All That the Heart Desires (14 page)

I was woken by the sound of a coffee maker. A casual glimpse on the clock made me cover my head with my pillow. I really needed to learn to sleep more.

Coming down the stairs, I smelled fresh coffee. Anne-Marie was sitting in the kitchen.

When she saw me, her expression was one of anger and shock.

“Now
Mademoiselle
, this isn’t how it’s supposed to be,” she said. “You’re going to starve yourself and Mr Dame will blame me.”

“Oh, come on,” I took a cup of coffee from her hands. “Harry isn’t a monster, you know?”

She stood up and took dishes from the oven.

“Really? You ate yesterday’s dinner then?”

“I’m sorry Anne-Marie. I completely forget about it. I was working…”

“Where were you?” she asked. One look at her face and I knew it was better for me to stop lying.

“Your car wasn’t on the driveway when I went to bed and I was waiting for you.

“I’m sorry,” I said again, “but I need to speak to Harry first.” I put down the cup and she put a sandwich into my other hand.

“I understand. I’m sorry. I’m not your mother,” she said.

I hugged her.

“But you’re acting like one. Thank you.”

She kissed my cheek and let me go. I ran to the car and a few minutes later I was on my way back to Monaco.

I was surprised to see Michelle and Lucille already in the boutique. I didn’t like the suspicious looks on their faces.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” I said, trying to catch my breath.

“Is everything alright?” Lucille asked.

I nodded.

“Yes, why?”

I caught my reflection in the mirrors behind the shelves. My hair was a mess and I was without my glasses. I remembered in an instant where I had left them: on Lorcan’s living room floor.

“Christ,” I said. “I was running.” They didn’t say anything.

I went to the back office. I needed to get Harry online. He was still not answering my phone calls and I was beginning to worry.

Three hours later, I finally managed to get hold of him through Skype. He was looking concerned.

“Finally,” I started, but he interrupted me.

“You have to come back to Paris—immediately. Don’t waste a minute.”

I stared at him.

“What? No. I can’t. If you think you can avoid me…” I started angrily, but the look on his face was strange—an expression I hadn’t seen for a long time.

“I said you have to come to Paris. How is that avoiding you? A limo is already waiting for you in front of the hotel. If you’re not in it in five minutes, the driver will come to get you…”

“Hold on to your horses. What limo? What driver? What will people think of me if…?”

Harry didn’t let me continue.

“Just listen, dammit! We can’t lose a minute here. You must be in Paris as soon as possible. We need to act quickly. Now. Don’t wait. Just go.”

He disconnected. I sighed. I wasn’t sure what was so urgent that he had decided to risk revealing my true identity. This was all too much. In the past few years after I moved to Nice from Paris, I always drove to see Harry. But now? Everything was just too crazy for me to swallow.

Michelle appeared at the door.

“There’s a man waiting for you. He said he needs to drive you…”

I nodded. Dame hadn’t been bluffing.

“I know. I was called back to Paris.”

I pushed past her. Lucille was talking to the limo driver. He nodded in my direction when he saw me.

“I’ll be right there,’ I said. He held his cap in his hands. How I hated that kind of formality.

I looked at the girls.

“Will you both hold the fort?”

They nodded.

“What’s wrong?” Lucille asked.

“I don’t know,” I answered truthfully. “Mr Dame wants me there. I’ll call you as soon as I know what’s going on. He told me he has complete trust in you two to manage the perfumery on your own until I get back.”

“He said that?” Michelle sounded astonished.

I nodded.

“I need to go. I’ll call you.”

As I got into the limo and leaned back on the seat, I started to wonder what was so urgent that Harry wouldn’t let me drive.

The limo driver drove me to the heliport in Fonteiville. From there I was airborne and soon landed at the airport in Nice.

Before I could ask where I should go next, the helicopter pilot escorted me to a private jet. The minute I sat down, I felt the wheels moving in preparation for take-off.

It was barely two hours later that I had closed the heavy door of Harry’s office behind me. I looked at him sitting behind his desk. His brown-reddish hair was cut even shorter than I remembered. He was reading through some papers.

“What’s going on?” I asked without a greeting. Harry closed the brown file he was going through.

“Hi, sis,” he greeted me. “It’s been a while…”

“I saw you two hours ago. Tell me what’s going on!” He embraced me and I returned his hug. He was, after all, all that was left of my family.

“So,” I raised my eyebrows when he finally let me go.

“Sit.” He offered me an armchair. “Tell me how your journey was.”

I knew he was buying time, so I rolled my eyes.

“So, Harry,” I said after a few minutes had passed without either of us saying anything. He shook his head and then looked at me again.

“Right. What about a change of scenery?” He was stalling again. I knew him well enough, although he was a hard man to read, usually.

“Why don’t we grab something to eat?”

I’d had enough.

“We’re not going anywhere until you tell me why you’re about to blow my cover. Why did I need to leave Monaco? I need to know what’s going on Harry!”

“Right. You want to know?”

“Yes!”

“Then listen…” he started to tell me about the events that happened after the Monaco Grand Prix.

“You could imagine my surprise to see him here in my office after the Montreal race, sitting exactly where are you sitting now. I tried everything to get him out. Everything but call security. Neither of us could afford it.”

“He complained about my behaviour?” I asked. Harry just waved his hand.

“That was the issue on the phone. No. He wanted to know everything and all questions were about you. Who owns the
Jasmine
? Do you really have such a massive authorisation to decide what the boutique will sell and to whom? Who are you? The list goes on and on.”

“You didn’t…” The words stuck in my throat.

“No. I didn’t. I haven’t told him anything. But he came back the next day, and the day after that, until I had enough of him. And I gave him some answers. Too many things were waiting for me to handle. Not just him, you know.”

I nodded. Although House of Dame had several Department Managers, Harry liked to know everything that was going on. He wanted to know everything. To be honest, he was a control freak.

“What did you tell him?” I tried to be calm.

“Not much. That you are my sister, despite different last names. And that you do have the authority to decide what to sell and to whom in your boutique…”

“Christ, you’ve told him why I changed my last name…” I was completely baffled. After moving to Nice, I took my mother’s maiden name, Hart, to hide the traces of my previous existence. In the letter it was clearly written that I would never find my son. So I somewhat changed my appearance to hide my true existence and what I thought would help in the search my son.

“Don’t worry.” He came closer. “I didn’t tell him anything that would compromise your search. And now, the reason I called you to Paris.”

I was numb. Was that not the reason?

“What?” I asked.

Harry smiled.

He took the brown file he had been reading when I came into the office, and sat down next to me.

“I’ve got some information that I think you will find … interesting at least.”

He offered me the file.

“What’s this?” I asked and took it from him.

“Open it. You’ll see.”

The expression on his face was tense. My hands trembled as I opened the file. A photo caught my eye. A photo of a blonde boy. I dropped everything but the photo. I was mesmerised by the green eyes, the same colour as mine. Those eyes were watching me from beneath long black lashes.

Harry picked up the papers that had slipped from my fingers. Tears were running down my face and I couldn’t speak.

“Where did you get this?” I cried out.

Harry was watching me closely.

“Is this Iain, Desiree?”

I nodded, without taking my eyes off the photo. Tears ran down my cheeks and only when the first fell on the photo, did I wipe them away.

“You still didn’t answer me,” I said.

“Right,” he sighed. “I always had doubts about your Blackbird. I sent another detective after him and I learned a lot. Among other things, that he takes bribes … Wait!” Harry lifted his hand when he realised I wanted to interrupt.

“Tell me something. Can you connect these? Spain, England and Germany?” I looked at him in surprise, and then again at the photo in my hands. My eyes were full of tears again. I had a hard time holding them back.

“Desiree?” he covered my hand with his. I looked into his eyes. They were brown, like our father’s, as much as I remembered him from photos.

“Did you connect them?”

I shook my head.

“No.”

“I’ll help you. What about these places: Cataluña, Monaco, Silverstone and Nürburgring?”

I was on my feet as quick as lightning, standing with my mouth wide open. The places he named had a logical sequence. Only one was missing; Montreal.

“Do you think…?” I started and Harry just nodded.

“I’ll leave tomorrow.”

Harry shook his head.

“No need. The next race is a week away. We have time and I already bought the tickets. We will leave for Hungary on Wednesday. By then I will have some new information…”

“What if the information you get doesn’t lead us there?”

He stood up and took me into his embrace. The tears I’d been holding back slipped down my cheeks and onto his shirt. He held me for a very long time.

I finally calmed down and stepped away. Harry’s shirt was wet and black with my mascara.

“I’m sorry. Your shirt.”

He smiled.

“We have dry cleaners in Paris, you know?”

Suddenly I was so damn tired.