CHASING GHOSTS | BUCKY BARNES

10

A/N: DOUBLE UPDATE? YES, SIR

To celebrate 1.5K reads, I decided to re-release this chapter. Buckle up, this one's almost 3000 words.

Enjoy!
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"Si lo tocas, responderás a mi. If you touch him, you'll answer to me."

NADINE

They headed out to the central patio. Like the ballroom, the concrete mansion had wooden arches and the walls were painted in a cream color. The floor was made of some type of marble instead of the mahogany wood that defined the ballroom, but it was elaborate still. She expected nothing less when it came to François Gauthier.

They sat at one of the wooden tables, watching the various guests that moved freely around the area and the caterers that offered drinks and food. Kaia was the first to break the silence, "I expected you and Emilia to be alone."

Nadine hadn't realized that Kaia's gaze had settled on Bucky. The French woman raised a perfectly trimmed brow in suspicion at the man beside her. "He's a friend," Nadine assured, giving her a smile.

"I know who he is," Kaia replied sharply, which made Bucky tense in apprehension. She felt his hand circle around hers under the table, as if worried that she'd reveal his identity any minute. "Relax, joli garçon, I don't care about what you've done. I do care, however, about someone recognizing you and ruining everything."

"Says the woman who looks like she could topple Troy," she retorted in the same forceful tone, her eyes narrowing at her jab towards Bucky. "Why are you here, Kaia? If you slipped up, you should be on the first train out of France, not parading around François's face while threatening to reveal his secrets."

"Did you not notice the people here, Dina?" Kaia asked, her accent more noticeable with her urgent tone. "This is more important than my life. You should understand that."

Nadine sighed in an exasperated state. What the hell did she get herself into? "Then help me understand. What are we doing here?"

"François's art gala is a facade, as you already figured. The real product he's selling is a gem."

"A gem?" Bucky questioned, confused. "You're kidding, right?"

"No, it's true." Kaia kept her gaze neutral when addressing him. Better than the territorial look she had before. "It's said to be powerful. Some type of, eh, how do you say, um... extraterrestre."

Alien. "You mean it's alien?" Nadine asked in disbelief. Really? It couldn't be something human, like a nuclear weapon, perhaps? No, it had to be alien.

"Yes, alien." Kaia confirmed, tapping her temple in annoyance for having forgotten the translation. "It's alien technology. I don't know what it does, but if François is going to sell it to one of these people, it can't be good."

She sorted through the different faces she had memorized from the gala, chewing on the inside of her cheek as she did so. "Who've you confirmed to be here?"

"The Bratva, the Triad, some private parties..."

"The Hand?" Please, not the Hand.

"I don't know about the Hand," she confessed, and Nadine could hear the frustrated tone she had because of it. Kaia didn't like it when she didn't know things. "But the Mussolini gang is here."

"Mussolini?!" Bucky half-shouted, and Nadine squeezed his hand as a warning to keep his voice down. She hadn't noticed that they hadn't let go yet, but she didn't move to change that. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's just... I'm not caught up on history, but please tell me he's not alive somehow."