Page 45 of City of Love

“I wasn’t laughing,” I say, looking at her.

“You didn’t have to. Your eyes are laughing. Plus you do this thing where you shake your head and smile if you think something is funny,” she says, and she sits up too.

Huh. I think she’s right. “Well, laughing or not, I really do have to go to work. I can stay for”—I check my phone again—“fifteen more minutes.”

Lydia heaves a dramatic sigh. “Fine,” she says.

I laugh softly. “You’ll survive without me for one evening.”

“Meh,” she says. “I’m not convinced.”

I find myself shaking my head again—she was right, that’s apparently something I do—and I say, “I’m going to go grab a water from the kitchen. Do you want one?”

“Oh, yes, please,” she says, perking up. “Water actually sounds good.”

I nod. “I’ll be right back.”

I close her door as I leave the room. Because while I will get water, I also need to grab a few things to take tonight, preferably without her seeing. I’m not sure how I would explain taking my knife to work, or my lockpick set. So I slip into my room and shove them in my bag before going to the kitchen and pulling two bottles of water out of the refrigerator.

When I get back to Lydia’s guest room, I hand her a bottle and wave away her thanks.

“Your phone alarm went off while you were gone,” she says, pointing to my phone and then opening her water.

I pick my phone up and curse internally when I see the reminder. All it says isMontparnasse, Baudelaire, 21:30, but I don’t want Lydia to know anything about tonight. Before I can close out of the calendar alert, though, Luc calls.

I hold one finger up to Lydia, who nods, and then step out of the room, closing the door behind me. Luc’s voice is all business as he says,

“Ready?”

“Ready,” I say.

“Am I bringing my piece?” he asks.

I shake my head, even though I know he can’t see me. “No guns,” I mutter, keeping my voice low. Lydia’s French skills, I’ve learned, aren’t proficient enough to keep up with a quickly spoken conversation, but I still don’t like talking about it while she’s around. “A blade is fine, but keep it hidden,” I add.

“Will do,” Luc says. “I’ll meet you by the gates at 21:30.”

“Bring one of the guys if you can round someone up,” I say, making a last minute decision. “Not Vic or Louis.” Vic is who got us into this situation in the first place, and Louis can be a bit of a loose cannon. “Anyone else though.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Luc says. “Oh, and it turns out I do need to borrow that tool box. Can you bring it?”

“Yeah,” I say. “See you there.”

We hang up, and I slip my phone in my pocket before returning to Lydia. “Sorry,chérie, I’ve got to go.”

“All right,” she says, looking at me. “Have fun.”

I refrain from telling her that tonight is not going to be fun. Instead I just give her a little wave and then step out of her room, grabbing my compact tool box and zipping it in my bag before I leave.

It’s time to finish this mess.

Chapter 15

Lydia

Ithink Noel might have understated the illegality of his nonprofit work a little. Or maybe a lot. Amazingly, I manage to keep a neutral face as he says goodbye and then leaves.

I didn’tmeanto eavesdrop. It just sort of…happened. And in my defense, I wasn’t even paying attention to his conversation until I heard the words “arme à feu” and “couteau.”

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