Taken by the Greek Billionaire (3 page)
“No.”
Another
pause.
“I suppose I will have to take care of this myself if you’re
insistent.”
Sebastian smiled slightly, wondering if
Gosta
himself would attend the event, and hoping for a moment he would. What a shock
the cream of
instead of his own imposing figure. It was almost enough to make him want to
attend after all. He shook his head to dispel the thought. “I would appreciate
that, uncle.”
“A bit more notice next time would be helpful,” the older man
grumbled. “A text message a mere five minutes ago barely counts.”
“Apologies.
Efharisto
.
”
Sebastian clicked the phone off, admitting to himself that
Gosta
was probably right. But it hadn’t really occurred to
him. He’d been leaving the office after a long day at work, planning to get
dressed and set out. Only as he’d waited for the elevator he’d realized that
actually he did not want to.
Out of nowhere, and in that moment, he realized that he’d come to
loathe the functions he’d been required to attend over the last five years. The
overly made up women, the men always looking to make a business connection, and
though he did support many of the charitable ventures the women of society
seemed to come up with, he was sick to death of having to actually go in
person. Duty had prodded him, but for once he’d ignored it. He was rich wasn’t
he?
Shockingly, unbelievably rich.
He could do as he
pleased—something he hardly ever did. So he’d walked back into his office and
sat back down intending to work, to enjoy the peace and quiet of the office
devoid of staff.
Only it hadn’t quite worked out that way.
Sebastian dropped his Blackberry onto the passenger seat and frowned,
feeling equal parts rebellious and ungrateful. Who was he to moan about his life?
It was perfect wasn’t it? He had everything he’d spent the last decade working
towards. He had no real worries, few problems. Why should he possibly complain?
Because you’re bored, so
damn bored….
The frown deepened as he acknowledged
the thought, wondering where it had come from and why it was rearing its head
now. It was just that everything seemed to have become so
routine
.
Rarely was he surprised anymore, rarely did he do anything for no other reason
that because he wanted to. Well today was the start at least. It was the start
of making some changes.
His Blackberry vibrated next to him and he cast it a look.
Mellina
calling
.
He
sighed. It would be her of course. She was supposed to be his date to tonight’s
function and although he’d sent her a text telling her that her company was no
longer required, he should have known that would be insufficient for the fiery
model, just as it had been for
Gosta
. No matter, he’d
ignore it and she’d soon get the message. They always did in the end.
“What to do,” he muttered to himself as he opened the car door.
He had the whole evening stretched before him. The house was empty,
because as
Gosta
had said, for the last five years
he’d attended Lady Williams’ function and the staff were always given the evening
off and they weren’t live in staff anyway—he couldn’t bear to have his privacy
compromised in that way—so would not be returning at all until tomorrow.
Sebastian stood up, stretching his long frame out, almost excited at
the idea of some time to himself. A Friday night with nothing to do but
whatever he fancied. He had several books he’d been meaning to read, a number
of DVD box sets to watch. Hell, he could even do some work if he wanted to. Not
the day to day stuff that made him so rich, the other projects he liked to do,
the things that required he actually use his hands and not just his brain. He
never got bored when he was doing them.
He nodded to himself, opened the door to his underground parking lot
and strode toward the stairs that would lead him to the ground floor of his
out of his suit into jeans and a tee, he decided. Then he’d get started on the
bookcase that needed varnishing. He could probably get most of it done tonight
if he worked through until the early hours of the morning….
Something made him pause as he pushed open the concealed door to the
lot.
What was that
? Sebastian frowned
and tilted his head. There was a scrape across the floor, some sort of
movement. The sound seemed a long way off but there all the same.
Was one of his staff working late? Had a relative turned up
unannounced and somehow gotten inside? Or…Sebastian exhaled slowly. Had someone
dared to enter his home uninvited? He made to turn to call his security men—who
sat in their office at the end of the underground space—but changed his mind.
It could be nothing after all and he was in no mood for company. Instead he
clenched his fists, closed his eyes, and tried to pinpoint the exact position
of the noises.
Another occurred in that exact moment, helping him. It was a tinkle,
like something breaking. His eyes shot open; he lifted his head and glared
upwards. Two floors up at least, almost exactly above him.
The room that held his smallest safe.
Chapter Three
Penny was in trouble. Not only had the safe, hidden behind a nude
portrait, been surrounded by a bunch of equally nude glass figurines that she’d
had to move one by bloody one, but the software was taking longer than she’d
anticipated to hunt down the pin code. She tried to stay as still as possible
as the tablet churned through combinations, discarding some, pushing forward
others, but it wasn’t easy.
The house was silent as a grave, except for the beating of her own
heart, which seemed so loud Penny thought she was damn lucky Demetrious wasn’t home,
or surely he’d hear it, too. But then hadn’t she picked this night for that
very reason? Every year without fail Demetrious attended some posh ball for
some obscure charity Penny had never heard of. It was a fashionable charity of
course. People like Demetrious never seemed to give money to those who really
needed—like abandoned foster kids. She’d read, in her research, that people
spent thousands on all sorts of nonsense once there, no doubt whilst quaffing
champagne and eating quail’s eggs or something of the like.
“Rich people food,”
Lyra
had said when
Penny asked her what the hell a quail’s egg was. They’d eaten pot noodles for
dinner that night.
Regardless of what Demetrious was eating, Penny had a good few hours
before he returned, and another twenty minutes or so before his ridiculously
predictable security people did another sweep. Of course they’d be far less
predictable if their boss, Max, was around. But he had the same night off every
week and they’d found out in their research that the old adage,
when the cat’s away
held firm. Still,
time was ticking on and already thirty-five minutes had passed since she
slipped in the back door.
Come on,
she told the tablet.
Come
the hell on
.
The progress bar on the bottom of the screen hit the ninety percent mark,
meaning the software was down to the last handful of combinations. Another few
minutes and it would tell her exactly what code she needed to plug into the
safe.
Penny exhaled carefully and unzipped the front pocket of her waist
bag. The moment the tablet gave her the software she could…. The progress bar
hit one hundred before disappearing to be replaced with a string of numbers.
Excitement shot through Penny and she grinned. She carefully unplugged the
cable she’d run from the tablet to the now open key pad on the safe, winding it
up against the back of the tablet. The pin code was a string of sixteen numbers
long and Penny wondered how the hell Demetrious remembered it. No matter.
She keyed the numbers in one by one, careful to make sure she got
them exactly right. Her hands were steady, the thin gloves almost unnoticeable.
She congratulated herself again for resisting the leather.
Once all the numbers were keyed in the safe gave an audible click
before swinging slightly open. Penny pressed the sleep button on her tablet and
placed it back into her waist bag, careful to zip it tightly in.
After all
our planning, all those years feeling helpless
….
Penny opened the safe slowly, almost nervously, and when it was at
its widest arc almost gasped. There was far more in there than she’d expected,
and this wasn’t the only safe in the house! She’d gone for the smallest one,
the one he might not notice empty for a while.
Less risk but
still plenty of reward.
How the rich live, she thought, disgusted all
over again that one person could have so much whilst others had so little. Well
today she’d change that, readdress the balance ever so slightly, and then
Rachel and
Lyra
could do the same.
Carefully Penny took her torch out of her bag and shone it into the
safe, outlining piles of money, papers, and velvet bags that she was sure held
jewelry. The light outlined something else as well, two thin laser beams
criss
-crossing the entrance diagonally. As expected. With
one hand tilting the torch she removed her own laser, the special one she’d had
to break into Mr. Grope-my-cleaners-Smith’s summer house to afford.
Right in the centre point…
.
She lined it up, popped the torch into her mouth and then pressed its button
slowly. Her own beam merged with the other two, scattering them. Quick as a
shot, Penny’s arm went into the safe. She grabbed the nearest bundle of cash
and turned off her laser. The beams in the safe merged again.
Penny looked over the cash pile in its vacuum pressed bag, taking up
a significantly smaller space than it would normally have done. Judging by the
thickness and taking into account the bag, she suspected there was about a
hundred thousand and it was then that her hands started to shake slightly. To
hold so much money in her palms! To think what this money was going to do in
the end! It was unbelievable.
She took a steadying breath and opened one of the side compartments
of her bag. The cash went in there, barely fitting. Torch back in her mouth,
she eyed the safe again. Even with
her own
special
laser it could take maybe two or three assaults before the safe’s lasers blanked
out completely. That would trigger the alarm, which would bring most of the Met
screaming through the doors.
Carefully she repeated her actions until another hundred grand was
in the opposite side pocket—barely fitting even in its compressed state.
Stunned to have so much money on her, Penny bit down on her lip, wondering
whether to try a third assault. It was touch or go as to whether the beams
would take it or activate their silent alarm.
Be safe. Be careful. We’re
counting on you.
Rachel and
Lyra’s
words echoed through her
mind and Penny heeded them. Tempted though she was she knew she had enough.
About twenty grand too much in fact.
She tucked the laser
back in her bag, closed the safe, and set about re-screwing the keypad.
Was there time to put all the glass figurines back in place? Penny
eyed them by the torch light and frowned. She had to. Otherwise he’d know
immediately. Hadn’t she gone for this safe in the hope he wouldn’t realize for
a while? Not putting the glass people back would negate that, and she might as
well have gone for one of the bigger safes.
She picked up the first one, some sort of Nymph and placed it on the
table in front of the safe. It was so tall it reached halfway up. Then the next
and the next…there were about a dozen in all. Each depicted some sort of
mythical creature and their considerable assets, each shielding the safe in
their own way. They were probably worth a bomb and Penny was tempted to take
the one showing three sisters. They looked eerily like her, Rachel, and
Lyra
. She held the figurine in front of her, the torch
light shining off its angles, enchanted by the workmanship.
Nope.
Too big to carry and besides they’d never be
able to sell it.
She placed it on the remaining space on the table instead, took the
torch out of her mouth, and secured it in her bag. A weird sort of calm settled
across her now. She was still amped up on adrenaline of course but now that the
worst was over she could feel her body anticipating the end. Once she was out
of the house it was done.
Her biggest score in all her
twenty-five years.
Outwitting one of the richest men
on the planet.
She almost wanted to laugh but shook her head instead. Just
a few more minutes….
She turned to leave, exhaling slowly to steady herself as she did
so, only to be halted by an odd dragging sort of sound. She paused before
stepping forward, only then realizing that was totally the wrong thing to do.
The edge of her waist bag, where the compressed hundred grand was stashed,
caught the third sister, the one that looked just like her.