Black Ice - Anne Stuart [22]
Wouldn’t she? She kept her glance away from the man beside her, but she knew perfectly well she wasn’t going to leave before she had to.
“I beg your pardon, monsieur,” she said in French. “If I don’t need to know the meaning of a word I certainly won’t ask. I just thought it might help if I had a better understanding of the subject.”
“Better watch it, Gilles,” Monique said with a throaty laugh. “Bastien wouldn’t like it if you bullied his little pet.”
Bastien lifted his eyes from the table. “Jealous, my sweet?”
“Stop it!” Hakim snapped. “We don’t have time for these petty little squabbles.”
Bastien turned to Hakim, and in doing so, had no choice but to look at Chloe. His smile was beatific, and he lifted his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Forgive me, Gilles. You know I’ve always been easily distracted when a beautiful woman is around.”
“I know you’re only distracted when you want to be, and so do the others. There’s too much at stake to waste time with this kind of thing. This is too important.”
Ducks and pigs and chickens were too important? Fortunately Chloe simply blinked. It was only natural that an importer would think that whatever he imported would affect the fate of the world. The people at the table seemed totally devoid of any sense of humor, but then, financial matters had a tendency to make people deadly serious. She would have to control her own random frivolity.
Hakim rose. “We’ll break for lunch. There’s nothing more we can do at this point.”
“Good,” Bastien said. “I overslept, and I’m hungry.”
“You’re not going to be eating.” The other people were filing out of the room, and Chloe was doing her best to go with them, but she was essentially trapped between the two men. “I need you to do me a favor,” Hakim said.
Too close. “Excuse me,” Chloe interrupted, trying to sidle past him.
“You’re part of the favor, Miss Underwood,” Hakim said, putting a hand on her arm to stop her.
Men in France liked to touch women. For that matter, men in North Carolina did as well, and friendly touches were a matter of course.
But she didn’t like the feel of Hakim’s hand on her arm. Not one bit.
“Of course,” Bastien said immediately, glancing at her stubborn face with palpable amusement. “What would you like us to do?”
“I have an errand for Miss Underwood, and I’d appreciate it if you’d drive her. I need some books.”
“Books?” Chloe echoed.
“For my guests. They won’t be working all the time, and they must have something to occupy them in their off-time. You would know what’s needed, I’m sure, given your experience in the publishing business. Just get a handful in the most common languages. French, English, Italian and German. Something light and escapist—use your judgment.”
“But what about the limousine?” she stammered. “It seems a shame that Monsieur Toussaint has to waste his time on an errand like this instead of continuing with the work.”
“Monsieur Toussaint is more than happy to have a chance to escape for a bit, aren’t you, Bastien? Particularly in the company of such a lovely young lady. And the limousine is being serviced—it’s unavailable.”
Now why on earth would he lie to her? He wouldn’t—there was no reason for him to trump up an excuse to get rid of her. He could simply fire her ass and have done with it.
“And the work this afternoon?” Bastien sounded completely unconcerned. “We wouldn’t want to miss anything.”
“Don’t worry, Bastien. I’ll be looking out for your best interests, you know that. We all rise and fall together. And we’re far from coming to any kind of conclusion as to who will take over as head, not with Mr. Christopolous still absent. This afternoon will be simply jockeying for position. You can safely take the afternoon off and enjoy yourself. Take Mademoiselle Underwood for a nice long lunch in St. André. There’s no hurry.”
Chloe racked her brain for a good excuse, even a lousy one, to get out of it, but for the moment she could think of nothing. “If you’re certain, Monsieur Hakim.”
Gilles Hakim’s smile was benevolent, and it was only her imagination that the shadows