Undercover Attraction (35 page)

Despite the headache, she was glad her
friend had come with her. Mackenzie Grae moved in the most
prestigious circles, and there may be a need for her connections
here in Paris.

Not to mention, Amy hadn't seen Mac in more
than five weeks.

That was unusual for them. They've been best
friends since grade school, more like sisters than friends, really,
and even though Mac was always out of town running her global
companies, they had always found the time to visit every few
weeks.

The circumstances under which Mac had come
to visit could have been better, though. Mac's boyfriend had
cheated on her. The same boyfriend that Mac had hoped would ask her
to marry him had been bumping uglies with another woman.
Unfortunately, Mac had found out the hard way, walking in on the
two of them in her own house.

Needless to say, Mac had been devastated,
and he had to make it worse by telling her that he had only wanted
her for the money.

Honestly, Amy was surprised that Mac hadn't
killed the bastard, but she suspected that it had hurt Mac more
than anything. Especially since her friend had been looking for
'The One' for a while, hoping for that happily-ever-after that
every woman sought.

That is, every woman except Amy.

Nope. The last man she'd been with left a
bad taste in her mouth. Or at least a big hole in her heart.

Alex Nichols. The man who had once made her
wish for a brighter future, made her want to be everything for him,
made her feel like a woman who fit him perfectly.

Then an ice-cold bucket of life had washed
over her.

She'd been kidnapped, brutally traumatized
in the worst ways, psychologically and physically tortured, and she
has never been the same.

Even then, Alex had helped her through the
worst of the trauma, held her gently when she awoke at night
screaming, keeping his distance until she felt more comfortable
with him around her again.

He had even waited for more than two months
before kissing her, and she had felt as if she would be able to get
through the nightmare a little bit at a time.

Then he had left her, tearing her heart out,
walking away without a backwards glance.

No. That wasn't true.

He had left her a note explaining that he
couldn't stay and see the fear in her eyes each time he tried to
get close to her. The last thing he had wanted to do was scare her.
He had promised that it was for the best, he was only giving her
time to heal, to try to make her feel safer if he wasn't
around.

Alex had thought that by being with her, he
was only making it worse, but he'd been wrong.

Her chest ached as she thought about him,
the remembered pain an ache that never ceased.

She had fallen into misery without him, and
it had taken both her sister and Mac to drag her out. But she had
seized life by the balls, going back to college, learning
self-defense, and finally, she had begun to feel a little bit
normal.

Mac had helped her with the nightmares and
they formulated their own sort of therapy.

It worked.

Sometimes.

So, no. She didn't need a man, or a
happily-ever-after.

Alex had tried to talk to her since then,
but she didn't want to lose all of the progress she had made thus
far, so she refused him. Thinking of him brought up too much
heartache, too much anger, and she hated herself for it.

Now, her job was enough.

It's been five years since that horrible
night. Each day since then was spent working hard to make a name
for herself, and now here she was, in Paris, about to work for the
Louvre on a mysterious artifact that no one else had been able to
identify as of yet.

Amy was the best at identifying ancient art
and had always dreamed of seeing the Louvre in Paris. Now she was
doing it, while actually working for them on the identification and
origination of an artifact.

Mac had a similar degree, even though she'd
never had to use it. But she claimed she was ready for a much
needed vacay, and had jumped on the chance to come with Amy, to be
Amy's assistant. Mac would be a valuable asset. She knew how Amy
worked and Amy was thankful she would have one person in the
country she could count on.

Her boss had warned her that there was an
air of danger surrounding the artifact, but Amy wasn't worried.
After what she'd been through in the past, danger no longer
frightened her. Few things did, in fact.

Fear took on a different sort of meaning
when she lived each day with demons that still torture her in their
oily clutches in the dead of night.

Normal was laughable for her. She would
never be normal.

Not while she still lived the
nightmares.

It had taken her years before she was able
to lock the memories into a box. They still remained there, waiting
for the day she would be able to open the box and deal with the
trauma all over again.

They reached out to her in her dreams,
snaking towards her in the dark, whispering her name, begging Amy
to come back to the misery, but she refused.

She kept a tight grasp on those thoughts,
and, even though nightmares still plague her, she was dealing with
it.

Granted, she couldn't be around men without
becoming very tense and skittish. But she had learned to hide it
well.

Intimacy isn't something she would ever be
comfortable with again. Even with Alex, it had been hard to let him
kiss her even after three months. Anything beyond that was
impossible.

So here she was, trading the dream of
happily-ever-after for a dream of her career.

Yes.

It was worth it.

The traffic in Paris was horrible, and it
took a good deal longer than it should have to get to the Louvre.
The little rental car that had been available topped out at forty,
and Mac had made all sorts of over-used jokes about it once they
had been on their way.

Amy showed her pass to the security at the
rear gate of the museum, and after he confirmed it, she was cleared
to go through. She was almost breathless looking at the huge
building where she would be working. The Louvre was every bit as
impressive as her dreams had insisted.

A kind, portly gentleman showed them to the
research labs, which was nested three floors below the massive art
exhibits, where few civilians knew of its existence. They were
shown to a set of offices, where an older man with graying temples
stood to greet them.

"Ah, Mademoiselle Howell.
Bonjoir
.
Welcome to
Pari
," He said in his heavy French accent. He was
lean, his face gentle, with brown eyes and a kind smile. "I am
Monsieur Georges DeMoncliffe. I am very pleased to make your
acquaintance."

Amy took his hand, inwardly cringing when
the older man kissed the back of her hand. "I have heard much about
you, Monsieur. This is my assistant, Mackenzie Grae. I hope you
don't mind that I have asked Miss Grae to join me. She will be a
valuable asset to the identification process." That was true. Mac
had the same degree as Amy, just never had to use it since she ran
her other companies.

"
Non.
It is no problem at all." He
bent over Mac's hand next, offering another welcome then got down
to business. "
Sil vous plait
, call me Georges. I am the
President of Operations here at The Louvre, however I do not prefer
formalities."

Amy smiled in response. "Ah, then you must
do the same for us."

He bowed his head in agreement, motioned for
them to sit, took his seat behind a desk, and began the briefing.
"Two months ago, an archeologist excavated an ancient temple that
had been buried for millennia in Crete." He looked between the two
women in silence for a moment, waiting for the information to sink
in. "Numerous artifacts were found in the site, the most impressive
of which was a vast palatial temple that seemed impossibly intact,
a Greek bathing unit, and a domed temple. The majority of the
artifacts predated the Neolithic era. However, in the domed temple,
one piece was found that could not be carbon dated."

Amy almost jumped up and down in glee.
Ancient art was her passion and this man just told her that she
would be working on a piece that dated possibly earlier than any
other Greek art found. Her hands itched and she almost wanted to
ramble off questions at the man, but she held her tongue and let
him finish.

"We have no one here qualified enough to
identify the origin, because it is not typical of Grecian, Roman,
or Etruscan, which is why I requested you,
Mademoiselle
Amy.
You are the best, and I believe that if anyone can determine
anything, it will be you."

"
Merci, Monsieur
Georges. I am
extremely honored that you thought of me, and I shall do my best to
find you the information you seek. Mac is also exceptional at her
work, and I believe together we will be able to find the origin of
your piece. So, when do we begin?" Amy was eager to see the piece.
She knew she was good at what she did, but had never expected to be
here, working for the Louvre on a piece that no one had been able
to identify.

Georges gestured towards the door. "This
way,
sîl vous plaît
."

Amy and Mac followed him along a large
corridor, into an elevator, down three floors, and into a central
area that had numerous rooms on platforms with glass walls. Many of
them had people within, working on paintings and sculptures that
were in various stages of carbon dating, photographing, and
restoration. It was like a dream come true for Amy.

She heard Mac gasp in delight, and followed
her gaze. There was a rather large half-restored painting by--she
was sure would turn out to be--Da Vinci. Amy couldn't identify the
piece right off the bat, which meant it had recently been acquired,
which also meant the world hadn't even been notified that there was
another of his works recovered.

They passed by a lab that housed people
working carefully to restore a sculpture, the individuals holding
brushes, air tools, and picks. Could it be Michelangelo? Amy's
nerves were fairly twitching in excitement, and she clenched her
hands in an effort to keep it under control.

Georges stopped in front of a steel door,
seemingly preparing himself for what was contained beyond. He
swiped his security card, punched in a number, and the door slid
silently open.

Amy's eyes moved about as she stepped
through, her mouth agape in wonder.

The vault. This was where the most ancient
and unique pieces were kept when not on display. Originals of some
of the most famous art like the Mona Lisa. Many pieces that had yet
to be dated, or an artist to be named. They were priceless and made
her feel as if she were stepping back in time.

Everything from ancient Greek pottery to
Egyptian engravings sat perfectly lined on steel shelves or in
glass frames. Identification cards sat beneath each piece, stating
the location of its find, and what few details the lab had
determined.

They turned a corner, and there it was. The
most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

Well, not really. Not while it was still
covered in mud and dirt, and could barely be considered ancient
art, but she felt it in her bones. This was an extraordinary piece
that she couldn't wait to restore to its natural beauty.

Mac was every bit as delighted. She leaned
as close as she could to the glass case, her breath fogging up the
surface, her eyes wide. "It's beautiful!"

"Yes, well, I certainly believe it will be
once it is restored," Georges said, carefully unlocking the case
and swinging the cover up to reveal the thick slab of stone.

That's all it was. Just a slab of stone,
about two feet tall, one and a half feet wide, and one inch thick,
but Amy could already tell that it would be a majestic and
priceless piece.

Mac leaned closer, getting a better look.
"What are these symbols around the edges? They look like a sort of
language that uses runes or something. These aren't
hieroglyphs."

"Ah. We are unsure. I believe it is a curse.
Our language department was only able to translate a portion of it
because it is written in a dead language, and most of the symbols
are still covered. They had to use various different Greek and
Roman dialects to come up with a translation, and even that isn't
exact. They believe that many of their current languages may have
derived from this one. I have notified our most knowledgeable
language consultants and they should arrive tomorrow."

Amy couldn't help but notice that he stayed
a respective distance from the stone. "You don't believe in the
curse, do you?" she asked, almost giddy at the thought that the
piece could outdate known civilization.

He simply raised his eyebrows. "Stranger
things have happened, Amy. Stranger things..."

Okay, so the old man was superstitious. She
personally did not believe in any kind of hocus-pocus. "Which lab
will we be using?" She was eager to begin unveiling the stone's
secrets.

"You have the high-security lab. I will show
you there and let you in. Your identifications and passes will be
given to you soon. This way, please." He led them back the way they
came, after carefully enclosing the stone slab again in its case,
keeping his distance to avoid accidentally touching it.

Superstitious
, Amy thought again,
amused.

Their lab was much bigger than the others.
It was an entire room devoted to the most modern art devices and
tools needed for restoration and dating the artifacts. It looked
like a forensics lab, with shiny technical gadgets, computers,
reconstruction holographic screens, various cameras for video and
imagery, 3D scanning equipment, and everything else that could
possibly be needed.