn picked her up and took her to
the couch. He retrieved a box of tissue from the bathroom before joining her on
the couch. He brushed her long gold and black braids out of her face as he
gently dried her tears.

Kadyn
waited to question Mickey until after her hands stopped shaking. His jaw
clenched as he resisted the urge to question her about Kri. “Mickey, are you
okay? Were you hurt?”

Mickey’s
voice cracked. “No. He didn’t hurt me.”

Kadyn
rose from the couch. He walked to the kitchen and poured Mickey a glass of
water. “Who did this to you?”

“Michael,”
she whispered.

Kadyn
closed his eyes against the sound of his name. He took a deep breath as he
tried to ease the pounding in his chest, his head, and ears. Mickey had told Kadyn
about Michael Garcia stalking Kri the first night he met Kri. Kadyn hadn’t been
the same since. Kri’s vulnerability triggered his protective streak, and in the
months that followed, she had completely stolen his heart. “He took her,” Kadyn
said as he opened his eyes. It was more a statement than a question.

“Yes,”
Mickey confirmed. “And he had a message for you.”

Kadyn
froze. He stood between the kitchen and the living room with Mickey’s glass of
water clenched tightly in his hand.

Mickey
cleared her throat. “He said you should not attempt to find her. If you do, his
friends will take yours out one by one.”

Kadyn
handed Mickey the water as he sank next to her on the couch.

Mickey
took a sip of water. “There’s more,” she warned, lowering the glass. “He said Kri
belongs to him, and he will destroy everything and everyone you love if you
attempt to take her from him.”

Kadyn
blew out a breath as his head fell back against the couch. He didn’t doubt that
Garcia had the resources and the power to carry out the threats. He was certain
the car bombs at the Pentagon were his doing. Garcia wanted to create a
diversion, and he wanted to ensure Kadyn wouldn’t interfere with his plans to
kidnap Kri.

Kadyn
rose from the couch. He walked around the coffee table and began pacing across
the living room. “How many times can one woman be abducted?” he asked
irritably.
One of Kri’s coworkers from Montana had kidnapped and dragged
her off to a remote cabin in Trout Lake, Washington seven months ago. Justin Morris
was an amateur, and the trail he’d left behind had been easy to follow. Still,
it had taken Kadyn and his friends four days to find Kri. She had been badly
beaten, and the guy had tried to rape her. Morris was still in jail awaiting
trial.

Kadyn
had thought it was Garcia who had kidnapped her back in November. He hadn’t
known Morris’s history of sexually assaulting Kri. Kadyn recruited Dan, a
Vietnam vet who was a friend of Kri’s, to help locate Garcia, but Dan couldn’t track
the guy down. Dan worked as a skip tracer for some time after returning from
Vietnam, and the man had some serious skills. If Dan couldn’t find Garcia then,
he wasn’t likely to find him now. Garcia had no reason to hide back in November.
But now? He had every reason to hide.

Kadyn
stopped pacing when he realized what he was up against. He had no doubt that Garcia
was connected to a terrorist organization, not after what happened at the
Pentagon. The threat posed by Morris was nothing compared to Garcia.

Mickey
rose from the couch. “Do you think we should call the police?”

Kadyn
carefully considered the question. He shook his head. “No. The police will be
of little use.” He pulled the cell phone from his pocket, scrolled through the
names, and quickly hit send.

Phil
answered on the first ring. “Did you find her?”

“No.
I need the name and number of the individuals heading up the bomb investigation
for the Pentagon Force Protection Agency and the Department of Homeland
Security.”

“I
think that e-mail they sent out had the names of the investigators. Hold on.
I’ll take a look.” Kadyn could hear Phil typing on his computer. “Okay. I have two
names. I’ll text the information to your cell phone now.”

“Thanks,
Phil. I’ll call you back as soon as I can.” Kadyn disconnected the call. As
soon as Phil’s text came through, he dialed his phone again.

Captain
Graves from the Pentagon Force Protection Agency and six federal investigators from
the Department of Homeland Security were crammed into Kri’s tiny apartment an
hour later. Kadyn quickly explained why he felt the bombs planted at the
Pentagon were connected to Kri’s abduction.

Mickey
confirmed Kadyn’s theory in her statement to the officers. She had overheard
Michael threaten Kri with blowing up the cars at the Pentagon if she didn’t come
with him.

Kadyn
didn’t doubt that Kri would cooperate under those circumstances. He was certain
a threat like that would ensure her cooperation for a very long time. Kadyn
raked his hand over his smoothly shaven head. “I’ll never get her back.”

“Don’t
worry, son. We’ll find her. I’ll make sure her picture is televised by every national
and international news network. Someone is bound to recognize her,” Captain
Graves responded reassuringly.

Kadyn
shook his head. “Respectfully, sir, I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”

Captain
Graves looked surprised. He studied Kadyn before assessing the reaction of the
other investigators in the room. “Why don’t you want her picture televised?”

“If
we keep this out of the news, Garcia will eventually let his guard down. From
what I’ve heard, he’s an arrogant man. If we let him believe he’s gotten away
with this, then he’ll get careless. If he sees her picture in the news, then he’ll
work even harder to keep her concealed. That reduces her opportunities to
escape.” Kadyn doubted Kri would try to escape if she thought it would cause
other people harm, but he wanted to keep that option open for her.

“So
how do you propose we proceed?” Captain Graves inquired curiously.

Kadyn
looked at Mickey. “Assuming Mickey is willing to keep what happened quiet, so
it doesn’t get picked up in the news, then I say look for Kri, but don’t
advertise
that you’re looking for her.”