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“It’s just that it’s so spontaneous,” Aviva said. “You don’t really do spontaneous.”

“Well, maybe I should.”

“I’m still going to worry about you the whole time you’re gone.”

“Well, that makes us even, then, because I’ll be worrying about you and Lucas O’Mara,” Colette said.

She was annoyed that the two of them had looked very much like a couple at the hospital.

She still wasn’t ruling out the possibility that Lucas was involved in the cover-up about the bracelet, or that he knew more than he was letting on.

Aviva’s carelessness was further complicating an already tangled situation.

“I know Lucas O’Mara is very handsome, Aviva, but you hardly know him.

The situation he’s a part of is very complicated, and—”

“Colette, he’s a good man,” Aviva said. “I promise, he understands what’s at stake for you. He’s doing his best to find out what his grandfather might know.”

“Yes, well, I’ll believe that when I see it.” Besides, what did it matter if Lucas’s grandfather knew a thing or two? The full story had died with Hubert Verdier.

“Do you promise you’ll call me if anything goes wrong?” Aviva asked.

“What could go wrong in Paris?” Colette asked, but the words were absurd, weren’t they? The worst moments of her life had happened in Paris.

“Just—I love you, okay?” Aviva said. “I know I don’t say it often, but you’re my family. You always will be.”

“I love you, too, dear,” Colette said, touched. They said their goodbyes, and then she sat holding her phone for a moment before calling Marty.

“Hey, kid,” he said when he answered, sounding entirely like himself, which was a relief.

She had been worried that after the awkward dinner they’d had together, culminating in their mad rush to the hospital, things would feel strange between them.

“I’m glad you called; I have some news for you.

You feel like coming over for lunch today? ”

“I wish I could.” Colette closed her eyes, bracing herself for his reaction. “But I’m going to Paris in a few hours.”

“Paris?” He sounded confused. “You’re joking, right?”

“No. Daniel Rosman has tracked down the documents proving his claim on the bracelets, and we’re going to get them.”

“You’re going to Paris with Daniel Rosman,” Marty said, his tone flat. “Whom you’ve known for less than a week.”

“Technically, we first met in 1986 through a symposium at the center,” she said, and Marty let out a guffaw of disbelief. “Marty, you have to understand. His mother and mine were friends. Being with him feels like reclaiming a piece of my past.”

He was silent for a few seconds. “I see.” His tone had suddenly turned stiff and formal. “Well, then, it might interest you to know that I’ve found another piece of your past, too.”

She gripped the phone more tightly. “The ring? You’ve found it?”

“Turns out it never left the collection of the man we sold it to in 1972. His grandson recently inherited the jewels, and he says he’s open to negotiating a price.”

“Oh, Marty,” Colette said, her eyes suddenly damp. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

“Yeah, well, you can thank me by coming home from France in one piece,” Marty grumbled.

“I’ll let you know when I’ve reached a financial arrangement with the seller.

” He hung up before she could say another word, and she wiped a tear away.

There would be time to reconcile with Marty later.

For now, she had to do what she could to set the past right.

There was one more thing to do, though, before she departed.

When Daniel arrived in a taxi at two o’clock, she asked him to come inside for a moment.

After asking the driver to wait, he followed her in and sat opposite her on the sofa.

“What is it?” he asked. “Are you having second thoughts about the trip?”

“No,” she said. “But I want to give you the opportunity to back out if you want to.”

He cocked his head to the side. “Why would I back out?”

“Because I need to be honest about something.” She took a deep breath. “I’ve told you that my mother stole your mother’s bracelets back from that Nazi officer. But what I haven’t told you was that the theft wasn’t an isolated incident. My mother was a jewel thief, as was her mother before her.”

He nodded slowly, but he didn’t look upset. “A jewel thief?”

“There’s more.” She took a deep breath. “I, too, steal jewelry. It is—it’s a family tradition that has been passed down for centuries, and with no heirs, it will die with me. But you should know the truth about who I am, in case that changes your mind about traveling with me.”

He was silent for a long time. Finally, she snuck a look at him, expecting his face to have darkened in disappointment. But instead, he merely looked curious. “You steal jewels?”

“For nearly my whole life.”

“And yet you haven’t taken the bracelet back from the museum.”

She took a deep breath. “I’m descended from Robin Hood, you see.”

Daniel’s eyebrows went up. “But he’s just a fairy tale, isn’t he?”

“So the world believes, but he was very much a real man who raised his children to lead with their hearts in rebalancing the scales of justice. It is my family’s code that we steal only from the cruel or unkind.

And while it would have meant everything to me to have the bracelet back in my possession, and to be able to give it to you, it would violate all we stood for.

A theft from the museum would have badly damaged the reputation of the museum director, who didn’t deserve that. I couldn’t do it.”

“I see,” Daniel said, staring at her as if he was trying to put the pieces together. “But what do you do with the jewels you steal?”

She looked at him. She knew what she was risking by being honest with him.

But this felt like a time for honesty, wherever the chips fell.

“I sell them, and then I use the funds on projects that I hope will make people’s lives better.

” She took a deep breath. “For example, the Boston Center for Holocaust Education.”

He blinked at her. “What about it?”

“Well… I founded it.”

“ You founded it?”

“Anonymously. In 1972. Mostly with jewels I’d spent years stealing from Nazis.”

He stared at her. As she waited for his expression to change, her heart thudded. She had trusted him with her deepest secret. What would he do with it?

But what he did next was the one thing she hadn’t expected at all. He laughed—a short bark of surprise at first, followed by hearty, merry laughter.

“Daniel?” she chanced when he still hadn’t said anything.

“You’re telling me that the Holocaust center was funded by jewels stolen from Nazis?”

“And for the most part, it still is,” she said with a small smile. “I make it a habit to steal at least a few times a year from people who align with the Nazi party. If they’re foolish enough to walk around with such beliefs, then I’m happy to relieve them of their valuables.”

His laughter grew deeper. “Colette Marceau, you continue to astonish me.”

“You haven’t changed your mind about me, then?” she asked hesitantly.

“On the contrary,” he said, his tone suddenly serious. “It only makes me want to know you better. At our age, there are few surprises left, but you, Colette, are full of them.”

She took a deep breath. “There’s one more thing.”

He raised his eyebrows. “It couldn’t possibly be more surprising than what you just told me.”

She smiled slightly. “Well, as it turns out, your parents helped found the Boston Center for Holocaust Education, too, and by extension, the New York Center for Holocaust Education as well.”

His brow creased in confusion. “Pardon?”

“You see, my mother, sister, and I went to the Vél’ d’Hiv two days after you and your family were taken, to see if we could find you.

” She blinked to steady herself, as the boy she’d lost suddenly flashed through her mind.

Tristan . She’d been looking for him that day, too, but it had been too late.

“You and your sister were already gone, but we saw your mother, and as she was walking to the transport, she managed to slip her ring to my mother. It was such a unique piece; six emeralds…”

Daniel’s mouth fell open. “And thirty-six diamonds. My father designed it for her. I was certain Mockel had taken it.”

Colette shook her head. “She had sewn it into the lining of her dress, as my mother had suggested. And then my mother sewed it into the lining of mine. I kept it for years, but then in 1972, when I knew I wanted to found the center, I thought perhaps your mother would have liked being part of something that kept alive the memory of all those lost, so I sold it along with several stolen pieces and used the proceeds to fund the purchase of our building and staff salaries for the first year. I felt certain that it was the right way to honor your parents, to make sure that she lived on, if only anonymously.”

He stared at her. “You’re telling me that I’ve been volunteering for decades at a center funded in part by my own parents’ jewels?”

“Yes, but had I known you lived, Daniel, I would have kept the ring for you. I’m very sorry.”

“Sorry? Colette, it’s perfect. It means that my parents have been a part of my life all along.” His eyes were damp now. “It means that they were never really gone, not entirely.”

Colette’s eyes misted over, too. “That is just how I feel about the bracelets.” She took a deep breath. “I want you to know that I’m working on getting the ring back for you.”

“But… surely it’s gone.”

“Diamonds are forever, Daniel. You just need to know where to look for them.” He raised his eyebrows again, and she smiled. “My friend Marty thinks he’s found it,” she added. “He’s doing his best to negotiate a price.”

“I don’t know what to say, Colette.” His voice was hoarse with emotion.

“Say that you understand why I steal jewels, and that while my choices haven’t always been the right ones, you know that I’ve tried to do good in this world.”

“I believe that with all my heart.”

She looked down. “And you’re certain you want me to go with you to Paris? Knowing what you know now? About everything?”

“Colette,” he said, standing and offering her his hand, “I’m more certain than ever. Now let’s go revisit the past.”