A Jewel for the Taking: Thieves of Desire Book 2

by St. Clair, Ellie

  “There’s something else,” Xander had added. “The Shiplacks are involved somehow. I’m not sure if they are aiding Wilington or attempting to steal the jewels themselves — or both — but Shiplack’s wife was supposed to be at home with an illness, and she is currently within that cottage, which is full of all the requirements to leave in a hurry. I don’t know what is happening, but it’s become far too complicated and we need to be free of this place.”

  They had nodded, although Xander had felt Damien’s stare on him. For they not only had to get the hidden jewels, but they had to determine what to do about those that Juliet and Annabelle had already hidden away — and they had to do so without Arie finding out, for he would never understand how they had allowed the two women to get ahead of them.

  Xander knew it was foolish not to have mentioned Juliet at all, but he also knew now why he hadn’t. Arie would have immediately assumed what he did now — that Xander had been stalling because he had been wanting to spend more time with Juliet, that he wanted to help her and include her in their scheme.

  And he would have been partially right.

  Just before they pushed open the doors of the dining room, Xander stopped and turned back to Damien, his voice low.

  “Tonight, I’ll speak to Juliet. I’ll try to include her, get her to share the jewels with us. Tomorrow, we’ll break in and steal the rest. Then we’re all out of here, for good.”

  “Very well,” Damien said, always one to follow the lead of the rest of them as long as the end result was an amiable one for all involved.

  Then they pushed open the doors, playing their part as they served the dinner party.

  Xander wished he could reach out and tell Juliet that everything would be all right. He could tell from the stiffness in her posture that she found herself in a most uncomfortable position and would rather be anywhere but her current seat. There was nothing he could do at the moment, however.

  He looked up, meeting Arie’s eyes, trying to silently issue him a warning plea to look after Juliet and not aggravate her any further. But Arie looked away, though he was certainly not oblivious — Arie never was. No. He simply didn’t care, and the way he responded was answer enough.

  Chapter 17

  That was likely the most excruciatingly painful dinner Juliet had ever been a part of.

  Shiplack, Arie, and Lord Wilington had spent most of it trying to determine just which of them was the most masculine and boasted the finest achievements. She knew Arie well enough to know that while he was certainly proud of his accomplishments, he was not known to outwardly boast — he allowed the fear and respect of others around him to speak to that for him.

  No, Arie knew how to fit in with whatever crowd he chose. Which he was choosing to do right now.

  When the dinner was cleared, she gracefully rose, waiting a moment until the men finally realized she was no longer sitting.

  “If you will excuse me for a moment,” she said, beginning to back away from the table, and the baron frowned at her.

  “I haven’t told you to leave yet,” he said.

  “I shall return momentarily,” she began, but he cut her off.

  “You only need to stay for a few more minutes so that we can examine the piece. Then my valet will meet you to take it away.”

  She nodded slowly. She certainly wouldn’t want to exchange the piece for the fake before they began to look at it more carefully. She slid back into her seat.

  “I suppose I can wait a few minutes.”

  And then she would have to determine how to exchange it with Annabelle before the valet arrived to take it from her.

  “As lovely as it looks around your neck,” Arie said with a slick smile, “perhaps I could see it off of it?”

  He held out his hand and Juliet lifted her fingers to undo the clasp, but Shiplack was there before she could.

  “Allow me,” he said, and when his fingers brushed against her skin it took everything within Juliet to keep from shivering in horror.

  She could practically feel Xander’s distress from across the room, but there was nothing to be done about it. Not without giving themselves away.

  Arie palmed the heavy necklace, his eyes gleaming as though he was feasting his gaze upon a lover undressing for him.

  From what Juliette remembered of him, he far preferred his wealth and the artifacts that brought it to him than he did any woman.

  “Beautiful,” he said, his words finally true, without a hint of artifice. His fingers slid over the surface, and as Xander came to fill the men’s glasses, she met his eyes, noting the worry held within them as he glanced at Arie and then turned to watch her.

  She attempted a smile to tell him that she was fine, but she struggled with it.

  Finally, Arie passed it back, and this time she clutched it in her hands before Shiplack could attempt to reclasp it once more.

  “I really must excuse myself for just a moment. I shall have my maid help me with this.”

  “No need. Grant will be waiting for it,” the baron said breezily as Juliet turned to go, and she looked up at Xander with worry as she hurried out of the room, hopeful that she could be quicker than the valet.

  She was out of luck.

  For there was the faithful guard dog, standing outside the door.

  “Miss Simpson,” he said without expression, holding out a hand. “The necklace?”

  Juliet had two choices. She could give him the necklace — or she could run.

  But if she did so, she would still have to find Annabelle, and then their hidden collection. If the grooms were apprised of their actions, there would be no way for them to make off with a horse as planned.

  She swallowed hard as she looked longingly at the necklace in her hand before passing it to Grant.

  “Of course,” she said, her words just above a whisper, and, either not noticing or uncaring about her apparent dismay, he turned and walked away, heels clicking as he went.

  The dining room doors opened behind her, and Xander was at her side in moments. While he held a tray in one hand, the other came to caress her shoulder as the doors shut behind him.

  “Not to worry, sweet,” he said with a squeeze of his hand. “We’ll get it back. I promise. And I’ll explain everything. Meet me tonight in the gazebo.”

  She nodded absently before beginning to climb the stairs to meet Annabelle, feeling Xander’s gaze on her as she went, his solid presence, at the very least, a buffer between her and the men who threatened her in the room beyond.

  * * *

  Xander just wanted this evening over so that he could meet with Juliet.

  As he had watched her melancholy figure climb up the stairs, so alone, without him, one thing had become clear.

  When he left this house, he cared not if he had any of the jewels. All he wanted was her, and her alone.

  But that had become even more complicated, now that Arie was here.

  For to tell Arie this would only prove Arie’s original point — that Juliet made him forget his obligations to his family.

  The men finally decided to retire for the evening once Wilington was slumped over in his chair, from exhaustion, ill health, drink, or all three, and after Xander and Damien once again left him in his room, they found Arie waiting for them downstairs.

  “Well, well, well,” Arie said as he stood at the landing, cutting off Xander’s escape down to the servants’ quarters. “Tonight has proven some very interesting revelations.”

  “I assume you are referring to Juliet,” Xander said as Damien led them into one of the small parlors. The fire wasn’t lit, but the cold didn’t bother any of them. They had all experienced far worse.

  “Interesting that you failed to mention her involvement — her very presence — earlier today,” Arie said, losing all of the fraudulent charm he had cloaked himself with throughout the evening.

  “It doesn’t matter,” said Xander. “All will go forward as planned.”

  “I’m not an idiot, Xan
der,” Arie said, crossing his arms over his chest. “I am well aware that you would never leave her with nothing. You are too soft-hearted for that.”

  “It is true that she is here for the same purpose that we are,” Xander admitted, seeing no way around it. Arie always ferreted out the truth. “However, she knows that there are certain pieces that she will be unable to take with her.”

  “You mean, there won’t be any pieces.”

  “Arie…” Xander attempted to find the humanity he knew was within his eldest brother, the man who had taken care of him and his sister when he had thought all was lost. “We cannot leave her with nothing. She has spent months—”

  “Whoring herself?” Arie said, arching an eyebrow, and Xander’s fingers begin to curl into a fist at his side.

  “She has not,” Xander said, hearing the tightness of the words as they emerged.

  “Do you know that for certain?” Arie asked, taking a step closer to Xander, and Xander knew in that moment that if Arie said one more thing to question Juliet’s character, he would have no qualms in placing his fist in the middle of Arie’s face, just as he had done to Shiplack.

  “That’s enough,” Damien said, stepping between them as he attempted to break the tension in the air. “Xander is right. Juliet has been doing nothing different from what we’ve done, and we promised to work together.”

  “How could you promise that, when you knew of our plan? We promised Jasper that we would retake the jewels so that he could get back what he is owed. After we have finished that, there will hardly be enough left for us, let alone Juliet.”

  “That necklace alone will fetch thousands,” Xander protested.

  “You’ve already given her everything,” Arie practically hissed. “How could she need more?”

  “She never received what I gave her,” Xander said, rubbing his temple. “The woman she lived with stole it all.”

  “Well, then, you’re the fool for not seeing to it properly and for deciding to give it to her in the first place.”

  “It was rather hard, when you got me so involved with another plan that I had no time to ensure Juliet was well,” Xander said as it all began to become clear. “In fact, I believe you did it all on purpose, as you wanted to drive us apart. I don’t understand, Arie, what is it about her that you hate so?”

  “It’s not about her,” Arie said, loosening his arms and tossing them to the side. “It’s about you! She makes you lose your mind, Xander.”

  “Of course she does — because I love her!”

  The words hung in the air, floating between them, as Arie’s generous brows rose.

  “Do you now. And how much do you love her — more than your family, than the people who have done everything for you, than the man who took you in when no one else offered you anything but a life of petty crime?”

  “Our life is one of crime as well.”

  “True, but at least it is a lucrative one. I have never heard you complain about the roof over your head or your warm meals, or the maids who look after the house so that you don’t have to.”

  Xander rubbed at his temples, the headache beginning to invade. He was not a man who enjoyed conflict — he never had. He and Arie had butted heads time and again, but only once before had it ever been like this — the last time that he had left Juliet. The time when he had chosen his family over her, telling himself that he had done it only so that she could make a better life for herself.

  But perhaps that was only part of it. He was beginning to realize that it was also his inability to stand up to his family — most especially Arie — and do what he needed to do.

  “There is room in my heart for all of you — Juliet and the entire family. If you can’t understand that, Arie, then it is not me who is lacking.”

  “And does she love you in turn?” Arie asked.

  “Of course she does,” Xander said indignantly. “It was I who made the choice to leave.”

  “Yes, but when I told her that you were just using her, that you cared nothing for her, she believed me so readily. A woman who truly loved you, who trusted you, would never be so gullible.”

  “What are you talking about?” Xander demanded, and Arie shrugged, apparently unaffected by Xander’s anger.

  “I went to see her after you left her. Offered her money if she promised to never look for you again. She never did, did she?”

  “She didn’t take that money, I know she didn’t.”

  “No. But she also realized the truth of it — that she didn’t fit properly into your life. She never had.”

  Xander found he couldn’t speak, that he was so angry his mouth wouldn’t form the words he longed to say to his brother, the man he had always trusted — or thought he had trusted.

  Xander looked over at Damien, who was watching somewhat helplessly. He found if he focused on Damien, he could say what was necessary. Then, he would never speak to Arie again. “Take Wilington out tomorrow,” he bit out. “Damien and I will get the jewels. Then we’ll leave. All of us — including Juliet. As for you, I care nothing about where you go or what you do after this, for I don’t want you in my life anymore. Do you understand?”

  “Sure, Xander,” Arie said, that suspicious grin creeping across his face. “Whatever you say.”

  Ignoring Arie, Xander nodded to Damien, then took off into the night to find Juliet.

  Chapter 18

  When Xander hadn’t immediately appeared, Juliet began to fill herself with all kinds of assumptions. That he had changed his mind, had decided he wanted nothing more to do with her. That he was going to align himself entirely with his family and take the jewels alone.

  Which she supposed he was well within his rights to do. They had agreed to work together, but had made no promises for the future, and she was just as ready to leave with all of the jewels — alone — as he was, if it came to that.

  But she was desperately hoping with everything in her that it wouldn’t.

  When his familiar figure came jaunting through the trees, she breathed a sigh of relief, and as her entire body stepped forward toward him, she inherently knew what had always been within her but that she had been too scared to voice aloud — she wanted him. She needed to be with him, and loved him with all of her heart. But could he possibly feel the same?

  “Juliet.” He stepped from the dark of night into the gazebo, his arms coming around her and pulling her into his embrace, and she knew in that moment just how much she loved him, how coming to him meant coming home, no matter where they were or what lay between them or before them. “Are you all right?” he asked, pulling back for a moment, and she looked up into his eyes.

  “Of course I’m all right.”

  “Seeing you in there, surrounded by men who have all treated you wrongly, it just didn’t seem right. I wanted nothing more than to pick you up and take you far away from all of them.”

  “Well, that would have made us rather obvious, would it not have?”

  “It most certainly would have. But I don’t know if I overly care anymore.”

  She stepped back, searching his troubled expression.

  “What’s changed?”

  “Nothing.” He let out a deep breath of air.

  But she knew that he was keeping something from her.

  “I have come to realize that no matter what happens here over the next day, when this is over, the most important thing to me is that you and I are together. I made a mistake five years ago, Juliet, and I want to right that mistake. Will you let me?”

  Despite Arie’s accusations and all of the misgivings that filled her, his request caused everything else to float away, and she couldn’t help the smile that broke out across her face.

  “Of course, Xander,” she said, standing on her toes so that her face was more even with his. “I want nothing more.”

  He tipped his head the remaining distance between them and kissed her, long and hard, a kiss that Juliet took to be a promise of everything that was currently between them
and everything to come. She wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him close as their kiss deepened, connecting them, strengthening the bond between them. She couldn’t have asked for anything more, and when they finally broke apart, she found herself gasping for air.

  She cupped his cheeks in her palms. “What are we going to do?”

  “About what?”

  “About… this,” she said, gesturing to the house behind them. “Us. The necklace. The rest of the jewels.”

  “Not to worry,” he said, taking her hands. “I have a plan.”

  “Which is?”

  “It doesn’t matter. Just pack your things and be ready to leave when I come for you.”

  “Xander,” she said, trying to stamp down her impatience, especially when he had just said everything to her that she had been longing to hear. “I trust you, but I also need to know what is happening.”

  “Very well,” he said, even though she could tell he was struggling with how much to tell her. “Tomorrow, Arie is going to ask the baron for a tour of the lands. Our hope is that Shiplack will accompany them, and Damien and I will then break into Wilington’s hidden closet.”

  She nodded slowly. “And then?”

  “Then we leave.”

  “Together?”

  “Together.”

  She took his hands and gave them a squeeze, torn between past distrust and hope for the future. Hope infused with her love for him. She wanted nothing more than to believe him.

  “What did Arie have to say about that?”

  “It doesn’t matter what Arie thinks,” he said, looking off into the distance, for the first time breaking the contact between them, and Juliet wondered at the vehemence in his tone.

  “Of course it does,” she protested. “It always matters what Arie thinks — for Arie is involved in everything, is he not?”

  “He thinks he is,” Xander muttered. “But I will make sure all is well. Trust me on that.”