Second Chances (Dreams Come True #2) (19 page)

Slowly, Renard relaxed his grip. “I’m sorry, Marisa. I don’t know what came over me.” Then he released me altogether and took a step back while he pulled a handkerchief from his front pocket. Renard sighed and dabbed at his forehead while eyeing me. “Forgive a feeble old man?”

Not for one minute did I believe there was anything feeble about him. Even his cane seemed like a prop when I’d never noticed so much as a limp from him, or hitch in his stride. Still, I nodded and feigned understanding while my heart slammed against my sternum and my mind raced, seeking a solution I had yet to uncover. Maybe the direct approach would work. “So what
really
brings you here, uncle?”

The man rubbed the back of his neck, obviously as a way to buy some time. “I was hoping if we spoke, you’d to talk with Sebastian, convince him to come back to the gallery.” Renard shrugged and made a long face. “I’ve never run the gallery. I don’t know how.”

His response rang partially true. “You should probably talk to Sebastian directly. He won’t listen to me when it comes to business.” I shifted and stared at the door to my workshop pointedly. “If there’s nothing else, I need to get back to work. As you can see, I have very little inventory considering I’m supposed to open in a week.” Without thinking, I’d gestured around the shop…with my left arm.

Immediately, his eyes were drawn to my hand as the diamonds caught the sunlight filtering in through the front windows. His eyebrows shot up and surprise soon gave way to rage. Renard looked ready to erupt, but I pretended not to notice, even as the blood pounded in my ears. Above us, the floorboards creaked in the apartment. We both stared up at the ceiling a moment.

“Who’s here?” Renard snapped.

“Just an elderly woman.” I shrugged, but inside I prayed Mattie would just stay put. If she came down, everything would go horribly wrong. If Renard saw her, he’d realize we knew he wasn’t who he claimed to be and it would only go south from there.

The stairs creaked next and I moved swiftly toward the doorway despite him. “Where do you think you’re going?” He growled.

“She’s liable to fall down the stairs. I’m sure she’s looking for me. Don’t worry, she won’t bother us.” I smiled sweetly at him before I peeked into the workshop.

“Risa?” Mattie had only walked down a few steps. I’d caught her in time.

I bit my lip, hoping to figure out how to give her a clue about the imminent danger. “Stay upstairs. There’s nothing to worry about. Sebastian’s uncle came to check on us. I’ll come up soon.”

For a moment, Mattie stood silently, frozen in place. Then she cleared her throat. “Want Mama Remy to come down?”

Suddenly, I was flooded with relief. The first time Mattie showed me her gun I had teased her, told her if she insisted on carrying it around, I was gonna start calling her ‘Mama Remy’ since it was a Remington.

I smiled as I spoke. “That’s not necessary. I know what happened last time we had a surprise guest.” I chuckled as a cover, not because I found anything remotely funny about Mattie killing the intruder. Slowly, I moved toward Renard hoping to keep a safe distance between us without giving myself away.

When I met his eyes once more, I could see he was lost in thought. “Well, it was nice seeing you. Shall I have Sebastian call you?” Maybe he would finally be ready to leave.

Renard stared at my ring finger again. “I don’t think so.” He stepped toward me, with a sneer and angry dark eyes. “Where’s the box, Marisa? By now, you must’ve realized what I was really here for.” He stepped closer and I moved again, this time putting a table between us.

With a nod, I admitted, “I had my suspicions.” My only hope now was to stall until Sebastian returned or Mattie called the police. Only…maybe she wouldn’t know to call. Maybe I’d done such a good job of sounding secure, she actually believed me. Then the phone in my pocket vibrated. Pulling it out, I discovered Sebastian was calling.

In the moment it had taken me to answer the phone, Renard had ever so stealthily crept toward me. I slid my finger across the screen to answer the call, just as he pulled his cane apart revealing a sword, which he had at pointed at me before I could even greet my husband. “Mute it,” he ordered, pressing the tip of the blade into my throat.

Though I had always thought I’d be stronger than this, smarter even, now I realized my desire to live kept me from defying him. I hit the button. “Now what? He’ll worry if he doesn’t hear me soon.”

“No funny business. You give nothing away,” Renard hissed. “And you put it on speaker.”

“Fine.” I raised a brow and looked him in the eye as I touched the screen to follow his commands. With the phone on speaker and Sebastian once again able to hear everything, I finally spoke. “Hey!” This could go wrong roughly thirty-seven different ways.

“So I’m leaving the lawyer’s office…”

And this was one of them. “Stop!” I yelped, my heart in my throat.

“What?” I could already hear the concern in his voice.

This would be a problem too.
Fuck me.
“Before you give me all the boring details about your inheritance, I thought you should know your uncle is here.” Okay, maybe I was a little defiant.

Renard narrowed his eyes at me, then pressed the sword against my skin until I felt the sting of the blade. “Off.”

I’m sure he thought to scare me, but I was pissed more than anything. Still, I rushed to end the call because I needed to deal with the douche in front of me without any distractions. “So, let me entertain him and I’ll see you soon.” I laughed as I ended the call and if Renard had known me at all, he’d have been shaking. The laugh was my warning.

Chapter Eighteen

Marisa

I tucked my phone back in my pocket, crossed my arms over my chest and gazed at him warily. “Nice toy,” I commented calmly as I studied his weapon. “Sword cane. Who knew?”

“Me.” Renard let loose a sinister laugh. “And I made
you
bleed, didn’t I?” He seemed immensely proud of himself.

“Yeah, it’s not a big victory. Aunt Flo makes me bleed every month and you don’t see me bowing to her, do you?” I sighed, bored with his antics. “So what has you all worked up?”

“The rings. Where’s the box?” He seemed nervous as he glanced about the shop.

“With Sebastian. Pretty sure it’s in the trunk.” I had no idea what Renard knew of the box’s secrets.

“It may be in the trunk now, but clearly you’ve opened it.” I opened my mouth, ready to reject his notion, but he growled, “Don’t lie! I saw the rings.”

Tilting my head to the side, I asked, “What makes you think the rings were in the box?” I shifted on my feet, testing his reaction time, seeing how well he could adjust the sword. He seemed reasonably distracted.

“I forced the Bouchers to remove their rings and stick them in the box.” Renard seemed frustrated I wasn’t adequately awed with him. “You think this is the first time I used this?” He shook the cane part at me.

Before I could respond, Mattie spoke from somewhere behind me. “Nope, but if you don’t take the sword away from my Risa’s throat, it’ll be the last time you use it.”

When he didn’t move, I heard the metallic click of her removing the safety from the shotgun. Renard didn’t flinch. “You think this is the first time I’ve had a gun pointed at me?” He shook his head, never taking his eyes off of her. “Nice to see you again, Mathilde,” he growled.

“Wish I could say the same, bastard masquerading as Luc Boucher,” Mattie responded.

This standoff could go on forever. Determined to distract him, I asked another question. “Apparently, you’ve already gotten away with murder. How’d you do it?”

Renard sneered as he spoke. “What do you mean, Marisa?”

Rolling my eyes, I decided to reveal what I knew. “Well, the rings were in the box. The box left with Sebastian’s parents the day they died. Until recently, you had the box. It wouldn’t take a genius to realize you had something to do with their deaths.”

He snickered before responding. Why is it the bad guys can always be tricked into bragging about their dirty deeds? I didn’t want to hear about this, but Sebastian deserved to know everything. Surely one of us would survive to tell him. The way the sword continued to dig into my skin, my money was on Mattie. At least with my hands in my pockets, he couldn’t see my sweaty palms, just this façade of calm I’d forced myself to project.

“It was simple, really. I flew back with them from Saratoga, careful no one saw me get on the plane at the private airfield. I’d already sabotaged the other two parachutes and the plane.” He shrugged. “It was almost too easy.” His face fell. “Of course, they tricked me, shut the box and refused to teach me to open it. I couldn’t very well get Sebastian to open it for me, since it should’ve gone down in the crash. It was the first major hitch in my otherwise perfect plan.”

“How did you find Luc Boucher?” I wondered aloud. His face lit up. “I haven’t been able to figure that out. You don’t strike me as someone who served in the military.” I stared at him with an interested expression on my face, like he was the most fascinating person in the room. Honestly, the guy with the sword held at your throat will always be the most interesting person in the room. Then I tried to figure out how much longer I had to stall before the police arrived or Sebastian returned. Sure, I wanted answers, but I wanted to live more.

“I have lived many lives,” Renard began.

“Oh Lord, here we go,” Mattie grumbled.

He glared her direction, but then continued. “I was a priest.” Okay, my eyes may have bulged there. Obviously he noticed because he chuckled. “Right. As you can imagine it wasn’t going well.”

“No!” Mattie couldn’t help herself, which was one of the many reasons I loved her.

“Don’t make me sorry I only fired you when I could have killed you in your sleep,” Renard growled.

“Oh, I’ll make you sorry alright,” she muttered under her breath.

“So there was one scandal after another surrounding priests. I knew I had to find a new life fast.” He stared into the distance a moment, as if collecting his thoughts. “I went to the military hospital to give last rites to some of the dying men and one of them was Luc Boucher.” I sucked in my breath. “He gave me a letter for his brother, the military gave me all his personal belongings, basically everything I needed to become him. It was fate stepping in.” He sighed happily.

“Lord Jesus, please forgive me if I end up sending this demon back from whence he came.” From the corner of my eye, I could see Mattie crossing herself.

Renard stomped his foot and his hand dropped slightly, the pressure from the metal blade decreased until it was barely touching me. “I’m not truly evil,” he tried to explain, “but more
opportunistic
.”

I nodded and attempted to hide my disgust with a look of understanding. “Of course, you aren’t.” Breathing a little more easily without the blade against my neck, I could feel the warm stickiness on my skin that suggested only a minor cut. I tried not to react and alert him to his error. Behind me, I heard Mattie take a tentative step closer, then wait.

“So I became Luc Boucher, war hero. I tried to become a part of the family, but eventually suspicions grew. It’s not that I
wanted
to kill anyone. Really, it came down to self-preservation. I’m too old to start trying to earn an honest living. I have no real skills.” He held up the cane and the sword as he shrugged. “
This
is all I know. Now I’ve spent the last eleven years trying to open the damn box. I couldn’t use a saw because I knew about the bank papers inside. There were no visible lines for a crowbar. It seemed hopeless. Then
he
found it and I had to get it back.” He glanced at me as if to ensure I was paying attention and looked appropriately understanding.

Suddenly, my eyes narrowed as one more fact became clear. “
You
sent the guy to break in.”

His mouth contorted in a half smile. “I did. Bit of bad luck there.”

“You’re about to have your own bad luck,” Mattie warned. While Renard spoke, she’d moved until I was no longer in between them and aimed for her target.

My shoulders drooped in relief. “Mattie’s a spectacular shot. I wouldn’t test her. Look what happened to the last guy.” Tentatively, I took a tiny step back.

Renard panicked. Who can blame him? He was trapped for sure. No way out. Mattie had locked in on him. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she’d been military trained. This entire situation had me guessing if I really knew anyone anymore. Either way, I slowly increased the distance between us, feeling more confident. Then the shop door chimed as it opened.

“I’m back!” My father marched in proudly, completely unaware there was a sword in play and a shotgun aimed his direction.

Everyone was startled by his arrival. Renard must’ve thought it was Sebastian at first because he lunged at me with the sword extended. I tried to duck or dodge, maybe throw in a little bob and weave. I think I need more practice because the sword caught me. Not head on, mind you. I wasn’t skewered or anything. Initially, it glanced off the big metal button on the bib and managed to connect with my shoulder. I couldn’t tell how deep the wound was, but the searing pain had me gasping. I slapped my hand over the already bleeding wound while I watched everything unfold in slow motion around me.

Mattie had fired the rifle the minute Renard lunged. He was hit with the pellets, but merely wounded, writhing on the ground and cursing. “Fuck, that hurt!” To my surprise, he had already made it to his knees, sword still in hand and was moving toward me. I started to back away when I heard my father moan. When I looked his direction, I discovered he was bleeding and on the ground.

“Oh my love!” Mattie shrieked, dropped the gun, and rushed past me to his side.

“You have got to be kidding me,” I grumbled as I struggled to figure out how I was going to defend myself. The shotgun was too far away and I had no idea how to use it even if I could reach it. I doubted it was so simple as aim and shoot.

The door chimed again and though I tried to see who had arrived, I realized my vision was blurring from the pain, or maybe it was blood loss. Did shoulder wounds bleed a lot? They didn’t in the movies. Renard loomed above me. I lifted my arm to defend myself as best I could, but then I didn’t need to. Sebastian had tackled him.

***

Sebastian

The minute Marisa told me Renard was at the shop, I broke every traffic law in an effort to get to her, including using my phone while driving to call the police. The call left me in a frustrated rage as I tried to reach the detective from the crime scene or have cars sent to the shop. Obviously, I was her only hope. My heart beat faster than a hummingbird’s wings. If anything happened to her, I’d die. I was certain. Ever since she came into my life, nothing mattered but her. Hell, I’d negotiate my wealth away for her safety. That was my plan. I’d buy off Renard. He had no respect for life. All he cared about was money.

My vehicle came to a screeching halt as I double-parked in front of the shop and rushed to the door. Before I could even make it inside, I heard the shot. It had to be Mattie and her gun. Bursting into the shop, I scanned the room until I found Marisa, holding her shoulder while Renard aimed his sword at her. Without thinking, I dove at him. It may not seem like much of a feat, something guys should have learned throughout their childhoods, but I’d never played any sports growing up, let alone hockey, our national pastime. I detested the cold and had never learned to skate. As a result, I’d never tackled or body checked anyone in all my life.

Still, instincts kicked in, my need to protect my family, my wife, my whole life. The sword flew from his hand the second I made contact and skidded out of reach. I settled myself on his torso and grabbed him by the lapels as I drew him off the floor dangerously close to my face. In my rage, I slammed him against the hardwood floor and watched with some satisfaction as his head bobbled from the impact. Renard stared up at me and his initial look of shock was soon replaced with a smile as he laughed at me through blood-coated teeth.

“Hello, Sebastian, you filthy little monster.”

Without thinking, I punched him in the jaw with all my strength. I wanted him to hurt like he’d hurt me all those years. I wanted to punish him for the pain he’d inflicted on me, but most of all for the pain he’d now caused Marisa, the innocent woman who held my heart. I waited for him to react. I wanted some sign he felt it. Instead, he chuckled.

“That’s right boy. Release your beast. Show her the animal I know you are.” His eyes narrowed.

I hit him again and again, letting the rage take control.

“Sebastian.” Marisa called for me, but I ignored her. “Sebastian, don’t listen. He wants to make you like him, so he can feel better about himself. Don’t do it. You’ll kill him and he’ll have won.”

Her words hit a nerve. I paused and stared at my shaking, bloody hands. My knuckles were skinned and a few fingers were swollen. I looked over at her, sitting up, reaching for me with her hand out.

“Come here. Hold me, handsome. Please.” Marisa had tears in her eyes as she spoke.

Climbing off Renard, I rushed to my wife and wrapped my arms around her. We were both shaken up, but somehow now clinging to each other we were finally calm again. “Are you okay?” I tried to pry her hand away from the wound so I could examine it.

“I’ll be fine. Just a flesh wound,” she teased. Then something behind me caught her eye. “No!”

I turned to see what had her so unnerved. Renard stood over me, the sword once again in his hand, prepared to stab me in the back. There was nothing I could do but brace for impact. I covered Marisa with my body and shut my eyes. Then a shot rang out, the front window shattered, glass sprayed the room, and Renard toppled backwards, landing with a thud.

The front door of the shop flew open and police officers ran inside with guns drawn. Marisa sighed. “For a closed shop, there sure is a lot of activity here,” she mumbled. Then she studied the scene unfolding around us while police confirmed Renard’s death. “I’m gonna have to postpone the opening, aren’t I?” Marisa frowned sadly.

“How can you even worry about that at a time like this?” I took her face in my hands. “I could’ve lost you.”

“Please, I’m too tough. I’m not going anywhere.” She grinned and completely warmed me.

Sirens erupted in the distance and I recognized the sound of the ambulance as it pulled near. The next hour passed in a blur as Gilles left by ambulance with Mattie by his side, a medic treated Marisa’s shoulder, and the same detective spoke with us yet again.

“I told you it was nothing.” She smiled and leaned her head on my shoulder. “Oh, but you know what’s something? Apparently Mattie and my dad are a thing.” She sighed.

“Yeah. This is explains so much. Yet I still have about half a dozen questions for her,” I joked.