Page 38 of Keeping Her Secrets

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Mustique had spent the better part of the last two hours trying to ignore the girl who owned her heart. A child she’d never stopped loving in all the years since they had been parted. That Leonie had grown into such a beautiful, strong, and vibrant young woman made Mustique proud, but with that came an almost crushing sadness that she’d had no part in it.

She glanced up from where she sat at the bar as Ash stood to take a call. His eyes flashed to hers, and she knew it was Jake with an update. The evening had been quiet so far. Hanley had arrived at the event with his wife, as had Hashemi, and Senator Craven was also in attendance. The gala honored children from around the globe who’d survived horrific acts of war and violence and endeavored to do more than survive.

“Is he your boyfriend?”

Mustique had been deep in thought, but Leonie’s words had her refocusing her attention. She tilted her head, unsure how to answer the direct question and unable to tear her gaze away from her child whose eyes matched hers and whose cheekbones belonged to Mustique’s own dead mother. “It’s complicated, but I guess he is, yes.”

The teen smiled wistfully. “You’re lucky. He stares at you as if you’re the most beautiful woman in the world. I bet men fall over themselves for you.”

Mustique fought the surreal feeling in her mind that they were having such a conversation. “I hadn’t noticed.” But that was a lie. She had noticed how Ash looked at her, and she loved it.

Men had always found her attractive, and she’d learned to play it down, a long time ago, and ignore the lustful stares that meant nothing. She’d had lust and it’d cost her everything. But Asher was different; he looked at her with love as well as lust.

“Well, he does. I wish boys looked at me that way.” Leonie sighed.

Mustique’s hackles rose at the thought of some boy taking advantage of Leonie like Ben had taken advantage of her. “You don’t want a boy who looks at you like that. You want a boy who will show you with his behavior and his actions how special you are. Looks, like teenage boys, can be fickle. Make sure the boy you like wants you for who you are inside, not what you look like on the outside.”

“That’s what my mom says.”

Mustique felt her heart constrict. “She’s very wise.”

As the words left her mouth, a shot rang out from beyond the door to the lounge.

Mustique was on her feet in a second. “Get down,” she hissed as she rushed for the door, pulling her weapon as she did.

Leonie was clearly terrified but immediately dropped and hid behind the sofa, her frightened gaze focusing on the older woman. Standing to the left of the open door, Mustique threw her phone at the teen. “Call 911 and get police and paramedics here. Tell them it’s a home invasion, and the perpetrators are armed.”

Leonie nodded, and Mustique heard her orders being followed as she peered around the doorjamb and down the hallway to the open patio door. Her heart lodged in her throat at the sight of Ash’s beloved and familiar form on the ground, his body still.

Mustique scannedthe interior of the lounge, even though she’d memorized the setup, and assessed the situation in a second. There were two entrances into the room, and their best chance of getting out of there was the one leading to the kitchen. Her instincts were screaming at her to run to Ash to see if he was breathing and to get him help, and her heart broke as she closed the door and left him. Her job was to keep Leonie safe, not just as her guard but as her mother.

She approached the girl on silent feet and crouched to face her. The house was quiet, and she knew that whoever had breached security was already inside. God knew were the other guards were—Mustique had to assume they were out of commission or compromised. She’d faced life or death situations like this dozens of times and never trembled, and, with the most important thing in her life on the line, she wouldn’t start now. “Leonie, we’re going to head toward the kitchen. Stay behind me and do exactly what I say. Do you understand?”

The girl nodded, and Mustique saw panic in her eyes, but it was shrouded with determination.

“Good girl.”

Taking her daughter’s hand, she stood and hurried toward their intended exit, putting herself between Leonie and any threat. Opening the door, she saw the hallway was clear, and, with their backs to the wall, they ran, stopping when they reached the entry to the kitchen. Mustique poked her head around the corner, and a bullet flew past her, hitting the wall behind them. A scream sounded, and Leonie hit the as Mustique returned fire at the man shooting at them. He went down, and she saw the body of one of their guards was on the floor behind him—most likely dead. How many assailants was she facing? Grabbing Leonie’s hand and pulling her to her feet, she whispered, “We’ve got to move.”

Pushing open the door, Mustique entered first and fired on the familiar man facing her, as she shoved the teen behind the kitchen island. She then crouched beside Leonie, her lungs expanding at the shock of seeing Ben Rensburg again.

“Marisol, come out. You don’t have backup, and nobody is coming to save you.”

Staying out of sight but trying to get a read on his position, she peeked around the island and saw his legs. He was moving toward the far edge of the island, trying to get behind them.

“What do you want, Ben?” She pushed Leonie to crawl silently back in the direction of the door they’d come through before trying to distract Ben from the girl’s presence. But she didn’t act fast enough, and as soon as Leonie moved, Ben jumped forward, grabbing her.

Mustique’s hands found nothing but air as she reached out to save her child. “No,” she screamed as Ben Rensburg wrapped his arm around Leonie’s neck and brought her close to his front.

Every thought in her head was tinted red as she saw the man she’d once loved, the sperm donor, hold a gun to her daughter’s head. In that second, she wanted to yell and throw herself at him, to bargain with the very devil to keep her safe. It took every ounce of training Roz had ever instilled in her to stay calm. It was the only emotion that would get them out of this situation in one piece, and, at this point, all she wanted was for Leonie to be safe and unharmed.

“Ben, don’t do this.”

He tilted his handsome head and assessed her. Even evil was attractive, and those who thought ugly always showed on the outside were fools. Ben was still a beautiful man, with thick blonde hair, smooth skin, intelligent brown eyes, and a body that had only improved with age. His current sneer was the only thing that detracted from the effects of his striking face. “Don’t do what, my sweet Sol?”

She had always hated that nickname but had tolerated it because she’d loved the man. “Don’t hurt her. Take me instead. Whatever you want, we can fix it.”