ALWAYS || RAFE CAMERON

51

the next morning, we headed back over to the Cameron's place.

Rafe, Rose and i had a meeting with a French antiquities dealer about the cross.

we all sat around the table and i was zoning in and out of the conversation.

since i was half Monegasque, i was fluent in French, but even so, the dealer had a translator with him.

that pissed me off.

"normalement," the dealer said. "il n'y a pas beaucoup d'intérêt pour une pièce comme celle-ci."

"normally there isn't a lot of interest in a piece like this," i muttered under my breath.

"cependant, j'ai un client qui pourrait être intéressé."

"he has a client who may be interested." i beat the translator once again.

"l'argent n'est pas un problème pour lui."

"m-"

"money is no object to him." i cut the woman off.

"puis-je voir la croix?"

"he wants to see the cross." i looked to Rafe.

"follow me," he stood.

"suivre," i nodded.

we walked into an adjoining room and there, by the window, stood the cross.

every time i saw it, it took my breath away.

seven feet of solid gold, decorated with bright gems and sparkling crystals.

it glowed in the sunlight.

the dealer whistled. "combien pour ceci?"

"he's asking how much," i glanced to Rafe.

"what's French for priceless?" he grinned.

i allowed myself a small smile. "c'est inestimable,"

the dealer nodded and laid a hand on the cross, inspecting every detail closely.

a blur of words spilled from his mouth, too quickly for me to translate, but from what i picked up, he was impressed.

"où as tu trouvé ça?" he asked me.

"it doesn't matter where we found it." i watched him closely.

he only shook his head. "comme je l'ai dit, il y a peu d'acheteurs pour une pièce comme celle-ci..."

"mais?" i pressed.

"j'ai un client à la Barbade."

"he has a client in Barbados!"

"il voudra vous rencontrer pour discuter des choses plus en détail."

"he'll want to meet with us to discuss things in more detail." i told Rafe.

"we can take the boat—leave later on today." he decided.

"nous pouvons partir plus tard aujourd'hui." i said to the dealer.

he nodded. "je pense qu'il sera très content de cette pièce."

"he'll be happy with the piece."

"merci," Rafe dismissed the dealer and his useless translator.

Rose went to see them out and he hugged me tight.

"we've fucking done it, June!" he cupped my face in his hands.

"we've almost done it." i corrected.

he rolled his eyes.

"somebody's got to ground you!" i kissed his cheek. "we've got to be realistic here."