Mona Lisa's Room

by Vonnie Davis

  Niko stood where he was, watching and waiting as she slowly ascended the steps. What did he have planned? When she reached him, he enveloped her in his arms and held her tight. “I want this to be a birthday you’ll always remember, cherie.” As if she could ever forget today—or him.

  He unlocked the door and ushered her inside. “Maman, we’re home. Come meet Aly.”

  What would his mother be like? Would she look down on her because of her age? Chaz’s mother regarded her as competition for her son’s affections. If only she knew! Although she tried to get into her mother-in-law’s good graces, their relationship was marred by Mrs. Moore’s ill feelings and imagined slights.

  “I’m in the salon, my son. We have company. Your favorite angel.” Niko rested his hand on the small of Alyson’s back and escorted her into a large salon with three white leather sofas taking center stage in the room, forming a large U in front of a fireplace. Pictures Alyson presumed were of family graced the mantel and the tops of tables. A baby grand piano occupied one corner.

  Niko leaned over the back of one of the sofas and kissed a beautiful woman, her dark hair combed into a large chignon. Red-framed glasses perched on the bridge of her nose, brightening her face.

  “Maman, I’d like you to meet Alyson, although I call her Aly.” He took the baby from his mother’s arms and tucked her close to his chest. He jerked his head in the direction of a petite, smiling woman who was removing a baby bottle from a diaper bag on the piano bench. “This is my sister, Renee. She’s second to the oldest of my sisters, thus the haggard expression.” Renee replied by sticking out her tongue. Niko chuckled and then bent to press kisses on the infant’s forehead and into her little palms. He seemed quite comfortable with a baby in his arms.

  His mother came over and breezed kisses on Alyson’s face. “Welcome to our home, darling. Happy Birthday.”

  “Thank you, Madame Reynard. You’re most kind.”

  “Please, you must call me Viviana. Simone told me you are beautiful and she is right. What lovely bone structure you have. Are you Italian? Ah, but you must be to possess such beauty.”

  “My maiden name is Tofolli. My great-grandparents were from Florence.”

  “You see? I knew it. You have the classic profile.” She waved her manicured hand toward her own face. “Look at me. I’m Italian. Am I not beautiful?”

  “My maman is humble as well as beautiful.” Niko turned his attention to the baby, holding her out from his body. “This sweet angel is my niece, Olivia Nicole. She was named after me. I call her Nikette for short.”

  “Don’t you start.” Renee came over and breezed kisses off Alyson’s cheeks. “How awful you have been put in Niko’s care. I know well the arrogant attitude you’ve had to endure.” She sighed and rolled her eyes at her brother. “And the indignities you have had to tolerate.” Renee winked.

  “Her?” Niko pointed a finger at his face. “Look at the damage she did to me! It is I who have suffered indignities. The stories I could tell you about this woman.”

  Renee slipped her arm around Alyson and drew her into the warmth of the family. “Oh, I like you already. Would you like some coffee?”

  Niko’s cell rang and when he noted the caller, he handed Alyson his niece and stepped out into the hall.

  His mother shook her head. “He works too hard. He is on call every moment of the day and night. You must try to convince him to change careers. Gently, of course. Men do not like to be bitched at.” Her eyebrows rose and a sly smile lit her face. “We Italian women know how to maneuver our men, do we not, Aly? May I call you Aly, or do you prefer Alyson?”

  She lowered her head to kiss Olivia’s chubby cheek and inhale her sweet baby fragrance. “Aly is fine.” She was getting used to it, coming to regard it as her French name for the short time she was here. “I think you’re wrong, though. I have no influence over your son. We’ve only just met. Although, we’ve shared an eventful two days. Frankly, it feels like two years.” How could she tell Niko to change jobs? Who was she? Just a temporary fixation.

  Viviana tilted her head to the side. Now she knew where Niko and Simone got that mannerism. “Oh, but you do have influence over him. I can tell by the way he looks at you that you are his destiny. He is quite taken with you, and I am thrilled to see him happy. Hae-Won’s death nearly destroyed him. I did not think he would ever recover.” She smiled and patted Alyson’s arm. “Now he has you.”

  The baby in Alyson’s arms squirmed and grunted. She ran a finger down the infant’s cheek. Little Olivia regarded her with deep blue eyes. She had a head of dark hair and a pretty bow mouth. “Your daughter is beautiful, Renee. How old is she?”

  “Three months yesterday. Do you have children?”

  She brought the child’s fist to her mouth and kissed it. “No. I was never blessed with them. I wanted a baby in the worst possible way, but it never happened.” Between her advanced endometriosis, an ovarian cyst and a husband who rarely touched her, how could she conceive? Don’t go there.

  “I do have a niece I dearly love. She’s five and the delight of my life. Her name is Rhiannon Alyson. She was named in my honor.” She kissed the babe again, maternal yearnings flooding in and her eyes tearing up. “I’ve desired a child of my own for many years. You’ve been blessed, Renee. She’s adorable.”

  Niko came back into the room, and she turned. His face was ashen and pinched. “What’s wrong?” Concerned, she handed the baby to Viviana.

  He stepped close and wrapped his arm around her. “I have to go, cherie. Jean-Luc found Giselle dead in her apartment. Murdered.”

  “No!” Would this killing never end? First the man in the truck, then Josette and now Giselle. “How?”

  He glanced away for a beat, obviously struggling. This constant killing tore at him, too, no doubt. She wrapped her arms around his waist, and for an instant he leaned into her as if he were drawing on her strength. “You don’t have to tell me. It’s okay.” She rubbed her hand up and down his back, trying to offer comfort.

  His face burrowed against her neck. She thought she heard him whisper, “Dear God, woman, how I need you.” He took a long shaky breath. “Her throat was slashed.”

  Her hold on him tightened. “What? No! Oh, that’s too horrible to think about. The fear she must have felt.” She gave an involuntary shudder. Even though she didn’t care for Giselle, she wouldn’t have wished something this horrific on her. She winced. Well, there was that moment when she wanted to push Giselle out the window. Maybe she wasn’t as kindhearted as she imagined. Still, her evil thought was merely a fleeting thought, not one she’d ever act on.

  So, who killed the young woman? Was it The Red Hand? Had she been working with them and outlived her usefulness? Did she threaten to confess? She had to ask, had to know. “Was…was there a bloody handprint?”

  Niko nodded.

  “Dear God.” Is that how she would end up? Her blood smeared on a wall somewhere?

  Slowly the old Niko, the confident man she was accustomed to, returned. “I have to go lead the investigation. Henri is home with gout and can barely walk. Since I’m next in command, I must leave you unprotected.”

  She placed her palms on his cheeks. “Do what you must. Do you want me to come along?”

  “Yes, but I won’t allow it. The crime scene will be too gruesome, too macabre for you. Allow me to protect you from this.” He was a man on the edge, trembling with rage. “I worked with Giselle for nearly a year. Our brief affair was a few months of flash. Nothing substantial. Even so…”

  “Even so, she was a coworker and friend.” This man felt things deeply. She responded to the force of his caring nature.

  “Yes.” He kissed her forehead. “Maman, may Aly stay with you? Could you call to see if Alex can move our reservation as far back as he can? Then help her to get ready for tonight.”

  “Of course. I hope your romantic evening won’t be spoiled. I hate your job.”

  “So you’ve stated several times. We�
��ll salvage as much of it as we can. Walk me to the door, Aly. Kiss me good-bye.” He took her hand and led her to the door. “Maman will show you your presents. Let her and Renee help get you ready. You’re having a birthday meal on top of the Eiffel Tower tonight. We’ll both need the distraction after this nasty business.” He pulled her into his arms, kissed her sweetly and then deepened the kiss. “Don’t leave my mother’s side. I couldn’t bear a repeat of earlier today. Promise me.”

  “Promise. Look, I don’t want you to feel rushed. I already gave up the dream of celebrating my birthday on top of the Eiffel, so I won’t be upset if we can’t go. Perhaps we could go for a walk along the Seine and have a glass of wine somewhere.”

  “You are the most phenomenal woman. I have a feeling you have given up on many of your dreams over the years, but not tonight. Tonight you shall have your desires.

  “My job demands I catch these terrorists. Innocent people’s lives are at risk. You do understand, don’t you? Some things are more important than my personal life. The safety of all Frenchmen must come before the desires of one person.”

  She nodded. One quick kiss and he was gone—a man determined to save the world.

  Chapter Fifteen

  When Alyson stepped back into the salon, Renee was feeding Olivia and Viviana was on the phone. The older woman smiled after ending the call. “I had to do some fast talking and a touch of begging, but I convinced Alex to push your reservation time back two hours. I’ll send my son a quick confirmation text.” As she told Alyson this, her fingers were texting a message to Niko. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I could use a glass of wine to settle my nerves. I’m sure I have a nice bottle of red.” She took a few steps and then halted. “I hate his job. It’s turning my hair gray.”

  “How many times has your son gone out that door leaving you to worry?”

  Viviana turned, a tear sliding down her cheek. “I worry every time. A mother worries. Especially when her son is trained to be a seeker, a menace to the evils of the world…and a cold-blooded killer. I did not raise him to be that kind of person. The goodness and malevolence often war within his soul. I’ll be back in a minute.”

  Alyson sat on the sofa next to Renee and ran a finger across the baby’s cheek. Olivia stopped sucking and gave a milky-wet smile. Her heart broke open into the sunshine of love.

  “She’s so beautiful.” She looked into Renee’s kind face. “I hope I didn’t upset your maman.”

  “She’ll be okay. Maman was always the strength of this family. We all worry about Niko.” Renee burped the baby.

  Alyson leaned her head back, recalling Viviana’s words. Yes, Niko was a killer. She saw him murder an evil man who tried to run them down. Yet sometimes he displayed such tenderness.

  Niko’s mother came back carrying a tray of wine and cheese. She set it on the square glass coffee table. “We’ll relax with our wine for a few minutes while Renee gets my sweet grandchild to go to sleep. Then we’ll show you the presents Niko bought you. He gave me very explicit instructions.” She extended a glass of wine to Alyson and then served Renee and herself.

  “What made him go into this line of work? He told me he studied computers at Carnegie-Mellon.” She took a sip of the Merlot. “Why this dangerous occupation? Why not something safe?”

  “That’s a very sad story, my dear, but one you need to know to understand what drives my son to seek out and destroy these atrocious terrorists. He was at Carnegie-Mellon sharing a dormitory room with three other young men. One of them was two years further along in his studies than my Niko. When that young man graduated, he secured a financial job in New York City in one of the twin towers.”

  “No. Don’t tell me…” Visions of the crumbling towers replayed in her mind. One of the worst days in American history; one every citizen alive at that time would recall with great sadness and anger.

  Viviana nodded and expelled an audible sigh. “All four young men were very close. Niko brought them here one year for Bastille Day, France’s version of your Fourth of July. Claude and I enjoyed having them. Bright young men, funny and so sweet.” She shook her head. “We couldn’t believe it when Niko called, devastated over the news. A month later, we received more devastating news. My Claude had cancer. Niko, who was already a mess from losing a close friend in such a horrific way, dropped out of college. He came home to help take care of Claude.

  “They were so close, those two. Always discussing current events. Solving the ills of the world. Niko shared with his papa his plans to go into the army. His papa, thinking he was promoting a safer profession, talked him into applying for a position with Interpol. Because of my son’s education and his skill with computers, they were happy to have him. We had no clue what they’d slowly turn him into.”

  Alyson sipped her wine, enjoying the coziness of this room and these ladies. “You mentioned Hae-Won earlier. May I ask who she was?”

  “She was the first woman Niko loved.” Viviana made a face and looked away for a beat. “A mother longs for her son to find a good woman, a woman who will make him happy.”

  “Hae-Won didn’t make him happy?”

  Renee snorted and the baby whimpered in response. “She was too intent on having her own way. She was two-faced. Around Niko she treated Maman fine, but if he was not here, she was rude and demanding.”

  “Now, be nice, darling. One does not speak ill of the dead.” Viviana reached for a slice of cheese. “She hounded him about his job, which I must confess I do as well, but she hounded him in a cruel way. Belittled him until he began to doubt himself. Their relationship was doomed. While we French are quite open-minded to the cultural differences in nationalities and religions, her parents in Korea were not.”

  “How did she die?”

  “Hae-Won was a photographer.” Viviana sipped her wine.

  “A very ambitious photographer,” Renee interjected, rocking Olivia and patting her bottom. “Yet she condemned Niko for his devotion to his job.”

  “There was a very tense situation in Iran. She traveled there to get some pictures for the associated press and was captured by The Red Hand.”

  An uncomfortable awareness crept in. The Red Hand? So the terrorists who were after her were the ones who killed Niko’s fiancée? Was his drive to capture them driven out of concern for her safety or out of revenge for the woman he loved? This new information bothered her greatly. Bothered and saddened her.

  “The poor girl was tortured during the ten days The Red Hand held her captive. Niko and Jean-Luc went to Iran to try to locate and rescue her. They had some good intelligence concerning her whereabouts.” Viviana tucked an errant strand of hair back into her chignon. “It took them two days to realize she had been moved. Unmanned spy planes…what do they call them again, Renee?”

  “Drones, Maman.”

  “Yes, drones. Thank you. Drones using body heat technology located what was supposed to be five humans in a deserted house on the outskirts of Tabriz, in northwest Iran. Niko and Jean-Claude rented a car and drove there. The whole affair still makes me angry. These two supposedly intelligent men rushed into harm’s way with no backup.”

  “Niko wasn’t thinking things through, was he? All he cared about was getting Hae-Won.” Jealousy and sadness gripped Alyson’s heart.

  Viviana heaved a great sigh and nodded. “Everything that could go wrong went wrong. My Niko was shot in the leg. Jean-Luc was wounded in the shoulder while he attempted to drag my son to the car. Just as they neared it, the terrorists used a…a…” She snapped her fingers.

  Renee was changing her daughter’s diaper. “Bazooka.”

  “Thank you. The terrorists used a bazooka to blow up their car. Shrapnel further wounded Niko and Jean-Luc.” A huge tear forged its way down Viviana’s cheek. “They were lucky they survived. They hid behind some trees and bushes before they found shelter in an abandoned warehouse. His friend nursed him through the fevers of infection until American Special Forces rescued them.” She shook h
er head. “It was a nightmare for us. For three long days we did not know where he was or if he were alive.”

  “How awful.” Niko shot, wounded by shrapnel and on the run. She couldn’t conceive the fear he and his friend felt.

  “In the helicopter on the way to an airplane carrier, Interpol ordered Niko home for treatment, thank God. For awhile we feared he would lose his leg. Two weeks later, he found out The Red Hand killed Hae-Won. Unconfirmed rumors claimed she was decapitated.”

  Alyson closed her eyes as if to block out the vision. “How horrible. How utterly horrible!” What deep emotional pain Niko must have suffered when he heard the devastating news. No wonder he was so protective of her; he didn’t want another woman to die like that.

  “Yes, it was horrible. By the time Niko was informed of her death, she was cremated and her ashes spread on Korean soil.” Viviana set her wineglass on the table. “My son lost all will to live.” She swiped at a falling tear and reached for a tissue. “A deadness moved into his eyes and darkness occupied his soul. He refused to eat, talk, continue with therapy. I knew I would have to take charge or I would lose him.” She wiped her nose and dabbed at her tear-moistened eyes. “A mother does this, you know.”

  “What did you do?”

  “What Maman does best.” Renee rocked Olivia. “She pushed and yelled and insisted he come back to the land of the living. She can be very convincing. Olivia is finally asleep. Let’s show Aly her things.”

  Viviana’s face brightened and she stood. “Yes. Come, Aly. I have your things on my bed. Everything is just as Niko ordered. I am so happy he has found a good Italian woman.”

  “What he’s found is an American woman. A woman who’s only here for a few days.” Alyson followed the women down the hall. Too many thoughts swirled through her mind. Niko lost the woman he loved to The Red Hand. Now that organization was after her. No wonder he was hell-bent on destroying them. Maybe he was transferring his feelings for Hae-Won to her. Maybe he really didn’t care for Aly. What if she gave her heart to yet another man who couldn’t love her?