Free Immortal Beauty by Thomas McDermott

self assured it would never occur to her that he would try anything at all to stop her. All these years he had made pacts and bargains and sought for some peace between them and every time she broke her word. He simply never made the first move. She believed that she was more intelligent than him and more cunning. In this she was wrong. She believed he was weak because he was kind. This fact gave him courage. It would never cross her mind that the Marquis D’Allesandro would ever engage her in a conflict because all of these years she had harbored a false assumption that Marcus was still afraid of her. He was going to use her own assumption to catch her by surprise. He was not looking forward to the consequences to his actions but he could not let her continue with her insane plans. Her insatiable desire to conquer the world had led her to do unspeakable things. He could not even imagine how many lives she had ruined and he knew that never once did she ever think about those lives. It was always about her. Even when they were lovers so many years ago it was always about what he could bring to her and what he could do for her status and her wealth. At the end of the day it was always a matter of how he could please her and what he could do to make her happy. Not once in all their time together did she feel even the flicker of an emotion unless greed could be considered a feeling. She had let her avarice destroy any chance she would ever had of finding happiness. She would not be happy until the world was at her feet and even then Marcus knew that this was not real satisfaction. He knew very well that there was no contentment in revenge. He had learned that happiness only comes from helping others and loving others and welcoming others into your life. Happiness comes from abandoning the search for self satisfaction and personal gratification. There was nothing like going to sleep at night knowing that somehow you had helped someone out or saw someone through the more dangerous roads in life. He knew that Celine would never understand this. It was beyond her comprehension and he wondered for the hundredth time if it was because she truly was a primitive after all was said and done. The sound of his mobile interrupted his thoughts.
    “Marcus here.” His low voice carried the hint of seduction. It was a smooth and pleasant voice.
    “Marcus. It’s Claire.” The petite voice whispered from his phone. “I’ve got her.”
    “Good. I’ll have Jean come and get you. We know the address.” He smiled calmly. “He should be there shortly…..good work!” He tried to sound supportive. He hung up the phone and breathed a sigh of relief. One less life ruined. An innocent no less who had nothing to do with all this muddled warfare. Another life that would have been added to Celine’s list of necessary losses. If only he could find the other two, then maybe he could get some rest. He was absolutely sure that they were close to finding them. He could feel them just like the last time. They were definitely in Paris and would eventually find their way back to Rue Raynouard. He had to find them before Celine did or all would be lost all over again. There were footsteps coming from above and his heart started to race. He reached for his drink and took a long slow sip. It seemed to have the power to revive him into action and he sprang to his feet in time to see Frankie enter the room. He rushed forward to meet him and embraced the little man as if he had been gone for years.
    “Frankie! You’re home! Thank God!” He let him go and held him by his shoulders looking down into his eyes. Frankie was beaming. He was always like this when he had accomplished something devious. Things were beginning to look up.
    “Hey Marcus. Nice to see you too! I told you not to worry.” Frankie winked conspiratorially. “This is the easy part, you can worry later.” Frankie pulled the jump drive from his pocket. “I’ve got something for you.”