“It’s okay, Augustine. I don’t care. I can come back someday.”
He was aware that she probably wouldn’t. “But the Louvre. You have to see the Louvre. You can’t come to Paris for your first time, your very first time, and not fight the crowds to see the Winged Victory of Samothrace or the Mona Lisa. I feel like I should warn you about the rugby scrum around the Mona Lisa.”
“I don’t have to go. I can see it anytime. If there’s someone out there who you don’t want to see or who makes you this upset, I don’t want to go anywhere. Besides, I don’t like crowds. And you shouldn’t spend the money on tickets for a museum that you’ve already seen.”
He waved a hand to dismiss her worries about the money. “The tickets aren’t expensive.”
“Still.You’re spending too much on me. You bought me a bunch of clothes.”
“You had no clothes,” Max said. “You neededclothes.”
“You’ve bought meexpensiveclothes.
He flipped his fingers in annoyance. “I wanted you to look appropriate.”
Her hands fluttered to indicate the ornate columns and the carved woodwork on the ceiling and walls of their suite. “I’m staying in this ridiculously expensive hotel.”
“I was already staying here,” Max clarified.
“At least that ball is a charity ball, so the tickets were free, right?” she asked.
Good Lord, no. The ticket for two had been ten thousand euros.“Yes.True. The tickets were free.”
“We don’t have to pile on the admission tickets for a museum to see old and dusty things on top of that, especially since you’ve already seen it all.”
“We can go,” Max said. “We’ll figure it out.”
Dree shook her head. “No. We won’t do it. We don’t have to go to the ballet or the charity shindig if people you don’t want to talk to will be there.”
“The hotel will provide some security starting tomorrow morning,” Maxence said. “We can go to the ballet and the ball. The ball will have security for some of the people there.”
“Well, good,” she said, though her lowered brows made her appear confused.
“I want you to have a chance to see the Louvre.”
Her breathy voice was firm. “But I can’t, and it’s okay.”
Maxence paused for a moment, thinking about the Louvre’s weekly schedule. “We could go Tuesday.”
“But it’ll be packed. It sounds like safety is an issue. And I already said no because of the price of the tickets. Seventeen euros is more thantwenty dollars.”
“The Louvre is closed on Tuesdays.”That much was true.“I’ll bet you didn’t know that if you go on the day when the Louvre is closed, the admission is free.”It wasn’t.
“That’s crazy!” Dree said. “It would be even more packed than ever.”
“People don’t know about it, but I do. We’ll just go on the day it’s closed, so we’ll avoid the crowds, and it will be free.” Max would have to bribe someone.
“I don’t know,” she said, one eyebrow lowered dubiously.
“A friend of mine had her wedding reception in the Louvre,” Maxence said. Flicka and Max had coordinated three charity receptions at three separate venues that night and extorted millions from their wealthy friends for their work. “I met some of the people who work at the Louvre during the organization. I can call the office and make arrangements. They’ll sneak us in a side door and let us wander around while it’s closed.”
“Only if it’s free,” she said, her eyes wide and serious like she was making a deal.
“I guarantee it that no money will change hands that day.” Max would have to make a sizeable donation to facilitate it.Sizeable.But it would all be electronic. No hands would be needed.
“Well, okay then.”
“Excellent.”
