Stolen Goods (To Catch a Thief Book 2)

by Kay Marie

  Thad had been personally responsible for identifying and locking up twenty-eight known members of the Russian mafia. Some of those twenty-eight had taken plea deals and turned on their associates, bringing the full number of mobsters now in jail to a grand total of seventy-three—one of the biggest roundups in history. Had it absolved him of all his crimes? Of course not, but it was a start. One he was grateful he’d had the opportunity to make. And as part of his plea deal, he’d be spending the next four years as a consultant to the art crimes unit of the FBI, using his very specialized expertise to put other white-collar criminals away. Nate and his partner Leo were heading up a new task force to determine if any criminals under investigation for forgery and theft could be connected to larger organizations, the way Thad had been. For now, they were his assigned handlers. Life was settling into a new normal. There was only one glaring question mark left.

  Addison.

  Though he hadn’t seen her in over a year, all Thad had to do was close his eyes and she was there, standing before him in exquisite detail. A soft pink blush on her ivory cheeks. A brilliant sparkle to her turquoise eyes. A subtle smile across her plush lips. Their letters had been his only escape from four solid walls that seemed to grow smaller every day. She wrote to him of all the places she was going, all the foods she was eating, all the people she was meeting—with such detail he need only close his eyes and he was there. She’d been his muse for the past year. But could it be more?

  He didn’t know.

  Thad had told her more about himself in the past year than he’d ever told to anyone else—that he still longed to see his art hang in a gallery one day, that his greatest fear was becoming a father, that his greatest wish was the same thing. Addison had shared in kind, writing of her desire to own her own bakery, to have a family, her worry that when she finally returned home it would be all too easy to revert into the girl she’d been before. But she wouldn’t. Thad believed in her, and he told her as much. The only topic they never broached was the future—their future. The what-ifs. He hadn’t told her about his plea deal, didn’t remind her the trials were at an end, and never asked her to come see him. He didn’t want to get in her way. He didn’t want to be the reason she held herself back, especially when he considered her the sole thing moving him forward. Maybe that was the real reason he was too afraid to ask for more than letters, to ask for more of her—what if she said no? At least this way, there was a spark of hope to nurture, a little piece of her he could hold on to and keep close.

  Nate parked the car and turned off the engine. Thad followed him into the elevator and watched as he pressed the button for the fifth floor.

  “Jo and I are on the eleventh floor, but don’t let that fool you. I have the manager on speed dial, and at the first hint of escape, I can have this whole building on lockdown.”

  “Aye, aye, Captain.” Thad rolled his eyes. Do you really think I’m running now?

  “We moved your things from the safe house and stocked the fridge, and I’m sure Jo will get you anything else you want, whether I agree with it or not,” Nate continued, looking up to watch the numbers shift. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. They both stepped out. “You’re going to be living in apartment—”

  “Let me guess,” Thad interjected, nudging his chin toward the door at the end of the hall currently wrapped in a banner that read Welcome home! “Apartment 503?”

  Nate shook his head and sighed. “I told her not to do this. Most people on house arrest aren’t exactly thrilled to be there. But, well…”

  “That’s Jo,” Thad said, feeling his dimples pucker as he grinned. Maybe he wasn’t most people, because the sight of the sign made his chest warm. It had been a very long time since he’d had any place he considered home.

  “That’s Jo.” Nate laughed under his breath, a resigned yet loving sound.

  “Did she at least make me a cake? Cupcakes? A coopie?” Thad sniffed the air, hunting for a smell. He’d missed her cooking. Jo’s visits to the safe house had always been rushed and quick, long enough for a few hastily spoken words and an illicit exchange of letters before Nate ushered her back out.

  “I can neither confirm nor deny the possibility of baked goods.”

  “Come on, Parker,” he said, nudging the man in the ribs.

  Nate tossed him a sidelong glance, lips twitching. “Chocolate Oreo cake with vanilla cream frosting, and that’s all you’re getting out of me.”

  His stomach growled.

  Nate reached into his pocket and pulled out a single key on an otherwise bare key ring. But to Thad, it was everything—a fresh start. “Here you go, Ryder. Home, sweet home.”

  He took the key, breathed deep, and opened the door.

  “Surprise!” Jo yelled, then scrunched her eyebrows. “Or—er. Welcome home! We made cake!”

  “We…?” Thad asked, stepping inside. As soon as he pushed the door fully open, he froze. “What— How— Why—”

  Words, Thad.

  Words would be nice.

  Addison pulled her lower lip into her mouth as her cheeks widened, self-consciously hiding the smile threatening to spread. But he didn’t want her to hide it. He’d been imagining that smile for a year, and he was afraid he might break if he had to wait a minute longer to see the real thing. “Jo told me about the plea deal and the trials, and, well, that you were being moved to your new apartment today.”

  “Jo…” Thad trailed off. His brain was short-circuiting. How was this happening? Addison’s last letter, the one that had arrived two days prior, said she was hiking to Machu Picchu. She was supposed to be in South America, a million miles away. But she was here, close enough to touch, more real than any dream could ever be.

  He turned toward Jo, utterly confused and completely lost for words.

  She just shrugged.

  “You weren’t the only one Addy was talking to. And you forget, I know you better than you do.” She put her hands to Nate’s shoulders and pushed him out the door, mumbling, “That’s our cue.”

  “Hold on,” Nate argued. “I need to turn his monitor on. I need to get it calibrated for the new location. I need to—”

  “Later.”

  “But—”

  Jo gave him a hard shove and closed the door behind them, leaving Thad and Addison alone. His feet were glued to the ground. He didn’t know what to do. Addison was sitting on the floor of what he guessed would be his new living room, surrounded by a kaleidoscope of canvases.

  “You painted my letters,” she said softly, looking down as she gently ran her finger over the edge of one image. Thad couldn’t look away from her face. He was transfixed. “An evening walk along the Seine. The rolling hills of Tuscany. The Great Wall of China. The beaches of Phuket. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I—” Thad took a step closer, shaking his head. Addison stood as he closed the distance. Before he knew what he was doing, he’d lifted his palm to her cheek to run his thumb across her skin. Thad was struck dumb. He couldn’t think of a single thing to say. His fingers found her dark curls, tugging at the end. “You kept your hair short.”

  Hair. I’m talking about hair.

  “I guess I did.” She laughed softly, as though having the same thought, and reached up to cover his hand with her own. Lacing their fingers together, Addison held on tight.

  An electric spike pulsed through him, shocking him back to life. He felt her touch all the way in his toes. “What are you doing here?”

  The light in her eyes dimmed. “Do you—do you want me to leave?”

  “No!” Thad practically shouted, and then swallowed, grinning. Softer this time, he repeated, “No. I thought about telling you a hundred times— About asking you to— About—” He broke off. Why was writing letters so much easier than baring his soul in person? When he wrote, the words came easily. Well, easier. But now he was tongue-tied and twisted up, when he knew exactly what he wanted to say. He’d known for a year. Three words, just three simple words, yet they were t
he most difficult to say. “I—I’m happy you’re here. And I would’ve told you myself. I should have. I just, I never wanted you to be here out of obligation. I didn’t want you to be here, but want to be somewhere else…if that makes sense?”

  “Thad,” Addison murmured, stepping closer. He sucked in a sharp breath. Their thighs gently grazed. Her breasts pressed into his chest. When he looked down, meeting her soft gaze, all he saw was Addison. She was everything. She was the whole world, in sharp, burning focus, and he didn’t want to look away. “This is where I want to be. I know we never spoke about it, and I know there’s still a lot to figure out. But I’ve spent the past year jumping from place to place, seeing every inch of the world I ever imagined seeing, and you know what I realized? The only place I want to be is where you are.”

  “I’ll be wearing this ankle bracelet for the next four years,” he said, giving her the out, waiting for her to take it. “I’ll be stuck here, in this apartment. But you don’t have to be.”

  The corner of her lip lifted and Addison glanced around, raising her eyebrows. “It’s not so bad. A little stark, maybe. Could use a woman’s touch.”

  “Addison,” he whispered, a pained edge to his voice. This wasn’t a joke. He was still a criminal serving his time. Still not good enough for her.

  “My stuff is in Jo’s apartment, so I’ll either be staying here, or staying there, but I am staying.” Addison shrugged, unaware of the way his heart pounded in his chest, so full of hope it hurt. “We’re opening a bakery together, the two of us and McKenzie—we’ve been trying to agree on a name for the past three months. She wants Just Desserts. I think Serendipity Sweets, because, well, a little bit of fate had to have been at play in all this. McKenzie thinks Three’s Company, which I think is cute, but I’m not sure what the trademark implications will be.”

  Thad blinked, incredulous. “And you’ve been figuring all this out without telling me?”

  Addison arched a brow as a wicked grin spread across her lips. “Believe it or not, my whole life doesn’t revolve around you. I’m a strong, independent woman, and I don’t need a man.” She paused, glancing down, suddenly unsure. “But, well, I’d like one. A specific one…” Thad put his finger under her chin, forcing her to look up as she whispered one last word. “You.”

  His defenses broke.

  Thad wasn’t good enough for her. It was a fact. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t right for her. He’d learned something during all their time apart—choice mattered. There were choices he wished he’d never made. Choices he would never change. Choices that defined him. Choices he’d learned to move past. Choice was a powerful thing. And if Addison—a smart, capable woman who knew him better than anyone else in the world—was choosing him, maybe he was worth something.

  Now he had a choice to make. He could choose to walk away and regret this moment for the rest of his life. Or he could choose to believe her. He could choose to spend the rest of his days honoring her faith and her trust, and proving he deserved her. He could choose his heart.

  “I love you, Addison.”

  He couldn’t stop the words from spilling through his lips.

  He didn’t want to.

  Addison wrapped her arms around his shoulders, closing the distance between them. Thad held his breath, waiting, hoping, dreaming. She pressed her lips to his jaw, kissing her way closer to his ear. Her mouth hovered, deliberately stalling, lengthening the moment so he would understand he wasn’t taking something from her, but that she was giving it willingly. His entire body trembled, entranced by her touch, captivated by this woman who’d found him worthy of her heart and who’d stolen his in the process.

  “I love you, Thad.”

  He closed his arms around her in a vicelike grip, then lifted her feet from the floor and spun her around. Addison yelped with glee and held on tight, peppering kisses to his neck, his cheek, his mouth.

  “I love you. I love you. I love you.”

  Every time she spoke, his heart burned. The cracks closed. The breaks healed. The walls came down and the doors opened. When he kissed her, he tasted freedom and hope and all his dreams coming true. He wrapped her in his arms. No plans to run. No desire to flee. No wish but to never let her go.

  ***

  Thank you for reading!

  Don’t miss the third book, OFF THE GRID, following the love story of badass pastry chef McKenzie and charming federal agent Leo! One part Pride & Prejudice, one part Romancing the Stone, all the feels!

  Coming in April/May 2019!

  About the Author

  Bestselling author Kaitlyn Davis writes young adult fantasy novels under the name Kaitlyn Davis and contemporary romance novels under the name Kay Marie.

  Always blessed with an overactive imagination, Kaitlyn has been writing ever since she picked up her first crayon and is overjoyed to share her work with the world. When she's not daydreaming, typing stories, or getting lost in fictional worlds, Kaitlyn can be found indulging in some puppy videos, watching a little too much television, or spending time with her family.

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