Shadows of Doubt (40 page)

There was no mistaking the glance directed at Max when he said this. It stirred Lou to look at Max’s expression when he did, and she saw the well disguised anguish in his face. Lou turned to Abby with a questioning look and saw that she was frowning. When Abby met Lou’s gaze she held a finger up to her lips in a gesture of silence. Something was definitely up with this guy and Max.

“Now that I have rattled on long enough, I invite you to step inside and enjoy the exhibit! Take your time and explore everything, then I shall meet you all on the other side for a lovely midnight supper I have had prepared in honor of all of you! My dear friends! Please enjoy!” He finished his monologue and the crowd began another round of applause. Once von Massenbach stepped away from the microphone, Max was swarmed by his Aegis Council and Lou headed for Abby.

“What the hell was that about?” Lou demanded.

“That was crap is what it was, and I would have never expected it from Albert.” Abby grabbed Lou’s arm and pulled her further away from Max and the other men before she continued. “You remember Max was engaged once, a long time ago, right?” Lou nodded, remembering. “Well...”

Abby went on to tell Lou the tale of Max being sent to defend Constantinople when the Empire began its fall and how his fiance had been murdered while he was gone. She explained how it had devastated Max and that it was common knowledge among the Sanguinostri not to bring up the matter if it could be avoided. Clearly von Massenbach tossed an unwarranted and painful jab at Max but it was unclear exactly as to why.

“The fall of Constantinople? That was what, nearly six-hundred years ago? You mean this guy has an ancient bug up his butt that would warrant salting such an old wound?” Lou couldn’t imagine harboring all that animosity for such a long time.

“It would be news to me but I can assure you that we will find out shortly.” Abby guided Lou to where her parents were standing with Caroline and her family then took off like a shot. Max joined them a few minutes later and Lou watched the other men disperse into different directions. Max seemed to be fine to her but her heart ached for him a bit, knowing that underneath that calm, cool and completely unflappable visage, he had hurt.

As they and the crowd made their way into the exhibit, Frank, Niko and the others came by one at a time to whisper into Max’s ear. Lou tried to use the tricks that Niko had taught her about peripheral observation but other than getting pissed at all the women tossing moon-eyes in Max’s direction, nothing seemed off to her. Lou tried to seem interested at the information that Richelieu would relay with each piece they came upon in the exhibit, but she honestly could have cared less. She was glad when they came to the end of it and were guided by more fancily dressed ushers into a tent that was fashioned into the finest ballroom Lou could ever have imagined possible. The floor was made up of three-by-three foot squares of cream and gold tiles polished to such a mirror finish that the three gigantic chandeliers that hung in a row down the center of the tent were reflected perfectly. Each of the several dozen tables that lined the perimeter of the tent were gilt with giant candelabras at the center, golden china and more cut crystal stemware. At the far end of the tent, Lou could see an entire orchestra that was currently playing some sort of waltz. The usher directed them to a table and Lou saw her new friend, Corinne, standing on the other side engaged in a clearly heated argument with another usher. When she saw Corinne point at a seat, Lou caught that she clearly was not happy about sitting at the same table as her.

“Let’s take the high road sweetie pie and mingle a bit more while Corinne regains her composure.” Lou’s mother was clearly as amused as she was.

It was a little upsetting when Lou realized that Max had been seated at another table than she was, but she couldn’t complain too much. She had anticipated barely seeing him at all during the event given his position, but he had nearly stuck to her like glue all night. When she caught sight of the back of him across the dance floor, huddled with Niko, Frank and the others, she smiled inwardly and headed over.

“I thought that was handled while I was dealing with Sawyer?” Was all Lou heard come out of Max’s mouth but it made her stop cold behind him. Max read the expression in Niko’s eyes and whipped around to see Lou standing there.

“Lou...” He started.

“Dealing with Sawyer? Robert Sawyer?” She looked at him with a blank expression.

“Lou I would have told you if I felt it necessary...” He was at a loss for what to say that would help his case.

“Necessary?” It was a rhetorical question. “So dealing with Sawyer, meaning killing him?” She asked him flat out. No pretense.

He wanted to reach out to her but didn’t dare. “I listened to his side Lou.” By her reaction, she hadn’t expected him to tell her that. “I listened to his version of reality. He was all too happy to tell me.”

Lou shifted her stance, clearly uncomfortable with Max knowing the details of her humiliation. “And?” Was all she could come up with.

Max looked carefully into her eyes before he said another word. “He had sent those two cretins to that restaurant to do gods know what to you. He had no problem telling me what he had planned for you himself once he was paroled. Lou, I simply could not let that happen. Please forgive me.” He could see her eyes welling and risked reaching for her hand but she stepped back.

“Excuse me, I seem to need to powder my nose, as they say.” She turned and moved away as fast as she could without attracting any more attention than she already had. It occurred to Lou she had no idea where she was in relation to any facilities. When she spied a group of women heading down a hall she knew the pack was headed for a restroom so she followed after them. She simply needed a minute to gather herself and make sense of what she had just heard.

Max wanted to charge after Lou but he knew better. She hadn’t slapped him or punched him, which was a good sign, but he knew that she was a woman of laws and justice, not of revenge or retribution, which was often his duty to hand down in his world. He hadn’t wanted her to learn all of that yet. To see the darker side of his role as Dominor so soon. Not that his dealing with Sawyer had anything to do with being Dominor but was a pure, primal need to protect and avenge Lou. Max had hoped she could see the good things he was responsible for, the safety and security that he made certain his people had. This was very bad indeed.

“Just give her a little time, she will understand once she has a minute for it to sink in.” Abby placed a hand on his arm in a reassuring gesture.

“You should go and see to her.” He looked at her with urgency.

Abby shook her head. “No. We need to give her a minute and some space. If I go she will know you sent me and that would only make things worse. She’ll be back.”

Everyone started to take their seats for dinner so Abby steered Max to his place before she headed to Lou’s seat where her parents, the Devereuxs and horrible Corinne sat with her footman. Abby had decided she better fill them in before someone went looking for Lou and raised eyebrows at the empty seat. When she sat, Shevaun and Caroline looked at her questioningly so she relayed what had transpired as quietly as she could.

Niko took Abby’s seat next to Max for the time being, smiling politely when he got stares for disrupting the boy-girl-boy-girl seating arrangement.

“My Dom, she just needs a little time to think it out.” Niko could tell he was sick of hearing that already but continued anyway. “I’ve had the opportunity to spend time with her. See first hand how she thinks, her logic. She is a sharp girl, no doubt but more than that...” He looked Max square in the eye as he spoke. “She has the mind of an Aegis, my Dom. She has a truer sense of justice than most, and a keenness to get a stronger hold on it. Don’t underestimate her capacity, my brother, she will surprise you. She certainly has surprised me.”

Max was taken aback by Niko’s words. He was not the type to give praise lightly, if at all, and for him to compare Lou’s sense of justice to that of the Aegis, well, it was truly extraordinary. They were snapped back to reality as the waiters came around to serve the first course and Max clearly noted Lou had not taken her seat yet. Abby remained in her spot and saw Max looking, giving him a soft smile as she picked up a fork and started eating. Good, he thought, Lou could come sit by him when she came back and eat Abby’s food.

Food was the last thing on Lou’s mind as she sat in the bathroom stall of the ladies restroom. She had gone in there to compose herself after the stunning revelation that the two grease monkeys that had attacked her were sent by Robert Sawyer and that Max had killed him. Had the monkeys really killed themselves or had Niko or one of the others used their special gifts on them? Did it really matter either way? She should have been upset, shocked or something to that effect but when she finally sat down and thought about it, she wasn’t. A great deal of things that should have bothered her as of late simply did not. She wondered what the hell that meant exactly. To add to her guilt over not being upset, she found the gossip and chatter of the women coming and going in the ladies room far more interesting than Sawyer and his minions’ demise. Lou was the hot topic among the single Sanguinostri females, and how Max seemed to have eyes for her that none of them had ever seen before. Some of the women were excited and wanted to learn more of the presumed couple while others were even worse than catty and would have liked to see Lou drowned in one of the garden ponds. It had been difficult for Lou not to laugh when she heard two women cheering for Lou when they were told by a third woman that Lou had stuck her tongue out at Corinne to her face.

Lou felt her position in the stall was akin to being a fly on the wall and she was actually enjoying herself. She heard the door to the rest-room swing open and a woman announced dinner was being served, then the mutters and grumbles of several women as they meandered out. When the last woman exited, the silence reminded Lou why she had come in there in the first place and she remained seated, thinking long and hard about it. Max had found out about Robert Sawyer and had gone to talk to him directly about what he had done to her. Over the years Lou had thought about coming face to face with the man again herself and knew, unequivocally, that she would kill him without batting an eyelash. The only thing that bothered her was that she hadn’t the first time he attacked her. So, knowing that and now knowing that Max had actually afforded the man the chance to tell his side which she sure as hell wouldn’t have done, how could she be angry? Add to that Sawyer sending two goons after her, then actually telling Max he had intended to find Lou again once he got out? Wouldn’t she have wanted Max to prevent this if he could? Wouldn’t Lou herself have done the same thing if someone were threatening her own family? Caroline or Abby even? No, Lou wasn’t upset with Max over killing Robert Sawyer in the least when she considered all of it. She was more shocked and embarrassed that he knew about what had happened to her if truth be told. When it came right down to it, she was moved by his actions. That he cared about her at all was a feat in itself but enough to eliminate the man that had caused her so much pain? That was something else entirely. Right then all Lou wanted to do was run to him and wrap her arms around him and tell him how grateful she was. She knew she had to tone it down a lot for the gossips but she had to get out of there and let him know at least that she wasn’t upset or angry. Thankfully, when she walked out of the stall she was alone in the restroom, as she had thought. Lou took a hard look at herself in the mirror and was grateful that her makeup was still in place and her black eye hadn’t started peeking through. With a quick wash of the hands and a quicker swipe of lip gloss, she headed for the door quietly so as not to raise eyebrows when she snuck back to the ballroom. The hallway was clear when she looked out so she proceeded with caution down the tented corridor. She paused a moment to spritz herself lightly with some perfume so she didn’t smell like toilet bowl cleaner, when she suddenly felt a sharp sting in her neck. She tried to reach to feel what had bitten her but her body instantly felt heavy and she couldn’t find her voice to even say ‘owe’ as the tiny bottle of perfume slipped out of her hand. She thought she felt someone grabbing her but the world swirled out from under her and everything went black.

By the time
the second course was served, Max couldn’t stand it any longer. Lou was not the type of woman to brood, let alone for this long. He looked over to Abby and when she caught his glance, he jerked his head for her to go. Abby got up immediately and headed for the ladies room to check on Lou. It only took about three minutes before Niko started whispering into his wrist and Max noticed security moving from one side of the room to the other at a fast clip. Yuri, Finn and Connor got up from their seats and nearly ran in Abby’s direction while they touched their ears, clearly channeling in their micro receivers. When Niko pushed his finger to his ear also, then whipped out of his seat, Max knew something bad was happening.

“Christ, no.” He pleaded as he followed behind Niko and fished his own receiver out of his pocket, twisted to turn it on then stuffed it in his ear.

What he heard was each security sector chief sounding off, acknowledging whatever order Niko had just given. Max tried to grab Niko’s jacket as they ran but Niko brushed his hand away and ordered him to move it. They raced down the tented corridor that Max had seen Lou disappear down less then half an hour ago and found Abby ordering the dozen security agents that were half-circled around her to start a perimeter search. When she turned and looked at Max, there was utter panic in her eyes and he noted she was holding Lou’s purse in one hand and a tiny bottle in the other.

“I found these on the floor right here.” Abby held them up slightly. “We checked the ladies room and there is no sign of her.”

“Who the hell had eyes on her?!” Max bellowed.

“My Dominor...” One of the security team stepped forward. “She went into the restroom twenty-eight minutes ago. I stood right there until eight minutes ago when one of the waitstaff suggested I grab a plate before they were gone.” The man shrank to the reaction on Max’s face but he continued to relay his movements. “I walked through those double doors down there and waited in line to grab food with some other staffers and when I came back, Ms. LaRue was here and well, I became a dead man walking, sir.”