Although Lani Price had been president of her French Club in high school, she didn't keep up with the language after graduating. Still she loved practicing her french the handful of times she'd been to Paris. On this visit when she tried to speak her tongue felt slow and rusty. She made a mental note to begin studying her french again when she moved to South African to be with Theo. Her bad French didn't matter much anyway, since Xander-who spoke English, French and Italian fluently-did most of the talking. Lani watched Xander as he flirted with the girl at the front desk of the hotel where they would be staying.
The locale was a tourist's dream, close to the Eiffel Tower and a stone's throw from Champs-Élysées. Only they were not in the famed City of Lights to enjoy the sights. They had a job to do. Per their plan Kristen was booking a room at another hotel and would not be joining them again until that evening when the job was scheduled to go down. Adrenaline rushed through Lani's veins at the thought of pocketing the money that would set her up for a brand new life. Eli's face flashed through her mind and she promptly focused her attention on Xander who was walking toward her.
"So?" Lani said expectantly. She took her room card from Xander and they made their way to the elevators.
"She's most definitely up for it," Xander said glancing back at the young woman who waved at him, his grey eyes twinkled in amusement.
Lani sighed. The man was always on the make, no matter the circumstances. "Good for you, what about access to the rooms?"
"She knows a guy who knows a guy, but these are delicate matters that can't be rushed. I'm taking her to lunch in an hour. I'm sure we'll have all of the information. Definitely before tonight."
"Just make sure you stay focused," Lani admonished.
"And you're one to talk," Xander returned. "Kristen doesn't realize it, but I'm well aware you spent the last two nights sleeping with the enemy."
The elevator arrived and they both stepped on. Lani pushed the button for the appropriate floor."Despite your best efforts to get me into bed," She looked Xander up and down dismissively. "I have been sleeping alone for months. I have no idea what you're talking about."
"I could be mistaken, but I could have sworn I saw the plonker you used to shag before Gabi threw a spanner in the works coming out of your room two nights in a row."
Lani realized there wasn't much use in lying. "So Eli came to visit me a few times. No big deal."
"So you want to make me believe Detective Grant wasn't on the pull, then?"
"On the pull? Seriously?" Lani rolled her eyes. "No Eli wasn't on the pull…"
"The bloke must've wanted something from you. Makes sense wouldn't you say. He's got Gabi after all and she's no slouch at least in the looks department."
"Not that I need to explain my actions or Eli's to you but he and Gabi are broken up and have been broken up for awhile." They stepped off the elevator together. Lani looked up and down the hall to see which way the numbers were going. She turned right dragging her wheeled suitcase behind her.
"Is that what he told you?" Xander fell into step beside her. "That he and Gabi broke up?"
"Yes, that's what he told me," Lani said.
Xander reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his phone. "Trust me, I know how the game is played as I played it a few times myself. So I figured he told you he and Gabi weren't together. But me being the suspicious sort wondered what he was about so I followed him the night it stormed. And I can assure you he and Gabi are very much so still together."
Lani felt her heart practically drop to the floor. "You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."
"I figured that's exactly what you would say, so I made sure I gathered the evidence to make an airtight case." Xander scrolled through his phone for a few seconds before turning the screen to face Lani. Her heart catapulted from the floor up to her throat as she took in images of Eli and Gabi canoodling, she grabbed the phone and scrolled, then scrolled some more. Xander had taken more than a dozen pictures. Gabi and Eli were hugging, kissing, laughing, holding hands.
"I know it must hurt to find out that the man you love has been lying to you, but is that airtight enough for you, love?" Xander said, his voice filled with false concern. "Every last picture is time stamped. Sorry to be the bearer of such bloody rotten news, but the proof is in the pudding."
Lani took a deep cleansing breath. So what Eli had lied to her and was still 'canoodling' with Gabi right after leaving her room at the DiMera mansion. Besides on the night in question that's what she assumed he was doing anyway. It was not until the second night he came to her room did he explain that he and Gabi had broken up. But why did he lie? The question gnawed at her so much her stomach began to hurt. She knew they couldn't be together anyway, so why bother to get upset about it? Lani shrugged her shoulders and tossed the phone back to Xander. "They're together, so what? Why do you care."
"Because I know you care, love. And we are partners afterall, aren't we? You, me and Kristen. Unless you've ratted us out to your two timing lover."
Lani's mind was still reeling. She shouldn't have looked at so many of the pictures of Eli and Gabi. She already had enough images embedded in her mind from seeing them together with her own eyes. She didn't need pictures on top of that. Even though her mind was in a muddle, she realized that Xander was accusing her of revealing their plan to Eli.
"Of course I didn't tell Eli. Why would I be here if I did?" Lani crossed her arms and waited for Xander to answer.
"You could be working with him."
"Working with him to do what? He is a detective with the Salem PD and has no jurisdiction in France. I didn't tell Eli a thing not even that I was leaving town. He doesn't have a clue."
Xander stared at her for a long moment. She could practically see all of the assessments and calculations going on behind his steel grey eyes. "I believe you," he finally said and was back to being the fun loving Xander again. "I didn't think the bloke knew anything anyway," he said. "I showed you those pictures because I wanted to-as you Americans say-blow up his spot. "
Lani didn't respond. She stared at Xander, her mouth twisted in a smirk. But inside she was furious. How could Eli blatantly lie to her like that?
"Anyway I'm pretty knackered," Xander said with a yawn. "Think I'll catch a brief kip before I get the rest of the information we need for tonight. I'll give you a bell later." With that he walked further down the hall to his room leaving Lani in the hallway. She was so angry, she had half a mind to catch the next plane back to the US for the express purpose of going to the martial arts studio to get her weapons, so she could teach Eli a lesson he would never forget.
Lani opened the door to her room, went inside and paced back and forth for a good twenty minutes until she had convinced herself not to immediately head back to Salem to confront Eli's lying, cheating ass. "It doesn't matter...It does NOT matter...it doesn't matter…" She repeated over and over again. She also fought the urge to trash her hotel room ala Kristen DiMera, but she'd gotten her fill of vandalism when she broke the window to Gabi Chic after Gabi and Eli first became an item. One of her crimes Eli knew nothing about. "See right there," she said to herself. "Eli may be two timing creep, but I'm a newly minted criminal, so we're even. I'll just let it go."
"No, no, because as Xander always reminds us, there is honor even among thieves," Lani said to the empty room. She found her phone in her bag and scrolled through the contacts for Eli's number. Her mind would not rest until she had some answers. But what questions would she ask? She had left him after all, and had no plans to ever go back to Salem. So he was now free to canoodle with Gabi 24 hours a day, not just after leaving her room, after holding her, after whispering words of comfort in her ear, after telling her that they would be together from now on...Every word Eli said to her over those two days came back. That stormy night when he first appeared, their little sparing match at the martial arts studio that ended with them half undressed. It all flashed through her mind.
No, she wouldn't go back and confront him with her weapons, she wouldn't call to demand answers. She'd write him a letter instead. She sat down at her computer, signed on to the hotel's wi fi connection and started to draft an email. She wrote an angry seething diatribe, only to delete it. Then she wrote another that was worse than the one before. Okay, email is not the way to go besides what did it matter anyway. She closed the laptop and stood. Even though she didn't send the emails, oddly just venting her feelings made her feel a little bit better. At least now she could think without literally seeing red.
And one question nagged at her.
Why did Eli pick now of all times to come back into her life, right before the Paris job? Suddenly even through her hurt feelings she began to piece things together. And Xander's suspicions now made sense. She went directly to Xander's room and banged on the door. "Xander open up it's important."
After a minute, a shirtless, groggy Xander opened the door. "I thought I told you I was off to Bedfordshire. For you artless Americans that means I was going to catch 40 bloody winks."
"Actually you said you were knackered and needed a brief kip. All of which I understood perfectly." Lani walked past him and into his hotel room. "You'll have to sleep after the job tonight is done. I think we may have a problem. If so, we'll have to go with plan B."
"Which is conveniently how you wanted to do the job in the first place." Xander's eyes narrowed into a scowl.
"Look If I'm wrong then we do it your way," Lani said. "In any case we have to be prepared for anything."