You know what they say about paradise?

Its not the place where you go after dying.

Its not even the place where you spent your happy memories.

Paradise is not a place, it's a state of mind.

That's what was going on in Raquel's mind when she looked around her, towards her companions at the dinner table. Relaxed faces, boisterous laughter, a lot of finger food and even more Patxaran was being served.

In a way this night was going to end like the 'Hake night'.

Well, almost, she thought, as she looked at Rio. He had an odd smile on his face. Once in a while he kept glancing at the sky.

'Tokyo!' Raquel thought, he's missing her. She missed her too, and Nairobi.

As Sergio covered her hands with her, she looked at him. He was Stroking her ring finger, more specifically, the single stoned golden band on her finger, looking at her with so much warmth and adoration, she felt she would melt under his gaze. 'How did I get so lucky? She thought.

After figuring out the small puzzle behind the postcards Sergio had left behind for her, she took the leap of faith. At that moment, she only thought about reuniting with the love of her life. She didn't know what to expect, how her life would be, except one thing, that she loved him so much, she'd rather live her whole life like a vagabond, running with him than with a perfectly normal Sergio-less life. She risked everything, crossed an ocean with her mom and her daughter, and here she was.

But life hardly gives you what you expect, isn't it? And she certainly didn't expect to find this pseudo family. A bunch of criminals, more tightly knit than even blood relatives. Ready to die (or even kill), ready to go in the lion's den if one of theirs was in danger. But thankfully, none of them would die any time soon. Sergio had taken care of that.

Besides, you can't kill a person twice, isn't it? They were all dead for the world. They could relax for a bit, they could celebrate the life that still flowed through them.

They could mourn for the dead now, she thought as she glanced at Rio. They could mourn the loss of Tokyo, and Nairobi, a chance they were denied during the chaos that was the heist at the bank of Spain. Mourning was necessary for healing, she believed, and Rio hadn't completely healed yet.

But soon, she thought, soon we will all make sense of it all, Rio. We will help you heal. We are there, the gang is there, your family is there' she made a silent promise to him. And at the exact moment, as if hearing her thoughts, Rio looked up from across the table and held her gaze for a moment. 'Thank you', his eyes seemed to say, 'I am grateful for all of you'.

'Raquel" Sergio's whisper broke her silent communication with Rio, and she looked at her fiancé. "You look really quiet. Isnt this supposed to be the happiest day of your life?" He rumbled flirtily against her earlobes, and she felt goosebump raising on her skin at the feathery brushes his lips were making on her earlobes.

And then he smelled… he actually smelled her hair, in front of the full table of guests they were hosting for the celebratory dinner. He didn't like public display of affections, much less actually engaging in PDA with her in front of the gang.

There was only one night, the night of the 'Hake' when he had showered kisses on her as all the gang watched them. But he was drunk that night, drunk and stoned. Was he already that drunk? She gave him a searching look as he tucked some loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Are you drunk, carino? You are getting a bit handsy today."

"What? I can't even touch my fiancé now?" He whispered in fake incredulity, and she couldn't stop smiling broadly.

"Well, watch yourself, we have spectators today, and if they see you doing some out of character romantic gestures, they might get traumatized." She said giving him an equally fake scandalous look.

"You are right, they are not used to seeing us like that." He said before he straightened himself.

'Hmm... so not drunk yet!' Raquel thought, feeling a bit disappointed as he put a respectable distance between them. At least his hand was still caressing her engagement ring. She looked again at him, and he was now staring at the ring with an expression she couldn't place.

"So, are we going to make a celebratory toast or not? Or are we here to just guess the occasion while you keep glaring at the ring, Sergio?" Said Palermo with his usual flourish while the others tittered.

Raquel always wondered how he managed to add drama to any situation.

"Ah.. yes.. well I.." Sergio started but Bogota beat him to it.

"And look at that flimsy excuse of a ring. I mean we stole 90 tons of gold from the National reserve and you gave Lisbon a ring that weighs, what, 2 grams?" Everyone laughed openly at that much to the chagrin of Sergio.

"It suits her personality!" he defended aggressively, "She wouldn't want anything extravagant anyways" he looked at her for affirmation at this, and she nodded encouragingly, squeezing his hand for good measure. "She is not a person who goes all out when it comes to accessories and yet be the most stunning woman in the room with her simplicity and effortless charm."

And with that he pulled her hand to his lips and pressed a feather light kiss to her knukles, right where the ring was.

Raquel ignored the chorus of 'Ohhh's and 'ahhs' and wistful sighs that their companions were mockingly thourwing at them for El professors cheesy confession. None of that mattered now, at this moment, her eyes were only on Sergio. It was so rare, his confession just now, that it overwhelmed her. Behind closed doors, he couldn't stop touching her. But in front of the gang, he made it a point to keep a respectable distance between them, during the 3 months in that Italian monastery while planning the heist, and also after the heist was over.

Rauqel thought it was because he wanted to show the gang: 'Look, I'm in love with her. But that doesn't make any difference. She's only a gang member when I'm professor. During a heist, no personal relationships'.

And Raquel was okay with that. She never wanted to change the dynamic between him and the rest of them. So Both of them never even held their hands when they were with the gang.

Well except the night of the Hake. That night, she had seen a different version of Sergio, more relaxed, more open, more in love. And she couldn't help but fall in love with him a little bit more. But next morning they had gone to their previous state. And that's why her heart filled with joy, when he declared his love for her in such a primitive way.

'This is paradise!' Raquel couldn't help but think as she looked in his eyes and everyone toasted to them, and she never wanted that moment to get over.

Well, she was wrong. It wasn't a paradise, it was the calm before the storm.

Monica loved romance. When she was a little girl, she read the stories of princes meeting princesses, of gallant knights saving their ladies from fierce beasts. She always dreamt of finding her soulmate, and settling down with him. All she wanted was an epic romance, a passion that burned brighter and brighter like sun. It was a pity that all she got throughout her early years was a series of infernos. The worst of them was her ex-boss. She had genuinely thought (fooled herself into thinking) that what they have is an actual soul-to-soul connection. But that bubble burst very fast when they got trapped in the Royal mint during the first heist.

And that's when she found him – Denver. He was a beast at first but as they spent more time together, she found out he was a cursed prince. Cursed by system, and down on luck. Once she found out his true nature, there was no point of return for her. She only fell deeper and deeper for him. She took her carefully built career, her totally mundane and risk-free life and threw it into the Atlantic ocean when she decided to cross it with a bunch of fugitives. Well how could she pass the opportunity to have that epic romance? She wouldn't have been whole if she let him go away.

And that decision had led her through another heist, almost made her kill a man and loose her sanity, driven a rift between herself and the man she loved, only to make the bond between them stronger.

On a perfectly lazy Sunday afternoons, she would sit and ponder, what would my life be like if I was still working my ass off in a mundane desk job in Madrid. And one day, somewhere around 5 months after the second heist, she had an epiphany! She could not picture her life any other way. This was her life, these people – her family. And however crazy, or dysfunctional it seemed on surface, her life was exciting, and lively!

That's what Raquel must feel too! She thought, as they both had chased after the man they loved, throwing away their careers, their routines, their friends just to be with the men they loved. In a way Monica empathized with Raquel, as they both were outsiders, who came into the group because of their relationship with the gang members.

It was very difficult to ingrain into the group for Monika, and she thought it must be equally difficult, if not more for Raquel. Afterall, she was an ex-cop.

But she had proved her loyalty to the Gang time and again during the second heist, fighting for them like a brave warrior, making strategies to buy more time, taking care of the group and maintaining harmony. The professor had a command over the group, an unshakable command, which he earned because of his intelligence and his meticulousness. The group, although sometimes made fun of his eccentricities, respected him a lot. But Raquel earned their respect because of her unquestionable loyalty, not just to professor, but to the gang too.

Monika watched the pair of them, currently looking at each other as if they were undressing each other with eyes while the rest of the gang harassed them about being a bad host for not entertaining the guests properly.

"Viva El Amour! Viva El Amour!", Denver was chanting and soon everyone joined him.

"Just be a man and kiss her already, Professor!", to everyone's surprise it was Marseille who broke the chanting, which earned him a sceptical look from Bogota.

"The mute encouraging the librarian to kiss a live bomb? Where has the world come to?" He said with a mock sigh and everyone broke into laughter.

Apparently, Bogota's comment had missed his mark on Marseille and hit the professor instead, as he chided immediately, "Bogota, refrain from talking about my fiancé in such a crude way!"

"Very well, I..."

"And I'm not a librarian!" Sergio added, holding up his hand.

"Of course not!" Bogota said suppressing a laughter, "But I'm glad you defended your lady first" he said with a wink.

"And I can talk very well, as you can hear, you brute!" Marseille said before dipping a tortilla chip into artichoke dip and putting in his mouth.

"Brute, eh? Well, I hope you choke on your artichoke and lose your vocal cords." Bogota said calmly.

"That's not how you lose your vocal cords, dickhead!" Spat Marseille and looked at Professor for confirmation.

"Well, Marseille is right. You see, getting choked will only affect the trachea. But in order to cause any serious damage to the vocal cords, you need to" Denver and Rio, who were on Monika's Right side, started making some absurd gestures of stabbing each other as professor started his soliloquy and she couldn't help but let out a laugh. On her left, Raquel wasn't doing a good job of hiding her amusement.

"Save your speech professor, you and I both know how seriously I can damage anyone's vocal cords", Bogota said all the while glaring at Marseille, "or for that matter, chop off anyone's ba- "

"This is why I don't like you lot when you are inebriated. You totally let loose your tongue and do not care for the mixed company we are in" someone 'Phew'ed at this, and Monika had a suspicion it was Manila, "You totally loose the sense of propriety..."

"Oh no. not again. Not about propriety" groaned Palermo and some of them joined him in their protest.

"Yes professor, just cut it and let loose... blow off the steam!" Manila said and immediately froze as she felt all eyes silently turning towards her.

"What!?" she looked around innocently.

"You don't know what he's like when HE blows off the steam", Raquel deadpanned.

"We found out on the Hake's night!" Monika shouted and for a moment everyone seemed to hark back to that night. So many stories, inside-jokes and comments broke on the table.

"Professor was a vision on the dancefloor" Denver said, followed by his infamous laughter.

"Thank you. but..." Professor stated to say but Denver cut him with a 'That wasn't a compliment'

"Oh, but the way he fish-hooked you and dragged to the dancefloor, it was so unexpected" Monika added.

"Him dancing at all was a shock to me, Bogota, do you remember how awkwardly he danced at Berlin's wedding", Palermo asked and both Bogota and Marseille shook their head with assent, while professor shook his indignantly.

"You know, I have heard so much about that infamous night, I'm very curious about it" Said Rio who was listening it all with a grin," and so jealous I wasn't there." He added as an afterthought.

That sobered up the table faster than anything could. They were letting off steam that night when Rio possibly might have been digging up his own grave in the dessert. Logically, everyone knew, they shouldn't feel guilty for having a bit of relaxation, an escape from grave reality that they were going into the lion's den soon. But at that moment they couldn't help but feel a little bit of remorse.

Rio sensed the changing mood of the room and tried to backtrack, "Hey… I didn't mean it that way. You guys came for me, alright!" He looked around the table but very few gazes met his, "Professor, please…" Rio implored the man to look at him, "I mean it, I am grateful to you." He continued as the professor met his eyes. "I am grateful to all of you", He looked at everyone's face and could see some of their gaze lift up to meet his. "You risked your lives and saved me from dying alone. How could I resent you all for living your life?" He said and Monica felt her eyes well up. Denver's hand was immediately on her back, rubbing soothing circles on her back.

"It's been 7 months since we have been dead for the world, 7 months since Nairobi and Tokyo's" his voice hitched at the name, but he continued," Tokyo's death. And I've been living in this ocean of guilt since then. If only I hadn't called Tokyo, you wouldn't have gone inside the Bank of Spain." The Professor started to interject but Rio pressed on," If only I had better self-control, Nairobi would still be alive" Palermo let out a frustrated sigh at this, as if he too was drowning in the guilt of setting Gandia free, "If only I wasn't so needy in our relationship, Tokyo would still be with me, if not as a lover, then at least as a friend."

"Its not your fault, Rio." Said Raquel gently, "we all made mistakes during the heist" she threw a significant glance at the professor, "If we all keep on thinking about all the 'If only's' we will never be at peace."

"I realized it today." Rio said with a teared-up smile, "And I also realize that if Tokyo was still alive, she would want me to live my life. Not drown in my guilt."

"Yeah man, she would want you to enjoy your life", Denver said patting Rio's back.

"And if you sit on the side-lines mopping alone..." Raquel chimed in "she would totally kick your balls..." "Kick my balls... yeah" Rio and Raquel finished together. Everybody laughed at that.

The professor looked on to all of them with wonder in his eyes, then met Rio's eyes and sombrely said, "I'm glad, you are back Rio."

The significance of that statement wasn't lost on anyone. Rio wasn't the same after he returned from his imprisonment. He wasn't constrained anymore, but he wasn't free either. Not even during the heist. Initially, the ghost of his confinement and torture always loomed around him. And then he was lost in his grief over Tokyo's death. This was the first time he opened up to them about how he really felt. It must've been liberating.

And that liberation was evident on his face, when he gave his boyish grin and said, "I'm glad too, now that I'm back."

As Monika looked around the table, she could feel everybody relax at Rio's declaration and felt immense pride just to be a part of this family of losers. Yes, they were losers, nutcases, hotheads! But nothing could go wrong if they stuck together. At that moment, she was also very grateful to the professor for bringing the band together.

But moments are fleeting. They slide off faster than raindrops on a window pane.

Half an hour later, Monica was reconsidering her opinion about the professor.

It all started with an innocent thought in Sergio's mind that he wouldn't have vocalized if he wasn't inebriated.

But he was. He was totally drunk. And he couldn't stop himself from saying it aloud, "I wonder if Berlin was alive, what would he feel about" he gestured between him and Raquel," this…"

He looked her in eye then and saw amusement in them. He knew her initial opinion about his brother, and had assured her in past that if they hadn't met under the circumstance they met, his brother would have loved Raquel.

"He would have teased you endlessly, for breaking your own rules." Said Raquel softly.

"And then he would have given you 'The talk' about his five marriages, and how having kids destroys a relationship", Rio didn't miss a beat to answer, not without a smile, "I got that talk during the first heist"

"Hey, me too. In the house of Toledo" groaned Denver, "he painted such a gruesome picture of the childbirth."

"I haven't met a man who's married five times, but despises kids so much." Said Rio, and the professor wanted to argue, to tell Rio how Berlin's own son had broken his heart into pieces, but before he could say it, Palermo was speaking.

"If you met him a few years ago, you all would have had a different opinion of him. He was betrayed by his own son. Of course, he must have regretted the idea of having a kid."

"Andrese was a really passionate man." Sergio said softly, his eyes were unfocused, as if he was lost in those old days, "When he fell in love… and believe me, that happened a lot," he said with a chuckle, and felt Raquel slide her hand to stroke his hand on the table, "all the times when he fell in love, he really gave his everything to that relationship, with all passion." He swallowed a non-existent lump in his throat and sighed," Maybe, that was the problem. He didn't have any sense of self-preservation, which finally didn't end well for him."

Raquel's hand stilled at that moment, and he looked at her. She looked tense.

"But if the Andrese before that time would have seen you with Raquel, he would have jumped in joy, Hermano!" Palermo exclaimed, Bogota and Marseille murmured their assent.

"Was that the same nephew who stole the gold from stormwater tank?" Raquel enquired and Sergio nodded with a sigh.

"Well then professor, if Berlin was still alive you were next in line to receive his 'Talk', no?" Marseille said in a drunken slur.

Sergio looked dumbly at him and Marseille rushed to explain, "Well... you know, with your decision to father a child with not one, but two members of the gang?"

Raquel pulled her hand from Sergio's hand so quickly, as if his skin burned her palm. He was so hyperaware of her; he could literally feel the moment slow down to milliseconds. She had stopped breathing but he could actually hear a thousand thoughts travelling through her brain, moving here and there, jumbling together. He was always aware that this could be a point of contention between them. He had realised this the moment he made his promise to Nairobi. But he never meant for her to find it out this way. In fact, after Nairobi's execution, he wasn't even sure he wanted her to find out.

But the damage was done. She was a smart woman and she could put two and two together. He just hoped they would cross this bridge and be done with it.

"Cross the bridge? What's there to cross?" Raquel said angrily and he realised belatedly that he had spoken those few thoughts aloud. Damn the alcohol!

"I think we should discuss this privately" Sergio said warily, watching her like she was a wounded tigress, one wrong move and she'll snap your neck. But she didn't. she didn't fight back. She didn't spat insults, or kick his shin or bite him, like all the other times when she discovered that he had kept secrets from her. She took a few deep breaths and got up from her seat.

"I think I've had enough alcohol for the night. I'm going to bed now." She pressed her hand on Sergio's shoulders as he began to get up from his seat," Not you. You have to entertain our guests and be a good host, remember?" she said it so coolly, that somehow it felt worse than a knife stab.

Sergio watched her walk away from the room and contemplated, what was worse, her anger or her silence.