She looked at Bastian, who, despite having his arm around the girl, seemed to want to shrink and disappear.
“We work together,” I said.
This caught the girl’s attention. She tilted her head, a sly smile forming.
“You work at Saidi?” Her eyes scanned me from head to toe. “Bastian hasn’t mentioned you.”
I grimaced.
“Not surprising,” I smiled, tightening my grip on Gina’s arm. “He hasn’t mentioned you to me either. I wonder why.”
Bastian threw his head back in a gesture of defeat.
“André can’t know anything about this, okay?” he pleaded. “No one can know anything about this.”
“Especially the press,” Eloïse interjected. “So, keep your mouth shut,niña.”
I felt the weight of my phone in my bag. The photo of the suspect list I’d taken earlier that afternoon was still there.
Eloïse Hawtrey-Moore was on it.
Who would have thought I’d stumble upon a key piece in the Larousse case that night?
Bastian mouthed a word without saying it.Please.
His dark eyes had darkened, turning into a dirty brown. His posture was tense, and his carefree expression was gone. He was the portrait of a guilty man.
“Why should I not mention this to André?” I hissed. “Do you have something to hide, Saidi?”
“More than you think.”
His voice sounded challenging. His eyes pleaded with me to drop the subject. Eloïse tugged on the guy’s arm, pulling him back.
“Shall we go now, Seb? They’re going to close soon.”
Bastian nodded.
“Wait,” I cut her off. “She’s involved in Antonia’s murder. I’ve seen the documents.”
Eloïse stopped, narrowing her eyes at me.
“Don’t you dare mention my mother,” she hissed.
Oops. Okay, maybe mentioning the murder of her mother hadn’t been the best decision.
“Forget it,” Bastian said, his voice sharp as he nudged the girl toward the exit. “She’s had too much to drink. Besides, she’s just shocked by all of this.”
Was I imagining things, or had Bastian just defended me?
My next question slipped out, driven by the part of me consumed by work and the competition between Bastian and me at Saidi. It wasn’t my intention to pry, but I couldn’t help myself.
“Does your father know about you two?”
A flicker of curiosity sparked beneath my pride. Thequestion seemed to take Eloïse off guard.
“That French idiot?” She scowled. “Of course, he knows. He has eyes everywhere. He won’t say anything. He’s the only one we can trust in that sense.”
I turned to Bastian, my voice betraying my tension, coming out higher than usual.
