Ada & The French (The Woodhouse Series #2)

Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

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*Paris*

I ran to the door, but Bastien grabbed me, pulling me back into the sitting area. I tried to call for help, but his hand came to my mouth.

"No one is coming to help you..." He cried as I tried to break free. I bit his hand and he released me but I had no weapon in this fight.

I grabbed a candelabra and held it up, the settee a barrier between us.

"What are you doing here? You need to leave!" I cried as he shook his head.

"That's not going to happen."

"I'll scream!"

"Go ahead!" Bastien cried and then whipped out a gun, pointing it at me. "I'll shoot you dead if you let out even a sound."

My heart was banging in my chest - I could feel the echoes in my ears. My mind flashed back to Clinton in Nottingham all those months ago.

The only difference this time was there was no one here - I was alone.

Florence was looking for a missing Theodore who knows where.

And Louis.

My sweet, useless Earl.

He was not here either - and it was my fault as I had walked away.

I was alone with a deranged gunman.

"Bastien...please leave. This doesn't have to go any further..."

"Really? Because, I feel like if that happens, I'll lose everything and you will walk away a free woman..." He shook his head. "I'm not going to let that happen."

"I won't say anything to anyone! I'll leave! I'll go to Monaco!"

"Where your brother, the Viscount Porthleven, is waiting for you?" Bastien asked and I froze.

"How did you..."

"I know everything. That is my job..." He looked around the room. "I also know you are not who you say you are...Adelaide Woodhouse..."

He knows.

I had to own this. "So, you know who I am? This does not change anything for you."

He laughed. "No...but it changes a lot for you..." He held the gun higher, aiming it for my head as he started to pace. I kept a good distance between us wherever he went and kept all my attention on him. "Pretending to be Ada Carne to spy on us, were you? Using me, were you?"

I laughed at his craziness. "Listen, I do not know why I told you my name was Ada Carne but it was definitely not to spy on you as you believe," I replied. "You want to talk about people using people? How long have you known I was Adelaide Woodhouse? Did you not use me to get information about what I knew about you and your band of terrorists?"

"If I had known you were Adelaide Woodhouse, I would've destroyed you the first chance I got..." He explained and I swallowed the lump in my throat. "What did you think you would achieve by getting involved? Did you think I would not recognise you at the meeting?"

"Well...you didn't until the last minute..." I pointed out.

I lacked the ability to bite my tongue in serious situations.