“Bradford—or Brad,” Hampton told him.
“And you’ve met Poppy.”
“Yes, although we also recognized her,” Omar replied.
“Heh, right.I’m Idris Mahmoud, and this is my girlfriend.”He waved a hand at the quiet woman sitting next to him.
Omar waited, but Mahmoud didn’t elaborate.Instead, he picked up his drink.
Across the table, Marielle flared her nostrils at the slight.She turned toward the girlfriend.“I imagine you have a name.”
The ghost of a smile crossed the woman’s full lips.“As a matter of fact, I do.”She took a beat to glance sidelong at Idris before extending her hand to Marielle.“I’m Hanna Ayari.”
“It’s lovely to meet you, How long have you and Idris been together?”Marielle asked.
Hanna’s shoulders stiffened before she answered in a quiet voice, “Not very long.”
“How did you two meet?”Marielle persisted.
Hanna took her time answering as if she was choosing her words with care.“Our families have some business dealings together.”
“What line of business are you in?”Omar asked.
Idris looked over and placed a hand on Hanna’s arm.She flinched almost imperceptibly.
“Business is boring,” Idris declared.“I make it a rule never to talk business in social situations.Right, Brad?”
“Right,” Brad said.“No business, no politics.”He nuzzled Poppy’s neck.
“Of course” Omar said.“Forgive the question.”
“No need to apologize,” Idris said.“You couldn’t have known.”
Hanna smiled and asked, “How did you and Margaux meet?”
“That’s a funny story, isn’t it,ma minoune?” he said, drawing Marielle back into the conversation.
“It really is.Will you let me tell it?”She gave him a knowing half-smile.
He knew, of course, that it was part of their cover.
So why did it feel so intimate?
And why did his pulse quicken anyway?
“Please do,” he said thickly.
She beamed.“We were both living inVieux-Québec, renting flats in this gorgeous eighteenth-century townhouse on an adorable cobblestone street.”As she warmed to the story, her hands danced over the table.This, he knew, wasnotpart of their cover.It was hard-wired.She joked that if she ever wanted to take a vow of silence, all she’d have to do was sit on her hands.“One evening, when I was walking up the stairs after work, the most divine aroma floated down the hall from my neighbor’s apartment.Earthy, rich, warm.I’m not much of a chef, but I do love to eat—and I knowcoq au vinwhen I smell it.”
Hanna laughed appreciatively.Idris leaned toward Marielle, waiting to hear the rest.Even Poppy and Brad turned to listen.Omar suppressed a smile.So much for his partner being a liability.They were eating from her palm.
“I raced to my place and grabbed a very good bottle of Chianti from my wine chiller.”She paused.“Sacrilege to pair that dish with an Italian red, I know, I know.In my defense, itwasa 1999 reserve.”
Omar picked up the thread.“So I open my door to see a gorgeous woman holding an equally gorgeous bottle of red.And I’ve been making dinner for two ever since.”
“Oh, that’s so sweet,” Poppy cooed.“It’s like something out of a rom-com movie.”
Marielle laughed.“And what about the two of you?I’m surprised I hadn’t heard about your relationship.You’d think it would be all over the internet.”
