No Regrets: Jani Kay (Firebird Trilogy Book 2) (21 page)

“I’m not sure we’ll still be going, baby girl. I doubt Maxwell, or Kurt will let us loose,” I said, not wanting to go too deeply into the reasons why.

“Why on earth would your boss object, Becca? I don’t understand.”

“Because her boss is also her boyfriend now,” Chloe piped up. I shoved her in the ribs.

“What do you mean? Are we talking about Maxwell?” Kurt raised both eyebrows as he waited for Chloe to share more information.

Heat rose to my face as three pairs of eyes trained on me. “Maxwell is still my boss,” I said in self-defense. The conversation was damn awkward. How could I explain without it sounding cheesy as hell?

“I thought the guy who broke your heart was a Frenchman? Am I missing something here?” Lily asked.

Chloe’s agitation at the mention of Alain didn’t escape Kurt’s eyes. He was smart and quick. He gestured toward Chloe. “You know the Frenchman too?”

“She met him today. At the airport. Long story—we’ll fill you in later,” I said, wanting to avoid having this conversation here.

A nurse stood in the doorway. “Doctor Muller, we need you in Emergency. Can you come now?”

Kurt pushed to his feet, nodding. “I’ll be there in a minute.” He waited for her to scurry off before he leaned over and kissed Lily on the lips, softly and sweetly. Color rose to her cheeks and she bit her bottom lip in an effort to stop from smiling, but she couldn’t hide the gleam in her eyes.

“I’ll be back soon, get some rest,” he said, grabbing the white jacket that hung over the back of his chair. He slipped into it and fastened the buttons. “Don’t stay long. Lily needs to rest.” He changed from my sweet friend to the doctor giving the orders in a matter of seconds.

“Yes, Doctor Muller, we’ll be leaving soon,” I teased, suppressing a smile.

“Good. I’ll talk to you soon, Rebecca.” He turned to Chloe. “Nice meeting you. Although, three of you looking so similar—” he laughed and shook his head, then hung a stethoscope around his neck and left the room.

Leaning over, I kissed the freckles on the bridge of Lily’s nose. “Kurt’s a good man. You’re a lucky girl,” I said, winking at her. She pulled the sheets up to cover her cheeks, only her large eyes peering over the edges.

“Rest now, cupcake, we’ll be back to visit soon. Seems like you’re in good...um, hands...with Doctor Kurt.” Chloe kissed her cheek.

As we left the room, I noticed the two cops sitting outside the door. They’d been there when we’d arrived, but I was much too anxious to get to see Lily to stop to talk to them. They greeted us with a smile, wishing us a good evening. I introduced Chloe and myself, and thanked them for looking after Lily. They assured us it was their pleasure and that they wouldn’t let anyone near her.

“Um...do me a favor? Under no circumstances must you allow a French gentleman in to see her.” I took out my phone and scrolled to a picture of Alain. “If he arrives, please call me immediately, and keep him away from my sister.”

They nodded, promising to do so.

Down the hallway, just before we reached the elevator, Chloe grabbed hold of my arm and ground me to a halt.

“What the fuck was that about? You think Alain will hurt Lily? Are you crazy?” Her voice sounded too loud in the stillness, echoing back at us.

“I'm not taking any chances. You heard the cops say the attacker spoke French. Even if it's not Alain, I don’t want his voice and French accent to alarm her.”

She sucked in a breath and glared at me. “It's not Alain. I’d put money on it. How can you believe he’d do such a thing?”

“Trust once broken is difficult to repair. I don’t think I’ll ever fully trust Alain again. So yeah, he remains on my list of suspects until proven innocent.”

“Becca, you’re judging and finding him guilty even before the law does. That’s fucking harsh.” She pressed her lips together as we stepped into the elevator, her eyes blazing.

“I know Alain a lot better than you do. I know what he’s capable of. In a moment of passion, he’d do things that other men wouldn’t. Until we get to the bottom of who wanted to attack me, I’m not trusting anyone.”

“W
e have news of your father, Mr. du Bois. He had a nasty fall down a flight of stairs. We believe you were there when it happened?” The young officer was a lot more at ease in his own domain than he’d been at Grant’s fortress.

I nodded. “Yes, I was.”

Police stations were the same all over the world, stark and uninviting.

“The information we received was that the two of you had...a heated argument. That the fall happened during the disagreement.” I shifted in the hard plastic chair. Talking about
my father
was the last thing I was in the mood for. Heat spread through my body and I clenched my fists by my sides.

“He attacked me. I stepped away. He fell down the stairs. The countess was there. She can verify my story.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. Why in fuck’s name were they questioning me about
that
day? It had nothing to do with the attack on Rebecca’s sister.

The cop cleared his throat, his gaze scrutinizing my face. “Countess de la Ray claims you pushed your father down the stairs, sir.”

“
Merde
. The witch. The opposite is true. He was going to push me down the stairs in a fit of rage. I simply sidestepped him.”

The older man, Sergeant Weiss, stared at me for a beat. “Well, it's your word against hers.” He let out a long breath. “Your father died this morning. Bleeding of the brain. He had a massive stroke.”

“This morning? Nobody has notified me.”

The fucker is finally dead.

“That’s because it only happened over an hour ago. We knew you were coming in anyway.” Weiss narrowed his eyes, glaring at me with a cynical expression on his face. I'd seen it so often on the duke’s face it made my stomach turn.

“Where is he?”

“His body is at the hospital. The one he was taken to after the incident. He never opened his eyes after the fall. And you never tried to see him or find out how he was.” His tone was hard. Unforgiving.

How much did they know? Were they aware of his assertion that he wasn’t my biological father?

The older man smirked. Deep lines etched into his forehead and sides of his mouth. “That’s strange behavior for a son to leave his father bleeding on the floor—if it was indeed an accident.”

I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath. I could see how this looked to outsiders. They didn’t live my life. The rest of the world only saw the charming side of Duke Philippe du Bois. His cruel, coldhearted character was reserved for my mother and me.

The younger cop spoke. “We’d advise you to get a lawyer as soon as possible. The French police are opening a murder charge against you. Luckily for you, it takes a while for the paperwork to get done; otherwise, we’d have to arrest you now.”

My mouth went dry. “What? You can't be serious? I did
not
kill the man. He slammed his head against the wall before tumbling down the stairs. You can't blame me for that.”

“That’s not the countess’ version of the story. She is adamant that she saw you literally throw him down the stairs after you smashed his head into the wall. Same outcome, different methods.”

“Merde. I was trying to leave the house—get out. He stormed down on me. Why would she lie?”

“Exactly, Mr. du Bois. Why would she lie?” Weiss repeated, sarcasm lacing his voice. “Especially as she is carrying your child.”

My eyes nearly bugged out of my head. Valerie was really pregnant with the old bastard’s child. She wouldn’t tell the police if it weren’t true. Fuck.

“Look, I’m going to give you some advice. Go back to France as soon as you can. You don’t want to get arrested here,” the younger man said.

“What was the reason you asked me to come here this morning?” They couldn’t have known the duke would die this morning. There had to be another reason.

“You’re a suspect in the attack on the Australian woman. You were in Germany at the time it happened. It's just too much of a coincidence—given your violent nature.”

I lost it. Rage seethed through my body at his ridiculous accusations. “Are you fucking crazy? Why in hell would I want to hurt an innocent woman? I'm guilty of neither crime. I didn’t push my...father and I sure as fuck didn’t lift a finger to that woman. It's insane to suggest I did.” I clenched down hard on my teeth. My heart was pumping at a million miles per hour.

“Really, Mr. du Bois? You appear to be a volatile man. Easily angered—”

“Since when is it a crime to be a passionate man?”

“Interesting choice of words. That’s twice now you’ve used the word ‘crime’.” Weiss’ eyes lit up as if he’d won the jackpot.

The young cop frowned. “Mr. du Bois, a word of advice. Don’t say anything more that could incriminate you. Wait until you have spoken to your lawyer.”

I pursed my lips together and nodded. The young man had a point.

Violent. Attacker. Killer.

Fuck me.

I’m screwed.

K
urt arranged for Lily to come to the mansion under his supervision, and Maxwell had already hired a full-time nurse to take care of her. The scent of fresh flowers filled the bedroom that Lily would occupy, and I was plumping up the pillows when I heard the SUV drive up to the front door. Throwing open the large window, I leaned out to wave at Kurt and Lily.

“Hey, bring her up here, Kurt. We’re all ready for the patient.”

Even though she probably could walk, Kurt lifted her out of the SUV and carried her up the stairs to the front door. Chloe was waiting for them and would bring them up to the room. The sounds of laughter as they came up the stairs brought a smile to my face. At last, we’d all be together under one roof.
Safe.
I let out a long breath as I opened the covers for Kurt to deposit Lily directly into the bed.

Kurt had given clear instructions that she wasn’t to over exert herself and that we had to let her sleep most of the day. He also requested a room with lots of sunshine and bright colors to cheer her up. Since most of the house had a neutral pallet, Chloe and I had hung colorful streamers and a ‘welcome home’ sign across the room. We’d had a competition to see who could blow up the most balloons and then hung them from the chandelier and every other place we could find to tie them too. It looked more like a kid’s party than an adult bedroom, but we had achieved our mission of making it cheerful.

Lily clapped her hands together, taking it all in with a grin splitting her face.

“Cupcake, look, you have a bell. If you need anything, you just ring it.” Chloe demonstrated, putting on her best act to amuse everyone.

“Guys, it's so good to be out of that damn hospital. The place freaked me out. And those German nurses, they’re so strict—” She peered at Kurt from under her lashes, watching for his reaction.

“There’s a reason for that, darling. They had to help you get better. That’s their job.” He leaned in and placed a kiss on her forehead. Seeing my friend like this, so sweet and caring with my baby sister, warmed my heart. He was a keeper.

Kurt turned to Chloe and me, his face stern. “Now listen, ladies, ten minutes is all I’m giving you to catch up on all the girly gossip. Then she needs to rest.” He tapped his watch, warning us he was aware of what time it was. “I'm going to talk to the nurse and instruct her, and when I'm done, you have to be out of here, okay?”

“Yep, we got it,” Chloe said. “Now get out of here because you’re stealing our girl time.”

He gave Lily’s hand a soft squeeze and left the room.

“Oh, my God, he’s so protective of you. I think he’s in love with you,” Chloe blurted out the second the door closed behind him.

Lily’s pale skin turned a pretty shade of pink. “Don’t be ridiculous. He’s a very competent doctor, that’s all. And he’s Becca’s friend, so he’s just taking good care of her sister.”

Chloe laughed as she lay down on the huge bed beside Lily and took her hand, stroking over her knuckles where the drips had left ugly bruises. “Ha ha, you keep believing that, little sister. The man can't keep his eyes—or his hands—off you. He’s besotted.”

Lily sucked in a breath and turned to me. “He’s amazing, but I don’t want to tread on anyone’s toes. Becca knew him first.”

“Yeah, but Becca’s in love with her boss. She’s fallen so hard for Maxwell Grant she practically drools when he’s in the same room.”

“Chloe, you’re touched in the head. Since when do I drool?” I gently stroked Lily’s hair. “But you, baby girl, are just as amazing, so I'm not at all surprised that Kurt is love-struck. He’s a great guy and I think he’s a perfect match for you.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I mean the two of you hit it off from day one. You like the same things. I’m just so sorry about what happened to you.” My voice choked.

“It's not your fault, Becca. Please don’t blame yourself. And Chloe, I know you probably gave Becca a hard time about letting me go off on my own, but it was me. I wanted to go. The two of you need to realize I'm a grown woman and stop treating me like your baby sister.”

Chloe and I looked at one another. Damn. Lily had never told us off before. She was right. We had to start treating her like an adult.

“It's just because we love you so much, cupcake. We don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I know that, but you can't wrap me in cotton wool and keep me locked up. Getting hurt is part of real life. It happens to everyone, and it makes us stronger when we can overcome it.”

“God, you’re smart.” I smiled down at her.

She laughed. “Yeah, I have the best teachers. But you’ve got to let go; allow me to make my own mistakes. I guess there will be plenty of those, but the good thing is that I have both of you when I need help.”

My breath hitched. “Promise you’ll come to us when you need us? That you won’t be too proud to ask for help?”

“If there’s one thing I learned through this experience, it's that life is short and fragile. It can be taken from us in an instant. It made me see that I had to stop being so afraid of taking chances...I need to crawl out of my shell and live while I can.”