Illeanna Read online

  “It’s fine. Go ahead, Leeza, deliver it before it gets cold,” Illeanna stated just as firmly, and Leeza hurried out of the kitchen.

  “I am not responsible for the complaints that will return with the uneaten food,” Jacque blurted out and made sure that everyone in the kitchen heard his statement. How could they not? He was always on a pedestal.

  Illeanna went back to cooking and preparing the next order of her shrimp-and-sausage étouffée. Little did Jacque know that it was the most popular item on the menu this afternoon. She had wanted to be sure to create an exceptional main course on the “specials” menu since Senator Millan Pierre was dining at Carlile’s for a luncheon.

  She continued to ignore the pompous jerk and focused on cooking the food. Out by the front door the maître d’, Walter, was peeking in looking a bit frazzled.

  “What’s going on?” Jacque asked.

  “Uhm, the senator would like to see the chef who cooked the shrimp-and-sausage étouffée.”

  Illeanna looked up, surprised that the senator was already there and had eaten already. No one had come in to warn her.

  “Is he pleased?” Jacque asked as he began to walk toward the kitchen doorway and Walter as he untied his front apron.

  “Yes, very pleased. All the guests at his table are.”

  “I will be but a moment,” Jacque stated then began to fix his hat and his apron jacket, being sure that all the buttons were buttoned. Illeanna was shocked. That son of a bitch is going to take credit for my work.

  “I will tell him that you will be out momentarily,” Walter said then walked back out of the kitchen.

  * * * *

  Their laughter could be heard throughout the dining area. Although the restaurant contained a private room with its own back entrance, other patrons knew that someone of importance was dining at Carlile’s today. Private Investigator Louis Boudoux and his brother Julien were following a lead on a job they were working. They were following one of Senator Pierre’s associates, Jean Phillips, after his wife had hired them believing that her husband was cheating on her. Little did they know that the man was not only having multiple affairs, but it appeared that he was involved in some illegal activities that could destroy the senator’s reelection. They didn’t have all the proof yet, but they were working on it.

  Louis was just happy to be at Carlile’s so he could possibly get a glimpse of Illeanna. He and his four brothers shared an equal attraction to Illeanna, but whenever any of them tried to make a move, she would blow them off. It was getting more and more difficult to keep away from her, especially when other men came sniffing around her. Then a few months ago when her sister Angelique had gotten caught in some trouble and was nearly killed, they worried about Illeanna and her sisters. It just wasn’t right for five young, beautiful women to be handling so much on their own. At least the Lafont brothers had convinced Angelique to get into a relationship with them. Angelique was pregnant, building a new company, and expecting babies. That’s what he and his brothers wanted with Illeanna.

  Louis rubbed the whiskers on his chin and exhaled. Man, it would be something else to have Illeanna be their woman and be pregnant with their child.

  “Hey, where you at, bra?” Julien asked through his secret mike located on his wrist. Louis nearly jumped at the sound of Julien’s voice coming through the earpiece.

  Louis raised his hand to his chin and quietly spoke into the mike up his sleeve.

  “Sorry. I’m back. I was just hoping for a glimpse of our little chef.”

  “Yeah wouldn’t that make this detail worth it? Hey, did you get a look at those two guys that just came in through the side room near the kitchen? I couldn’t see their faces,” Julien asked.

  “Negative. I’ll check it out,” Louis replied then began to move toward one of the said two men, who were a few feet from Jean Phillips.

  The classical music was playing in the background, lots of people filled the restaurant, and the senator looked as if he finished his meal and was looking around for someone.

  “Where’s the chef? I want to compliment them personally on a job well done. I absolutely love this dish. It’s my new favorite,” Senator Pierre stated, and Louis felt his heart begin to pound inside of his chest. He was going to see Illeanna. And then he thought, she was going to blow his cover and Julien’s. Shit!

  Before Louis could think his next thought, chaos filled the room as one of the men pulled out a gun and fired it at Jean Phillips. Simultaneously someone came through the kitchen doors announcing that they were there. Louis feared that it was Illeanna and that she was going to get shot. As he turned all he saw was the white of the full chef uniform then another shot rang out. It happened so quickly as the two men ran from the room and entered the kitchen through the opposite swinging doors.

  Louis and Julien ran toward the doors just as the senator’s guards did the same thing. A quick glance to the floor and he knew that it wasn’t Illeanna who had gotten shot but the other chef.

  “Step away from the door!” someone yelled, and Julien swung around, ready to assault the senator’s bodyguards just so he and Louis could get to Illeanna.

  “Police undercover!” Julien yelled, but Louis headed straight through the doors, gun raised and ready.

  * * * *

  Illeanna was aggravated, especially as the entire kitchen staff stood there dumbfounded and just as irritated as she was that Jacque was taking all the credit for the meals she prepared.

  “Don’t worry about it. Let’s just keep working,” Illeanna stated as she moved around the counter and went to pick up the pot she dropped after Jacque stated that he was the one who prepared that particular meal.

  “How can you be so calm, Illeanna? I would be freaking out right now,” Leeza stated, and others added similar comments.

  “He’ll get his. Don’t worry, eventually he is going to have to actually cook a good meal and serve it to someone,” Illeanna said, chuckling, then stopped as she heard what sounded like gunshots.

  In an instant two men rushed into the kitchen from the side room entrance. Other men came storming in, guns drawn. It happened so quickly. She saw the guns, saw the men’s faces, and then saw both Julien and Louis pointing guns at the two men. One turned as if he were going to hurt Louis or Julien, and she shoved the man before he could shoot. The other guy grabbed on to Leeza then shoved out of the way toward the men, and Leeza went flying onto the metal dish-washing station. Other people screamed as they saw the guns. They fell to the floor or went running from the kitchen, but Illeanna froze in place, her concern solely on Julien and Louis.

  “Freeze, asshole!” Louis Boudoux yelled, and the men behind him that looked like secret service guys dressed in dark suits yelled, too, with guns drawn.

  The one guy headed out the door, but his partner went to pull Maria, an older woman who worked in the kitchen, up by her hair, and Illeanna slammed the pot she had in her hands at his hands. “What the fuck?” he yelled then twisted around and grabbed Illeanna around her neck. He reached for one of the cutting knives as the men began to attack.

  Everyone froze, including Illeanna.

  She was shocked at the fear that hit her insides. She wondered what the hell was happening that these men had guns in a kitchen for God’s sake. Were they after the senator? Why were Louis and Julien here, too? They didn’t work for the government. They were private investigators and bounty hunters.

  “Let her go!” Julien yelled, looking absolutely insane and ready to explode. Illeanna felt the man step back with her toward the back door.

  “There’s no place to run, man, the back door is covered with more cops,” another man with a gun wearing a dark, navy-blue suit stated. Louis and Julien gave him a look as if saying that was a stupid thing to say. She thought about it a moment and realized that this lunatic would feel trapped. Either way, he was going to be arrested, and adding murder to the list might not bother him.

  “Call them off o
r I swear I’ll kill her,” the man holding the knife against her neck stated. She felt the pinch of the metal against her neck below her ear and the smell of onions on the blade. Only moments ago Maria was cutting the vegetables to add to the dishes they were preparing. How did this go so wrong? What in the world was she in the middle of?

  “You’re not going to kill her, man, ya gonna let her go, and we gonna talk, you and I,” Louis stated in a rich Cajun accent that made Illeanna’s toes curl. The Boudoux men were rugged and sexy men. Specifically Louis, with his shoulder-length black hair making him appear wild and untamable. But with the wildness came trouble and trouble she didn’t need.

  Illeanna tried to move her throat away from the knife.

  “Quit moving, woman, or you dead,” the man stated and squeezed her tighter.

  Illeanna stood on her tiptoes, trying to remain where the man wanted her to.

  He was about a half a foot taller than her and built thin but muscular. Illeanna was about five feet seven inches tall, so this guy had to be about six feet. The Boudoux men were all over six feet tall and built to perfection. How could her mind keep focusing on the Boudoux men instead of her own life right now? She could die at any moment.

  The man was beginning to panic. She could feel his arm tighten around her midsection, but the blade was no longer flush against her skin. She could feel the bit of blood trickling down her neck, and immediately she felt herself begin to shake.

  “Please let me go. They got you, honey. There’s no place to run and only more damage to do to make you suffer more. Please,” she whispered, and he squeezed her tighter against him, making her gasp for air.

  Both Louis and Julien stepped forward raising their guns, their elbows out and their eyes squinted with their fingers on the trigger and demanding that he release her.

  “You let her go. She didn’t do nothing wrong. She’s not part of this,” Julien stated firmly. She looked at both of them, hoping that they could stop this man from killing her. The gunman was silent for a moment as if contemplating his next move. She stared at Julien and Louis. The thought that she may never see them again made her lose her breath. Tears filled her eyes.

  Both men were strikingly handsome with jet-black hair, except Julien kept his short and military-like, while Louis kept his long to his shoulders. It looked silky and wild just like Louis’s personality. She swallowed hard and closed her eyes as the man lifted her feet off the ground and carried her back toward the door.

  “Don’t do it,” the man in the dark suit stated just as the man holding her whispered against her neck. His lips touched her skin making her flinch in disgust. “You’re gonna help me.”

  She held Julien’s gaze and saw the anger in his eyes. His muscular face looked beet red despite his tan complexion, and the vein above his right temple pulsated as he watched.

  “Open the door, sexy, you’re coming with me,” he told her, and she knew that if he got her out of that kitchen and into a car that she would be in way more serious trouble than she was in right now.

  He lowered the knife so she could turn the handle and when she did, he began to look over her shoulder to see if in fact there were other police outside the door and sure enough there were. That’s when she made her move. There were five steps leading out the back door to the parking area below. She didn’t know shit about self-defense moves, only what she had seen on TV. Illeanna grabbed his arm, twisted and flipped him nearly over her, but he weighed so much more and apparently was used to fighting because he took her with him. That was not how the move looked on television. They tumbled down the five concrete steps with her swinging most of the way. He yelled and struck back, but before their bodies even came to a halt, men in dark suits pulled the man up off the ground and arrested him.

  * * * *

  “Goddamn it, Illeanna, what the hell were you thinking?” Louis yelled as he immediately fell to the ground beside her, patting her down and looking over her injuries. He was never so scared in his entire life.

  Her long black hair was pulled back into two braids behind her and appeared messy from her tumble. Her head had a cut and a scrape along the temple and forehead, and her neck was lightly bleeding.

  “Is she okay? It looks like the uniform saved her from scraping up more of herself. What the fuck, Illeanna?” Julien added as he, too, began to look her over and make sure she was okay to stand.

  “I’m fine. What the hell was that all about anyway? What were you two doing here?” she asked, looking as if she hadn’t just been held by knifepoint by some hit man. That’s exactly what Louis and Julien thought as well as the Feds. Except they weren’t after the senator. They were after Jean Phillips.

  Louis touched her face and felt the fear begin to subside. He knew that she could have been killed, and he was pissed that she risked her life to stop the guy from evading capture.

  “Why did you get in the way?” Louis asked.

  “He was going to hurt you. It was just instinct,” she stated as he raised his eyes and she turned away.

  “You trying to tell me that suddenly you care about us?” he asked without thought. The damn woman was on his mind continuously. She filled every one of his fantasies, and he could have lost her today.

  She pulled away from his touch and began to try and stand.

  “Let us help you,” Julien said as he grabbed her one arm and Louis grabbed her around the waist to help her. To be this close to her, to touch her and breathe her in meant so much. It had been too long.

  “Please, Louis, I can handle this,” she stated softly and almost as if she was forcing the words from her lips.

  It was obvious that she was hurt elsewhere by the way she cringed as she stood up.

  “What else hurts, Illeanna? They have the paramedics in the front of the building,” Julien asked as she stood and tried to move away from them.

  Neither would allow it as both Julien and Louis held her firmly between them.

  “You can let go of me now,” she stated toward Julien, and he held her gaze.

  “We could have lost you. Damn it, Illeanna,” Louis stated firmly as he held her gaze.

  Her green eyes were captivating, and he missed being this close to her. Close enough to get a good look at her skin, to be inches from feeling her body close to his, and to touch her.

  “Excuse me, but we would like to have a word with this young woman,” some guy in a suit stated as he held a notepad in his hand and a few other men joined them. In the distance Julien could see other law enforcement personnel arriving on the scene.

  “Are you okay, miss?” the man asked her as he looked her over and smiled. Julien and Louis remained by her side.

  “Who are you?” Louis asked on the defensive, and he didn’t care how he sounded.

  “I’m Federal Agent Mertoff. I’m part of the senator’s security detail. Who the hell are you?”

  “We’re private investigators.” Julien answered before Louis.

  “While he’s talking to her, I’d like to talk to the two of you,” another man in a suit stated, sounding obnoxious.

  Agent Mertoff cleared his throat and looked at both Julien and Louis.

  “This is my partner, Agent Barkley. He’ll need both of your statements, why you two were here at the restaurant, et cetera.”

  “We’re not leaving her,” Louis told the agent firmly with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

  He saw Illeanna touch a finger to her forehead and wipe the blood that was dripping away from her eye.

  “I think she needs medical attention. We can walk her over toward the medics and have a talk there,” Agent Mertoff offered, as he seemed to pick up on Louis’s attitude.

  Louis knew he could appear intimidating. All of his brothers had the same kind of look, especially when they were ticked off. Right now, his main concern was Illeanna and her safety. The business of why they were there at the restaurant could wait until later.

  “You two kn
ow her?” Barkley asked as he eyed them as if they were criminals.

  “She comes from the same neighborhood as us. We’ve known Illeanna for years,” Julien offered, trying to be polite as they walked toward the ambulance. Illeanna was limping. Two paramedics quickly began to look over Illeanna. Louis didn’t like Barkley one bit, or the way he was looking at Illeanna now. He couldn’t even focus on the case or their involvement into the investigation. Obviously their part was over, and they would give the Feds any other info they had to help.

  The paramedics had helped her out of her uniform jacket, and she was only wearing a thin, white tank top. Her breasts were pouring from the top. The hem of the tank barely made it to the waist of the baggy white uniform pants, and her hip bones were showing. She looked like a model instead of a victim. But it seemed she had gained the attention of every man in sight. Was it him or was he seriously becoming possessive of the woman? She wouldn’t even admit to the attraction she felt for him and his brothers, yet Louis felt like he was about to explode with jealousy as these strange men cared for her.

  He half listened to his brother Julien explain to Barkley about their profession, who they were following, and their involvement.

  “We’ve been following Jean Phillips for months. He had made a reservation this evening for a suite at the Hilton. We believe that he planned some sort of meeting and then another rendezvous with a young woman we believe to be from one of the local colleges. She is an intern on the senator’s campaign committee,” Julien told the agent.

  “You got a name?” Barkley asked.

  Julien looked at Louis for confirmation to give the name.

  “Sarah Walker,” Julien stated, and then they turned toward Illeanna and the young paramedic. The paramedic seemed to be touching her a lot. Was that really necessary?