"I wish," Sev says at the same time I say, "No, Angel. You need to stay here to keep your cover."
Atticus whirls around in his seat. "No oneis going."
"So the intel is totally wasted then?" Seven's tone is bitter.
As nervous as it makes me to try to pull off another heist after what happened at theLa Tante Sophistiquée, I can't help feeling like itiswasteful. And my mom loved replicating Modigliani. "If we move fast, we could get it before him. I know we can."
Sev claps his hands together, rubbing them with his lower lip caught between his teeth and that glint he gets in his eyes right before he does something particularly reckless. "Come on, man. You could set it up. We'd be there and back in forty-eight hours, tops. We've got a whole week before she has to meet with Ambrose. What are we going to do, sit around twiddling our thumbs?"
Atticus pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs angrily through his nostrils. "As if I don't already have enough to do. Besides, it would be a three-man job. You couldn't pull it off without me."
I recall the size and security at the Matisse and think he might be right.
"Does one of youneedto be here?" Aurora asks. "You could all go. Like you said, I just need to keep acting normal. There won't be much going on, on my end until next weekend."
"Forty-eight hours," Sev assures him. "It'll be like old times."
A thrill goes through me that isn't pure anxiety this time. We've been thwarting Ambrose's deals for years, but we haven't been actively collecting or trying to beat him to the prize. Not since my hand injury made certain aspects of that job seem impossible. But after Paris, I think I'm ready. I can do it.
We can start building a new collection.
"We can do this," I press Atty, and he drops his hand from his face to look at me, jaw tight and flexing.
"I'll have Céline here with me," Aurora puts in. "And I'll adhere to whatever safety protocols you want."
She gives me a warm look, and I know she's only offering to let Atticus go the whole nine yards of overwatch for me.
Fuck, I love her.
"Fuck it, fine," Atticus says. "Let's do it. But you will still meet with Eli for his English lesson on Monday, and you'll take one of these."
Atty grabs another silencer from the case and holds it out to her. "You'll use it to call us at least twice a day while we're gone, at predetermined times."
"Okay." She takes it.
Atty pulls a pinhole camera and a bug from another case. "Put both of these in your living room."
She frowns, but takes them.
"Just until we're back. That's the deal. I need to know if they try to enter your apartment when you're not there."
This time, there's hesitation, but her eyes flit to me for an instant, and then she plucks them from his hand.
"When will you leave?" she asks.
"I need the night to plan," Atty replies. "We leave in the morning. Back by Tuesday. Then we meet on Friday to go over some contingencies for your lunch with Ambrose. Then…" He trails off, sighing. "Then it'll be your break. And I promised you I'd do what's necessary to make sure you can spend that time back at the house. It's not going to be easy with Ambrose upping his presence here, but I'll keep my word."
Another sigh, and I know pulling off this job on top of everything else Atticus is taking care of behind the scenes is a lot, but this is why we love him. He gets shit done. Always has. Always will. There's no one else I could count on more than him, save for Sev. And maybe my angel.
"If it's too difficult…" Aurora trails off. "I could stay on campus."
Atty lifts a hand. "I gave you my word. I intend to keep it this time."
Sev clears his throat, reaching over to snag Aurora's takeout box from the table. "You going to eat this?"
"Sev." I give him awhat the fucklook, but he's unperturbed as Aurora shakes her head.
"It's all yours."
