Chapter 54

I was pleased my uncles were getting along so well, but sometimes they were very confusing.

I placed my phone on the dresser and did some rapid calculations. Knowing Mark, he’d have the pilot push her jet to the max, but while getting from DC to Paris could be a seven or eight hour flight, with the time difference, I could count on an additional six hours. Mark could arrive in Paris any time after midnight.

I went into the sitting area, where Mother was reading in the original Russian the copy of War and Peaceshe’d brought with her. She looked up and smiled. “Ready for lunch, sweetheart?”

“Slight change of plans,” I told her.

Her eyebrow arched, and she marked her place in the book, closed it, folded her hands, and waited.

“Mark has a job to do in Paris.”

“Does this have anything to do with Valentine?”

“No. Val is safe.”

“I’m pleased to hear that. What happened?”