Thief (15 page)

I clip the wire. I move out from behind the desks and make my way back down the hall. This is as much as we can do tonight without pushing our luck.

When I reach Nick, he’s in the same spot as before and ready to go.

“We all good?”

“Yeah. Everything’s in place for tomorrow.” Nick goes to turn, but I grab his arm, pulling him back. “The code?”

“Oh, yeah.” He gives me a wicked smile, like he was just going to bust out of here, set off the alarm and leave me to clean up. This fucker is looking to get shot, and I’ll be all too glad to handle it when the job is done.

He goes over to the keypad and enters the code, and we wait for the beep. Once the red light flashes, we’ve got ten seconds to exit before the motion alarm is back in place.

I scan my pass on the inside panel and use the key to unlock the door. I count before opening it, making sure the camera is facing away.

Once we’re in the clear, we exit, and I seal the door behind me before making a run to get around the corner in time.

When we reach the other side of the wall, we walk away like nothing happened. We’re both cool and collected as we make it to my car and get in.

Pulling away from the curb, I look over to see Nick looking at me.

“Easy peasy, Sparrow. Now let’s see how well you do tomorrow.”

I don’t like the darkness I see in his eyes. Not one bit.

Chapter 17

Tessa

^“
Y
ou look…” Harper pauses as she runs her eyes over me, and I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know how she thinks I look. She never fails to take a jab at me. Besides, she looks like hell herself. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this out of sorts. It looks like she went on an all-night bender and has yet to wash off her make-up from the day before.

Her shirt is covered in what I can only guess is food. She can get a little sloppy sometimes, but this is past that for her.

“This place is a mess.” I cut her off. One weekend away and the whole apartment looks to have fallen apart. The coffee table is littered with soda cans and a variety of junk food. There are even chips smashed into the rug. I have to clench my jaw to stop me from saying something.

“I’ll get to it later.” Harper waves her hand at the mess like it’s no big deal, but for some reason that just pisses me off more. Maybe because I don’t want to be here. I want to be back in Sean’s apartment, lying in his bed.

“Where have you been?” I can tell she’s prying for information about Sean. She had her eyes all over him when she opened the door, but he paid her no mind, his eyes never leaving me. I’d noticed that a lot about him.

Even when we’d gone out on Saturday, women always seemed to be looking at him. Not that I can blame them. He stands out in a room. Hell, I think a waitress even tried to hit on him when we were having lunch, but he didn’t seem to notice. His full attention was always on me, like no one else was around, and I found myself not caring that they looked at him, because it didn’t matter.

“With Sean.”

“All weekend?” Her tone carries a sneer of disbelief. She did just see him in our doorway dropping me off, it can’t be that hard to believe. I mean, really.

“Yeah, he kinda didn’t want me to leave.” I can’t help but take a little jab myself. I want her to know to keep her eyes off him because Sean is mine, and he’s made it clear I’m his. I won’t have him coming over and her pulling some shit or trying to put me down in front of him. I’ve put up with a lot from Harper but now I seem to give a shit.

“Well, you’re here now,” she smirks, and her words burn. Point Harper.

“Some people do have to work, Harper.” I push past her, not wanting to have this verbal jab fest. I may be over her shit right now, but I also don’t want to hurt her with the things that are suddenly on the tip of my tongue. I want to let all the hateful comments fly and give her a nice dose of her own medicine.

Not right now, though. Right now, all I want is a hot shower and to go to bed. Tomorrow can’t come fast enough. I’ll be back with Sean and out of this apartment that I suddenly hate.

“Are you cooking dinner?” I hear her call out behind me, making me roll my eyes.

“No,” I say, before shutting my bedroom door and dropping my bag on the floor. I pull my phone out and scan for any messages. It’s been maybe three minutes since he left and I’m already checking them. This is going to be a long night.

It is. I toss and turn all night until my alarm finally goes off. I drag myself from the bed and slowly get ready, taking a little extra time to do my hair and apply some light make-up.

I pull out my favorite work dress, hoping it’ll give me some confidence. It’s violet and hugs my body, but it looks professional and comes down to my knees. I pair it with some caramel kitten heels. I smile as I look at myself in the mirror. I wonder if Sean will like it.

I check my phone again and see no messages. Maybe he’s just crazy busy.

Me:
Miss you <3

I put the phone back in my purse, making sure the sound is on so I can hear it when he does respond.

When I finally leave my room, I see Harper sitting at the breakfast bar eating a bowl of cereal.

“We’re going to be late,” she warns, shoving a spoonful into her mouth.

“We’re fine. I’m just going to grab a muffin.” I go to the pantry, grab two, and toss them into my purse. I’ll eat them when I get to my desk. I reach for the coffee pot but see none has been made. I bite my tongue.

I make it every morning. She couldn’t do it this once.

When I hear my phone beep, I hurriedly grab it, but the message is just from the bank manager.

Steve:
I need you to close today.

“Guessing lover boy isn’t texting you.”

“What?” I look over at her as she gets up to put her bowl in the sink.

“The look on your face when you got that text. Guessing it wasn’t him.”

She’s right, but I play it off. “No, just Steve telling me I need to close today.” I hate opening and closing, plus it’s going to cut into when Sean is picking me up. I should probably let him know.

Me:
I have to work late. Pick me up at 7?

I stare down at the phone, willing him to text me back. Just a simple ‘okay’ would work.

“We gotta go.”

Giving up, I drop the phone back into my purse again.

“Let me grab something and I’ll be ready.” I dart to my room, snatch a bag and put a few items in it. I might need to stay at Sean’s tonight and tomorrow. I dig through my drawer but can’t find any sexy underwear.

Maybe I could run out at lunch and get something. I wonder what Sean’s face would look like if I walked out of his bathroom in nothing but lingerie. Yeah, definitely going at lunch to find something.

It still blows my mind how last week I couldn’t even think about walking around naked in front of anyone, and now here I am, openly baiting Sean with my body.

It’s him. How he treated me all weekend. I feel sexy and needed. He kissed every inch of my body like he couldn’t get enough of every part of me.

I close the drawer, grab my bag, and meet an inpatient Harper at the door.

We walk to the train in silence, and it isn’t until we board does she start in.

“Are you going to be checking your phone all day? It looks a little sad.” Her tone is mocking. Like I’m a poor little puppy that she wants to pat on the head.

“Why do you care?” Looking over at her, I raise my eyebrow. I don’t get what her problem is.

“I’m just saying. You had a weekend fling. Don’t count on it being more.”

“You know nothing about what Sean and I did this weekend. Or what it means.”

She looks at me like she feels sad for me, and it pisses me off. “Tessa, this is how men work. They fuck you all weekend, tell you how wonderful you are, how much they want you. Then bam, they’re gone. Weekend of fun over, and they’re on to the next.”

I’m guessing that’s what Nick did to her, because she seems bitter. I don’t get why. If I were her, I’d be happy if Nick never called me again. Especially after how he treated her at the bar. No way.

“It’s not like that,” I say defensively, hating that anyone would think Sean would be like that. He may look tough and a little scary, but he’s sweet. He’d never do anything to hurt me. He did what he told me he would do. Made me fall for him before the weekend was over.

“Yeah, he’s blowing up your phone, isn’t he?”

“He’s working.”

“Takes two seconds to send a text.”

She’s right. It only takes a second to respond. Maybe he’s in a meeting. That doesn’t count for last night, though. I kept thinking I’d get a good night text or something, but all I got was radio silence. Until this morning when I had to send him one.

“I’m not trying to be a bitch,” she adds, and I almost want to laugh. No, she doesn’t have to try to be a bitch, it’s always there. “Just enjoy it for what it was, a weekend of fun, and let it go. I bet he gave you some great orgasms. You could have one just looking at him.”

I glare at her, thankful that the train has stopped and it’s our turn to get off. I don’t wait for her as I make my way off the train and towards the bank.

When I get there, I quickly open the doors to the bank and turn off the alarms. “Get the front ready. I’m dropping stuff in my office, and then we need to get the quarterly shipment ready. The armored truck will be here soon.”

I don’t wait for her to respond.

When I get to my desk, I pull my phone out. There’s still nothing from Sean, and I’ve had enough. I’ve got nothing to lose, so fuck it.

Me:
I love you.

Chapter 18

Sean

O
ur van pulls up to the back of the bank, and we park. We’ve got about ten minutes before the truck pulls up to go into the bank and take the shipment.

“I want everybody calm. We’ve got this all planned out. We stick exactly to the plan, no matter what happens. If the cops show up, you guys know the exit strategy. We all clear?”

I’m in the back of the van with seven guys. One of them is the driver, and another is staying with him to guard the van. Five of us are going into the bank, and it’s going to be tight as we’re down one person. The guy who got himself shot in the club was supposed to be another lookout, we’ll just have to be extra careful.