A Jewel for the Taking: Thieves of Desire Book 2

by St. Clair, Ellie

“Please, Juliet,” he said, his words soft, causing her to somewhat relent. “I showed you this hideaway because I wanted you to know that there is something amiss here. Something dangerous. Not only that, but the tunnel in the house, the one that Damien and I have been searching? It extends out here, and it has been extended recently.”

  Her gaze flew up to meet his, and she began to understand that perhaps there was more to this than she had originally thought. She was tempted to tell herself that it was too much, that she wasn’t equipped to handle this, but she steeled her shoulders and her resolve. She had been in worse situations before and had always found her way out of them.

  “I can handle anything that comes my way,” she said, but then tilted her head as she studied Xander. “But I do appreciate the concern.”

  He nodded as he led her out of the small cottage.

  “I know that you were involved in some… petty crime before I came along.”

  Juliet smiled ruefully. She had been a pickpocket, and not a very good one. Her father had raised her, although that term could be applied about as loosely as possible, for he was usually out gambling away anything she stole until the day he was killed in an altercation outside of a gambling hell.

  A month later was the day she had been caught with her hand in the pocket of the nobleman and Xander had saved her. She had been fifteen. His family had accepted her nearly as one of their own, and slowly she and Xander grew to be much more than just friends, albeit friends who knew far too much about one another.

  Then everything had changed the night of the grand theft, when they had tried to scam the earl, who turned out to be far more cunning than they had realized. Juliet was beginning to wonder if that was the case with the baron as well.

  They walked in silence through the moonlit night, the hedges and growth around them causing random shapes and shadows to nearly jump out at them. But both Juliet and Xander had seen more than their fair share of monsters before, and in comparison. these were nothing to be frightened of.

  “Be careful around Shiplack,” Xander said before leaving her at the front door of the estate. “There’s something about him that strikes me as all wrong.”

  “I know,” Juliet said as she opened the door. “I will. Now stop worrying about me, understand?”

  Once the door was open a crack, they both heard the summons.

  “Juliet!”

  She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the doorjamb. “Damnit.”

  “I’ll come with you.”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s fine. His valet will be there as well.”

  “I don’t trust him either,” Xander said darkly. “He’d do anything for his master and doesn’t leave his side. The man hardly speaks a word and when he does, it always seems to be with a fair bit of warning. I, however, have no such loyalties. Come. Let’s go.”

  Chapter 10

  The baron had Juliet constantly waiting on him all of the next day as well, and Xander had just about enough of it. It was already difficult trying to access the jewels — what was left of them, anyway — but now he had to keep an eye on Juliet as well. The man had servants enough, why did he have to hold his power over Juliet?

  Fortunately, Damien didn’t have much comment on the subject, although Xander didn’t miss the knowing glances he sent his way now and again.

  The baron’s continued presence in his bedroom also didn’t make it easy for Xander nor Damien to access the room from either side of the secret door to try to gain entrance.

  They were at a standstill, and Xander didn’t like it. Not one bit.

  He was also well aware that his eldest brother would not be pleased with the delay. Arie would be expecting them to return any day now with the haul of jewels, and if he didn’t see them soon enough he would take things into his own hands, which was never a good situation for anyone involved. Xander was beginning to wonder if his missive for his tools had even reached Arie.

  “We’ve got to do something,” he said to Damien the next night after a dinner of serving the Shiplacks and Juliet, as the baron was still taking dinner in his room. The remaining three had retired to the drawing room, and Damien and Xander stood across the room, ready to serve if needed but out of earshot if they spoke quietly.

  “But what?” Damien asked, as frustrated as Xander was. “Do we take the jewels that Juliet has already stolen away and split those, leaving the rest?”

  Xander was already shaking his head. “She doesn’t have the diamond necklace — the one that Arie wanted more than anything.”

  “I don’t understand why he didn’t send a woman,” Damien said, crossing his arms. “Perhaps Diana would have been able to get into Wilington’s good graces and have him give her the jewels, as he did for your Juliet.”

  Xander considered his brother with eyebrows raised. “We both know that Diana is many things, but charming and ladylike she is not. Besides, the only way she would be able to get close to the baron would be to get into his bed, and neither of us would have wanted that.”

  “Of course not,” Damien agreed. “How did Juliet accomplish the feat?”

  “That’s a good question,” Xander muttered, “And one that I intend to find the answer to.”

  “What is your plan here?” Damien asked, turning to him now. “When this is finished, do we take the jewels, give her what Arie doesn’t want or know about, and leave? Will you say goodbye to her forever? You know she’ll hate you if we’re not fair to her, but at the same time, Arie would never forgive us if we don’t come through.”

  Xander ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. “I don’t know, Damien. I really don’t. In fact, if you come up with an answer for me, I’d love to hear it.”

  “An answer which, unfortunately, I do not have,” Damien said. “But I do have a question.”

  “Very well.”

  “After all of this is over, are you really going to be able to walk away and never see her again?”

  Xander couldn’t meet his brother’s eye, but instead looked down at the floor as he tapped the heel of his boot against it.

  “The thought is rather difficult to fathom,” he finally muttered.

  “As I guessed,” Damien said smugly. Before Xander could answer him, however, they all started at the bellow from upstairs.

  “Juliet!”

  “My, but he is particularly loud for a man who is rather weak,” Mrs. Shiplack said from the corner chair in the room, earning a reproachful frown from her husband and a smile from Juliet.

  “I believe he is getting much better,” Juliet said as she stood. “If you will excuse me for a moment.”

  Xander followed her up the stairs, trailing behind her in hopes that she wouldn’t realize his presence. He listened at the door, hearing the baron tell her that he would be sleeping but would require food later on. When she emerged not long afterward, Xander hid at the end of the corridor. While he had no shame in checking on her, he also didn’t want to meet with her ire.

  He slipped back into the drawing room after her, when he was summoned to begin pouring Mr. Shiplack’s after-dinner drinks.

  “Tell me, young man — John is it?” Shiplack said, leaning back in his chair and looking up at Xander. The women were conversing in the corner of the vibrant jewel-toned drawing room and Shiplack was obviously desperate for conversation.

  “Yes, Mr. Shiplack.”

  “How long have you been working for Lord Wilington?”

  “Not long, sir. A couple of weeks, since the house party began.”

  “I see. So you don’t know much about the goings-on around here?”

  “No, sir.”

  Shiplack was supposed to be one of the baron’s closest confidantes. So why was he pestering Xander for information?

  “What’s he like to work for?”

  “He’s fine, sir. Fair.”

  Which was not at all the truth, but what did Xander care? He was not actually working for Wilington.

  “Well, you se
em like a smart young man.”

  Xander didn’t think Shiplack was much, if any, older than he was, but very well.

  Shiplack continued, “if you ever have any reason to look for extra income, or perhaps work for someone else, come talk to me, all right?”

  Well, that was interesting. Was Shiplack looking to hire someone for information on the baron? Or to achieve access into his chamber? An intriguing thought.

  But why?

  Xander spent most of the rest of the night waiting and watching for Juliet. When the baron summoned her late in the evening, well past the hours when most of the servants would be awake, Xander was instantly suspicious — and pleased that he had not gone to bed as Damien had suggested. He eased himself off the chesterfield in the parlor where he had hidden himself, then followed Juliet as she descended the stairs — alone thank goodness.

  “Xander,” she said, apparently sensing his presence in the shadows. “What are you doing?”

  “Watching you. Ensuring you are well.”

  “I am perfectly fine,” she said, spreading her hands out before her, and as she stepped into the light emitted by the windows, he could see that she was dressed in a white nightgown which peeked out of the top of her pink wrapper, and his blood began to boil at the thought that the baron would have seen her like this, even if he hadn’t touched her.

  “Where are you going?”

  “The kitchens.”

  “I’ll join you,” he said firmly.

  “You don’t need to.”

  “You shouldn’t be walking about the house alone,” he said, irrationally annoyed. “Especially dressed like that.”

  “One could argue that having you accompanying me is the worst impropriety of it all.”

  “I’ve seen you dressed like this before,” he said, joining her in the servant’s stairwell, walking beside her, allowing their hands to brush as they descended. “In fact, I have seen you in much less than that.”

  He could vividly remember the night she had, so shyly yet so boldly, stripped down in front of him, telling him that he was not allowed to touch her, but had to lie there watching instead. She had nearly driven him mad, yet it had been worth it in the end.

  She said nothing for a moment, and Xander wished that he was facing her instead of standing beside her, for then he would lift his candle just to see that pink blush stain her cheeks.

  “We shouldn’t talk of such things,” she said, although her voice wavered slightly. “That was a long time ago.”

  “So it was,” he agreed. “But that doesn’t mean the memories have faded. At least not for me.”

  “Why are you bringing this up?” she asked, desperation in her voice, and he knew then that she was just as affected as he was. That she remembered not only what had happened, but how it felt. She posed a good question, and one that he didn’t know the answer to. For the truth was, she was right. He shouldn’t be speaking of the past, and yet he couldn’t keep himself from doing so. Being around her had brought the memories flooding back — memories that may have slowly started to fade, but that he would never be rid of now. For with her return to his life, they instead sharpened and took on bright edges of color. He hadn’t been able to sleep at night as they had circled around his head.

  “I know I shouldn’t,” he said as they reached the kitchens, and he took the candle from her and began to light the wall sconces. “But I cannot help the way I feel about you, Juliet. How I did then, and about how I still do now.”

  She ignored him for a moment as she began to explore the kitchens for any food that remained from dinner.

  “Why would you say such a thing when you obviously didn’t care enough to stay when I needed you the most?”

  She had her back to him as she began to cut small pieces of chicken and carrots left over from dinner.

  “I told you why,” he said, throwing his hands in the air even though she couldn’t see him. “Because it was the best thing for you.”

  She whirled around now, the knife looking somewhat sinister in her hands, although Xander was well aware that she would never hurt him. “Well, you were wrong,” she said, the anguish dripping off her words. “I was not better without you. I was alone. I had nothing. No one. And I missed you more than you could imagine.”

  “Juliet,” he murmured, trying to soothe her even as his heart broke anew. He crossed over to her, taking the knife out of her hand and setting it down on the table as he lifted his hands to her face, stroking them down her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I need you to know that I truly thought I was doing the right thing. You had been hurt, and it was all my fault. I never wanted that to happen to you again.”

  “So what did you think I was going to do?” she asked, her expression defiant as she looked up at him with challenge in her eyes. “Start making myself an honest living? Settle down with a man who wouldn’t care about my past?”

  He wrapped his hands around the top of her arms, hoping she would allow them to stay there. She seemed not to be concerned about it — although he wondered if she had even noticed.

  “I thought I left you enough to keep you looked after for years to come.”

  She leaned back, her eyes searching his, full of confusion. “What are you talking about?”

  “When I left you, I gave Mary a package on my way out. It contained a note telling you where you could access all of my savings. I wanted you to have it.”

  Juliet’s mouth opened in a round circle. “I never received that package.”

  “You didn’t?” Xander’s shock was quickly replaced by ire, and the knowledge that he never should have trusted the woman. “What would she have done with it?”

  Juliet’s face darkened. “Probably the same thing she did with everything else I owned — stole it. While I was in bed, injured, she left in the middle of the night with everything of mine worth any value. I woke up to a bare set of rooms.”

  Xander’s own mouth dropped open at that, his stomach rolling as he realized just what dire circumstances Juliet had been in. That he had left her in.

  “What did you do?”

  She smiled ruefully. “I couldn’t do much. Fortunately, one of my friends came to check on me and was able to take me to her place. I found myself a job at a jewellery store. That’s where I met Annabelle.”

  “A jewellery store which you robbed?”

  “I did,” she said, lifting her chin in defense. “Not much. Just enough to feed myself.”

  She met his eyes before dropping her gaze gain. “I’m not proud of what I have done, Xander. Of what I am doing. But there aren’t many options for a woman like me. Not unless I want to sell myself, and I just can’t bring myself to do that. Not yet, at least.”

  Xander cupped her chin in his hand, lifting it to meet his eyes, as he needed her to understand the importance and sincerity of every word he was about to say.

  “Never let it get that far, Juliet. Never. I have every hope that this will go according to plan and you will never have to worry again. But if circumstances ever become so dire, come to me and I will make it right.

  “Xander—”

  “Promise me, Juliet. That you would put aside your pride and do so. This is all my fault, anyway.”

  “Not necessarily. I—”

  “It is,” he said, regret filling him, causing his tongue to thicken with the taste of it. “I will never forgive myself.”

  He dropped his hand, instead, cupping it around the back of her head as he pulled her in close, not to kiss her but to hold her tightly in an embrace. He closed his eyes as he rested his cheek on the top of her head, her hair tickling his nose as he breathed in the intoxicating scent of her that he thought he would never come close to again.

  She had been everything to him, and he realized that she still was. He had no idea what the path forward was from here — whether he would make her life better or worse was a gamble. And yet, he knew that whatever happened, he would make sure that she lived the life she deserved.
/>   Chapter 11

  Never had Juliet yearned for a kiss as badly as she did in this moment. In fact, she nearly tilted her head up and asked for one — and she knew that he wouldn’t deny her.

  But she was also well aware that if he kissed her, it would be for all of the wrong reasons. It would be because of the shame and regret he felt when he looked at her, and not because of anything he might feel for her in the here and now, despite what he told her.

  She hadn’t had any intentions of sharing with him the situation she had found herself in after he left her, but once he had shared the truth with her, she found the words came tumbling from her mouth without thought.

  Now, standing here in his embrace, those familiar strong arms wrapped around her, she was nearly overcome by how good, how right it felt.

  Until she remembered all the years that stood between them and she pushed back from him to resume her preparation.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked cautiously as she wiped away the tear that threatened to spill from the corner of her eye.

  “Nothing.”

  “Juliet,” he said, knowing her moods far better than that. “I don’t know how else to apologize. I really don’t. I promise you, I will right the wrongs. I will find this Mary whatever-her-name-is and I will get your money back.”

  “It’s not that, Xander. That wasn’t your fault, and I appreciate what you tried to do.”

  “So what is it?”

  She looked up at him, meeting the earnest pleading on his face.

  “In the five years since you left me, I heard much about you.”

  “Oh?”

  “Of your family. Of how feared yet respected Arie had become. Of Calli, who was coveted by every man who ever laid eyes on her, though Arie would never allow anyone near. Of Damien, the strong yet sweet man who turned into a beast when someone he loved was threatened. Of Diana, who knew everything that happened in all of London. But none of that was new to me. I knew all of that. What I was surprised to learn was about you.”

  “You knew everything there was to know about me,” Xander said warily, and rightly so.