Mafia

18 Lupin: Debrief

The next few weeks were a mix of me getting settled and spending time with Damon, Emma, Roxy, Tony, and Steve.

I rarely left the apartment since someone still wanted to kill me and I was still recovering from my injuries. When I did, it was usually to go out and do something with everyone. Every once in a while, Damon would take me out on a "date" so the two of us could be seen together, that way it wouldn't be so out of the blue when he introduced me as his fiancé. Even though we had to be seen acting like a couple in public, Damon kept his word and never pushed farther than absolutely necessary to maintain our cover. 

One day, I was sitting in my room writing, when I heard a knock on the door. I tore eyes away from my laptop screen to see Damon standing in the open doorway.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," I replied, "What's up?"

"You mind coming with me to the office?" he asked, "We need to talk about the job." A familiar excitement bloomed in my chest. The one that always comes with the start of a new job. 

We hadn't been over any of the details of the job yet since I'd been recovering from my injuries until the bandages had come off for good just the other day. I still had the braces on, but Emma had finally given the go ahead for me to start.  

I all but jumped off the bed and headed to the door, making sure to grab my Little Black Book along the way. My Little Black Book is exactly what it sounds like. It's a little black notebook that's easily hidden in the waistband of whatever I might be wearing. It's where I keep notes on all the information I collect during a job. Before leaving the room, I made sure to pat my hair, checking for the pen that I'd used to put up my hair earlier.

"Let's go," I said.

I followed Damon down a few hallways and into his office. Damon held the door for me as I went in, with him following close behind. I'd been in here once or twice before, but just for a minute or two.

"Before we can introduce you as my fiancé," Damon said leaning against the large wooden desk, "There are a few things you need to know." Damon gestured for me to take a seat in one of the chairs facing his desk.

"Alright," I said taking a seat in one of the small arm chairs.

In that moment, I felt calm. We were about to start going over the information for the job. Having a job to do always makes me feel calmer.

I opened the small black notebook I had brought with me and pulled my favorite pen out of my hair, letting my hair fall to my shoulders before I ran my fingers through it, pushing it away from my face.

"What do I need to know?" I asked as I flipped open my notebook to a clean sheet of paper and clicked my pen.

"What I'm about to tell you," he said, "cannot leave this room." He nodded at my notebook. "In any form." I crossed my arms and glared at him, leaning back in my chair. 

"If I don't write it down," I said, "I won't remember it."

"You'll have to," he said, "because I'm not letting you write it down for anyone to be able to read if you happen to lose your notebook." I smirked. 

"You know my reputation," I said handing him the book, "You really think I'd be stupid enough to write down anything that anyone could actually read?" Damon took the book and opened it up to one of the earlier pages. I could tell by the confused look on his face that he couldn't make heads nor tails of it. He flipped to another page. Then another. Then another.

"Impressive," he said finally closing the book, "but what if someone breaks your code?"

"There's no code," I said as a proud smile spread across my face.