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Lyam bends to one knee. “It’s a snake,” he says in a low voice, which only excites him further. “Do you like snakes?”
The little boy’s eyes widen. He only nods.
“Oh lovely,” Avril says on a groan. “Another snake lover.”
I watch Lyam with the little ones. I watch the way he gently but firmly guides them away from the elegant vase in Avril’s entryway and instructs them to sit politely at the table when a member of staff brings cookies. I watch him carry them on his shoulders so they can reach way up high to see out the stained glass windows. With every gesture he makes, my heart melts a little more.
I watch him with the children and know: Lyam’s gonna make the perfect daddy.
* * *
THIRTEEN
Lyam
I thinkCosette would stay all night long if she could, but we have an informant to confer with. Still, I’m glad she talked to Savannah. Thayer was a harder sell, but there’s no one more dedicated to family than he is.
“You gonna propose?” he asks discreetly when Maman says something about giving them goody bags of baked goods to take home and the girls go with her to the kitchen.
“Of course I am. You know it. She’s having my kid, brother.”
“Mmm. It’s soon, though. She’s got a ways to go yet. Take it slow, Lyam. I know you aren’t always the one to do that.”
I know he’s right, but I don’t want to wait. “I know I love her. She’s having my baby. It’s the right thing to do.”
He nods and shrugs. “Maybe, but it’s important to find out everything you can. Do you even know her history?”
He’s right, I know he is, but I also know there’s nothing that’s gonna hold me back from marrying Cosette.
Before I can respond, they come back into the room, both Savannah and Cosette carrying massive containers filled with baked goods.
I stand. “We have to go.”
“So soon?” Maman asks, her face falling.
“I promise we’ll come back soon but we’ve got a few important things to do.”
Savannah and Cosette hug, and before we leave Savannah reaches for me, too. I give her a hug and she whispers in my ear, “Be good to her, Lyam. She’s had a hard life.”
What does she know about Cosette’s life?
Does she know more than I do? I know she was raised by a single mom north of Paris, that her mother hated the city, and her father left them. I know that her mother died when Cosette was in college, and she and Nicolette became friends when they worked at La Maison. I know that while she studied cosmetology she was more called to work in nursing, but after she found her place at Le Luxe, she never went back to school.
And I know that I love her.
“I will.”
As we head out, Cosette looks over her shoulder. “Thayer, did he ask you about Princess?”
Thayer snorts. “Yeah. I’ll have her sent up.” He shakes his head. “No goddamn wayI’mbringing her back. Snakes don’t travel so well.”
I kiss her at the bottom step, then again outside our car, holding her to me.
I kiss her when I buckle her seat belt, and before I shut the door.
We kiss at a red light, until finally she giggles and says, “Lyam, we can pick this up later. You have an informant to talk to.”
I do. Fucking duty.
