by Estelle Ryan
“I can’t do this.” I took a shaky breath. “I just can’t do this.”
Colin and Vinnie looked up from their reading material. They were lounging on the sofas in the living area. While I had been in my room, getting ready, they had also changed. Colin looked elegant and handsome in a way that made me think of my first description of him. He looked mysterious and suave, James Bond suave. Vinnie looked even more like a Mafia enforcer than before. The tuxedo pants, blinding white shirt and a bow tie did not soften or civilise his look at all. He looked dangerous.
Their eyes stretched as they took in my attire. I frowned when they continued to ignore my declaration. They were blatantly looking not only at my ankle length sapphire dress, but their eyes lingered where the dress softly flowed around my hips and hugged my torso. It was when Colin’s eyebrows lifted and his eyes rested on the tailored bodice hugging and improving my cleavage that I put my hands on my hips.
“Don’t look at me like I’m a painting you want to steal.” It felt good to speak in annoyance rather than the panic threatening to cripple me.
Colin stood up and walked towards me. “Jenny, if you were a painting, I would steal you and look at you all day, every day. You are breathtaking.”
“Oh.”
Vinnie smiled and also got up. “Colin is right. You look beautiful, Jen-girl. You’ll steal the limelight tonight.”
I cringed. “I really don’t want that.”
Vinnie looked at Colin as if asking for his help. When Colin only smiled at him, he sighed. “I’m going to say the wrong things, so I think it’s best I go.”
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“To pick up my date for the evening.” He took his tuxedo jacket from the coat tree and shrugged it on. I didn’t know much about men’s wear, but I was convinced that Vinnie’s tuxedo had to be tailor-made. No off the rack suit would fit over his muscular thighs and broad shoulders. “I’ll leave Colin to do the talking. But you must know, Jen-girl, you are a beauty and I’ll be watching your back the whole time tonight.”
His sincerity calmed me, even though his words reminded me why I couldn’t do this. I blinked a few times, trying to smile. I couldn’t. “Thank you, Vinnie.”
He opened the door. “See you guys later.”
“See you, Vin.” Colin was standing next to me. We watched Vinnie close the door behind him. I couldn’t help another sigh escaping my lips. Immediately Colin gently took my hand in his. “What’s bothering you?”
I turned to him, with my hand still in his. It surprised me that I drew strength from his touch, but at the moment I needed it more than my need to understand it. I curled my fingers around his hand and held on tight. “I can’t do this, Colin. I can’t go in there with all those people looking at me.”
He pulled on my hand and led me to the sofas. Once we were seated he enclosed my hand in both of his. “What would happen if people looked at you, Jenny?”
I shuddered. “They will know.”
“Know what?”
“That it’s all a lie.” I waved my other hand around. “That I’m a social disaster.”
Colin was quiet for a long moment, studying my face. “No, I don’t think that is what is worrying you. What is really worrying you?”
My eyes flashed in surprise. Colin was much more astute than I had thought. It took me three false starts before I had enough courage to speak. “I’m scared.”
“Of what?”
“That I’ll be attacked again. That you, Manny and Vinnie will get hurt. That I won’t be able to do anything about it. That I won’t be able to identify Piros. That I won’t – ”
“Whoa, Jenny. Slow down.” Colin squeezed my hand and leaned a bit closer. “You are not responsible for us, to protect us. It’s the other way around. We will be there to protect you. Leon and the GIPN team have the safety of the young artists under control. All you have to do is study people. You know, like you do in cafés, in your viewing room, when I don’t give you the answers you want.”
His last comment elicited a small smile. It didn’t stay very long. “But there will be a lot of people. They’ll be touching me.”
“I’m touching you now.” We both looked down at my hand between his.
“It’s not the same.”
“No?”
“No.” I looked for a way to explain this. “There’s no logic to this. I don’t know why, but I feel safe with you. I trust you. When other people touch me, it feels like they’re attacking me, like they’re draining my energy. Your touch calms me, it makes me feel protected. It really doesn’t make sense. You’re not as strong as Vinnie. He could protect me better. No, this feeling really has no rational grounds.”
Colin laughed softly. “It’s only because of your extreme rationalisation that I won’t take offence.”
“Why? Did I say something wrong?”
“No, Jenny, you didn’t.” His soft smile held hints of affection. He was quiet for some time. “I have an idea. How good are you at dissociation?”
“I excel in that. Sometimes that is the only aid I have when I find myself in a social setting.”
“Great. So here’s my suggestion. When we are at La Maison Russie, you could hold my hand or my arm and only focus on that touch. You can think of it as an anchor.”
I considered it, playing possible scenarios in my mind. “I like it. An anchor. You will be my anchor.”
It was only a glimpse, but I saw Colin’s pupils dilate a moment before he closed his eyes on a pained chuckle. When he opened his eyes, I only saw friendship. I had been so absorbed by this case that I never considered the emotions I experienced around Colin. A frown pulled my brows together when I realised I would have to spend time identifying the individual emotions to see if attraction was amongst them.
“Jenny?”
I shook my head to clear it from irrelevant thoughts. “Yes?”
“I asked you if you’re feeling better now. Are you ready for tonight?”
“No.”
He was surprised by my answer. “Why not?”
“You will make me feel safe from the crowd. But you can’t protect me from Piros and his army.”
“You’re right, I alone can’t protect you. But we have Vinnie, GIPN, Leon and even Millard.” His lip lifted as if smelling something bad. “He is very good at his job and won’t let anything happen to you.”
“You consider him competent, but you don’t trust him. Why should I trust him?”
“God I hate saying this,” Colin groaned. “Millard is one of the finest detectives I know. He’s also a good person. And I do trust him. Just never tell that asshole I said this.”
“Why not?”
“First he’ll gloat and then he’ll take advantage of it.” He must have seen the confused look on my face. He was contradicting himself and I needed clarity. Colin sighed and shook his head. “Our history is long and not pleasant. We have a kind of love-hate relationship.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
His hands tightened around mine while he seemed lost in thought for a few minutes. I gave him time to gather his thoughts. Maybe I wasn’t the only one who needed an anchor. Resolve tightened his lips and he took a deep breath. “I used to, um, appropriate art.”
“Steal?”
“Shit. All right, yes, I was stealing. That was a long time ago.”
“Before the poets?”
“Long before the poets.” A small smile lightened the seriousness around his eyes. “I was good, very good. But I was fast going down a very bad road. I was an arrogant young shit, thinking that I was above the law. There were, of course, quite a few law enforcement agencies trying to capture me, but I was too good. But there was one detective who got close a few times.”
“Manny?”
Colin grunted. “He was good, but I was better. He was on my tail for four years and almost got me three times. As much as he studied me, I also studied him. I think he still hates me for knowing so much about him.”
/>
“You respect him. I can hear it in your voice.”
“He is an asshole, but a very good detective. And fair. I have a lot of respect for that.” It fascinated me that Colin would be angry to admit this. “I usually worked alone, but during one particular job I met Vinnie and we just sort of clicked.”
“An instant rapport?”
“Yes, that. He was... no, that’s his story to tell. Anyway, I used to work alone, but Vinnie came in handy a few times when I needed an extra set of hands or eyes.” His hands tightened around mine again and he took a shuddering breath. “I was contracted to steal a Rembrandt from a museum’s conservation centre. It wasn’t a one-man job, so I asked Vinnie’s help. I had the painting and was ready to leave when I got to Vinnie. He was standing over the body of a museum security guard.”
“Oh my god! Vinnie killed someone?”
“I thought so at first, until I saw the devastation on Vinnie’s face. The guard wasn’t supposed to be in that area, but for some reason appeared out of the blue. Vinnie didn’t expect it and when the old guy showed up, Vinnie did his intimidation thing and the old guy had a heart attack.”
“Oh god, that’s awful.”
“Vinnie was in shock. He took full responsibility for the man’s death, but I knew that he would never survive prison.”
In a flash a few things became clear to me. “You sent Vinnie away and phoned Manny?”
“How do you know this?” He suddenly looked suspicious.
“Vinnie’s loyalty towards you and the way you care for him. I knew that there had to be something very strong to bind the two of you together like this. But I must admit, I didn’t expect something so dramatic. Phoning Manny would be in character for you. He was someone you respected, albeit reluctantly, and you knew he was fair.”
“I really should never get on your bad side, Jenny. You see everything. Yes, that was the reason I phoned Manny. One of the reasons I can’t stand the man is the way he gloated when he arrested me. But I had my revenge.” He grinned. “He had interrogated me for only an hour when he was called out. When he returned three hours later, he was furious. His bosses had ordered him off the case. I think he’s still got a bug up his arse about that.”
I let the last comment go unexplained. “Why did they order him off the case?”
He sighed. “They were the devil and offered me a deal.”
“Are you referring to the metaphor?”
“Yes, I am. I made a deal with the devil that night.” His gaze intensified and I knew that the next sentence was going to be significant and extremely confidential. “The price of my freedom was to work cases for Interpol in an unofficial capacity. They had intel on a lot of artefacts stolen during conflicts, but officially couldn’t do anything about it. They needed someone to get those pieces back without any connection to Interpol. And I fell into their laps.”
“You are Robin Hood.”
Colin laughed. “Trust you to use the one metaphor I abhor.”
“Does Manny know that you work for the good guys?”
“No. Only three people at Interpol know about my work. Most of the cases were so politically sensitive that a hint of this could’ve caused wars.” He grew quiet for a moment. “It was the best thing that could have happened to me. I don’t want to think about where I could be today if I didn’t start thinking about my actions. These cases also opened my eyes to a lot of humanity’s inhumanity.”
“Why don’t you tell Manny?” It was only a glimpse, but the micro-expression on Colin’s face made me utter a shocked laugh. “You enjoy him not knowing. You are outwitting him.”
“And I’m trusting you with this.”
“Of course. And four other people.”
“Hmm?”
“Five people know about your work. Three people at Interpol, Vinnie and I. Five people.”
Colin nodded soberly. My breath grew short with the importance of what Colin had just trusted me with. We sat in silence, lost in our thoughts. It took a few moments for me to identify the emotions pressing on my chest. Respect, admiration and a curious tenderness for the man next to me overwhelmed me.
For once I gave in to my impulse, leaned over and gave Colin a soft kiss on his shaved cheek. “You’re a good man, Colin Frey. A very good man.”
His shock at my atypical display of affection was interrupted by my doorbell, followed by a loud knock.
“That would be Manny.” I pulled at my hand, but Colin didn’t let go.
“I’ll get the door. Stay here.” He got up, walked to the door with strong steps and opened it only enough to peek through. “Wait here. Don’t argue, Millard, just wait here.”
I blinked at Colin’s tone. He had always been mocking and condescending towards Manny, never commanding in a non-negotiable manner. That must have been the reason why I didn’t hear Manny argue as the door closed. Colin walked back to me and took his place next to me again.
“Jenny, if you don’t want to go, I will support you in this. Millard is waiting for you, but I’ll deal with him.” He leaned in and made sure I was looking into his eyes. “If you decide to go, I will not allow anything to happen to you.”
“Oh, Colin, you can’t make that promise.” I closed my eyes, breathed deeply a few times and reached inside myself to analyse my feelings. “I’ll go. If Manny is as good as you say and I can hold your hand, I will feel safe enough.”
A smile pulled at his lips, but he swallowed it away. He got up and held out his hand to me. “M’lady?”
I put my hand in his and let him pull me up. He weaved his fingers though mine and walked to the front door. He briefly let go to put on his jacket, but immediately took my hand again before opening the door. A scowling Manny was leaning against the wall across from my front door. “What’s going on?”
I was too shocked at the sight of a cleanly shaved Manny dressed in an immaculate tuxedo to answer.
“I’ll be Jenny’s date for the evening.”
“Not going to happen, Frey. You’re not going. There is no way that you have an invitation and I’m not getting you inside. Not happening.”
“Au contraire, my dear Millard.” Colin pulled an enveloped from the inside pocket of his jacket and waved it at Manny. “My invitation.”
From one second to the next, Manny’s expression changed from annoyance to suspicion. “Is that invite real? Where and how did you get that?”
“I’m not without my resources.”
It was his quick glance at me that had the realisation crash through me. He acquired the invitation through Interpol. I bit my lips to refrain from saying anything and tried to focus on something else. It wasn’t difficult. Manny’s transformation was very distracting.
“You look fifteen years younger,” I blurted. “And you’re actually handsome.”
“Oh for the love of god, Doc.” Manny’s scowl was back. “You’re not going to distract me from refusing to allow Frey to join us.”
“I wasn’t trying to do that. You really look younger.” I decided to stop this line of conversation when Manny’s lips turned into an angry thin line. “If Colin doesn’t go, I won’t go. He’s my anchor. And his invitation is real and legitimate.”
“What is she talking about?” Manny asked Colin.
“She needs me.” Colin squeezed my hand. “I’ll be by her side the whole night. Now if we’re done with this conversation, our transport is waiting.”
Without waiting for Manny’s response, Colin led me to the elevator. Angry footsteps followed us after a moment.
“We’re going in my car.” Manny started an argument on why we should go in his car. I lost interest in his diatribe and went over the details of what I knew about Piros in my head. I didn’t pay attention to the arriving elevator car and blindly followed Colin when the doors opened to the ground floor. I needed to make sure that I hadn’t overlooked anything concerning Piros. A shocked silence brought me back to the present and I found myself between the two men at the entrance my buil
ding. Parked in front of us was a limousine.
“There has to be something illegal about this.” Manny stared at the long vehicle in disbelief.
“Nothing illegal or wrong with a bit of style. Don’t you agree, Jenny?”
I lifted a shoulder. “Will it get us to the event?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s go before I change my mind.”
Manny continued to grumble, but he followed us to the car. His arguments to use his car forgotten. The driver was standing at the open passenger door and received a scowl from Manny when he greeted him. I was too nervous to allow rudeness or the lush interior of the limousine to have any effect on me. It was awkward, but I didn’t let go of Colin’s hand when I entered the vehicle first. With conscious effort I relaxed my panicked grip on his hand, but he immediately tightened his hold. I truly hoped that I would have some time tomorrow to analyse the relief and feeling of safety I drew from Colin’s touch.
I leaned back against the seat and allowed Colin and Manny’s conversation to wash over me. They seemed to have reached a truce and were talking about the security procedures taken by GIPN. Colin seemed to understand all the coded police jargon. I didn’t care to ask. My only concerns were to not get lost in my head and to pay close attention to everyone at the event. Above all, I was motivated to put an end to this case.
Too soon we stopped. I looked out the window and saw a circular driveway with a line of limousines dropping off elegantly dressed couples. We waited our turn to reach the entrance and the doorman opened the passenger door. Manny got out first, followed by Colin. Still holding my hand, he assisted me until I stood between him and Manny. When the latter uttered an inelegant groan, I glanced at him and then followed his line of sight.
Waiting by the door was Vinnie, looking marginally less dangerous because of the woman next to him. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in real life. Tall, with the exotic looks of a few races mixed in one, she looked like she walked off the front page of a glossy high-end women’s magazine. The kind of magazine I never read. Vinnie said something out of the corner of his mouth and she laughed without any inhibitions. I liked that.
“Who’s that?” I asked Colin as we moved towards them. Vinnie glanced at our entwined fingers and narrowed his eyes for a second before he gave me a beautiful true smile.
Colin didn’t answer me until we were within handshake distance of the couple. “Jenny, I would like you to meet Francine. Francine this is Doctor Genevieve Lenard.”
“Oh my god, you’re gorgeous.” Francine took a step closer. “I would love to hug you, but I won’t. These guys told me a lot about you, but they never told me that you were so beautiful.”
“You are Francine?” I stared at her in shock. “You are not the only one from whom such knowledge was withheld. In a classic sense you are much more beautiful than I.”
“Should we start a mutual admiration club for you two?” Manny was angry. He was being sarcastic. When he wasn’t glaring at Vinnie, he aimed his hostile gaze at me. Why he was furious with me, I did not know.
“And who is this delightful gentleman?” Francine fluttered her eyes at Manny. I was sure she was being acerbic. His scowl intensified.
“Francine, this is Manny Millard. Millard, Francine,” Colin said.
“You’re the one who–”
“Works very hard for good people and you are the law,” Francine interrupted him with a sharp edge to her words. Manny narrowed his eyes and then nodded in acknowledgement of something unspoken. I didn’t know what that something was. Before I could ask, Francine pointed at the front door. “The party has already started. Shall we go in?”
Chapter TWENTY-EIGHT
