Free Kissed in Paris by Juliette Sobanet Page B

and held my breath, praying they hadn’t seen me.
    My pulse raced, telling me to run, but I clenched my fists and stayed put. After about thirty seconds, with no changes from the other side of the door, I inched closer once again.
    My heart caught in my chest at the sight that was now clearly visible inside the apartment.
    A striking woman with legs for miles and jet black hair that spilled over her shoulders and ran the length of her torso lay across a plush, white couch, her curvy figure barely covered in a black, slinky dress that accentuated her snow-white skin.
    Her oval-shaped green eyes gazed upward as she unraveled the red, silky scarf that hung loosely from her neck.
    And there, standing over her, was Julien. Firm and unmoving, his head cocked down toward her. I could only imagine the expression that passed across his face as Seductress stood up, wrapped her scarf around his shoulders and pulled his chest into hers.
    The place I am going to may not be safe , he’d told me.
    Humph. She was dangerous, all right.
    “I don’t know anything about a painting,” she hummed in his ear. “And as for Claude, well I hadn’t seen him in almost two years before he showed up earlier today. And now you, Julien. My Julien.”
    I tore my eyes away from them as a wave of nausea passed through my stomach. What painting? What was Julien not telling me? And was this the woman he’d spoken about on the train? The one chance at love he’d messed up?
    Just as I was about to bolt and never look back, a glimmer from the other side of the door caught my eye.
    And that’s when I saw it. My engagement ring, lying carelessly on a dirty coffee table, next to a slew of passports.
    Suddenly I couldn’t have cared less about Julien or that woman or whatever he was about to do with her. I lifted my hand up to the door, but just as I was about to barge in, a bulge of muscles wrapped around my neck, cutting off my air supply.
    I gasped for breath, but when none came, I panicked. I tried my best to squirm, but before I could move a muscle, the grip on my neck released and the bulging arms shoved my body through the door.
    “What the hell is going on in here?” the man behind me boomed in an accent identical to the woman’s. “And who the hell is this bitch spying through your door?”
    Julien whipped around, his brown eyes the biggest I’d seen them all day as I stumbled to the ground, heaving to catch my breath.
    The Seductress tossed her scarf to the floor and charged toward me, her eyes now narrow little slits. But Julien reached me before she did. In one swift movement, he pulled me up from the floor and blocked me with his body.
    “She is not a threat. She is just a friend I am traveling with and neither of you will lay a hand on her.” Julien’s voice echoed through the small, cluttered apartment as he shielded me from their menacing glares.
    I sucked in a deep breath as I wondered why I hadn’t just listened to Julien. Did I really think I could handle everything on my own?
    The man who’d pushed me into the apartment approached Julien, and I noticed then that he was the same man, covered in tattoos, who I’d just seen enter the building. He must’ve been hiding in the shadows, waiting for me. A chill ran down my spine just thinking about it.
     A look of disgust fixed onto his face as he eyed Julien. “You and Claude make me fucking sick. You sleep with my sister, you use her to run your stupid cons, and then you leave her. Every time.”
    “You are right about Claude. But I am a different man. I have no interest in harming your sister,” Julien responded without so much as a hint of fear in his voice.
    “Then what the hell are you doing here?”
    “I needed to ask her a few questions, that’s all. And she was more than happy to answer them.” Julien’s snarky tone challenged the angry Australian.
    The corners of Seductress’ lips curved into a devilish grin as she slithered toward Julien and shoved her looming