A Woman to Treasure Read online

  tapped her index finger against her cheek and waited him out.

  The man stared at her and appeared to be trying to control

  himself. He wore a beautifully cut suit and nice Italian dress

  shoes. On his lapel she saw a simple pin of a circle with a

  cross. The vertical line of the cross was at the center of the

  gold circle, but the horizontal was closer to the top. Opus Dei.

  “I’ve come to offer you a deal you shouldn’t turn down.”

  He sat without an invitation, and the waitress placed another

  espresso before him without asking.

  “My name is Baggio Brutos, and my employer would like

  to pay you fifty thousand euros for the scrolls you just

  purchased. You’re making a profit already.”

  “Thank you, but I’m not interested in selling.”

  “Sixty thousand is my final offer.”

  “Do you promise?”

  Brutos appeared confused. “Promise what?”

  “That it’s your last offer.” Her grandfather was the only

  one who laughed at her joke. “If it is, my answer is no, and my

  grandfather and I can go back to our coffee while you walk

  away.”

  “Name your price and I’ll talk to my client.”

  “Mr. Brutos, you had the opportunity to buy this morning

  at the auction, but that window has closed. Your desperation

  makes me think selling would be a mistake even if I was

  tempted to do so.” She nonchalantly texted her contact

  Claudette at the auction house and asked her to take care of

  her purchases in accordance with plan C. Brutos was still

  sitting and staring when she finished.

  “Here’s my card.” Brutos stood and placed it next to her

  cup, tapping it loudly with his knuckles. “Call me when you

  change your mind. I know how to find you.”

  “That sounds so ominous,” she said, maintaining eye

  contact.

  They watched Brutos walk away with a slight limp. Men

  like that who acted as if they lived in a bubble where nothing

  or no one could hurt them made Levi want to make them

  bleed. Her phone buzzed—she needed to make a reservation

  for dinner to thank Claudette for the errand she’d run for her.

  “That was interesting,” her grandfather said. “Did you

  have Claudette mail my stuff too? I’d hate to lose my finds to

  that asshole if he tries anything.”

  “We’re both probably acting paranoid, but of course.” She

  finished her coffee and dropped some money on the table.

  “Let’s go get your book so I can deliver you to your room.

  Mail errands require dinner.”

  “Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

  “Opus Dei are unpredictable when it comes to antiquities.

  They’re not as powerful as they once were, but their searches

  have more to do with burying history than bringing it to light.”

  They entered the auction house and she picked the same seats

  even though there was more of a crowd now. “The Mother

  Church wants a certain perception put out. Anything that

  changes or questions the carefully crafted message is stifled.”

  Cristobal raised his paddle when the bidding started on the

  book he wanted. “And you think childish musings are a danger

  to the church?”

  “I have sixty thousand reasons to think it’s something else.

  No one offers that much for something worthless. I think my

  instincts were spot-on.”

  “The bid is eighteen hundred,” the auctioneers said. “Do I

  hear two thousand?”

  Cristobal raised his paddle. “You know what we’ve always

  taught you.”

  “Life’s simply the next adventure, and that’s true, but this

  is more like a mystery.”

  “Then get to it. I’m curious as to what you’ll find. Men

  like Brutos are the real plague of humanity. Zealots seldom

  learn anything from history.”

  “I’m curious myself, and I promise not to share it with

  Brutos once I find it.”

  ✥ ✥ ✥

  “Are you listening to me?” Zara Hassani sat on her sister’s

  desk and tapped her heels on the side.

  “I haven’t decided yet. It’s been almost a year since I’ve

  had any time off, and I was looking forward to the summer.

  Sometimes doing nothing is the way to go.” Yasmine deleted

  every email and sent a message to everyone in her class that

  there’d be no extensions or assignments for extra credit.

  “Remind me in the future to stick to women’s studies. These

  history courses for freshmen are a nightmare.”

  “Doing nothing for three months is the real nightmare, and

  you know they all fall in love with you in that class. They

  spend their college career pining over you once they’ve gotten

  a taste.” Zara poked her in the ribs with her foot, making her

  laugh.

  “Why are you here again?”

  “To talk you into taking this offer. You know all you’re

  going to be doing here is ditching Mama’s attempts to marry

  you off.” Zara poked harder. “A trip to the States would

  relieve both of us of all that nagging.”

  “I don’t remember inviting you along, if I do decide to go.”

  She laughed when Zara pouted. “Okay, I’ll think about it. Now

  get out of here so I can get back to work.”

  Yasmine was an oddity in her family, not because she was

  able to support herself, was highly educated, and wasn’t afraid

  to stand up for herself but because she had no interest in

  marrying. Her job at the University of Marrakech wasn’t

  something she’d willingly give up in order to please a man,

  and she had yet to find a man who’d willingly step aside and

  let his wife shine.

  She pulled her hair into a ponytail and grabbed her

  briefcase. Her last class of the day was her favorite, a great

  group of young women who wanted to learn what their role in

  modern Morocco could be. The sight of her boss walking

  quickly toward her made her want to hide behind a tree, but

  he’d already seen her.

  “Professor Hassani,” Emir Rami said. The formality had

  started when Yasmine had turned him down for a date. It’d

  taken six times, but her lack of interest had finally penetrated

  his testosterone-soaked brain. “Tulane would like an answer

  by tomorrow if at all possible. They’ll be disappointed if you

  turn it down, but I’m willing to send someone else.”

  “I’ll give them a call. Thank you, and if there’s nothing

  else, I’m late for class.”

  “Your mother invited me to dinner tomorrow night. I look

  forward to seeing you there. We have so much to talk about.”

  He gave her the creeps, with his graying hair and hard

  eyes, but her mother was trying to pave the way to a marriage.

  “I hope you have a wonderful time, but I have an engagement

  planned.” Never mind that it was watching the next season of

  the show she was binging on.

  “That’s disappointing.”

  “On so many levels.” Yasmine stepped around him and lost

  her smile. “Excuse me. As I said, I’m late.”

  The classroom
was empty when she arrived, and she stared

  at her watch. She wasn’t so late that her entire class would’ve

  left. Any confusion disappeared when she saw who was sitting

  in the first row of her lecture hall. Nabil Talbi was the head of

  Morocco’s Foreign Intelligence. Before she took the position

  with the university, she’d worked for him.

  “Did you scare off my students?”

  Nabil was still a handsome man, but the scar that marred

  his left cheek gave people pause. “They took some convincing,

  but I was nice about it.”

  “You do remember I don’t work for you anymore?” She

  put all her stuff down and stared at him. “Did you miss me?”

  “From the moment you decided on this boring existence

  instead of the work you did for me.” Nabil’s smile widened,

  and it made her laugh. “It’s never too late to change your

  mind. You should remember that.”

  “The time I spent with you was special, but this is what I

  love doing.”

  “Please, I have people kissing my butt all day long.” Nabil

  put his hands up. “You’re the only person in my life who has

  never done that—don’t change now. I’d never take you away

  from these kids. My nephew is in your beginning history class,

  and he raves about you.”

  “Now who’s kissing butt?” She moved to sit by him and

  kissed both his cheeks. “You seldom leave the palace in Rabat.

  Seeing you here means you either did miss me, or you need

  something.”

  “We intercepted three messages from Algeria that require

  your special talents.” Nabil and his staff spent most of their

  days chasing down terrorist threats that came from less stable

  areas. Their leader, King Driss VI, had done plenty to bring

  women into prominence, and he also quelled and dismissed

  anyone who tried to seed terrorism within their borders.

  “Are you sure? There have to be plenty of people at your

  disposal who could do this.” Yasmine loved her country, but

  like her mother, the government had specific ideas on the life

  she should be leading. Once she gave in, it was a slippery

  slope to being sucked in completely.

  “You trusted me once, Yasmine. What’s changed?” Nabil’s

  tone became serious, but his expression radiated kindness.

  “My sister reminded me today of people’s expectations for

  my life,” she said, shrugging. “The expectations of others, and

  they’ll push until I either give in or have to give up on

  relationships altogether.”

  “My expectations for you are to stay here. How will I find

  the next Yasmine Hassani to make my job easier unless you’re

  in the classroom molding young minds into something

  extraordinary?” His smile was warm, and she believed his

  words. Nabil’s world didn’t have room for flights of

  romanticism and empty flattery. “Until I find this wonderful

  person, I’ll come by and ask for favors. In honor of our

  friendship I’ll try not to overburden you.”

  “Do I need to come in or can I take this with me?”

  Most of the terrorists working around them spoke in code.

  One of the cells must’ve read about the code talkers of World

  War II, Navajo tribe members in the US Marine Corps who

  transmitted messages. The language was so unique to the

  Navajo people the codes were never broken. Now the modern-

  day bad guys were using old tribal dialects to do the same

  thing. That had been her specialty when she’d worked for

  Nabil. History buffs were good at old tribal dialects, and with

  some government training, had become good at breaking

  codes.

  “Consider it homework you can do on your way to

  America. It’s not high priority, but I want something in place

  to decipher these should this become a recurring issue.” Nabil

  handed her the folder and jump drive sitting next to him.

  “Sometimes we must walk in the past to understand our

  future.”

  “And sometimes our past should be left buried.” She

  accepted the items and squeezed his hand. “I’ll call you as

  soon as I have something. I’m not even going to ask how you

  know about my invitation to the US.”

  “Good, that’ll save me from a stern lecture.” Nabil laughed

  as he slapped his hands together. “Go, take your sister, and

  enjoy the food. You could use a few pounds. While you’re

  gone, perhaps your mother will find a new interest besides

  trying to marry you to the imbecile you work for now.”

  “Get out before you sound any more like my sister.” She

  kissed his cheeks again and put the files he’d brought in her

  bag. Her students started to come back, meaning they’d been

  released by Nabil’s people. “Let’s get started.”

  Those words held meaning for more than the lecture. Her

  mother not only wanted her married but believed in signs.

  Yasmine had no idea what Nabil’s appearance meant, and she

  wasn’t looking forward to finding out if it pushed her in the

  direction her mother wanted her to walk in. She was a grown

  woman, but in their culture, she’d never truly be an adult until

  she had a husband and children. That was the way of their

  world, and it was her mother’s job to make sure she

  conformed. Failure would not only shame her family name,

  but her mother would bear the burden as well. No matter what

  Yasmine wanted, she couldn’t do that to her.

  ✥ ✥ ✥

  Ransley Hastings let his mind wander as he stared

  unseeing out the window of his study. Most would consider it

  a dreary day, but he loved the rain—had from the time he was

  a boy. Rainy days meant staying inside with his grandfather

  and hearing the stories of their family’s rich history.

  His grandfather loved to say they were educated and

  enlightened men forced to bear a world full of philistines.

  Their family had been central to the forming of what people

  now knew as Opus Dei, but in reality it had started way before

  then. Their Catholic faith had a difficult history, but like all

  Hastings men, he was committed to the cause.

  “What makes you so sure this is of any value to us?”

  Baggio asked Ransley. Baggio had flown back to London to

  get him to authorize more money. “From your report, this isn’t

  worth our time.”

  “I haven’t finished my research, and I might be wrong

  about the historical significance. It’s where they were found

  that gives me pause.”

  “You should’ve mentioned this earlier. I would’ve been

  more insistent, sire.” Baggio only used the title Ransley

  preferred when he wanted something.

  Despite their long history, the Hastings family had never

  achieved a title of any consequence. But in the order, he was a

  lord like his ancestors before him. “We need this, so do

  whatever you have to in order for the Montbard woman to see

  reason. If not, go back and see if you can get this some other

  way that won’t require a large bank draft.”

  “Yes, sire. I
’ll keep you informed and head back in a few

  hours. What you’re asking will require more than just me,

  however. I trust that’s acceptable?”

  “Get it done.” Ransley was having Cardinal Richard

  Chadwick for tea and perhaps dinner, and didn’t need any

  distractions. Ransley had found a true partner in Richard, and

  they’d enjoyed each other’s company from the time Richard

  had entered the seminary. Richard’s rise within the Church

  was due to the Hastings family’s influence, and he had never

  forgotten it. They shared the same worldview, which made it

  easier to achieve Ransley’s ultimate goals. The Church had to

  give up on the liberalism that had started to take root,

  especially under the current pope.

  “Cardinal Chadwick, sir,” the maid said after a brief knock.

  “Richard, so good to see you. How was Spain?”

  “Relaxing and reflective.” Richard embraced him before

  they headed for the sunroom. It was a perfect place to enjoy

  the weather. “Sometimes you have to get away from the

  phones and other distractions to remember our purpose.”

  “You were missed, my friend.” Ransley waited for the

  maid to finish laying out the tea service before continuing. He

  personally poured Richard’s cup as the door closed, leaving

  them alone. “Did you have a chance to have your meeting?”

  “We were able to use the Samos monastery.” Richard

  nodded as he took a sip of his tea. “It’s out of the way enough

  to serve our purposes. The cardinals who attended were

  receptive to the message and to our plans.”

  “The world needs us now more than ever.” News sources

  were becoming a burden as the world spiraled more out of

  control without the right spiritual guidance. “It’s time for a

  spiritual rebirth, and to put the Church back into the hands of

  men who know how to rule it. Once we’ve achieved that, the

  world will follow and fall to their knees.”

  “All this talk of equality, women’s place in history, and the

  minorities’ place as our equals has to be done away with. That

  is God’s will and our duty to carry out.”

  Ransley was reminded of his father when Richard spoke

  passionately like this. Their charter wasn’t simply to

  reestablish Christian ideals in society but to assure that it was

  men like them who had the loudest voices and the most power.

  “The Illuminati had the right idea when they infiltrated world