The Reluctant Thief (The Stolen Hearts #4)

by Mallory Crowe

  “You’d die to get your revenge?”

  “Yes!” she screamed, belatedly remembering that their archnemesis was right behind the two connecting doors.

  She twisted around, but Scott didn't give her any space. Instead he stared down at her wordlessly for a few minutes. As the seconds ticked by, she tried to imagine what was going on in his mind, but she drew a complete blank. Was he going to call her stupid some more? Was the not-so-subtle erection pressed against her signaling that he was ready for a distraction?

  And when he reached between their bodies and slid his hand into the pocket of the maid uniform she was wearing, she caught her breath and stood still as she waited for his next movement. All of a sudden he was gone, leaving her cold and alone as he moved for the door.

  She blinked for a second before she realized what he’d done.... He’d stolen the universal key.

  “Hey!” she called as she ran after him, catching him in the hall right outside of Sterling’s room.

  He turned to her even as he pulled his own gun out from the waistband of his jeans. “This is what you want, isn’t it?” he asked in a hushed voice. He was in full view of the peephole. If Sterling heard them, Scott would be dead in seconds.

  “He’s not alone! Come on!” She tried to wave him back to the relative safety of the deserted room they’d just been in, but he didn’t move.

  “This is what you want,” he said carefully, passionlessly, as though he didn’t care one bit that he was just one false move away from death. “You knew you might not make it back and you came here anyway.”

  “But that was when I wouldn’t come back! Now move, you idiot!” she whisper shouted at him.

  “What the fuck makes you think it’s okay for you to make that choice? You think I’m capable of losing another woman I love?”

  She opened her mouth but only a choked sound came out. Had she heard that right? “You don’t....” Before she finished, voices came from the other side of Sterling’s door. He was coming out. Toni reached out for Scott and, grabbing the collar of his t-shirt, pulled him back. They slammed into the nook of the next hotel room right as Sterling’s door opened.

  She and Scott were each utterly still, not even breathing, as Sterling came into the hallway. “Don’t be such a goddamn Debbie Downer,” said Sterling to whoever he was with as they started down the hallway. “For fuck’s sake, it’s not like I don’t pay you enough. You’d think....”

  The words trailed off as Sterling moved farther down the hallway. Scott took the chance to peek around the nook they were in before he pulled his head back in. “They’re gone,” he said finally. “Slade and Hunter were with him.”

  Toni had to digest the fact that not only had she missed yet another chance to get rid of Sterling, but Slade was alive. Which was... a good thing? She didn’t even know anymore.

  She shook her head. She didn’t have time to focus on Slade. She had Scott to deal with still. Balling her hands into fists, she pounded on his chest. “You son of a bitch!” she bit out.

  He must’ve realized she wasn’t going to stop any time soon, because he took out the key and opened the door to the room they’d just been in, and she kept on hitting him the entire time. “I had him right there and you stopped me because you love me! You’re a damn liar and you’re going to use my emotions to stop me and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let any man, especially you, stop me from avenging Isobel, you son of a—”

  While she rallied against him, Scott set his gun on the dresser before he turned to face her, cupping her neck and silencing her as his intense brown eyes stared into hers. “If you had asked me a few weeks ago, I would’ve told you that there’s nothing in this world I want more than Sterling dead at my feet.”

  She tightened her lips and forced herself not to scream at him once more. So close. They’d been so close....

  “But today, I—” He clenched his jaw as though trying to force the right words out. “The cost was too high,” he finally managed.

  Toni shook her head. When she squeezed her eyes shut, a tear escaped. She had no idea where the damn thing came from. She didn’t want to cry right now. She just wanted to scream at him until she forgot how badly this blow hurt. “You had no right to stop me.”

  “I don’t care.”

  She pounded on his chest once more, but it was halfhearted and had hardly any effect on him. Scott reached up and set his hand over her fist. She could feel how fast his heart was racing, and a part of her felt as though she were in a dream. Had Scott really stopped her from killing Sterling? Had she really stopped him?

  When she met his eyes, she knew she wasn’t about to get any answers. There was nothing logical about any of this.

  And when he bent forward and kissed her, she didn’t try to respond logically. This wasn’t sweet or gentle. They each had so much pent-up anger and frustration, and she was sure on some level he blamed her for Sterling still being alive, like she blamed him. So they took their anger out on each other. Her teeth hit his and then he took her bottom lip between his teeth. The sharp pain lasted just a fraction of a second before he pulled back and tilted his mouth against hers, deepening the kiss.

  At the same time, he pushed her back against the wall. Her legs automatically parted for him as he lifted her up, positioning her so she was at the perfect height for him.

  From this angle, she had to look down just slightly to see him; she ran her fingertips along the stubble of his jaw before resting on his shoulders to give her a better grip. He ground against her, each thrust and grind pressing right against her core and driving her higher.

  She bit her lip, trying and failing to stop herself from rubbing against him. Her head fell back against the wall as she tried to stop the sensations from overwhelming her, but Scott wasn’t letting up.

  She ran her hands over his neck and gripped his hair as he started to plant kisses along her neck and collarbone. When he reached the boundaries of where the constricting outfit let him go, he reached between their bodies. She hated the thought of him letting her go so she could get undressed. But then he gave her panties a vicious tug, and all of a sudden, the cool air was brushing her most sensitive parts. But not for long.

  Half a second later, his pants were undone and he pressed against her. She caught her breath, and a moment later, he slid home. They both let out a gasp as their bodies joined, and then he was kissing her again. He kissed her as he seemed to take her body and soul. Their anger was still there, but they were channeling it all into their passion. Her nails bit through his t-shirt and into his shoulders as she held him as tight as physically possible, and he slammed into her roughly.

  And she was giving as good as she got. She met each of his thrusts eagerly and used his body in exactly the right way to stoke her flames higher. And when she finally went over the edge, she screamed his name and dragged him right over that cliff with her.

  After they caught their breath for a few seconds, Scott maneuvered them to the bed, where they both collapsed on their backs to stare up at the ceiling. They were still almost completely dressed, which was strangely erotic and dirty at the same time. Though, after this, she really wouldn’t be able to return the maid outfit she’d stolen. “Oh God.” She covered her eyes with a hand.

  “Is that good or bad?” asked Scott.

  She turned to look at him. “I’m dressed as a maid. We just did the maid sex thing. We’re totally a cliché.”

  He let out a little snort. “Trust me, hon. You’re anything but a cliché.”

  She smiled at that and they fell back into silence. The real world came rushing back, and she thought about what they knew about Sterling and when she could go after him next. “What are we going to do, Scott?”

  “We already have all the pieces we need. Now it’s just time to put them together.”

  “And what the hell does that mean?”

  He turned his head to look her in the eye. “We’re going to give him exactly what he wants. We’re going to turn ou
rselves in.”

  Scott didn’t like to feel at a disadvantage, but right now, surrounded by the three Murray women who were all dressed to kill, it was impossible to not feel a little bit threatened. He had no idea what Toni had told either of her sisters, but Jennifer and Melody seemed to each be studying him more intently than ever, and he tried his best to seem as if he didn’t care.

  Before, they’d had a casual working type of relationship. Now, he could just hear them screaming at him for fucking their sister against a wall. He normally liked that protective instinct they had for Toni, but not when it was directed at him.

  Luckily, Austin walked in to take the focus off Scott. “Are you sure about this?” He leaned in close to Jennifer and set a hand around her waist.

  She rolled her eyes at him. He had to imagine that in that relationship, the “are you sure about this” question was more of an insult than show of concern. “Yes,” she insisted. “I can do this in my sleep. Literally.”

  “Melody and I will be fine.” Adam came in the back door, setting a gun into a shoulder holster. If the plan went right, no one would need to use a gun, but he wasn’t about to tell Adam Smith that.

  “It’s Toni and Scott who have to do all the heavy lifting,” Melody pointed out.

  “This is going to work out,” said Scott with more confidence than he truly felt. It was a good plan. It was logical and smart. But he’d been outsmarted by Sterling before. And Sterling had been ballsier than normal as he decided he was going to do whatever it took to eradicate the threat posed by Scott and the Murray women. But if Scott got too close to him and failed, that might be all it took to drive Sterling into hiding again.

  Now Sterling had enough backdoor connections that he could live like royalty wherever he went, and thanks to a heady amount of pride, he liked to flaunt his power and wealth in the big cities. But if needed, Sterling could disappear to some island paradise, never to be seen again. Scott would be damned if he was going to let Sterling live out his days in paradise.

  Melody wore a royal-blue mini dress that was sure to draw eyes wherever she went. Which was kind of the point. Jennifer’s red full-length gown was also a head turner.

  But when Toni came into the living room in her tiny black dress and heels, Scott found his entire mouth going dry.

  She met his eyes and gave a short, forced smile as she tugged the strap of her computer bag over her shoulder, holding it tighter. “Are we ready?”

  He forced himself to look away from her body, and when he looked at Jennifer, he realized his ogling had not gone unnoticed. “We need to get there first. Once we’re at the hotel, we’ll let you know. How long will you need to prepare?” he asked Toni without looking at her.

  “Fifteen minutes at least.”

  “That’s going to be tight. Especially if he freaks out,” said Jennifer.

  “If you don’t think you can—”

  “I swear if you finish that sentence, you’re going to have diaper changing duty for the entire first year,” she warned.

  Austin held his hands up in surrender. “Fifteen minutes. No problem.”

  Scott nodded as he collected his weapons and the other computer equipment that Toni had already packed. “All right. We’ll see you on the other side then.”

  “I just told Jennifer that we’re here,” said Scott as Toni kept on plugging in all her different screens and devices. Scott wished he could help her more, but he had no idea what she was even doing over there, so he forced himself to stay back and give her space.

  “All right. Let’s get this show on the road.” She plugged in the power cord to the laptop and sat back on the bed. It was the same room they’d been in earlier. This time there was evidence the room was occupied, but they would have to hope they would be undisturbed for at least a few hours.

  “What’s the first step?” He figured that was better than asking how long it would take her to get into the system. He didn’t want to nag her, but he wanted to be kept up to date on what was happening.

  “I’m getting into the hotel security feed right... now.”

  He saw the monitor, which had been a black command screen before, turn to various panels of security footage.

  “Ugh,” she muttered as she hooked up a secondary monitor and moved the security footage there. “I hate bouncing off private security cameras. The government has the best stuff, you know.”

  It was grainy, but after a few minutes, his eyes adjusted to the low-quality image. The party going on in the ballroom of the hotel was in full swing. It was a fundraiser gala that had attracted some of the social elites from all around the world. Considering it was in the same hotel that Sterling was staying at and the fact that the heights of society were going to attend, it made sense Sterling was going to go. Now they had to find him to see whether their guess had been right....

  His phone beeped and he saw that Jennifer messaged she was there. That was fast, but he wasn’t surprised that they’d left early. He was sure Jennifer was ready to get this show on the road. “Your sisters are here.” He fished the comm out of his pocket and inserted it into his ear.

  Toni followed suit and Scott said, “Everyone there?”

  One by one, Jennifer, Austin, Melody, and Adam all checked in. None of them had invitations, so it would take a few minutes for them to get inside, but knowing this family as well as he did, he knew it wouldn’t take long.

  “Let me know when you’re in,” said Toni. “I want to see how much of a delay there is on this feed.”

  “Will do,” said Jennifer. Just then, the screen in front of Toni flashed and then the cameras were gone.

  She reared back and looked at her computer as if it had slapped her. “What the....” Then she got to work, her fingers running along the keyboard. “Son of a—” She twisted around to glare at Scott, the anger so fierce in her eyes that he thought for a moment she was about to turn on him.

  “What do you need me to do?” he asked.

  “It’s Gage. He’s here and pushing me out.”

  “I thought you were better than him even on a bad day.”

  “Yeah, but he’s controlling the security system from the base of operations. I’m doing it remotely and piggybacking off the hotel Wi-Fi. I need someone to stop him.”

  “I’m on it.” He started for the door, but Toni pushed herself up.

  “Wait! I thought you were going to stay here. That was the plan. Get Adam to deal with him.”

  “Everything here depends on you,” he reminded her. “If Gage gets you out of the security feed, he can lock you out of everything. I need to make sure he doesn’t succeed. If Gage is here, then there will be other guys who know your face. Have Adam take them down once you get the feed up and running.”

  She looked as though she wanted to argue but instead just gave a terse nod. She started to say something, but Jennifer said through the comm, “Anything we can do down here?”

  “No,” he said. “Get inside and get eyes on Sterling. Do not engage. Do not threaten. Eyes only.”

  “You got it,” she said.

  Scott met Toni’s eyes, and it was hard to say what he wanted to, knowing that her entire family was listening in. So instead, he just mouthed the three small words. I love you.

  Jennifer didn’t feel good. And it wasn’t just morning sickness that seemed to be all day instead of just the morning. She didn’t like being this close to Sterling and unable to shoot him. She didn’t like knowing that the plan was already under threat when it had barely even begun.

  She wanted this over with. She wanted to be able to go through the rest of this pregnancy without having to constantly look over her shoulder or wonder whether the building she was in was going to collapse beneath her.

  Sterling had gotten away with his shit for too long. Tonight, no matter what, they were going to shut him down. When a warm hand touched her waist, she didn’t jump. At this point, she’d recognize Austin’s touch anywhere. “We’re in,” he said softly into her ear as he
handed over the invitation he’d lifted off some poor sucker.

  She smiled up at him. Sometimes the competitiveness between them could be a lot to handle, but knowing she could depend on him to pick a pocket was really priceless. “Thanks, hon.”

  “Well, I need to be on my best behavior,” he reminded her. “I keep on getting threatened with shit duty.”

  “I’d threaten you by withholding sex, but I have a feeling in a few months, that won’t really be much of a threat anymore.”

  Austin squeezed her wrist. “One, I’ll always want you, no matter what. Two, you’d never threaten to withhold sex from me because you could never keep your hands off me.”

  She let out a strangled laugh, even as she tried not to feed his already oversized ego. “Is that right?” she tried to ask in a cool voice.

  “You know it. The second I walk into a room, you’re already counting the seconds until you can get me naked.” He gave her a little wink and she had to look away from him.

  “Keep your pants on for now. Let’s get this job done first.”

  “Okay, but as soon as it’s over, the pants are coming off.” She narrowed her eyes at him and he continued, “Your words.”

  “For the love of all that is holy,” said Adam into the comms in their ears. “Keep your pants on.”

  “No promises,” said Austin as he started to lead Jennifer into the gala.

  “We’re going in,” said Jennifer. “Toni, can you see us?”

  “Stand by,” she warned. “Scott is still working on getting the visuals up again. But I’m still working on the rest of the plan. Your job is the same. Find Sterling and keep him down there.”

  Jennifer nodded, forgetting that Toni couldn’t see her. “Mel, what’s your status?” She had to lower her voice as they entered the room and there were more guests close by.