Black Ice - Anne Stuart [115]
“One of ours,” Madame said. “You should have come to us. The Committee could protect you. There was no need to go haring off like this. Haven’t we always worked well together? Even when you weren’t quite certain we were on the same side. The moment Jensen told me I put together a team to come after you. It was almost too late,” she said sternly.
Bastien’s smile was ghostly. “The Committee is never too late, Madame Lambert. And if Harry Thomason knew he would have let Chloe die. He never had much use for her.” He said her name, but he wouldn’t look at her. And there was nothing Chloe could do but stand there in the early-morning sunlight, with the smell of blood all around, poisoning the beautiful clearing.
“Harry Thomason has taken early retirement. His decisions have been a bit rash recently, and it was decided that he should work in merely an advisory capacity.”
“Should I ask who’s taken his place?” He might have been discussing the price of oranges. But oranges were hand grenades, weren’t they? Chloe wanted to laugh, but she was afraid she would sound hysterical, and she didn’t want to do anything to draw attention to herself. Not when he was making such a concerted effort to ignore her.
Madame Lambert’s smile was cool and elegant. “Who do you think? We need you back, Bastien. The world needs you. You’re not fit for anything else, and you’re very, very good at this. I have no doubt you’d have managed Monique even without our help.”
“Do you?” His voice was expressionless, and Chloe was going to faint. She absolutely didn’t want to—the pain in her side was so overwhelming she wasn’t sure how much longer she could stand there. But if she fell over he’d have to look at her, and she couldn’t bear it. She had to let him go, since that was what he so clearly wanted, and if she had to make herself stand perfectly still so he could safely ignore her then she’d do so for the next twelve hours.
“I can promise you complete autonomy, Jean-Marc. I need your help on this one. Do you have a reason to stay?”
Still he didn’t look at her. He was bleeding, not badly, but she knew. She was probably in worse shape, and she was still standing, although with Dmitri’s grip she probably had no choice.
“No reason,” he said.
Madame nodded. “Then I suggest we get out of here. Dmitri can clean up the mess and join us later. You need to have that wound looked to.”
“Are you going to kill her?” He seemed no more than casually interested.
“Of course not. I told you, Thomason’s era is over. I don’t think she’ll discuss this with anyone—it would put your life in danger, and I know how you are with women. All you have to do is smile at them and they’ll defend you to the death.”
“Monique being a perfect example of that,” he murmured.
“If Miss Underwood causes trouble we can deal with it when it happens. Unless you’d rather tie up loose ends right now? It’s your call.”
He turned and looked at her, at last. She stood perfectly still, determined not to betray any weakness. She looked into his face, his eyes, and saw nothing. Just the emptiness she thought had gone.
He shrugged then. “I don’t think she’ll cause any trouble,” he said finally. “As you said, we can always deal with the situation later if need be. And we mustn’t discount my powerful effect on women.”
Madame Lambert ignored his sarcasm, nodding. “That’s the Jean-Marc I know. I was afraid he was gone forever. Your midlife crisis is over?”
“Completely. I know who I am and where I belong.”
Madame’s satisfied smile hinted at the beauty she once was. Even she wasn’t immune to his effect on women. Probably one of the first in a long line of suckers, culminating in silly little Chloe Underwood. “Thank God,” she said, putting a hand on his arm and starting to draw him away. “Together we can make the Committee what it always should have been. I can’t tell you how happy you’ve made me. The difference you’ll make in our war against terrorism and oppression.”
He paused at the edge of the clearing, pulling his arm free of Madame’s possessive