The Reluctant Thief (The Stolen Hearts #4)

by Mallory Crowe

  “Make me do what?”

  “He thinks it will help us get along. Make us a unit and all that shit,” said Tristan.

  “Still waiting for clarification.” Toni studied her new cards and groaned at the fifteen. She motioned for Tristan to hit her, but the next card brought her to twenty-two and she was out.

  A second later, Tristan had won the hand again and Hunter threw his cards down. “Bullshit,” he muttered.

  “Don’t hate the player,” said Tristan.

  “It’s his life’s motto.” Gage threw a chip into the center.

  Toni only had one chip left and tossed it in. “Seriously, can we go back to the training?”

  “Training. You get to run until you throw up. Then you do sit-ups until you throw up. And then we get to beat the shit out of you until you throw up again. It will be fun. Trust us.”

  Ugh. She knew that the physical exercise wouldn’t have stopped her from doing this mission, but it sure as hell would’ve made her think twice. “I’m not what you’d call a physical person...” she said carefully. She really wanted to come off as one of those cool girls who could hang with the guys, but there was no faking this. “So which one of you gets to drag me along once my legs give out?”

  “You’d be surprised what Slade can pull out of someone,” said Hunter.

  Once again, Tristan took the hand and Gage threw his cards down. Tristan pulled the cards and the chips in and Toni frowned. “No wonder you all don’t bet more.”

  “I really wish they would. If you want a badass game, you need to bet badass.”

  “I don’t need to go broke any time soon. Besides, he’s cheating,” said Gage.

  Toni raised her brow and looked to see how Tristan would react to that.

  But he didn’t seem all that affronted at the notion. In fact, all he said was, “Prove it,” giving Toni a quick little wink.

  “Well, I think I’m out.” Toni motioned to her now empty spot where her chips had been.

  “I’d spot you some, but I’m heading up.” Gage pushed his seat back. “I’ve been scammed enough for one night.” He gave Tristan’s chair a little kick as he walked around. It was hard to tell how much of what he said was all in good fun and whether he was actually annoyed with Tristan, but they seemed to have a good rapport.

  When she glanced over to Hunter, his chair was empty. Somehow he’d gotten up and left without her ever noticing. Tristan was left alone to clean up, but considering he won all the rounds, she didn’t feel that bad for him. “I guess I’ll see you in the morning.” She stood.

  “Can’t wait,” said Tristan with a decidedly evil smile.

  “Ohh boy,” she said cautiously, not looking forward to getting her ass kicked repeatedly at all.

  She and Gage ended up walking up the stairs together. Without the other guys there, she didn’t really know what to say to break the ice between the two of them. So she stayed quiet as they made their way to her room. She was half worried about why he was following her, but she decided to think his room was in the same direction. When she reached her door, they both stopped and she was already thinking of ways to tell him to back off.

  But before he could cross into creepy territory, Gage said, “Tomorrow’s going to be easy.”

  She scoffed. “I doubt it. I couldn’t run if zombies were chasing me and my life depended on it.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “No, it’s going to suck. But compared to all the other things Sterling is going to make you do, tomorrow is going to be easy.”

  Oh... that. “Fine. He can make me do whatever he wants. Because by the time this is all over, I’m going to kill him.”

  Toni was just stepping out of the shower when she heard movement from the bedroom. Scott was back. Great. She ran a towel over the mirror so she could get a look at herself. Now that her makeup was gone, the circles under her eyes were more than visible. Would it be wrong to put on makeup before bed?

  Yes. The answer was yes. If Scott wanted to force his way into her life, he was going to have to deal with the consequences.

  She had at least had the foresight to bring her pajamas into the bathroom with her, so she wouldn’t have to walk out of the bathroom naked. Her oversized t-shirt and baggy pajama pants were more clothes than she wore when she was outside half the time, and she still felt as if she needed more covering.

  Though she didn’t really need to worry about how much of her was covered up or not. It's not like Scott cared, which really should be a good thing. It wasn’t as if either of them needed the distraction right now. Toni’s head fell forward and she rubbed at her temples. How did the song go? Something about washing a man out of her hair?

  There wasn’t enough shampoo in all of Illinois for that.

  When the knock on the door sounded right next to her, she jumped and held a hand over her heart.

  “Almost done?” called Scott.

  She blinked a few times and tried to get control of herself in more ways than one. Damn it. One night. It wasn’t that bad. There would be plenty of more nights together, and honestly, it was probably better that they were together to keep an eye on each other. All she had to do was keep herself from jumping his bones in the middle of the night and she’d be fine. She Just. Had. To. Hold. It. Together.

  Without hesitating any longer, Toni pulled the door open to see Scott leaning against the doorjamb and right in front of her and, to make things even better, not wearing a shirt. Her mouth fell open and her eyes skimmed over the muscles of his chest. He was an unemployed former cop. It wasn’t fair that he looked so damn good.

  He took a step back, giving her room to leave and, quite frankly, breathe. “Put on some clothes, Hart,” she said under her breath as she squeezed by him and made her way across the room.

  “Got any for me to borrow? Because in case you forgot, I didn’t have time to pick up my luggage from jail.”

  Huh... she had forgotten. The things that a shirtless Scott Hart could do to her. “I’m going to bed,” she said without acknowledging what he said.

  He pulled the door shut behind him, giving her a brief moment of solitude as she plugged in her phone charger and quickly wrapped her wet hair in a short braid.

  Considering she knew she was going to get sweaty and dirty tomorrow morning, she really could’ve held off on showering. But the idea of NOT showering and then sharing a bed with Scott was just not a possibility.

  She couldn’t think of anything to do to distract herself any longer, so she pulled back the covers and climbed under the starchy, thick comforter. She rolled on her side and hooked an arm under the pillow and closed her eyes. But all she could feel was her heart pounding away in her chest, and her eyes immediately snapped open. This was not going to be a good night.

  She heard the door open and then listened intently as Scott padded over to the light switch and flipped it off, plunging them into darkness. She found herself holding her breath as he walked to the bed. When he sat down, the mattress dipped toward him and she held onto her pillow tightly as he lay down.

  “I’m sorry,” she found herself blurting out.

  Scott pulled the comforter tighter over him and she could suddenly feel a gentle warmth emanating from his body and caressing her back.

  “Why are you sorry?”

  “I....” She didn’t know what to say. She was sorry for dragging him out here? Sorry for objectifying him when he couldn’t care less about her? Sorry for not being able to let him go? “I’m sorry you’re here,” she finally settled on.

  “I don’t seem to recall you asking me to come,” he pointed out.

  “Please don’t be reasonable right now. I really can’t stand that.”

  “You want me to be unreasonable?”

  “For one second, I’d like you to be less than perfect, yes.” Damn it, she needed to be asleep. The more time she spent sleeping, the less time she’d have to say stupid things. That was what she liked about a keyboard. If she typed something stupid, she had time to delete it.
Control+Z and magically everything was okay. In real life, she couldn’t undo what she said.

  “Slade is worried about you,” he said.

  She rolled onto her back, contemplating what he said. “Why is he worried?”

  “Same reason I’m worried about you. You’re too smart for your own good. We don’t want you getting in trouble.”

  “So you and Slade are working together now?”

  “I want you to be careful. I know your first instinct is to run right into trouble, but for the time being, I want you to remember that you aren’t alone. We can talk things over and strategize before we make a move.”

  She snorted.

  “What?” he asked.

  “You sound like a cop.”

  “You sound like an arrogant hacker,” he shot back. “But you know I’m right.”

  She turned on her side, this time facing him. It was mostly dark in the room, but she could just make out the outline of his face. “Can I ask you something, Scott?” He didn’t say anything, and she took that as a yes. “If it wasn’t me.... If it were Melody or Jennifer who had come out here and thrown themselves to the wolves, would you be here?”

  “You know how far I’d go for your sisters.”

  “That’s not what I asked.” She knew she was being stupid, but somehow the darkness was making her bolder. “Would you have thrown yourself to the wolves if it had been them instead of me?”

  “Why does it matter?”

  “It doesn’t. But answer my question anyway.”

  “I couldn’t let you get yourself in trouble, Toni.”

  “Answer the damn question.”

  “I don’t know. I don’t know what I would’ve done if it wasn’t you.”

  Toni let out a sigh and rolled onto her back.

  “That’s not the answer you wanted, was it?”

  She wanted to lie and tell him it didn’t matter, but she was just too damn tired right now. So instead she didn’t say anything.

  Scott woke up early. Woke up might be an overstatement. That would imply that he ever really got to sleep. It was hard to let himself truly relax when he knew he was still in enemy territory. Toni tossing and turning next to him wasn’t helping.

  He hadn’t slept with a woman for years. He’d been with a girl or two after Catherine, but they’d never stayed around long afterward. Toni was small and he didn’t expect her to take up much room, but she was a mover under the covers. And once she started to touch him, he really gave up thoughts of falling asleep. Her hand had landed on his chest around two in the morning. He’d carefully moved her palm away from him, but soon enough her ankle brushed against his.

  He’d never been anything close to a foot man, but having her leg tangled with his had his entire body, and he did mean entire body, shooting to alertness. He took a deep, centering breath, and as he went to push her leg away, she rolled completely over and her arm and shoulder covered him. The side of his bicep was pressed against the soft curve of her breast, and he had to clench his fists as he reminded himself where he was. “Toni,” he said softly, hoping to wake her up and shock her into getting off him.

  But instead, she let out a soft moan and snuggled in closer to him. He went to try to give her a soft nudge but instead ran his hand along her arm. It was strange to have her here, pressed fully against him.

  She seemed so big and boisterous in person, but now, in his arms, she seemed tiny. His hand could almost completely encase her upper arm, and her feet were about half the size of his.

  A sudden wave of possessiveness hit him. It was easy to think of her as strong and capable when she was awake and giving him a continuous string of biting remarks. But now he realized just how vulnerable she could be when she wasn’t behind the safety of a keyboard.

  He ran his hand up her arm and along her back, feeling her shoulders and then the curve of her hips. The guys here had turned out to be nicer than he expected, but he still knew nothing about them. They still had to remember that they were in enemy territory and everyone, no matter how nice they appeared, could turn on them at any second.

  Without thinking, he found himself pulling Toni in closer. This might be the only time she’d ever let him fully protect her anyway. Might as well do it.

  At some point he must’ve fallen asleep because the next thing he knew, the alarm clock on the nightstand was blaring, and before he could get up, Toni pushed away from him, her palm flat on his chest as she blinked herself into awareness.

  “What?” Suddenly she jerked her hand away from him as if his skin burned her, and he was able to twist around to turn off the alarm clock. He wanted to assure her that he hadn’t meant to feel her up or anything, but then the door pushed open and Slade stood silhouetted in the light from the hallway.

  “Up and at ’em. Time to get to work.”

  Toni was in hell. That was the only possible word for her to describe the pain shooting through her legs, back, stomach, and arms as she stopped running to bend over herself and catch a breath.

  But Scott, the son of a bitch who she’d been stupid enough to like, stopped at her side and pushed her on. “Just a little farther,” he said as he kept pace next to her.

  “That’s what you said last time,” she said between gasping breaths. And the time before that. And the time before that. And the time before....

  “I know it hurts, but you can do this. You’re angry enough to do anything you put your mind to.”

  “I’m angry enough to do a lot of things.” She turned her angry glare on him. “Namely things to you. Violent things. Painful things.” The more she talked about hurting him, the more energy she got, strangely enough. But it didn’t stop the pain. Even her lungs were burning from the exertion, and for a second, she really thought she was about to die.

  “Nothing like a relaxing 5K in the morning!” called Slade from in front of them, as if this was no big deal. A guy like him could probably run a 10K without any problem, and he could probably run it a lot faster than she was going.

  “I do computers,” she said between breaths. “Running not included. The only thing I run is software.”

  “You do a lot of talking for someone so slow.”

  She narrowed her eyes and glared at Slade. Instead of focusing on ways to hurt Scott, she thought of how she could seriously injure or maim Slade. Who knew she was so violent?

  Scott pointed to the building ahead of them. “See? We’re almost back to the house.”

  She recognized the building as being next to the house, but she wouldn’t feel better until she was back inside the house, walking up the stairs and passing out in bed. “Too far....” She glanced at Scott out of the corner of her eye. The handsome son of a bitch was barely breaking a sweat. Considering she’d just seen his six-pack—hell, she’d probably drooled on it last night—she shouldn’t be surprised. What happened to all the fat cops who used to eat doughnuts all day?

  But she managed to put one foot in front of the other, if only a few centimeters at a time. Once she got to the building, she realized it was actually an exterior garage. Except there were no cars. It was a gym. No. No gym. Her muscles were done. Slade held the door open for her and Scott. As soon as she reached one of the mats, she fell to her hands and knees and then collapsed on her stomach and allowed her muscles to go limp.

  Scott nudged her shoulder. “Let’s walk around. You need a cooldown.”

  “You need a cooldown,” she said weakly. She refused to move. This was it. She was just going to live here. This was her home from now on. She’d have to tell Slade to bring her computer supplies out. Did this mat have Wi-Fi?

  All of a sudden, something hard hooked under her arms and pulled her back up. She was about to kick back and give Scott a piece of her mind when she saw Scott glaring at the spot right over her shoulder. She whipped around to see that Slade had pulled her up. She stepped back, not sure whether she was more surprised that he’d touched her or that she’d been so unaware of what was happening that she hadn’t reali
zed.

  She glanced around the rest of the gym that had a lot of boxing equipment, free weights, and a whole pile of mats. Nothing for cardio, but she figured with property this big, running outside was the go-to.

  Running, which she hated before, but now loathed with the passion of a thousand suns. A thousand suns that also hated running.

  “Time to train,” said Slade.

  Toni ran a hand over her sweaty forehead and pushed the strands that had fallen out of her ponytail back. “I have been training. Break from training.”

  “You don’t get breaks in real life. Come at me.” He stood with his feet shoulder width apart, and his black t-shirt had only the barest hint of sweat.

  He looked as if he could take on a freakin’ tank and he wanted her to come at him. Toni let out a sigh. “Fine.” She took a weak step forward and balled her fingers into a fist as she took a swing at him.

  But he swatted away her fist as though it were nothing and made contact with her stomach. He didn’t hit her. He didn’t punch her. But that little contact he had was enough to push all the air out of her lungs and had her folding over and gasping for air.

  She was half convinced she’d never catch her breath when she felt someone touch her back. She jumped back and realized Scott was at her side, and he looked pissed.

  “What the fuck?” he bit out as he glared up at Slade.

  “It’s fine,” she gasped out as she stood up on shaky legs. Were they shaky because apparently she was incapable of running or because of whatever Slade had done? She supposed it didn’t matter at this point. Slade wanted to prove that she wasn’t wanted here, and she wasn’t about to back down now.

  Unless he tried to make her run again. She would rather be beat up than go running again. Ever.

  Even though she’d said she was fine, Scott was right next to her and she could practically feel his gaze on every inch of her. Which was something she’d always wanted, but not quite under these circumstances.

  “I’m good,” she said softly. She was sure that Slade could hear, but it was directed right at Scott. To prove her point, she set her hand on his wrist to give him a little squeeze. The sudden intimacy of the contact got to her, and she took her hand away from him after only a fraction of a second. She was sure he’d never think anything of it, but it was just too hard for her to pretend to be normal around him.