The Sheik's Son (30 page)

“What are you saying?” Sophie asked, confused.

“I knew early on that you were the writer. To think Marie or dear
Grand-mère
was the writer was absurd. But I knew you would and could write such things. After your trips to Madame Necker’s salon and her influence upon you, I saw it clearly.”

“You have been following me for quite some time,” she said quietly.

“Yes.” He didn’t deny it. “I keep an eye on the popular salons. I was only for a moment distracted by Marie as the writer before I returned to you. I even thought there might have been an upstart governess in your father’s home, but no. It turned out so much better.”

“Why have you been watching me?”

“As I said, a means to an end. No. Not an end. My beginning,” he finished cryptically.

“Your beginning?” Sophie shook her head.

“To achieve what I must requires bringing down powerful people. And, my dear
mademoiselle
, as much as you like to write your drivel, you are in no way powerful. But your father is.”

“My father?” she asked, confused.

“Yes. As he works with the Ferme générale he has access to papers and knowledge that could be very useful to an ambitious man.”

“A man such as you?”

“Yes.”

Sophie began to see through the words he was weaving. “You will not arrest me but in return you want me to help you gain access to my father’s office,” she completed.

“Intelligent and beautiful. What an awful combination,” he said, smirking.

“Are you looking for something specific?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Against my father?”

“No.”

“But he has the papers you need?”

“Yes. The specifics of our little agreement here are such that you do not need to ask any questions. I hold all the cards.”

“So you do. But if I am to help you, I need a little information.”

“You have all you need, Sophie. In return for my not arresting you, I require your help in gaining access to your father’s office. I will contact you in the next week or so to set my plan in motion.”

“When you succeed in becoming commissioner, what will stop you from arresting me then?”

“Such little faith in me,
mademoiselle
.”

“It’s
madame
,” she corrected him, as she was now married.

“
Madame
. Yes, of course it is. A newly married couple who sleeps in separate rooms.
Madame
indeed,” Alain said lightly.

Sophie jerked her head up. “What did you say?”

“So odd when a newly married couple sleep in different rooms, don’t you think?”

He was spying on her, she thought. He was spying on every movement she made.

“I don’t sleep at night,” she said quietly, lying to the inspector.

“I’m sorry to hear that. As commissioner I will have much more important people to occupy my time than a little girl who plays revolutionary,” he said with a laugh. “I plan to be the most powerful commissioner Paris has ever seen. And I will not waste my time or energy on trifles.”

“I will fulfill my end of the bargain.”

“Of course you will. You have no choice,
madame
,” he said, placing extra emphasis on the title.

“Is that all?” She sensed his dismissal.

“I will be in touch soon. And of course, this will remain our little secret. There is no need to tell your husband or father of our little talk.” Alain watched her face as she picked up her small bag.

“Yes, I understand.”

“
Bonne journée
,” he said to her.

“Inspector.” She nodded slightly.

Sophie left the small room atop the tavern and came down the wooden staircase, shivering in the sun’s warm light. She had set her own trap and there was no backing out now.

Chapter 23

She closed her eyes in the carriage ride home. Inspector Vennard was ambitious. Sophie had known he was, as he had told her so himself. But now she was trapped in his web and her own rash behavior had placed her there.

She would not be able to tell Sebastian, and her father was ignorant of her writings. She was alone in her own creation and she feared the eventual note that would come to summon her to the inspector’s side. Though he claimed he would not hurt her once he achieved his goal, she remained concerned.

Alain seemed to be a man who did not choose sides but kept to himself. She must be very careful. She was completely out of her depth with a dangerous man.

She did not care about the mysterious papers he sought in her father’s office. If the man was embezzling money or committing a crime, he deserved to be brought down. Her father’s office was in an older building surrounded by many different offices. Indeed, the entire Ferme générale was scattered throughout the city, but plans were being made to centralize their premises. She assumed the inspector would be using her as a decoy while he entered the office and looked for the papers he needed. The building was guarded, but not overly so, and though she wondered at her usefulness, she knew she was at his mercy.

***

A week passed but she saw little of Sebastian. He and the duke kept long hours together and she waited anxiously for the sound of a knock upon the door carrying a message from the inspector. She was sleeping poorly but knew that once the inspector gained access to her father’s office, the agreement would be at an end.

She told no one about the conversation and cursed the day she had decided to pick up a quill pen and write her first pamphlet.

When she finally received word from the inspector, it was cryptic and mentioned a small park on the edge of Paris for their meeting.

She dressed as she had before, in the dove-grey gown, and took a carriage to the appointed spot. They greeted each other coolly.

“Inspector.”

“
Madame
.”

He tucked her hand into the crook of his arm as he would a lady friend and they strolled together. Sophie didn’t appreciate his familiarity and closeness but she understood it was for appearance’s sake.

“At the end of the week, we will meet on the corner of the street where your father works, behind the coffeehouse. Do you know it?”

“Yes. I have passed it many times.” Sophie nodded, but she had never entered the establishment as a coffeehouse was not deemed respectable for a lady.

“Good. I want you to be there at 10 p.m. Will that be a problem?”

“No. I will tell my husband I am dining with my family.”

“Do you have a mourning gown?”

She frowned. “Yes, my uncle died a year ago. But—”

“Wear that gown. We must not draw attention to ourselves.”

“I understand.” She pulled away from him then. “Is there anything else?”

“Once I find the papers I require, our agreement will come to an end. I will no longer follow you and you will be released.”

“In return for betraying my father,” Sophie said tartly.

“It is what I demand. And I have already told you I am not after your father.”

Sophie had nothing left to say as she retreated back to the waiting carriage. She cursed herself for putting herself in the position she now suffered in.

***

Sophie felt anxious as the week crept by. She could confide in no one and the thought of breaking into her father’s office made her ill. She didn’t trust Inspector Vennard to uphold his end of the bargain but she had no choice. She must do as he asked.

She was not sleeping well and as she kept separate bedrooms with Sebastian he did not notice the disturbance. Many nights she pulled her shawl tightly around her body and walked to the window that overlooked the street.

She knew the inspector had been watching her and she looked with anxious eyes for his black clad figure lingering on the thoroughfare. He was not there. Some nights she read late into the night until the last bit of candle wax had been snuffed out.

When the appointed evening came, Sophie donned the black gown. Marie helped her with the dress, she seemed surprised at the choice but held her tongue. The black color was very stark against Sophie’s pale skin and auburn hair and made her seem small and young.

As she departed, pulling on her black cape, she told Marie she would be dining with her family, and as Sebastian was not at home, she had no need to lie to him about her whereabouts.

***

Etienne and Sebastian sat in the smoky atmosphere of the coffeehouse where men came to speak against the monarchy and drink. No women were allowed and the rough wooden benches and tables created a warm yet decidedly masculine atmosphere.

Etienne was waxing on about his bride-to-be, but Sebastian was too concerned about his own problems to listen too closely. Short of drugging his delicious wife he was absolutely dumbfounded as to how to make Sophie truly his. He knew she felt the sexual attraction between them but she seemed fixated on widening the gap.

Though he worked long hours with the duke, attending meetings and spending less time with her, she never complained. She viewed the marriage for what it was—one of convenience.
Damn
.

Sebastian half listened as Etienne droned about his upcoming nuptials and watched as an elderly man passed by on the dark street. It was a cold night so when the solitary female in black passed the coffeehouse, she caught his attention. She was carrying a lantern and her auburn hair glistened in the night. The woman in black was joined by a man and he felt there was something strangely familiar about her. Could it be Sophie? Absurd! Why on earth would Sophie be out on the streets of Paris at this time of night?
A lover?
he wondered possessively.

“I’m sorry, old friend. Something I must take care of,” he mumbled to Etienne, throwing two coins on the table.

Etienne looked up, surprised, only to see Sebastian leaving the coffeehouse in a hurry.

***

“Follow my lead,” Alain whispered into Sophie’s ear as a lover might do.

Sophie almost jerked away from him but he held her tightly about the waist.

Sophie knew the layout of the building very well, having visited her father since she was a little girl. The old guard, Pascal, had been with the building for over thirty years and took his job very seriously. However, when the weather turned cold he spent much of his time reading in his little booth near the entrance. Occasionally he would take a turn about the large building and check the doors with his ancient lantern. But once his round was complete, he would return to his booth to take a much-needed nap.

Pascal knew Sophie by sight and she hoped the old guard would be at his post asleep as usual so there would be no complications.

Sebastian watched the couple turn the corner into the government building and followed them at a safe distance.

Several men were coming down the street in the opposite direction, laughing and making jokes with each other. He took the moment to move into the old building, following the footsteps of the black-cloaked couple.

As Sophie and Alain moved down a corridor, there was a man ahead of them carrying a stack of documents under his arm and muttering to himself. He held a lantern in his right hand and turned down another corridor, leaving them alone. Only the heels of their shoes could be heard on the stones as they continued through the building.

Alain produced a knife from his coat pocket and it flashed against the lantern she held. “I don’t want to use this, Sophie. But I will,” he threatened.

Sophie paled. “There’s no need for that. I am complying.”

Alain glanced at the knife but kept it in his hand. He knew very well she could scream and bring someone to her defense. She could say anything and he would be arrested. He knew the game of classes, and hers would win.

“Take me to his office,” he said coldly.

They moved together and he kept his arm around her waist while the knife remained clenched in his other hand. Sophie carried the inspector’s lantern, which he had given her when he had first arrived. His great overcoat engulfed them both as they moved along the corridors. Sebastian continued to follow them at a quiet distance.

They turned down another corridor and Sophie whispered. “Here.”

The door was locked but the inspector had come prepared. “Be on the lookout as I work the lock,” he told her as he sank onto his knees before the door.

Sophie turned back to the corridor, swinging the lantern to light the dark hallway just as Sebastian ducked behind the last turn. She turned back to light the door for Alain.

Sebastian’s mind whirled. When he had first seen the woman in the street, he had been curious and no more. Her auburn hair had been unusual and he had followed her. He was happy for his sister and friend, but he didn’t need to spend another evening hearing about the upcoming nuptials. But now that he was certain this woman was Sophie, it only raised more questions. What was she doing here and who was the man?

“Got it,” Alain said as the lock clicked open.

He pulled Sophie, inside shutting the door behind them. Sophie placed the lantern on the desk as Alain began rummaging through the office.

Sophie moved to the window and looked out into the cold night. Her father’ office overlooked a small green park and the entire world seemed asleep. She rubbed her cold hands together and blew on them.

She glanced at the inspector as he pulled a paper here and there and dragged it to the lantern for a better look. Sophie closed her eyes. She had come so far and this was not what she wanted. Now she was in her father’s office with a stranger stealing secrets because she herself had written revolutionary pamphlets.

He had warned her. She looked into the park again and touched the cold glass. Sebastian had warned her and then married her to keep her safe. And all she had done was ignore him and use him.

She heard an exclamation from behind her. She watched as the inspector placed a piece of paper inside his coat pocket.

She felt her stays cutting into her and wished she could burn all her corsets. She thought of Sebastian and all that was expected of him. She had not been surprised when she discovered his father was a sheik. Sebastian always had a way about him that set him apart from other men.