“How is he in bed?” His voice dropped to a sensual rumble.
“Incredible.”
“The best you ever had?”
“I wouldn’t want him to get too cocky.”
Jack laughed. “He’s cocky now.”
“Maybe I should go,” I teased, pulling away. “You are in a hospital, after all, and I’m not the only person who wants to visit.”
“No.” He lay back on his pillow. “Tell me more. What happened to the necklace?”
“Chloe got the information for claiming the reward from the Dark Web. We did the exchange behind the museum at night. Everyone wore a mask so there was no chance we’d be able to identify each other. Chloe set up a Swiss bank account and we handed the necklace over as soon as she verified the money was there. The next day Garcia called me to let me know the necklace had been found in a storage drawer in the museum and all charges against Chloe and me had been dropped.”
“Did you give everyone their share?”
“Yes, we did. Rose gave Cristian part of her money because he did save us when we were in the office, and he was the first to volunteer to come and find you. We also got paid for the wedding gig. I was terrified when Mr. Angelini called me to the house, but he just wanted to pay me and thank me for our service. He said we’d done a good job despite the fact someone had stolen some priceless statues from his office, and his daughter had poisoned the priest, betrayed him by having secret affairs with both Gino and Ben, run away with something valuable, and was now being charged with attempted murder, accessory to murder, and various firearms offenses. I think he was actually proud of her. He said she was her father’s daughter.”
Jack’s laughter filled me with joy. There had been moments in the last two weeks when I’d thought I would never hear it again.
“Mr. Angelini wasn’t even angry when I told him the marriage wasn’t valid,” I continued. “He said it saved the groom from having to get an annulment. And do you know the best part?”
“What was the best part?”
“He said he’d give us a five-star review and recommend us to his friends!”
Jack brought my hand to his lips and kissed each one of my knuckles. “I thought the wedding planning gig was a one-off for the heist.”
“Chloe and I are going to give it a go for real,” I said. “I loved being in charge. I loved sourcing things and talking to the vendors. I loved organizing everything and working with the team. I loved dealing with last-minute emergencies, and I loved seeing it all come together at the end. This is what I’ve been looking for since I started college. This is my passion. I’m going to take it on full time. Chloe is coming in part time. She decided to be brave and find her passion, too. She sent out some résumés and within days she got a fantastic job as a white hat hacker. Everyone else in the crew said they’d be happy to pitch in with my business as a side hustle while they follow their own dreams.”
“I had dreams,” Jack said, his voice quiet, his gaze drifting to the window. “I used to dream about a normal life—a house with a garden, a job in a museum, friends without criminal records, someone to love—but then there was a night when everything went wrong. I had to make a terrible choice and Mr. X will never forgive me.”
My mouth opened and closed again. I’d given up my expectations of Jack sharing anything about his mysterious past. “Jack . . . I’m so—”
“How about the others? Are they still around?” He was getting tired now. His eyes were beginning to droop, and his face had softened.
“Cristian got his rental with the big backyard and adopted his rescue huskies. He’s already started getting things set up for his new wildlife show, and his first episode is going to be about elephants.”
“No more life coaching?”
“He still does his coaching. I think he enjoys it more than he lets on.” I wasn’t the only person who’d gotten a few referrals after the wedding.
“What about Emma?”
“She’s still driving her Uber because she likes meeting interesting people, but she’s decided to get into Formula One like her dad. It’s an expensive sport but she’s excited to get started. She and Anil have been spending a lot of time together.”
“Is he still living at home?” He laced his fingers through mine. I’d missed our connection, our easy banter, the way he looked at me like I was the only person in the world.
“He moved in with Emma the day after we got our money. They’re both mechanically minded and they’re inventing a new kind of drone together. She promised she wouldn’t try to set him up with anyone although she seems to have a lot of cousins his age who come to visit. He sent you a bag of apples.” I gestured to the bag on the table beside a vase filled with peonies. No one knew where they’d come from, and they’d started to wilt after only a few days.
“And Rose?”
“She enjoyed her drop from the ceiling so much, she signed up for a course in aerial arts for seniors. She’s doing it all: aerial, cirque, trapeze, and pole dancing. She’s talking about leaving the theater and joining a circus. Chef Pierre finished his course and went back to France. She dumped Stan because he couldn’t keep up—her words, not mine—and now she’s with some guy she met in her new play. We’re going to see her perform next week. You should come.”
“I can’t stay,” he said. “I’ve got another job.”
“How long?”
“A week. Maybe two. As soon as I can travel.”
His words hit me like a blow to the chest. I hadn’t realized how much I had hoped he would stay, but now that I knew it was over, my heart felt like it was cracking in two.
I leaned over and kissed him firmly on the lips. “Then we’d better make the most of the time we have.”
Thirty-Three
Chloe and I sprawled on the bed in Rose’s partly renovated suite in a state of semi-inebriation. We’d spent the day moving my stuff from my parents’ house to my new apartment and had come to check in on Rose and say good-bye to my old place.
“Babe?”
“Yeah?” She twisted the knob at the end of the bed. It had been Rose’s bed when she was a girl, and even though it was badly water damaged, she refused to give it away.
“I found the perfect office space,” I said.
“Here?” She giggled. Chloe always giggles when she’s drunk.
“It’s only a few blocks from Olivia’s new school. You won’t have to worry about child care. She can come and hang with us after she’s done.”
Chloe turned to face me, resting her head on her elbow. “You didn’t need to do that.”
“I wanted to do that.”
“Cristian thinks we should change our name,” Chloe said. “He said Simply Elegant doesn’t fit a bunch of misfits.”
“What did he suggest?”
“Nothing.”
“Typical Cristian.”
“Yeah.”
“Anil had an idea,” she said. “It works for both heists and weddings. He suggested The Wedding Crew.”