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He stepped back fro to et back, the jeweller and the clothes will be here Don’t leave the hotel until I get back The press are still out there’

Aiesha threw hilare ‘You can’t tell me what to do’

He opened the door, pausing to look back at her before he left ‘I just did’

Aiesha waited until she saw James leave the front of the hotel in a cab before she picked up her coat and purse She was not having him tell her what she could or couldn’t do She needed fresh air and she was going to go out and get soht to order her about as if she had no will of her own

No ht

She slipped out of a side door and ed to escape the attention of the press because a minor member of European royalty arrived and the cameras switched their focus on them instead

The streets were slippery and icy fro snow and a breeze that felt as if it had icicles attached sharpened the air She put her head down against the cold and walked at a brisk pace to get warm Paris was beautiful, no matter what the season, but with the Eiffel Tower and every building and bridge and cathedral spire painted white with snoas particularly picturesque, giving it an old-world, timeless feel

Aiesha walked along the banks of the Seine, where conical pines stood like powdered sentries along the whitened pathway The park benches lined along the ere encrusted with virgin snow, for no one had sat down and lingered there to take in the view due to the bitter cold

She walked for over an hour and then began to retrace her steps and was only a few blocks fro a thick dark coat was dragging a s behind hi pulled along and riggling and shaking its head fro foul in French and dragged the dog into a nearby alley

Aiesha’s blood ran as cold as the ice beneath her feet Her heart started to thump so loudly she could hear it in her ears Her sto conditions, sweat broke out on her brow Her legs felt as if they were stuck in the pavement, her ankles held there by steel vices

But then she heard the little dog yelp and she was galvanised like a sprinter leaping off the block when the starter gun was fired ‘No!’ She ran screa all over the place like a newborn foal on ice skates She fell painfully to her knees and scra so frantically she could barely speak ‘No, please don’t hurt him Please don’t hurt him’

The man looked at her as if she were a crazed idiot Even the little dog took one look at her and cowered behind its owner’s legs ‘You are crazy, oui?’ the man said