The Arrogant Thief

by Mallory Crowe

  He didn’t have a look of disbelief in his eyes like she did. He looked determined, as if he were hanging on by a thread. He looked scared and ferocious all at once. He almost looked like a stranger to her. For once, he wasn’t calm and composed. He wasn’t the man with the master plan. For this moment, he seemed as lost as she did.

  And in the next second, he pushed into her.

  She was so wet and ready for him that her body offered little to no resistance. In one swift motion, he was completely inside her. All around her. All-encompassing. Melissa’s head fell back, and her still sensitive body tightened around him. Her fingers bit into his back, her legs wrapped around his waist. She stayed like that, clutching him for dear life as he moved faster and faster in and out of her. She didn’t know how it happened—whether he went over the edge and pulled her with him or whether she was just too stimulated from what already happened or whether seeing him go over the edge had just been too much of a turn-on. But she came with him, each of them clutching the other and holding back moans of pleasure. And just like that, Melissa knew she would never be the same again.

  That’s when the phone rang.

  Gage stayed motionless for a moment. He didn’t want to get up. He didn’t want this to end. He knew it was a mistake and never should’ve happened, but he couldn’t say he regretted it. At least not right now when the afterglow was still so... glowy.

  But the phone was important. It could be Courtney giving them the all clear to go. It could be Toni finally getting his message. Either way, he couldn’t stay in the little piece of heaven he’d momentarily found.

  “We better get that,” said Melissa, obviously thinking the same things he was.

  He groaned as he pushed himself off her, suddenly all too cold without her warmth nearby. He didn’t bother to cover himself as he took the two steps to the telephone. “Yeah,” he bit out.

  “Well, that doesn’t sound like someone who has been completely victorious today.”

  “Courtney,” he said, more so Melissa could hear than actually wanting to give her any kind of greeting or acknowledgment.

  “I wanted to give you a call. Congratulations. You did very good work today. I like my people to know that they’re appreciated and valued.”

  “I’m so happy to be valued,” he said dryly. “Can I leave now?”

  “Leave? You can’t leave.”

  Gage stiffened and gripped the phone so tight he thought it might break in his hand. “What are you talking about? You said if I do this job for you that was it.” He wasn’t naïve enough to truly trust her, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be pissed at her for lying to them.

  “That’s right. I did ask you to do a job. Your job is only half over. Don’t worry, I’ll let you know everything else you need to know soon. Enjoy your night off.”

  Gage slammed the phone down and thought about his options. He couldn’t let Courtney treat him like a puppet, but she was still holding all of the strings. He needed some way to one-up her. He needed an ace up his sleeve. But then a knock on the door took him away from his thoughts.

  “You don’t think it’s a noise complaint, do you?” asked Melissa nervously.

  He wished it was a noise complaint. His ego could use the boost right now. Most likely it was the next part of Courtney’s plan. One of her lackeys there to drop off instructions or pound the point home that he was her property for now. He stomped over to the door, yanking it open so forcefully that it slammed into the wall. He was ready to give whoever was on the other side a piece of his mind. Instead he found himself looking right at Peter Slade, Melissa’s older brother.

  Purely on instinct, Gage slammed the door shut.

  “Who was that?” Melissa stumbled toward him, pulling on her shirt.

  “You need to get dressed,” he said softly, hoping anyone on the other side couldn’t hear him.

  “What do you think I’m doing?”

  Someone pounded on the door. “Gage, open up!”

  Melissa’s eyes widened. “That’s.... Is Peter here?”

  “Get dressed,” he demanded again as he shot past her and reached for his own clothes. Not that Peter hadn’t already realized he was naked. That was hardly the type of detail anyone would miss, let alone a trained operative.

  Shit. Shit, shit, shit. He tugged on his pants, sans underwear, and kicked the incriminating boxers under the bed while pulling on his button-down. Slade was still pounding on the door, but Gage sure as hell wasn’t answering while he and Melissa were still in a compromising position.

  Hell, maybe he could convince Slade he’d gone insane and imagined everything. He’d done that once when the husband of a girl he’d been sleeping with came home while they were in bed. Denied it the entire time he was getting dressed, putting everything back together before bolting from the house.

  He had a feeling Slade wasn’t going to fall for anything so elementary. Finally Melissa was in a bra, tank top, and long pajama pants, and Gage didn’t look as if he’d just gotten dressed in ten seconds.

  He knew it wasn’t going to be enough, but it was all he could do. Running a frustrated hand through his hair, he went back to the door and pulled it open. This time Slade went right through the door before he could have it slammed in his face again, followed by Toni and Hart. Gage hadn’t even noticed they were here. A definite sign of how out of it he was.

  “What the fuck was that?” demanded Slade. “I thought you’d be happy to see us.”

  “I’m happy to see you.” Melissa ran and jumped in her brother’s arms. “You have no idea how much I missed you.”

  Slade turned with her in his arms and glared at Gage.

  Yep, he definitely noticed the whole naked thing before. Judging from the way Toni and Hart were looking around the room cautiously, they were aware of it too.

  “We got your SOS,” said Toni. “Sorry we didn’t get here faster. Are you still in danger?”

  That was a definite ding at the sex. “Yes. They kidnapped Melissa out of her motel room and used her as leverage to get me to work for them.”

  “Who’s them?” asked Hart.

  “Courtney Vance.”

  “You’re kidding,” said Toni.

  At the same time, Hart said, “Who’s that?”

  “Courtney Vance is one of those heiresses on the front of every tabloid for some new scandal every week,” said Toni quickly. “You’re telling me she forced you to do something?”

  “She put a bomb around Melissa’s neck. What did you want me to do? Let her die?”

  “No,” said Peter gruffly. He let Melissa out of the bear hug but still had an arm around her shoulders protectively. “That’s not an option.”

  Gage waved a hand toward Slade. “See? I did what I had to do.”

  “Try mentioning doing things around me again,” Slade threatened.

  Gage took a deep gulp. He’d have to be careful with how he spoke around Peter in the near future.

  “Let’s focus on the important things here,” said Toni pointedly to the men. “Melissa, you have a bomb around your neck? That seems like priority number one.”

  “Something like that.” Melissa brought her hands up to her neck, where she tentatively touched the collar. “Courtney said that if I tried to take it off, try to run away, or just generally pissed her off in any way, it would go off.”

  “That’s not enough to take her head off,” said Hart.

  “You’re right,” said Melissa. “But it is enough to severely damage my neck, which I find very important to my living.”

  “Touché,” said Hart. “There should be some way for us to take it off.”

  “Or at least clone the signal,” said Toni. “Maybe if we can take over the remote-control aspect of it, we can get it off you.”

  “Assuming that’s possible,” said Hart.

  “What do you mean, assuming that’s possible? Of course it’s possible to get the bomb off my neck. Right?” She looked questioningly at Gage.

  If
he could, Gage would strangle Hart for bringing that up. “Of course we can get it off.”

  Melissa shook her head. “No, I know what you guys meant. If Courtney never meant for me to survive this, maybe there is no out. Maybe I’ll have to wear this for the rest of my life until actually goes off and boom, Melissa goes bye-bye.”

  Gage knew it was bad if Melissa was speaking about herself in the third person. “Trust me. I’ve been in worse situations than this.”

  “Worse situations than this?” she said pointedly, literally pointing to the bomb around her neck.

  “He’s right,” said Toni. “We can figure out a way to get this off. Now, since you’re still alive, I’m assuming it’s not too sensitive, right?”

  Melissa’s guilty eyes met Gage’s, and he was suddenly all too reminded how his hand had just been around her neck.

  “Not too sensitive,” bit out Gage. “I mean, she showered and everything. It’s waterproof. That’s a plus, isn’t it?”

  “How do you know that Melissa showers?” said Slade.

  Gage blinked a few times. “I, um, I assume she hasn’t taken the bomb off her neck at any point. And I know she showers. Deduction.” He shouldn’t’ve stammered. He never stammered. If anything had given him away, that had.

  “Do you know what she’s having you do for her?” asked Hart.

  “Today was the first part of the job. We thought it was the only part. She gave us the name of someone high up in the accounting department and told us to transfer seventeen million dollars out of one account and into a different one using a specific employee’s access.”

  “It’s a simple theft job?” asked Toni.

  “I thought so. When she called here today, I thought she was going to give us the all clear to go, but she said it was only the first half of the job. I don’t know if she wants to use me as her free lackey now that she has leverage over me, or if the jobs really are related.”

  “Time will tell,” muttered Hart. “Do you think you two can stick with it for a little while longer? We can order surveillance on Vance and see what’s going on with her.”

  “Hart can do that,” said Toni. “I’ll fiddle with the gizmo around your neck.”

  Melissa winced. “Please don’t use the word ‘fiddle’ in regards to what you’re going to do with the thing around my neck.”

  “I second that,” said Slade.

  Gage thirded it, but he was really trying not to have any direct communication with Melissa right now. God, as much as he wanted reinforcements, why did they have to get here right now?

  “First things first. Are we sure we’re alone here? No cameras or bugs?” asked Toni.

  “I did a visual search and nothing came up.” Of course, Gage knew just as well as Toni that when it came to bugs, eyes couldn’t be trusted.

  She pulled a black device out of her purse. “Why don’t we do a more thorough search?”

  “You do that. I’m going to have a few words with Mel,” said Peter.

  Gage tightened his lips and tried to think of a reason to go with them. He and Slade were friends. At least, they had been. But he could only imagine the anger Slade felt now that Gage had violated his sister.

  “What the fuck?” demanded Peter.

  Melissa ran a hand over her eyes and rubbed her temple. Partly because she really was getting a headache and partly because she was literally hiding from the situation. “Peter—”

  “No, don’t Peter me. Can you imagine how pissed I am right now?”

  Her brows drew together and she removed her hand. “You’re seriously mad at me?”

  “Yes! Gage isn’t the kind of guy I’d want anyone getting involved with. His standards in women are so low that—”

  “Are you saying I’m low standards?”

  “No, I’m saying that you’re high standards and he doesn’t deserve to touch you.”

  She shook her head. How could he be mad at her? Upset, maybe. Annoyed? Sure. But mad at her? “I’m the one with a bomb around my neck. How about being mad at the people who did this to me? How about directing all that rage somewhere it could actually be useful instead of slut shaming me?”

  Peter grunted and balled his hands into fists. “I’m not slut shaming you!” he defended. “If anything, I’m slut shaming him. Do you have any idea how many diseases could be crawling all over that man?”

  “None. I was in charge of filing the medical reports when everyone got their physicals,” she said defiantly.

  Peter nodded and glared at her. “Wait a minute. Is this about me?”

  “What?” she sputtered.

  “I know you were happy to find out I was still alive, but you were also mad. Are you doing this to get back at me?”

  “That’s utter bullshit and you know that.”

  “Mel, you know I only want the best for you.”

  “Well then, why don’t you worry about saving my life more than you do about my sex life? Then maybe when all this is over, you can judge me and it won’t sound so righteous or misplaced.” With that, she walked back to the room. She wished she were anywhere else besides this hotel right now. Somewhere she didn’t have to be surrounded by family, coworkers, and Gage. Well, maybe she wouldn’t mind being surrounded by Gage.

  She had no idea what he was thinking. They had been alone and trapped together. Crossing that sexual boundary didn’t seem like such a big deal. She’d felt so terrible, and he’d been so sweet.... But now that their little indecent bubble was burst, would he still feel the same way? Would he think of what happened between them as pity sex?

  Oh God. She was pity sex. How terrible was that? And Peter, as judgmental as he may be, did have a point. Gage had been with so many women. How could her depression-ridden, self-hating self possibly compare to the models, actresses, and socialites he’d been with in the past? She was certain her body didn’t compare. Sure, in her bartending days, when she’d always been on her feet, she had been able to eat whatever she wanted. But she’d been getting spoiled since she started working for Hart Securities, and the ten extra pounds had gone straight to her waist. Something she could hide well enough in clothes, but she didn’t have that barrier with Gage.

  Funny how when she was with him, doubts about her body never once crossed her mind. Now that the moment was over, all she could think about were doubts. Gage seemed to make her forget things. Things like doubt. Things like her sanity. Things like logic.

  But she couldn’t do that. She should never have let herself get swept up by him. There were life-and-death things going on around them, namely her life and death, and she shouldn’t be distracted.

  Using a keycard, she got back into the room as Toni was waving a little black box over the desk area. “What are you doing?”

  “Checking for bugs. It looks like the room is clear.”

  “Checking for bugs? You don’t think that should’ve been done as soon as you walked into the room?”

  “Well, yeah,” said Hart. “But we were distracted by a buck-ass naked Gage. I was still working on burning the images from my mind before I could get to business.”

  Melissa immediately averted her gaze to the ground, doing whatever she could not to look Gage. The heat crept up her cheeks at the knowledge that every single person in this room knew what she and Gage had just been up to. Change the subject. She needed to change the subject. “So why don’t you think Courtney is listening in? You’d think that since she went through all this trouble, she’d want to make sure we were playing nice.”

  “She must’ve already thought she had control,” said Gage. “She has us on a pretty tight leash.”

  “You mean she has me on a pretty tight collar,” she muttered. “So what’s the deal? Can we leave now?”

  “Not quite yet,” said Toni. “We’ve got a good start. Hart and Slade are going to look into your little kidnapper, and I’m going to focus all my time on getting that collar off you. But until I know we can keep you safe, I don’t want Vance to get suspicious at all.
Are you okay here for a little bit longer?”

  Melissa shrugged. “I guess I don’t have a choice, do I?”

  “Don’t get too comfortable,” said Toni. “I promise this isn’t going to be much longer.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I believe you. You can get a lot done when you set your mind to it.”

  “Where’s Slade?” asked Scott.

  “I, um, he’s in the hallway. I kinda left him out there.”

  “So it went that well?” Toni snorted.

  “It went,” muttered Melissa. “So what do we do now?”

  “Now, we leave,” said Scott. “We’re going to get to work and you two can... relax.”

  Damn it, there was the heat of embarrassment again. “I could use some sleep,” said Melissa, only belatedly realizing that she could need sleep because she was exhausted from all the sex she’d been having. Damn it. There was really no winning in this situation.

  “Thanks for helping us,” said Gage.

  “All right then,” said Toni. “I’ll be checking in with you soon. Think you can stay out of trouble until then?”

  Melissa met Gage’s gaze, and each of them was silent.

  “I don’t see how any of this is necessary.” Melissa put another bite of the delicious omelet into her mouth.

  “We don’t know what we’re going to be doing today. We might as well get a good breakfast out of it.” Gage didn’t seem hesitant at all as he piled more and more of his gigantic meat-filled breakfast into his mouth.

  “That’s easy for you to say. It’s not your credit card footing the bill.”

  “For the last time, I promise I’ll pay you back.”

  There was a moment of silence as they kept eating until Gage said, “So do you want to talk about it?”

  Melissa immediately dropped her fork to her plate. The loud clattering drew stares from guests at nearby tables.

  “I take that as a no?”