Page 39

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

LA BANQUE DE FRANCE

P ercy stood back from the enormous vault door as the bank assistant twisted the dial open. It dislodged with a gasp of temperature-controlled, hermetically sealed air.

Percy awaited the man’s departure before he made a move.

A metal grill clanked closed behind him, then he switched the light on inside the vault, and a veritable museum appeared before his and Leo’s eyes. Paintings, vases, antique tables and cupboards, weaponry, jugs, jars of things that looked decidedly sticky and unpleasant, some very good cheese, and a sizeable safe somewhere at the back of it all.

Percy made his way around, over, and through the priceless mess, then applied handsome fingers to the wheel of the safe. Left, right, left, right and left again, then a click. Inside sat half a dozen small lockboxes that had rested untouched for years.

A silver key, minuscule, was slid into one of those lockboxes, and a drawer snapped open.

Leo’s voice drifted over Percy’s shoulder, barely louder than the paintings that stood witness to his act. “Are you sure about this?”

Percy pulled out a petite, black velvet box. “Perfectly sure.” The lid creaked on tiny hinges as he eased it back to reveal what he had come for.

A ring.

The gold was thick, a little crooked and dented, coarse and uneven. Centred in its unsure setting was an inlay of sapphire, delicately carved to depict the crossing of two hands. The jewel had been constructed some two thousand years prior, in Rome, for the very purpose Percy intended to use it today.

The promise of forever.

He released the ring from its satin enclosure, and stretching his hand open, slid it onto his ring finger.

It was that tiny bit loose. Not enough to slip over the knuckle by accident, but enough to slide freely. On Joe, it would be perfect.

Percy held it up, the sapphire glinting in the light. “Do you think he’ll like it?”

“I think he’ll love it.” Leo was honest and open in the statement, as he always was with Percy, though he may have let a little too much honesty slip through when he then joked, “And if it doesn’t work out, I’ll break his finger and take it back.”

Percy let the childish jibe go, well aware of Leo’s jealousy, and determined to see it through to the other side as smoothly as possible. “Once you give an engagement ring, you can never ask for it back. You do it once and you do it right, or you don’t do it at all. Remember that.”

“But…” Leo paused over his words, while Percy tilted his hand back and forth, admiring the ancient adornment. “It’s your favourite thing. It’s irreplaceable. Priceless. It’s?—”

“Eternal,” Percy finished for him. “Just like me and Joe.”