Hart’s brows drew together, but for some reason he didn’t look as upset about that as Austin expected. “That will be a solid Plan B then. What do we know about Spencer Tower?”
“Spencer Tower is where Gregory’s offices are,” said Isobel. “He only leases one floor, though. There is a fundraiser there tomorrow night. Something for cancer research, I believe. We were invited but because of the wedding, we had to decline, though we still made a donation, of course.”
Austin liked how she used the word “we” even though they never got married. He had to respect a con woman with conviction.
“Offices?” asked Hart. “There has to be something good there. Does he have a hidden safe or computer that you know of?”
“There’s a safe behind the painting in his main office. The man was a walking cliché.”
Weston looked at Isobel skeptically. “You cased your fiancé’s office?”
Isobel rolled her eyes. “He was my mark first and my fiancé second. I know everything about that man.”
“That’s our in,” said Hart. “He wants the necklace to get Sterling off his back. If he’s keeping something locked up in an office safe, it’s going to be more personal. If we can’t get his accounts hacked by tomorrow night, we can get information to make it easier.”
“You think we can exchange that information to get Mel back?” asked Jennifer, skepticism obvious in her voice.
Toni didn’t look any more convinced. “And I told you we’d need a workforce of hackers. They’re all paranoid, antisocial, and greedy. Not exactly team players.”
“No,” said Scott. “We shouldn’t need an army of hackers. We have a professional extraction expert here. While we’re distracting Stranger, he’s going to be getting Melody to safety.”
“What if we just give him the necklace back?” said Jennifer. “The Dragon Heart is the score of a lifetime, but if I can get Melody back, I don’t care who has it.”
“I do,” said Hart simply. “And I don’t know about Stranger, but Sterling doesn’t forgive and forget. Melody is his main bargaining chip. The second he has that necklace, she’s going to be dead. That’s why we need more than the Dragon Heart.”
Jennifer and Isobel were silent as they listened to facts they’d probably already thought of multiple times. It was still sobering to hear out loud.
“If there’s a fundraiser tomorrow, that’s good. We can get in that way. Isobel, I want you to give Jennifer and Austin the security they’re going to have to get through to make it to Stranger’s office. Toni, I want full blueprints of that building. It’s a skyscraper. Is there any way to determine where in the building she is, based off the GPS?”
“Not with the tracker she has on. If we can get Stranger to give us proof of life at the drop via cell phone, I can use the signal strength to get a good idea of where she is.”
“We can work with that.”
Isobel stood and looked Hart in the eye. “Do you think you can get my girl back?”
“I think Stranger is prideful and we can use that against him.”
“You didn’t answer,” she said.
“Why hasn’t anyone asked the biggest question?” said Toni, breaking up the awkward tension.
“What’s the biggest question?” asked Austin.
She raised her brows and looked over at Hart. “The fact that we’re letting a cop plan this entire thing.”
Weston pushed away from the wall. “You’re a cop?”
Austin moved to stand between the two. “Former cop,” he clarified.
“How did you know that?” snapped Hart at Toni.
“I asked my good friend the Internet. She had a lot of things to say about you.”
Weston shook his head. “I’m out. You never said anything about working with the cops.”
Austin cursed under his breath. “Former cop. Very former. He’s broken the law dozens of times since I’ve met him.”
“I looked at his record,” said Toni. “He’s practically a Boy Scout. Mom, I want to get Mel back as much as you do, but we don’t need him.”
“If you don’t want me here, I’m gone.”
“We want you!” shouted Isobel.
Toni scoffed. “Please, Mom. We’ve taken down guys like this before. All we have to do is—”
“I lost Melody!” she shouted. “If I had this under control, Melody would’ve gotten away. This is my mistake. Scott is an outsider. He sees things we don’t. Normally I would never trust him either, but this is different. This is for Melody.” She turned to Weston. “And your money spends the same no matter who is involved in the job. Considering I already sent you your deposit, I expect you to hold up your end of the deal.”
Jennifer stood. “He’s helped us more than enough already. I trust him.”
“I don’t trust him,” said Austin. When everyone glared at him, he added, “But I think he has held us together so far.”
Weston narrowed his eyes. “I don’t trust cops.”
“I don’t trust hired guns,” said Hart, not backing down. “But this is your one and only chance to doubt me. You walk out that door right now or from now on, you’re going to follow my lead. I know none of you are used to taking orders from anyone, but you can’t work in a team if there isn’t a sense of direction. From here on out, I’m your direction.” He looked around the room, making eye contact with each and every one of them. “So this offer goes for all of you. If you go off on your own, we can all end up dead. If you ignore an order I give, we can all end up dead. If you pick a fight with me when we’re mid-operation, we could all end up dead. So please, for the sake of everyone here, walk out that door right now if you don’t think you can take orders from a cop.”
Everyone was silent and most of the attention was on Weston. Austin was more than ready to trust Hart, but if Weston walked, he didn’t know whether they had much of a team. Toni and Scott would be the only faces Stranger didn’t know.
“You might be a cop, but you’re crazy,” said Weston finally. “I can respect crazy.”
“That makes no sense, but I guess that means we’re good.”
“I have one question, Boy Scout.” Toni narrowed her eyes at Hart. “In this plan, you haven’t mentioned Sterling once. Isn’t he your true target?”
A flash of...something came over him, but Hart cleared it just as fast. “Sterling will get his eventually. But I know from experience, Sterling is a hard target to get to. If we want our plan to succeed, we have to have one goal and one goal only: get Melody safe from Greg Stranger.”
And in that moment, he realized something he probably should’ve picked up on much earlier in this operation. Scott Hart might be a son of a bitch, but he was probably the most selfless person Austin had ever met.
Somehow that made him more annoying.
Jennifer slid her dress on and smoothed it over her stomach. She’d done this thousands of times before, but this time felt different. There was always a chance of things going wrong, but tonight was more serious. It was the first time in a long time she actually believed she might die.
“If you were robbing me, I’d give you anything you wanted,” said Austin from behind her.
She smiled at the unexpectedness of his charm. Not that it was surprising for him. Austin was always charming, a constant that she desperately needed right now. “Make yourself useful and zip me.” She put her back to him.
They had spent half the day prepping for the night. Everyone had split up to take care of what they needed on their own ends. She’d gotten the number-one tool for herself—a dress—and some of the basic items that could get her through a lock and keypad—some AUX and USB cords and a jailbroken phone that she could use to get through basic keypads.
Isobel had gone on a makeup run and Jennifer had hit her up for some of those necessities.
“I don’t know if I should be impressed that you found a dress that perfect for your body or just admit that you’d look amazing in whatever you wear.”
She gave him a half-smile as she studied him through the mirror. “I don’t remember the last time I wore anything red. Normally I try to blend in.” This dress was going to guarantee Stranger saw her. If his eyes were on her, that would give Weston a chance to get to Melody and Isobel a chance to get to Stranger’s office.
The body-contouring dress was skintight. The only thing that made it manageable was ironically the fact that it was so short. At least her legs could move. The dress would look better if her hair was down, but she didn’t want to hide her face. Instead, she’d twisted the long, dark strands into a French knot and curled a few of the loose strands to frame her face.
He pulled the zipper up and seemed to move closer to her every second. “I think red looks great on you,” he said softly, his breath brushing against her ear.
“Stop that,” she murmured.
“Stop what?” he asked, knowing full well what he was doing.
“Stop making me want you to move that zipper back down.”
He turned her in his arms. “This much charm can’t just be turned off.” He looked down at her.
“I don’t know what’s worse—the fact that you’re so cocky or the fact that you’re right about it half the time.”
“It’s one of the things you love about me.”
Love? He seemed to realize what he said at the same time she did but when she started to take a step back he held her tighter. “It didn’t mean anything,” he said even as he bent in closer and pressed his forehead against hers.
She let her eyes drift closed and savored the feel of his body so close to hers. Love was such a strong word, especially combined with all the other emotions she'd been fighting this week. Excitement, terror, anger, lust....
But it wasn't like Austin was some random guy she was using to get off with. That was the plan but it was so far from what was happening. He felt so good right now not just because he was warm and strong. But she knew it was Austin holding her. It was Austin who was offering support.
Maybe not love, but it was something.
So when his lips touched hers, she didn't think about the lipstick she was going to have to retouch or the hair that was falling out of place as he touched her neck.
The kiss started slow. Austin's mouth moved insistently over hers, coaxing and taking everything she was willing to give. But soon it turned into something more. He coaxed and lured, promising her pleasure and bliss without saying a word. Promising that for these last few minutes before they faced Stranger and put their lives on the line, they could at least have this pleasure.
He angled the kiss and her tongue teased the seam of his lips as his hands traveled over her sides, gently running along the sides of her breasts and dip of her waist. One palm slipped inside the hem of her red dress and skimmed up the sensitive skin of her inner thigh and found the edge of her panty line. And then he'd slipped under the soft material and right to the bundle of sensitivity that had her jumping in his arms. “Damn it, Austin,” she muttered against his lips.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” He once again pressed against her, showing no mercy. Her head fell into his shoulder as her muscles tightened, but he removed the pressure just as quickly, keeping her body off balance.
She repaid the favor by pushing against his chest. She didn’t push hard, just enough pressure as she led him to the bed. This could be their last moments alone together, and she was going to act like it, damn it.
Jennifer stood and gave him a sultry grin, as though there was nothing coming. As though there were no black clouds over their heads.
She reached behind her and arched her back, pressing her breasts out while her fingers found the zipper. Inch by inch, the zipper lowered, the metal sound drowned out by her breaths. She was already more than ready for him, but she was going to take as much of this limited time as possible.
By the time she made her way back to the bed, she was only wearing a black pair of panties and her black pushup bra. She’d have to make a note to invest in more thongs if this relationship really was going to be a thing...
Austin’s eyes darkened as she approached and he stayed exactly where he was, waiting to see what she was going to do next. And she knew exactly what she wanted to do. To drive him crazy.
Jennifer straddled him and tugged at the black belt. Even though Austin didn’t move or say a thing, his eyes bore so intensely into her that it felt like a caress over her entire body. Once the belt and jeans were undone, he lifted his hips and his long, hard cock was finally bared to her view.
She looked up and met his eyes as she lowered her mouth over the head of his cock. He sucked in a breath as she gently ran her tongue around the rim and then he let out something between a groan and a growl as she took in as much as she could. Funny, she’d never been a fan of giving blowjobs in the past, but she couldn’t get enough of turning Austin on. Luckily, it seemed to be an addiction he was a hundred percent okay with.
Jennifer ran her mouth up and down his cock, going faster while her hand cupped the base, making up for the room she couldn’t take. But as his groans became louder, he snapped and with a firm grip on her hair, he pulled her head back before he gathered her in his arms and twisted over until he was on top and his hard cock right at her entrance. Before she could even take a breath, he slid inside in one deep thrust.
She was so ready for him that her body offered no resistance, but she still gasped at the sudden fullness. Once again, she had no time to regroup before he started to thrust. Her nails bit into his back and her legs wrapped around his waist as she allowed the sensations to take over.
The comforter was cool and silky against her back while Austin’s body was like a furnace, both against her and inside her. With every stroke, he fanned the flames higher and higher. Their breathing quickened and then he reached between them, right to where their bodies were joined and with the slightest bit of pressure on her clit, the climax slammed into her.
At the same time, Austin stiffened in her arms and even as the aftershocks quaked through her, his muscles bunched as he came fiercely.
They both caught their breath and Austin pressed a soft kiss into the crook of her shoulder. “God, you’re beautiful,” he breathed as he gently pushed away.
She hated for him to go, but considering the time, they would both need to rush to get ready again. She sat up and ran a hand over her mouth.
Austin was in the middle of putting on his belt when he stopped. "I'm sorry. I know the timing sucks."
"No... Well, yes, the timing sucks. But this is good. You're good. I just, we just, there was no condom," she finally blurted out. It was such a strange thought. Her sister was in trouble and she was worrying about getting an STD from the guy she'd just screwed.
"Fuck. I mean, I should be good. I don't do this-"
"And I don't do this either," she said as she started to tuck the loose strands of hair behind her ears."And I'm on birth control so we can figure this out later."
"After tonight," he agreed.
After tonight. Assuming they both made it through.
She pushed off the bed and headed for the bathroom. Subject change. She needed to change the subject. “I need to get a few other things together,” she said as she awkwardly put some distance between them. “Were you able to get all your tools today?”
“Yeah. Hart wanted to go over some of the last-minute details, but I think we can get into Stranger’s office without a problem.”
“Last-minute details? Anything I should know about?” She made it to the bathroom and quickly reapplied lipstick and then moved onto her hair.
“No. Mostly just about whether we can trust Weston. I feel like I’m going to spend half the night playing referee between the two of them. Your family isn’t planning to have major disputes tonight, are they? Because I don’t think the unit can take it at this point.”
“No promises. Toni and Isobel have always had friction.” She stepped back and looked at herself. She totally didn't look like a harlot. She mentally p
atted herself on the back as she went back into the room and stepped back into the dress.
“Seems like Isobel was like that with all of you.” He stepped in and once again zipped her dress, this time with no sexy whispering in her ear.
“It’s textbook—a mother who would rather be a friend than a parent. So when we don’t agree with her, it’s not just kids acting out. It’s her friends betraying her.”
It looked as if Austin was about to say something, but the ringing of one of their new burner phones interrupted. They both reached for their individual phones, Jennifer to her clutch and Austin in his pocket, but it was Austin’s ringing.
“Yeah?” he asked. “Okay. We’re on our way.”
“Is that Scott?” asked Jennifer.
“Yep. They’re waiting downstairs.”
She let her eyes drift closed and she took a deep breath.
But before her eyes opened, Austin took her hand in his and gave her a gentle squeeze. “We got this,” he said softly. “I’m going to be with you the whole time.”
Her eyes opened and Austin was right there, still holding her hand. “For the last six years, I’ve always worked alone.”
“I’ve worked alone my whole life. Sometimes things change.”
“That sounds like a commitment.”
He raised a brow, but didn’t say anything. Instead, he released her hand as he collected the last few things he’d need for the night and they both left the room together.
Would they work as something more? On one hand, they would make a hell of a team. She didn’t trust her life, or her family’s life, with just any old crook. But Austin was a pro and he had as many connections in the underworld as she did.
While the elevator went down, they didn’t hold hands, but they stood so close together that the back of their hands touched. Her fingers just started to wrap around his as they reached the lobby and Jennifer and Austin immediately took a step apart. Good grief, she was acting like a lovesick teenager, not a woman on a rescue mission. When—not if—but when she got Mel back, she was going to buy her so many drinks.
The Cocky Thief (Stolen Hearts Book 1) Page 13
