“Yes.”
“Jake will lose his mind.”
“Probably.”
“We could get burned for this. Lose our security clearances. Maybe worse.”
“Maybe.” Olivia met her eyes. “Or we save Hanna’s life and expose whatever corruption is happening. Those are the options.”
Marielle thought about the compromised safe house. The commandos at Luc’s inn. The systematic way they’d been cut off from support. Olivia was right. Operating within the structure meant walking into a trap.
“It’s risky,” she said.
“Everything’s risky right now.”
“The men won’t like it. They’ll want to loop in Jake first. Get authorization.”
“The men aren’t here.” Olivia’s voice was gentle but firm. “And by the time we could reach them, it might be too late. This is the call we have to make.”
Marielle nodded slowly. “Tomorrow we get Hanna’s statement on the recorder. Then we find a way to get to Lyon. Ideally one that doesn’t include a light twenty kilometer jog. ”
Liv snorted. “Fair.”
“Let Interpol sort it out.”
They clinked glasses, sealing the decision.
Olivia refilled their glasses and gave Marielle a pointed look. “So. You’re in love with him.”
Marielle tried to deflect. “Who wants to know?”
“Elle.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’re a terrible liar. You always have been.”
Marielle stared into her glass, watching the liquid catch the firelight. She tried to think of a joke, a subject change, anything to avoid this.
But Olivia wouldn’t let it go. “I’ve known you since we were twenty-two. I know what you look like when you’re in love.”
Her defenses crumbled. “Yes. Okay? Yes. I’m in love with Omar. Happy?”
“Are you?”
The question caught her off guard. “Am I what?”
“Happy.”
Marielle opened her mouth, then closed it. Was she happy? She was terrified. What if he didn’t come back from Marseille? What if this thing between them never got a chance to start? What if they did get together, she fell for him—really fell for him—and something happened to him?
“I’m scared,” she said finally.
“Of course you are.”
“What if something happens to him? What if?—”
“Then you’ll have loved him anyway.” Olivia’s eyes were bright in the firelight. “That doesn’t go away, even if you lose him. And loving someone—really loving them—that’s worth the risk.”