Page 5 of City of Love
Luc’s voice interrupts my thoughts. “If Laurent gets wind of this, we’re out a fence. He’s not going to sell something hot like that and risk getting in the middle of a conflict between us and the Saints.”
He’s right. “I know,” I say with a sigh. “Did he already find a buyer for the watch?”
“Yes.”
I swear again, thinking hard. “All right,” I finally say, my mind clearing as I settle into a plan of action. I live for these moments—the moments where I’m in control of a situation, where things are going to go my way because I’ll bend over backward to make sure they do. “You arrange a meeting with the Saints. Neutral territory,” I add quickly. “We’ll ask the Saints for time to replace the watch Vic lifted, and we’ll pass off the stolen watch to Laurent so we don’t force him to renege on his buyer. We can’t risk alienating him.”
“Consider it done,” Luc says, his voice businesslike. And if Luc says to consider it done, I will; he’s the only person in this world I would ever trust to be my right-hand man. He’s my best friend and a jokester to the very end, but when we settle into our business roles, he does what I ask quickly and efficiently.
“What are you going to do about Laurent?” he says, sounding curious.
“I’ve got a couple ideas,” I mutter. I’m already going over our inventory in my head. Usually we turn around and immediately sell what we’ve lifted, but I keep a small backup stash in my flat for emergencies. We don’t have any Rolexes, but…I’ve probably got the funds to replace the Saints’ watch as long as it isn’t one of the higher end models.
“Your girl comes tomorrow, right?” Luc says, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“Where did that come from?” I say, blinking with surprise at the abrupt change in topic.
“I thought if I caught you off guard you would be more likely to answer my questions.”
I frown. “Well, she’s not ‘my girl.’ And she does arrive tomorrow, but I still don’t—”
“Want to talk about her,” Luc finishes, sounding half exasperated, half amused. “You never do.”
“And yet you keep asking,” I say pointedly.
I don’t know why I don’t like to talk about Lydia. I trust Luc completely; Lydia would never have anything to fear from him. Except outrageous flirting, maybe. But it doesn’t have anything to do with trust.
Maybe I just want to keep her separate from the less-than-savory parts of my life. She’s the embodiment of innocence. The less she has to do with my day-to-day life here, the better—for her own sake. I would never let anything happen to her, but I’d rather she keep her rose-colored glasses on and firmly in place.
“She’s going to be here for a month,” Luc says, sounding more reasonable than I’d like. “You’re not going to be able to hide her from me. Or from any of us, really.”
I sit up straighter, a strange fear suddenly surging within me. “You won’t go anywherenearher,” I say. My voice is surprisingly heated. “None of you will. Not without me.” I can hear the warning in my words, but I don’t apologize for it. I just go on. “None of the guys will even know she exists. Do you understand?”
“Whoa,” Luc says, sounding like he’s holding back laughter. “Calm down, man.”
“Luc,” I growl.
“Relax,” he says, more seriously now. “I get it, okay? I get it. We’ll leave her alone. You know I haven’t said anything about her to anyone.”
“Good,” I say, calming down a little. I run one hand through my hair. “Good.”
“We okay?” he says skeptically.
“Yeah,” I say, exhaling slowly. “We’re good.” I hesitate for a second, then add, “Round up the guys and have them all come to my place tomorrow night.” Because the lot of us need to have a talk. If stuff like this starts happening, we’re going to have to shut this whole operation down. This setup only makes sense when it’s doing more good than harm.
And sometimes I think it might not be so bad, closing up shop. Earning money the honest way. Lifting wallets from obscenely wealthy tourists has its charms, especially considering what we do with our earnings, but it’s not sustainable long term.
“Will do,” Luc says, businesslike once more.
“Thanks, Luc,” I say.
There’s silence for a moment, and then Luc speaks. “Can I say something?” His voice is uncharacteristically hesitant, and I sigh.
“You don’t need my permission to talk,” I say, massaging my temples. Since I’m pretty sure he’s going to say something about Lydia, I add, “I just might not say anything back.”
“Fair enough,” he says.
“So?” I say.
