Except the thing is, I’m not going to have to trade. Because actually, Martin was wrong three different ways. He was wrong for thinking I’d walk away from the woman I love. He was wrong about the diamonds he took with her being the real ones. But most importantly?
…He was wrong in assuming telling a master thief that something was “off limits.” He was wrong in thinking this thief wouldn’t move heaven and hell to come after the greatest treasure he’s ever known, and the most important steal of his life.
Her.
I grin a hardened smile, gazing coolly out the window at the black speck of the helicopter fading into the night.
Martin’s right about one thing. I am going to fade away. I’m going to disappear. And he sure as shit is never going to see or hear from me again.
…But not before I take back what’s mine. And nothing in this fucking world is going to stop me.
Chapter 12
Valentine
“So, explain to me how the fuck this happened?!”
My father whirls, scotch splashing out of the crystal tumbler in his hand as the fury blazes in his eyes.
We’re back at the mansion, sitting in his library. Well, Diana—my father’s wife—and I are sitting. He’s mostly pacing and fuming, steadily getting drunk.
“I already told you,” I mutter.
“Ahh, yes, that you just happened to be in the study when that asshole came by to steal my fucking diamonds, and he just decided to kidnap you too?”
He sneers the words out sarcastically, but I ignore him, turning to glare at the floor. I’m torn. Part of me—well, no, most of me—wants to tell him everything. That I fell for the thief—that Dutch didn’t just steal his jewels, he stole my heart. Stole, or maybe that I gave it to him willingly. I want to stand up and shout the I love him.
But, I don’t. It’s not that I’m ashamed. Hell no. And it’s not that I have doubts, because I sure as hell don’t. It’s because even though I want to just yell out the truth, I know hanging on to this little lie is my best shot of getting back to the man I love. Pretending I’m the victim here buys me time to figure out what to do.
“Marty, honey,” Diana stands, forcing a smile to her face as she approached my father. “She’s been through a lot, dear. Now, she obviously didn’t have anything to do with that monster taking your—”
“Oh what the fuck do you know,” dad snaps, whirling and glaring at his wife. I frown as I watch Diana clam up and back away, and I shake my head. She means so well, and she deserves so much better than an asshole like my dad.
My father knocks back the rest of his glass and slams it onto the mantle above the fireplace.
“I’ll figure out the truth soon enough,” he spits. “But for now, at least the damage has been mitigated.” He sighs. “At least we got the Whistler pieces back.”
Diana’s eyes dart to mine, her face falling in sadness, but I just shake my head.
“And, uh, me? Are you glad you got me back?”
He turns, and it really doesn’t matter what he says, because the silence goes long enough that I already know what comes next will be a lie. I’m not at all surprised either.
“Of course,” he mutters gruffly. “And you. Right.”
He storms over to his bar cart and pours himself another splash of scotch. I just shake my head. I’ve never been welcome here. Ever. And Martin being my biological father hasn’t ever made me feel like we’re family anyways. So I’m not hurt. I’m not surprised. I’m just… I don’t know.
I’m missing Dutch is what I am.
I’m missing being in the arms of the man who loves me—the one person who’s ever truly seen the real me, and who’s ever let me inside. He’s my family. He’s my heart. And being this far apart from my heart has me feeling cold, and empty.
Of course, knowing that my father has the fake diamonds brings some joy to me. I’m hiding the smile of course, but knowing that someday he’ll know he’s been royally fucked has me giggling inside. For a second, doubt rears its head, and the dark part of my heart suddenly wonders if—or why Dutch would wait for me, or try and get me back. Why, when he’s sitting back there with a quarter of a billion dollars’ worth of diamonds?
I mean, a man like that? I must be one of a million girls he’s stolen away into bed.
I look down, and slowly, even though I try to keep them at bay, tears brim my eyes. A hand on my shoulder has me yanking my head up, and when I realize it’s Diana, who’s come over to comfort me, I smile sadly. She and I have never gotten close, but really, she deserves to much more than this.
“C’mere, honey,” she says softly, wrapping her arms around me and holding me tight. She’s been looking at me like I’m some sort of crime victim, after my father made a point of mentioning how he found me with a basically naked Dutch. But now, as the tears brim in my eyes, and as my heart aches for the man I was pulled away from, it’s almost like she’s looking at me differently.
“There, there,” she says, quietly, but loud enough for my father to see. He rolls his eyes, snorting and turning away as he yanks out his phone and starts barking orders to some of his subordinates. Diana glances at him and then turns back to me, her eyes softening as she hugs me tight.
“You’ll get back to him,” she whispers.
I pull away, surprised, my brow shooting up. But she just smiles warmly, pressing a finger to her lips.
“I was young once too, you know,” she winks, darting a look at my dad’s back. “And I know that look I see all over your face. This man… well,” she smiles. “Don’t let anyone tell you who you shouldn’t love, sweetheart.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
My father’s voice jars through the moment, and we both pull away as he storms back over.
“What?”
“I said let’s go.”
My lips purse. Slowly, I stand. “Actually, I’m leaving, dad.”
His lips pull back in a sickly grin. “The hell you are.”
I blink. “Excuse me?”
“You’re out of your fuckin’ mind if you think I’m letting you leave this goddamn house, let alone your room.”
I stare at him. “What?!”
“Oh you’re staying right the fuck here, missy, until I can figure out what sort of hand you had in all of this bullshit.”
“Like hell—”
The doors open, and suddenly, two of his goons come storming over. My father nods at me, and before I even know what’s happening, they’ve grabbed me by the arms.
“Get your fucking hands off of me!”
My dad chuckles. “And here I thought sending you to private school would make a lady out of you.” He sneers. “Guess only half your genes know how to behave like a civilized human.”
“Martin!” Diana blurts out, a horrified look on her face. “You can’t speak to her like that!”
He laughs. Laughs.
“I damn well can.”
“Well you can’t imprison her!” Diana sputters, her face white as she glances between me and her husband. “Dear, please, she’s obviously a victim in all of—”
“Mind your tongue,” he snaps. Instantly, she stiffens, paling.
My father turns to me. “Victim, huh? We’ll see about that.” He nods at the two guys holding me. “Take her phone, lock her in her quarters, guard the door. She doesn’t fucking leave until we sort this bullshit out.”
I scream as they start to drag me away, and Diana is still pleading with my father. But he just turns, waving a dismissive hand as they pull me away.
Dutch.
His face burns through my heart, and when I hear the key turning in the lock on my bedroom door, it’s him I focus on.
Him, the thief who stole my heart.
The man who found my soul.
The only one I want.
Chapter 13
Dutch
The window slides shut behind me, and I go still. My ears strain, my breathing goes soft. It’s like doing this is part of my blood
, and at this point after doing it most of my life, it probably is.
I’m breaking and entering. I’m here to steal. But, it’s not jewels I’m after this time. Not diamonds, not a famous painting, or blueprints, or political documents.
…I’ve come here for her.
It’s late. I’ve purposely waited for the rest of the house to go dark to make my move, even though I arrived here fucking hours ago. Hours spent pacing the back wall of the estate, trying to calm the fire roaring through my veins. But finally, it’s time, and now, I won’t be kept from her a moment a longer.
This is her room, and my ears strain again in the darkness for the sound of her sleeping. But when I hear nothing, I frown. I know she’s at the estate, and I know there are other places Martin might be keeping her. But that she’s not in her own room make me frown, seeing as I was so sure. I step into the big bedroom, my eyes sweeping the darkness. My gaze lands on her bed, and it being empty makes my growl catch in my throat.
Where the fuck is he keeping her—
“Surprise!”
I whirl, lunging into the voice on impulse and slamming the person back into the wall. My heart races, and the snarl catches on my lips before suddenly, I blink.
She giggles.
“I totally snuck up on you, didn’t I.”
I don’t even respond, I just do what I’ve been dying to do since they stole her from me.
I kiss her, hard.
Valentine moans into my mouth, melting into me as my hands go from grabbing her wrists to sliding over her waist. I press into her, still pinning her to the wall as I taste those lips, claiming her mouth all over again until we’re panting for air.
“Yeah, princess,” I growl, scooping her into my arms. “You did.”
In so many more ways than just now in the dark. She’s the girl I never saw coming. The one I thought would just fuck up my plans. And maybe she did, but damn am I good with that. She messed up my plans alright, but now, there’s a new plan.
And it’s all about her.
I kiss her again, slower this time, kissing her deeply until she melts into me once again.
“I knew you’d come looking for me.”
I chuckle. “And just how long have you been hiding out waiting for me?”
Valentine grins. “Oh, only since I heard you opening that window. Jeez, I’m surprised you didn’t wake the whole house. I mean aren’t you supposed to be this master thief?”
I arch a brow, grinning back at her as she beams at me.
“You like teasing me, don’t you?”
“Immensely,” she giggles back, kissing me. “So, what’s the plan?”
“The plan?”
She frowns. “I mean, now what? What are we doing?”
I shrug. “We? I mean, I just came back for those diamonds, sweetheart.”
Her brow wrinkles. “Wait, you know I was wearing the fakes when they took me, right?”
I manage to keep my face hard for exactly one more second before I crack. Valentine scrunches her face up, shaking her head at me as she playful hits me.
“Ass.”
“Princess,” I grin back, kissing her slowly.
“You know I came back for you,” I growl quietly as I pull her tight to me. “You know I’d go to the ends of the Earth for you, angel.”
She curls into me, kissing me fiercely as I wrap her tight in my arms.
“The plan is, I’m retiring.”
She bites her lip, looking up into my eyes.
“Need a partner?”
The grin spreads across my face, and she shrieks as I scoop her up into my arms.
“Definitely.”
“So, does that mean you’re going to steal me away again?” she breathes, nodding at the window.
But I just smile as I shake my head.
“No, princess,” I growl into her lips. “This time, I’m walking right out the damn front door with you.”
I scoop her into my arms and kiss her.
…And then I do exactly that.
Epilogue
Valentine
Warm sand tickles between my toes, and the soft sound of the ocean sweeping the shore has almost put me to sleep. Somewhere, a shore bird cheeps in the soft tropical air, and I can just about smell the first scents of the feast the resort is cooking for tonight.
The specifics of where we are aren’t important. All you need to know is: it’s gorgeous, it’s paradise, and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be with the man I love.
A week after we walked right out of my father’s estate, Dutch followed through with his buyers, and sold the Whistler necklace and earrings for two-hundred-and-forty million dollars.
…That’s a number I’m still trying to wrap my head around. But needless to say, we don’t want for anything these days. Eventually, we’re going to spend some of it on a forever home somewhere away from it all. But for now, we’re just traveling the world, living from resort to resort.
After the sale, I made sure we sent twenty million of it by way of a secret account to Diana. She ended up leaving my father the day after Dutch and I left. Apparently, even though I wasn’t even related to her, seeing my father act so heartlessly towards me was her last straw. So, I made sure she was taken care of for the rest of her life.
Another very big chunk of the money went to an education fund in my mother’s name to help the children of “the help” out in the Hamptons go to college. And I know she’d have loved that.
As for my father? Well, he’s not coming after us. You’d think we’d be worried about that, but trust me, we’re not. See, that was all part of the deal we struck the night we walked right out the front door. Dutch promised him that the dirty secrets he knew about my father’s company could bury him. He agreed to leave him the diamonds, and in exchange, he’d take me and his secrets and disappear.
Martin thought that was the deal of the century.
He exploded later, and did try to come after us once he’d heard through the grapevine that the real diamonds had been sold. But at that point, Dutch had leaked enough proof of what he knew to a few of the other board members of dad’s company, and they convinced him two-hundred-and-forty million was a small price to pay for not going to jail or losing a multi-billion-dollar company.
And so, it’s a truce of some kind. A treaty maybe? Whatever it is, it means we’re free of him, forever.
“Damn that smells good.”
I smile, pulling my sunglasses off and looking up at my husband standing over my beach chair.
…Oh, right, yeah. It’s husband now. My husband who stole me away—twice—and who steals my heart away every day.
“Yeah the dinner menu sounds amazing tonight. They’re cooking it all outside I guess.”
Dutch nods, but when his eyes slide over me and I see that hungry grin creep across his lips, I blush.
“What?”
He squats down next to me, leaning over and cupping my jaw as he kisses me slow and deep.
“I’ve mentioned how fucking great you look in a bikini, right?”
I blush. “I think you’ve mentioned that you think I look good in pretty much everything you’ve seen me in, dork.”
He chuckles. “You caught me. But still, you know my favorite.”
I blush, raking my teeth over my lip as I nod.
It’s diamonds, and nothing else. Not the Whistler set, but Dutch loves me stretched out in bed wearing only diamonds. I’m sure a psychologist would have a field day with that, him being a former jewel thief and all, but trust me, I don’t mind one single bit.
Dutch kisses me again, passionately and slowly, leaving me breathless as he pulls away.
“Happy anniversary, angel,” he murmurs.
I smile. “And a happy Valentine’s Day to you, too.”
“You know, dinner isn’t for another hour.”
I bite my lip. He doesn’t even have to say it. I know from the tone of his words and that spark in his eyes what he wants.
…
And it’s what I can’t wait to give.
“Also, I got you something for the occasion.”
I giggle. “Is it diamonds?”
I gasp as my amazing husband scoops me up into his big strong arms and starts to stride across the sand back to our private cabana.
“Nah,” he growls, leaning down and letting his lips brush my ear.
“But trust me, princess, it’s as hard as one.”
…Needless to say, we’re late for dinner.
The End
Also by Madison Faye
Standalones:
Get Lucky (March, 2019)
Stealing Valentine
Taking Back His Bride
Screwged
Sharing Samantha
Claiming Candy
Trick And Treat
Sugar & Spice
Five Card Studs
Dear Stepbrother, I Want You
Blackthorn Mountain Men:
Claiming His Mountain Bride
His Captive Mountain Virgin
Her Mountain Baby Daddies
His Big Mountain Axe
His Hard Mountain Wood
Her Rough Mountain Outlaw
Unwrapping His Mountain Package
Her Double Mountain Outlaws
Her Savage Mountain Daddy (March, 2019)
Royally Screwed:
King Sized
Royal Brat
Daddy Duke
Prick Charming
Filthy Ever After
Once Upon A Scandal
Royally Screwed #7 (April, 2019)
Sofa King:
Sofa King Hard
Sofa King Wrong
Sugar County Boys:
Bucking Bronco
Long Hard Truckers
Rough Rider
Country Liquor
Stealing Valentine Page 7
