The Paris Connection

by Cerella Sechrist

  “You haven’t heard?” Aurora asked.

  “Heard what? I just got back from lunch.”

  “She is here.”

  “She?”

  “The American boss. Lillian Reid.”

  Emma sat back on her heels. Lillian Reid was here? Had Julien or Cole known she was coming? If they had, neither man had bothered to inform her.

  “Where is she?”

  “In the conference room with Julien and Cole. I think...” Aurora trailed off and then met Emma’s eyes, her own wide and ringed with the same tension that seemed to have everyone at the office on edge. “I think they are waiting for you.”

  Emma blinked. “Me?”

  She felt a moment’s panic at the same time she heard her name.

  “Emma.” She looked up to find Cole approaching. She searched for signs of uneasiness, but he appeared completely relaxed. He was even grinning with amusement, as if finding her on the carpet beside Aurora had made his day. “There you are. You’re needed in the conference room.” And then, belatedly, “What are you doing on the floor?”

  “Marc ran into Aurora, and she dropped these files. I was helping her gather them up.” She began to struggle to her feet, but he came and offered her a hand and then another to Aurora.

  Aurora thanked him, gave Emma an almost pitying look and moved on. “What’s gotten into everyone around here? They act almost...frightened.”

  Cole laughed. “Lillian can have that effect on people, I’m afraid.”

  This statement caused Emma to hesitate when Cole tried to place his hand on her back to move her forward.

  “You have nothing to worry about,” he assured her. “She’s brought good news.”

  “Did you know she was coming?” She tried to keep her voice from sounding accusatory, but she hated being left out of the loop.

  “I didn’t,” Cole admitted, “but apparently Julien did. He picked her up from the airport this morning.”

  “Shouldn’t he have told us?”

  Cole shrugged. “I guess he wanted it to be a surprise.”

  Emma didn’t much like this sort of surprise.

  She allowed Cole to rest his palm at her back and guide her along. She knew she shouldn’t have dwelled on how comforting it felt to have the reassurance of his touch, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. Since they had kissed, he rarely placed a hand on her. Feeling his steady touch, she realized how she had missed it. He led her in the direction of the conference room and, once they were over the threshold, dropped his arm. She felt a physical ache at the loss of it.

  All such longings were soon forgotten as she stepped into the room, and Julien rose from his seat while Lillian looked up at her entrance. If the woman brought such good news, as Cole said, why was her expression so cold?

  Emma moved toward the table, her hand extended. “Ms. Reid, what a lovely surprise. It’s a pleasure to see you again.”

  Lillian inserted her fingers briefly into Emma’s, and the touch was every bit as chilly as her expression.

  “Likewise, Ms. Brooks.”

  “Please, call me Emma.”

  Lillian nodded but gave no such offer for Emma to do the same. She shifted her gaze to Julien, who was smiling rapturously in the older woman’s direction. Huh. Well, that was interesting.

  “Emma, why don’t you take a seat?” Emma did as Cole suggested and felt a small throb of disappointment when he took the seat across the table instead of the one beside her.

  Lillian consulted her watch and cleared her throat. “Well, now that we’re all finally here, I’ll proceed.”

  She leaned down and pulled several brochures from the briefcase Emma spied resting on the floor. She slid them toward her and Cole.

  “The Twenty-third Annual Corporate Recruiting and Sourcing Conference,” she announced.

  Emma picked up the glossy paper and scanned the same words Lillian had just read. The title of the conference, along with the dates and a photo of professional businessmen and women, graced the cover, superimposed over the conference venue. Her eyes moved down the page to see it was being held at the Towers International Hotel Suites in Manhattan, New York City.

  She slid a glance at Cole, who had turned the brochure over and was reading the back. She looked to Julien, but he was still staring at Lillian, so she swiveled her gaze in that direction to find Lillian eyeing her.

  “You want us to attend?” She glanced at the dates again and then back to Lillian. “But it’s in two weeks. We can hardly make arrangements—”

  “I already have,” Lillian informed her.

  “Excuse me?”

  “I’ve already made arrangements. You and Cole will be featured as guest speakers at a seminar on the topic of company mergers and cultural executive relations.”

  Emma knew she must have been staring and sensed that maybe her jaw had sagged in her surprise. She tried to gather her wits and say something, anything, but she was too stunned to reply.

  “That’s fantastic, Lillian.”

  Emma managed to turn her head in Cole’s direction when he spoke these words. She finally found her voice. “But it’s in two weeks. We can’t come up with a presentation in two weeks’ time.”

  “Of course you can,” Lillian said, her tone condescending. “Julien assures me you’re a most capable woman, Emma, and I can certainly vouch for Cole’s abilities. Between the two of you, it should be no problem.”

  Emma knew better than to protest further. She also recognized it would do no good to point out to Lillian just how uneasy the idea of speaking at a conference made her.

  “I’ve already had my assistant book your flights and hotel. You’ll be staying at the Towers Resorts, where the conference is being held. Of course, Cole is already familiar with the city, so you should have no issues in that regard.”

  “With all due respect, Ms. Reid, perhaps it would be better to send one of the senior recruiters. Cole and I have our hands full running—”

  “I am fully aware of what all has occurred on this side of the ocean, which is precisely why I pulled some strings to arrange your presence at the conference. Those leaked candidate files made us look incompetent, at best. Your presence as speakers at the conference will reinforce our reputation, remind the corporate world that we are still the best at what we do.”

  Emma couldn’t argue with this logic. Lillian had a point. Her mind began planning the details, wondering if Melanie would be amenable to watching Avery while she was away. She certainly couldn’t leave her with Jacqueline after last time. Her former mother-in-law had only recently been discharged from the hospital and was back home, recuperating in Le Mans.

  “Well.” Julien pushed back from the table. “I am sure Cole and Emma have much to plan concerning their presentations at the conference. And I believe you promised me a few hours of your time, madame.”

  Emma watched in awe as Lillian shifted from her somewhat haughty demeanor to a much softer one as she looked at Julien.

  “I believe that I did.”

  The two stood and offered their farewells as Emma worked to catch Julien’s eye. He hadn’t looked at her once since she’d entered the room, and though she didn’t expect any sort of coddling, it was still aggravating that he hadn’t even acknowledged the enormity of the task Lillian had presented. He left the room with barely so much as a nod in her direction.

  She watched him exit the glass doors of the conference room with Lillian’s hand on his arm. When she turned back, she saw Cole watching her.

  “So, it’s going to be just you and me, Aquitaine. You still have my back?”

  And that’s when the full weight of it hit her. It would be her and Cole, together for almost five days, just the two of them on a trip across the ocean to New York.

  She wondered what Solene wo
uld have said about that.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  THAT NIGHT, EMMA tossed and turned until the early hours of the morning. She felt uneasy about speaking at the conference, unsure of her own abilities. The thought of an auditorium full of expectant peers caused her stomach to twist unmercifully. She had managed to arrange things with Melanie and was surprised to find that Avery was more disappointed in not seeing Cole for several days than she was about her own mother leaving. She teased her daughter about this, but Avery made her reasoning clear.

  “Cole is fun. He makes you laugh, Mommy. And I laugh, too.”

  Emma certainly couldn’t argue with that logic, but it made her think about her conversation with Solene from earlier in the day. Could working for Léon Professional be the answer? Could she really turn her back on Julien and work for his rival? What would Cole even think of her for doing such a thing? But the promise of a promotion within a year’s time and the possibility of dating Cole tempted her. She wondered if Cole was even still interested after she’d rejected him.

  She’d called Solene briefly to tell her the news. Her friend wasn’t attending the conference, but she said there were a few others from her office who were. She suggested Emma take the opportunity to meet with them while in New York. Emma had made no promises since she wasn’t sure how she’d explain such a thing to Cole.

  She spent that night in fitfulness, finally dozing for a couple of hours in the predawn light before waking and deciding to head into the office early. She might as well get a jump on her presentation. Maybe that would help with the jitters she was experiencing.

  She rose and showered, decided she’d grab breakfast from the building cafeteria later in the morning, left a note for Melanie and snuck into Avery’s room to kiss her goodbye before leaving for work.

  She arrived at the office far earlier than the rest of her coworkers but was grateful for the quiet permeating the floor. Hopefully, she could work without distraction and lay down an outline for the topics she and Cole would be speaking on at the conference. Then, when he arrived, she’d ask him to review what she had so far. The very thought of speaking in front of hundreds of people still left her faintly nauseated, but at least she had a plan in place. She walked toward her office, anxious to get her thoughts on paper, and noticed that the light was already on inside. She frowned and moved closer before she relaxed, noticing Henri in the interior of the room.

  Of course, she hadn’t thought about Henri being in the building, doing his regular janitorial tasks. Hopefully, he was finished with her office, and then he’d have no need to disturb her as she got to work.

  But as she stepped closer, she noticed him bending over her desk. She watched as he settled himself in her office chair and positioned his hands over her keyboard, swiftly running through the keystrokes to access her computer. She frowned. She kept a password on her computer, and she rotated it every three months; but she realized, to her dismay, that the last time she’d changed it, she’d been in a hurry and had simply used Avery’s name and age as the key word. That was easy enough for anyone to figure out, especially Henri, since Avery was a common topic of conversation between them. But what could Henri possibly want on her computer?

  Her mind skipped over a variety of possibilities as to what Henri could be doing. Checking his email? But why invade her privacy and crack her password just for that? He seemed comfortable enough in his actions that she doubted this was the first time he’d used her computer. She felt a ripple of unease, seeing this man, whom she had always thought of as a friendly acquaintance, taking such liberties. If his actions were innocent, why hadn’t he just asked her if he could have access?

  She watched as his hand reached toward the mouse, clearly clicking through several screens. Her sense of betrayal deepened. What could she possibly have stored on her system that he would want? She kept very few personal files on her work server. There were only items relating to Aquitaine, such as the merger documents, client profiles, and... She drew in a sharp breath.

  The candidate name lists. They were all stored on her computer, for every single recruiter in the firm. Files with background checks, personal profiles, skill sets—all of it right there for the taking. Was that what he was after?

  She watched as he typed a bit and then reached toward her desk’s printer, which was spewing out several sheets of paper. Indignation rose in her, and she moved forward, entering her office and waiting for Henri to notice her. He was so intent on his task, however, that he didn’t look up.

  “Did you find everything you needed?”

  The question startled him, and he jumped, his head jerking toward the door. A mixture of relief and chagrin flooded his features.

  “Emma,” he murmured with regret. “You’re here early.”

  “Good thing, too.” She stepped farther into the room and held out a hand, palm up. “Please give me the papers, Henri.”

  He hesitated for only a fraction of a second before turning the printouts over. She glanced down, scanning the information there. She had been right. These were more potential names, complete profiles for candidates in the technology sector. Some of the information was even labeled as confidential. This was a nightmare.

  She looked up. “Why, Henri? Why would you do this?”

  Henri swallowed. “I needed the money. I did not think it would matter too much.”

  “You didn’t think it would matter? Henri, we spend months grooming these candidates, learning their background and skills, making every effort to pair them with the right company and career. How could you think it wouldn’t matter? This is what we do. It’s what Aquitaine is all about.”

  He looked at the floor, and she could see the top of his head, where the hair was beginning to thin. “There are always more opportunities for people like that, the ones in those files. There will always be more chances for them. But someone like me, for my family, there are not as many choices.”

  “Oh, Henri.”

  “I am on the verge of losing my children, Emma. Can you not understand how desperate I am?”

  “Henri, I offered to loan you money. You didn’t have to resort to this.”

  He gave a swipe of his head. “I refuse to bring my friends into this. I wanted to handle it myself. It is for my children, Emma. I would do anything to be able to see them, but the fees for a good lawyer, especially in my case, are considerable. If anyone understands this, surely you can. If someone tried to keep you from Avery, would you not pay any price, do anything, to be with her?”

  Emma felt a knot rise in her throat. If only Brice had shared this man’s passion to be in his child’s life.

  “Your love of your children is admirable, Henri. But you should want them to be proud of you. This is not the way to earn that.”

  He gave a curt swipe of his hand. “I do not care about pride! I only care about keeping my children.”

  She didn’t respond to this impassioned statement but rather considered the situation. Solene had known Henri, when she worked at Aquitaine. Perhaps she had never been as friendly with him as Emma was, but she had joked with him on occasion. “Did you approach Solene with this information? Or did she ask you for it?”

  He shrugged and avoided her gaze.

  “Henri,” she pressed. “Whose idea was it?”

  He looked up. “Both of us,” he confessed. “I contacted her—it was easy to find her phone number on the Léon website. I asked if she knew of any way I could earn some extra money, to pay for the lawyer fees. She said her candidate files were thin and suggested there would be recompense if I provided her with some from this office. She told me what sort of files to look for when I logged on to your computer.”

  Oh, Solene. She had probably seen it as the perfect way to strike back at Julien. Convincing Emma to switch companies would simply be icing on the cake.

  “It was
only the one time,” Henri went on. “This—” he gestured toward the computer, “—was just in case she needed more.”

  “How much did she pay you for the first list of files?”

  “Fifty percent of whatever commission she earned on the placements.”

  Fifty percent. Half her commission on each recruitment. With all the candidates combined, it would seem like a fortune to someone like Henri, more than enough to afford the lawyer he needed. Solene hadn’t done this for the money, though. She’d done it to hurt Julien. Emma was disappointed but not surprised. Solene’s bitterness toward her former employer ran deep. How much of it leaked back onto her? Did Solene resent Emma for staying with Aquitaine, after she had left? Did she begrudge the attention Julien had bestowed on Emma, treating her as his protégé as she moved up the ladder at this company?

  “Emma.” Henri’s voice had become pleading. “No one can know about this. If my ex-wife found out, she would use it as leverage to make sure I never see my children again.”

  Emma felt a weight settle itself in her stomach at what he was asking. “Henri, it was my job to find the source of the leak. I can’t just ignore this, pretend like it never happened.”

  “I’m not asking you to,” he responded. “I’m only asking for a little time, until the custody trial is over. After that, I will come forward myself and confess what I’ve done.”

  “Why not make a clean break of it and tell Julien now? I’m sure he’d be sympathetic to your situation—”

  But Henri was already shaking his head. “I cannot risk it. After the custody is determined, matters can be handled more quietly. I will admit to what I’ve done and seek employment elsewhere. My life will no longer be, how do they say, under a magnifying glass.”

  Emma felt the twist of indecision. If she spoke up now and told Julien what she had discovered, she would very likely be responsible for Henri never getting to see his children again. Was that something she could live with?

  On the other hand, if she did as he asked, she betrayed Julien by not coming forward. But it would cost the company no more than had already been lost. It would only delay things for a little while. Henri would take responsibility for his actions, and matters would be set right. Just in the future instead of immediately.