I was hoping we wouldn’t get to this little detail just yet, but Elliott isn’t the sort to leave anything alone.
“He’s a cop.”
He almost knocks his coffee cup over. “You can’t be serious. This is … this is too much.”
“I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.”
“You might be cuffed to it. You realize that, right? If he’s worth his salt, he’s already checking up on you. Once he finds the Interpol records–” He whistles, mimicking the sound of a bomb dropping. “You’re toast.”
“Like I said, when I have to address it, I will. Until then, all you need to know is Marigold is mine, and you will be at my house at 6 p.m.”
He breathes in deeply and lets it out slowly, like a pressure cooker releasing. When he meets my gaze again, he asks, “How did you know?”
“Hmm?”
“How did you know she was the one?”
“I thought you were doubting me.”
“No.” He slices a hand through the air. “It sounds crazy. I mean, I think you can admit that. But you’ve always had a way of knowing what’s real. Remember the Rembrandt?”
I smile. “That was a fun trip. The Louvre thought for 50 years they had an original Rembrandt on their hands. What fools.”
“We still nicked it.” He smirks.
“If the Louvre backed it, then I didn’t see why we should leave it behind. And if I remember right, we banked a good paycheck for that ridiculous forgery.”
“Not as much as when you found the real piece in that vault in Vienna,” he says.
“I thought you were going to lose your mind when you couldn’t get the lock figured out.”
“So did I.”
“But then you did. You always do.”
He nods. “And you strode in, right past a dozen other paintings that looked like the real thing, and walked right up to the original. You just knew.” He sighs. “So no, I don’t doubt you about this Marigold. If you say she’s the one, then she’s the one. I just hope you know what you’re getting into, especially if her father’s a cop.”
“Heirloom loves her.”
“What?” His brows draw together. “More than me?”
I clear my throat. “He still loves you,” I hedge.
“Oh my God. He loves her more than me.”
Of all the things we discussed, this is the one that hits him in the gut. I try not to laugh.
“Look, you’ll see him tonight, all right? You two can strengthen your bond even more while I take care of my bride.”
He smirks. “It’s like that, is it?”
“It is.” I rise and toss some money on the table.
He stands, too. “I’m happy for you, man. I really am.”
We grip forearms. “Thanks, Elliott. I never thought it would happen to me, but I knew immediately. One look, and I was done.”
“Damn.” He grins. “I can’t wait to meet the woman who turned your head.”
I increase my grip. “Remember, she’s mine.”
His grin widens. “I know you don’t share. Remember the pair of jade dragons we took in Beijing?”
“They went together as a set.”
He laughs. “That’s what I’m talking about. No sharing. But that’s okay. At least I get Heirloom.”
I only smile, mainly because I don’t have the heart to tell him that Heirloom is just as smitten as I am.