Nicole sipped her drink, trying to loosen some of the sprouts lodged in her back teeth. “There’s just such a peace knowing I don’t have to prove myself to God. He already knows how messed up I can be, and He still loves me. All my doubts, all my fears, all my bad decisions—despite all that stuff, He stays with me.”

“Amen. Now, speaking of staying with you, you haven’t said a thing about your Belgian jeweler friend. Is he still staying with you?”

Nicole felt heat come to her cheeks as she looked down with a smile.

Alicia laughed. “Apparently the answer is yes. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen you blush before, girl.”

“Stop,” Nicole said, laughing too. “If by staying you mean does he stay with me when he’s in Milan, then the answer is no. But if you’re asking if we’re still a thing, then that answer is yeah. In fact, Nir’s one reason I wanted to get together with you today.”

Alicia’s already big eyes grew even wider. “What? Do I need to start looking for a sky-blue chiffon bridesmaid’s dress I’ll never wear again?”

“No! It’s nothing like that,” she said with another smile, but it quickly disappeared from her face. “It can’t be anything like that, at least not yet. I’ve told you before. He doesn’t want anything to do with Jesus. He’s fine with my being a Christian, but he says it’s not for him. I can’t marry a guy if the number one thing in his life isn’t the same as the number one thing in mine.”

“You’re right, although I know it can’t be easy. Just be patient. There’s no telling what God will do. So if it’s not the ‘Wedding March,’ what is it?”

Nicole sipped her drink again, using it as an excuse to prepare herself. These next minutes would determine whether the plot she and Nir were hatching would ever get off the ground. A no from Alicia, and they were dead in the water.

At first, as Nicole listened to Nir lay out his idea for an operation, she was resistant. Alicia was a friend. Nicole didn’t want to use her or lie to her or put her in any danger. But as they talked some more, she realized she wouldn’t have to actually lie to Alicia, at least not any more than she usually did as someone who lived a secret life as a computer hacker and analyst for the world’s premier intelligence agency.

Nicole would be able to tell the truth, just not the whole truth. She’d have to keep some minor details from Alicia—like the fact they’d be secretly hiding explosives in her artwork in order to assassinate terrorists.