Amour éternel

chapter 5

He didn’t like that Anaïs had invited a male guest into her home. The man was an unexpected obstacle he would have to get over. As much as it annoyed him, the stranger’s arrival was only a minor setback. He could still carry on with his plans as long as the man didn’t start going to the Gallery with Anaïs; now that would be a hindrance he could certainly do without.

Picaud watched Anaïs’ bedroom window from his sleek, black Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren; he was looking for any sign of movement but Anaïs still hadn’t moved the curtains aside so he couldn’t even tell if anyone was inside. It irked him that she had suddenly become so cautious. It didn’t make any sense; there was no way she could have noticed that she was being watched. Anaïs was too focused on her Gallery to pay attention to such things. Picaud could only reason that she had somehow been warned but that was impossible. He knew for a fact that she didn’t have bodyguards and that she hardly ever met with anyone; Anaïs was a loner. She had a couple of friends that she hardly ever saw and regular customers that she never spoke to outside the Gallery. There was no possible way that any of them had noticed him lurking around her apartment building. Hell, no one even knew this was his car. He had it custom-made for him with false plates that could not be traced to him no matter what. Anaïs must simply be acting on intuition; that was the only logical explanation for her sudden cautiousness. As much as Picaud hated to admit it, he was finding this project harder than he had anticipated. It was going to be a challenge but he didn’t exactly mind that as long as he got what he wanted. Anaïs would be his greatest masterpiece; the woman who would go down in history as his interpretation of the modern Aphrodite.

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Anaïs tossed and turned in bed; too many thoughts were keeping her awake and it didn’t help that Ryder was just in the next room. His proximity was driving her insane; it wouldn’t surprise her if she suddenly self-combusted. Her room felt too hot, her clothes too tight, and the apartment too quiet- she needed to get some air. 

Anaïs pulled a silk robe around her as she tiptoed out of her room. The apartment had a tiny balcony towards the back of the building and though the view sucked, it was the perfect little spot to think. Anaïs stared at the wall of the opposite building as the night breeze tousled her hair. She leaned back against the glass door, closed her eyes, and allowed her mind to float as free as the wind. She was worrying too much and it was stressing her out. 

Anaïs kept thinking back to the Gallery and how hundreds of people visited it a week and it frightened her that any one of them could be her stalker. Had she ever spoken to him, she thought, or smiled at him? Had she ever shaken his hand? Had he ever touched her arm to get her attention or to ask her a question about one of the paintings?

Anaïs shivered as she thought of the possibility that she had come face to face with her stalker. The scariest part was not knowing; she had no idea who it could be. For all she knew, it was a total stranger who had never even heard of her Gallery but what were the chances of that? She didn’t like to brag but she had to recognize that her Gallery had become a major tourist spot in Paris; anyone who came to Paris for vacation stopped at her shop. It had been placed in travel brochures and must-see reviews of the city; the Gallery was successful beyond her wildest dreams. Anyone stalking her would know that. Anyone who followed her for even a day would know that she practically lived in the Gallery. 

Anaïs was still deep in thought when she heard a knock on the glass door behind her. She turned with her hand over her heart and her eyes open wide in fear. When she realized that it was Ryder, her heart kicked up a notch. He was wearing black pajama pants, no shirt, and a sleepy pout- she couldn’t remember a man ever looking as sexy and bed-rumpled as him. Not even Jacque…