Napoleon and Sabine were almost inseparable for the rest of the evening. A few times, she stepped away to take a phone call, but she would seek him out shortly thereafter and possessively place her arm through his, especially when other women seemed to be paying too much attention to him.

At one point he jokingly said to her, "Am I going to have to use my diplomatic immunity?" When her face crinkled in confusion, he leaned closer and whispered, "Are you using me to make one of these men jealous? Because you know, if one of them attacks me in a rage, I can kill him and get away with it due to my diplomatic immunity."

Her laughter sounded like chiming bells. "Oh, my goodness, Renard! You and your immunity are much too…interesting to be used for things as common as making someone jealous. Rest assured, there is no one I am trying to make jealous. In fact, I would like you to stay after everyone else leaves. Think about it."

Napoleon raised her hand to his lips and kissed the palm tenderly. He stared directly into her eyes as he said, "I do not need to think about it. I would be honored."

"Then it's settled."

The party began to break up around ten PM. True to her word, none of the men present seemed to harbor any resentment toward him for being her choice for the evening. This is going well, he thought. I just need to convince her that I am enamored with her enough to do anything she wants.

He stood by the bar pouring two glasses of pinot Grigio while she saw her last guests to the door. She closed it and kicked off her shoes. Bending gracefully to pick them up, she strolled to where Napoleon stood with both glasses in hand. Taking one, she clinked her glass against his and they drank. Lowering the glass from her lips, she stepped closer, stood on her toes and plundered Napoleon's mouth. He brought his free hand around her body and pulled her closer, allowing her to feel his arousal.

"Mon Dieu," she murmured huskily, "I think it is time that we went upstairs." His response was to hold out his arm and she put hers through it and they went up the staircase. When they arrived at the top of the stairs, she flipped a wall switch shutting off the downstairs light. She led him to her room in the dark.

They walked into her bedroom and she turned into him and kissed him again. "Make yourself comfortable; I'll be back as soon as I can." He dropped a quick kiss on her mouth before she walked into her master bathroom. Just before she stepped through and closed the door, she flipped a switch that turned on the lamp on the night stand next to the bed.

He looked around the well appointed white on white with white room approvingly as he quickly removed his jacket and holster. He stuffed his holster into his jacket sleeve and then draped it neatly over a chair. He would make sure she had no reason to go near it. He turned toward the bed as he loosened his tie and froze. Lying upon the comforter was a long – stemmed red rose.

His erection disappeared as he stared in shock at what was in front of him. It's just like in my dream! How is this possible? Why is this happening? If he were not on a mission, he would have made his excuses and fled. But he was on a mission, so he took another sip of his wine, toed off his shoes and moved the chair that held his jacket a little bit closer to the bed.

Sabine came out of the bathroom dressed in an ivory silk spaghetti – strapped nightgown that highlighted her curves. She walked up behind Napoleon and wrapped her arms around him. "Do you always keep a rose on your bed?" he asked.

"No," she purred as she came around to the front of him, "I put it there the last time I came up here to take a phone call. I was hoping you would see it." When she saw the brief look of concern on his face she asked, "You're not allergic, are you?" before removing it and placing it on her dresser.

He reached for her and kissed from the base of her throat to her ear and down to her mouth. Even though the rose had unnerved him, she would never know it. He was, after all, well – trained in the art of seduction and lovemaking. He eased her down onto the bed before lifting his mouth from her body to say, "Not at all."

Hours later, Napoleon eased himself out of her bed and into his clothes. Once he had finished dressing, he sat on the bed next to Sabine to hug and kiss her awake. Voice thick with sleep she said, "Cherie, you do not have to go."

"We will both sleep better alone in our own beds, mon chat petite."

"Let's do something special today. Why don't we drive to the casino in Monte Carlo this evening?"

Perfect, Napoleon thought before he said, "Tell me you phone number, Sabine, and I will call you in the afternoon." He wrote down her number and repeated, "I will call you this afternoon" before kissing her temple and heading out the bedroom door. He let himself out and as he got into his car to head back to his hotel he thought, Napoleon Reilly Solo, you have to maintain a clear head. The fact that Sabine looks like the woman in your dream and placed the rose on the bed like that image from the dream are coincidences, they have to be. Illya is scheduled to check in around 11AM; I'll let him know I'm heading to Monte Carlo and we'll see where we stand.

Napoleon's communicator began chirping just before eleven, as expected. He answered it quickly. "Good morning. Are you safe?"

His partner's voice came through the device. "Good morning. That is an interesting question; yes, I am safe. Why? Do you think I am not?"

Napoleon shrugged as if Illya could see it. "I don't know. I saw something else that reminded me of that dream I had. Sabine had placed a red rose on her bedspread and it looked exactly like the image I had in my head. It startled me for a moment, but I recovered and things progressed even better than I had hoped. She wants to drive to Monte Carlo this evening. Were you able to make contact with El Saddiq?"

A low chuckle came through the device. "Oh yes, he and I are now such good friends that we are going to meet in Monte Carlo to gamble. I have the address and phone number where he will be staying. With you and Sabine there we might be able to, what is the saying? Kill two birds with one rock?"

"Stone, but same thing. I don't know if Sabine plans to spend the night; it's only a half – hour drive from Nice to the casino. Are you planning to spend the night?"

"I do not know though I told El Saddiq that I would. Rene' plans to get to Monte Carlo by three; I contacted Mr. Waverly so he would inform Interpol's Monaco office that I will be checking in with them once I have proof of his counterfeiting activities and to have dinner reservations made for two at Le Louis XV in the Hotel de Paris for six o'clock before we head to the casino. Why not bring Sabine there? Let us see if they will acknowledge each other."

"Good idea. I'll have reservations made for me by the Canadian Consulate for six as well. I think Sabine will appreciate the surprise. Our next check – in will be face to face. Good luck."

"Yes, I think we have gone as far as we can before heading to Monte Carlo. It is now up to our targets to do what we want them to do. Good luck to you as well. Oh, and Napoleon?"

"Yes?"

"It was only a dream; do not let it continue to bother you."

"Thank you, Partner. See you soon."