Chapter 295: How Shall I Respond?

Chapter 295: How Shall I Respond?
Pierre Bronsnic's POV:

I had to reread the message. I needed to make sure I understood everything that Mathias had said before I sent my response. The question is, how shall I respond?

This time, I continued to have our conversation in French as I read the message that allowed, as I said, "Michel was sent a message from someone with whom I have been working recently. You all know this particular individual. More importantly, the man he works for."

I remained silent for a moment as everyone looked around at themselves before I finally made my statement, giving them a name. "Mr. Trent."

Everyone nodded in agreement as if they completely understood the situation. This country is not very big. In less than 6 hours, you can literally drive from one side of the country to the other. It was nothing like being in the States. Three hours later, and you'd still be driving in the exact same state, let alone driving through another country.

"The particular individual who sent this part message to Michel is named Mathias," I said as I continued to explain the situation at hand. "He is the right-hand man of the person I just named. Now, some of you are already aware that we have a guest with us. If it wasn't for Mr. Trent and Mathias, along with the rest of his men, she wouldn't be sitting in the vehicle."

"Sir," Lucas said, as he was usually my main person to gather specific information and then pass it on to Stuart. He was the go-to here in France. "If only there was a way to have prevented this..."

"Nothing you could have found out previously could have prevented anything that has happened while I was away," I told him.

I continued to stand there as I looked at him standing there on the opposite side of the circle of men. He tried again to say something, and I raised my hand, knowing full well what he was going to say.

"I'm not worried about it. The fact of the matter is that without Mr. Trent and Mathias's help, she wouldn't be here. But the matter of fact stands. She is. She's had it rough, but not at all as I would've shown her. No, I take that back, she has had it worse than rough. She was tortured and not in a good way," I said as I openly admitted that.

Everyone here knew what I did. Everyone here worked for me in some form or another. They were all employees. I was their boss, but I never had them call me that. That made me sound like some mafia character or something like that.

I didn't run an illegitimate business when I ran my business meetings. Or when I met with prospective clients. I ran a legitimate business. One that I think Donovan could definitely take some key pointers on, but that is neither here nor there.

"Let me get back to the matter at hand. So that I can get her out of the vehicle and inside into a more comfortable setting," I said as I raised both of my hands, one still gripping the phone that Michel had previously given me.

"Sir, when will we be able to get to meet her?" Owen asked me at that moment.

The rest of the men started nodding their heads. This was actually the very first time that I have brought a woman back to my. The rest of the women who participated in my activities had their own places. So, I could see why this was a big deal.

"In due time, gentlemen... in due time," I said as I tried to get them to settle down again for a moment. "For now, let me read this."

I handed the phone back to Michel for a moment, so that he could unlock it. When he was ready, he handed it back to me so I could read the message on the screen.

"Now, before I start, you may not understand everything, but just know that everything will be explained in time."

"The message reads: Hello, Pierre. I got wind that you had an interesting trip on your way home today. Mr. Trent didn't feel at liberty at the time to tell you that he had a car following you. No, please take note, it was for your safety and that of the lovely Miss Celia. He was concerned for her sake, considering what happened to our convoy."

"That's not like Mr. Trent to send a car," Owen added his comment right then as I took a breath.

"No, I do agree with you, it is not," I said as I looked up for a moment and then around at all the faces staring back at me. "However, this particular circumstance is not at all like we have previously encountered."

"What else does the message say?" Lucas asked right then.

"He didn't want me to let you know that we know who was behind the attempt. The individuals who were found in the vehicle were not... Exactly... Let's just say we need to discuss this in person and out over an open line."

"What does that mean?" Antoine asked, speaking up at that moment as he was seriously confused by the way I read the text.

"Is there anything else?" Sean asked right then, hoping to get to the end of the message.

"Yes," I said as I looked back down at the phone, scrolling up a little bit more. "I will contact you again with the date and time at which we can discuss this in person. Take care for now. Talk soon."

"That's kind of vague," Lucas said as I reached over and handed the phone back to Michel.

"I completely understand where you're coming from, Lucas," I said as I took my hands into my suit pants pockets. "However, we deal in legitimate dealings. Yes, you all know what I do. You all work for me. You all are security for me, to maintain the safety of everything that I have. However, some people do not view their dealings as legitimate. They run illegal operations."

"We can discuss this all later," Michel said, speaking up at that moment as more of my men had questions about the issues of hand.

"I will leave the matter up to Michel," I said as he walked up to stand beside me. "Any further questions you can ask him. He was there... Well, most of the time."

When I made that last statement, I turned to look at him. I even reached over and placed my hand on top of Michel's shoulder, squeezing it slightly, knowing that he had had a tough time on this particular trip. This was not supposed to happen in the way it did. But there is one thing that I know for sure. It is far from over.

"As for now, I have more important business to attend to," I said as I turned my back on everyone and headed up to the main vehicle up front.

The other drivers walked around and proceeded to pull around Stuart's vehicle.