Madame

Chapter 23

Ari's POV

I roll my eyes, "You have no clue what you're talking about. The Olympic Flame comes here first and then ends in Paris." I tell my little brother who is trying to convince me that the Flame ends in Marseille. He shakes his head and points to all of the billboards and papers showing the Soprano concert.

"Yeah, he's doing a concert here but that doesn't mean it ends here dumbass. Read the news once in a while, I swear to god." He says nothing and starts to walk a little faster. "Oi don't run from me, remember I still have to bring you back home and don't doubt for a second that I won't leave your pasty ass here Gray."

"You wouldn't, maman would beat your ass." He snarks.

"True but she'd agree with me that you deserved it. Now stop being salty and help your big sister find the boba tea shop." I hear him grumbling something under his breath but I let it go, knowing very well I don't have the patience to put up with his teenage angst.

We did end up finding the boba shop and I got this elaborate brown sugar boba with a ton of random toppings on it. Gray is a simple kid and got some sort of tea with normal pearls. We went to go and walk to the port and sat there for a little, soaking up the warm sun. I will admit if I didn't have this drink I'd probably be sweating my balls off but that'll be a problem for later.

Grey turns to me, "You don't think Tonton is doing something bad, do you?" He asks, his eyes filled with concern. I shake my head and sip my drink casually, "Nah, he's just away on business he'll be back soon enough I'm sure. Victor... I mean Tonton is always safe. Plus he's got Hugo with him."

"Why did Maxime stay behind then? Max always goes with Tonton."

It's hard talking about this stuff with Grey because we try our best to keep him oblivious to what we do. For all he knows we own an export/import business. What exactly? He never asked so we haven't needed to lie yet.

Maxime didn't go with Victor and Hugo cause they went to an undisclosed location. Even Hugo went in blind. We have no clue where they are or what they're up to. For all we know they could've met with Andrew's company and gotten themselves killed over his disappearance. Or they could be in Albania spending all of the money they've gathered doing god knows what.

It's all been very sketchy for the past few months. I was out on leave when I got back and then I started working tiny jobs and recons. Nothing dangerous in the slightest. It's almost like Victor doesn't trust me to do big things anymore.

He's probably still suspicious about Elizabeth. He should be. At this point my loyalty lies more with her than it does with Victor. At Least Elizabeth kept me in the loop.

I take a breath, "Maxime wants his summer. He likes hanging out with us and he doesn't need to work because he worked hard all this year so he's on vacay." It's a white lie.

"Makes sense. I like having him at the house." Grey admits, sipping on his own drink. I nod my head, happy that my brother is happy.

I look across the port and admire the boats that are floating on the soft waves that crash against the stone walls, lightly splashing the walkway. The soft wind moves Grey and I's hair and I quickly put my hair up with her hairband. I kept it for convenience and plus I'm always needing new ones... even if this one is a bit stretched out from how many times I've used it.

"Hey, isn't that the monsieur that came to eat at the house a few years ago?" I follow Grey's finger, my heart dropping before I even look in the direction he's pointing in.

In shorts and a blue button down is Reagan Cohen. "Let's go." I say quickly, getting up, pulling my brother up with me. "What why?" He asks as I start to drag him away from the man I beat the shit out of (multiple times).