By Mallory Crowe
Copyright
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Fonts used with permission from Microsoft.
Copyright © 2018 by Mallory Crowe
Mallory Crowe (2018-4-8). The Cunning Thief (Stolen Hearts Book Seven)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright
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Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Epilogue
The Arrogant Thief
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Gabby stared at her best friend Kate and willed her to show a reaction. Any reaction at all. Something for her to go on. Laugh? Tell her she’s an idiot? Something....
“Would you please stop?” muttered Kate.
“Well, read faster! I want to know what you think!”
Kate scoffed. “You already know what I think. I think you’re crazy.”
“I’m not crazy. I thought about this a lot, Kate. I can’t fully move on until I get closure. I’m not going to get closure until Hunter and I are face-to-face. Since I don’t know how to find him, I need to get his face to me. I don’t see crazy anywhere in that plan.”
Kate tilted her head, and those brown eyes were immediately filled with judgment. “You’re emailing some security company that has nothing but some fake-looking website, and you’re planning to lie to them and ask them to come and save you from a shady organization that wants you dead.”
Gabby was more than ready to refute this. “One, a website can’t be fake. It’s obviously a real webpage.” Even if the only information on the page was an email address and the notification that demand was more than supply and not everyone would get a reply. Which meant that this crazy—er, rational—plan probably wouldn’t work anyway. “Two....” She was at a loss to explain the logic that had made so much sense to her last night as she’d furiously typed up her damsel in distress story to lure Hunter back to town. “Two, Ryan has been all over town with that tramp, and I feel like this is a necessary step.”
“No, Gabby. Online dating is a necessary step. Using deception to get in touch with some long-lost ex-boyfriend is definitely not necessary.”
“He wasn’t my boyfriend,” said Gabby so quickly that she only belatedly realized that it didn’t help her case in any way. Hunter and she had a sordid past, but she’d never touched him. Not once. And that was why she needed closure so badly. Maybe if they’d kissed and it had been horrible, she wouldn’t feel a pit in her stomach whenever she thought of him. Maybe if she knew that he was happily married with a horde of children, she wouldn’t feel the wet blanket of guilt every time she remembered the way he’d looked at her as he’d been carried away in that police car.
She couldn’t move on from her disaster of a marriage and try to figure out where the hell her life was going without getting rid of this baggage first. All of a sudden, Gabby reached forward, grabbed the laptop, and hit the Send button.
Kate’s lips tightened, but she thankfully didn’t say anything.
“It needed to be done,” said Gabby, feeling the need to defend herself from the silence.
“Well, there’s no turning back now. What do you think you’ll say to this mysterious Hunter if he does show up on your doorstep?”
Gabby had imagined Hunter coming back for her thousands, if not millions, of times over the years. And after a long time, she’d finally come to the perfect conclusion. “If hell freezes over and this actually works? I’m going to kiss him the first chance I get.”
Hunter pulled himself up until his chin just reached over the bar and then made sure his descent down was controlled. Once his arms were straight, he started on another pull-up. Normally this was easy for him, but his chest was aching and the pain shot through his body, causing his muscles to shake at the effort. He barely managed one more pull-up before he let go of the bar and dropped to the ground.
“Did the doctor give you permission to do that?”
Hunter straightened and willed his body to cooperate. “I don’t need somebody to give me permission to work out. I know what I’m capable of.”
Melissa eyed him up and down, an action that reminded him all too much of her brother, Slade. Melissa might only be a buck twenty soaking wet, but she was capable of making most men shake with just a bad look. And if most people knew exactly what Melissa’s brother was capable of, they would understand exactly how afraid they should be of those looks.
“You know what you were capable of,” she said sternly. “You had a bullet rip through you just a few months ago. You remember how close it was to your heart, right?” She held her thumb and pointer finger up with just a millimeter of space between the two so she could visibly demonstrate.
Hunter turned his back to her and bent to pick up his water bottle and towel to wipe down his face. He didn’t need her to remind him how close he’d come to dying. He was well aware of the sliver of luck that had saved his life. The sniper who’d shot through the window had been aiming to kill. He distinctly remembered coming back to consciousness after the intensive surgery to repair the damage. The doctor had stared down at him with a look of shock before shaking his head and saying, “Welcome back, son. I thought for sure you were bound for the angels.”
If Hunter hadn’t been so drugged up, he would’ve laughed at the thought. When someone finally did take him out, he’d be going to the downstairs version of the afterlife. His time working for Sterling would’ve seen to that.
He’d been Sterling’s willing enforcer for years and never thought twice about it until Toni and her boyfriend, Scott Hart, had taken Sterling out of the picture. He was no longer required to work for someone he hated. He was no longer forced into anything.
The freedom would feel great to most men. But not to him. It was easy to write off all his actions when he had excuses. Now every action he made was his own, and he couldn’t shake the idea that he was behind all of this. His decisions, every decision he’d ever made, was his own, and he couldn’t blame Sterling for a damn thing.
He took a deep swig of water and rolled his shoulders. Goddamn introspection. He never had thoughts like this before the shooting. Suddenly Melissa didn’t seem like the worst part of his day, and he turned back to face her. “Did you just come out here to scold me?”
She tilted her head and looked at him with disapproval in her eyes. “Of course not. The agency just got a request.”
He waited for her to continue. There had to be more, because Hart Securities would get inquiries every day and he was never the first to hear about it. Scott and Toni, who ran Hart Securities, got final approval of every job. “Yeah?” he asked.
“I wanted to let you know about th
is one first since they asked for you by name.”
“What?”
“Some girl in this town in Michigan. Brighton. Have you heard of it?”
Hunter’s blood turned cold. “I know of it.”
Melissa narrowed her eyes and handed him a piece of paper. “Let me know if I should forward it on to Scott. I think it all seems a bit contrived, but since she mentions you, I didn’t want to write it off.”
Hunter forced himself to take his time as he took the printout from Melissa. She was already suspicious enough. He didn’t need to alert her to the true urgency of the situation. “Thanks,” he said carefully.
They both stood still for a moment. If Melissa was waiting for him to read the email in front of her, she’d be waiting a long damn time.... Finally she seemed to get the hint and gave him a quick nod before she walked away. Once she was out of sight, Hunter turned his back to the windows so Melissa wouldn’t see any reaction. The makeshift gym was in the detached garage of the temporary base of operations for Hart Securities, but the oversized windows gave shit for privacy.
He hadn’t exactly had a choice when Hart decided to set up a permanent base for Hart Securities. Hunter had mixed feelings about Hart setting down roots. Until now, every time they had a job, Toni would find a good foreclosure for their group to “borrow” for a few days, weeks, or months. However long a job took.
He liked that system because he could get in and get out without ever catching anyone’s attention. It also helped that the places Toni picked were usually multimillion dollar estates. Who wouldn’t want to stay in a place like that?
Not that he had any right to complain. The new place was worth just over seven figures, with enough bedrooms for any of them to have their own room, or rooms for that matter, and Toni had plenty of space to fill up with her computers.
Hunter strode out of the gym and walked across the pristine green lawn until he reached one of the back entrances to the main house and found Melissa at her little desk. “Where’s Hart?”
She looked up at him from beneath her lashes. “They went out of town this morning. There’s a unit down in Miami that Hart wanted to get some personal time with.”
“Did they say how long they’d be gone for?”
Melissa snorted. “Do they ever? I’m sure it won’t be that long.”
He had his doubts. Lately the couple had been spending more and more time away from this fancy new home base they’d set up. Which made sense, he supposed. He’d known that Hart Securities was composed of more than just his unit. Even though Slade was mostly out of the picture with his new family life, Tristan, Gage, and he could handle most jobs on their own. Slade had been their leader and teacher for years, but lately they’d all found themselves less in need of teaching and more in need of maintenance. Hunter would never be one to claim he knew everything, but he sure as hell knew a lot by now. And all of the other guys he worked with could say the same. The best way for them to learn was to keep doing jobs, and as long as they kept one another on their toes, they would keep one another alive. With or without Slade to guide them.
“Do you want me to give you their current phone numbers? I think they trashed their last set.”
Those two went through cell phones faster than he could believe. “No. I’m going to take a few days off, though. They know how to reach me if they need me.”
Melissa pursed her lips and looked at him questioningly. “Do you happen to be heading to Michigan?”
“That’s a possibility,” he said cagily.
“Well, if you get a chance, bring me back a car.”
He stared at her in confusion for a moment and she continued, “From Motor City? In Detroit? Car? Get it?”
Hunter nodded, only belatedly realizing how clouded his head was. “Yeah, sure. I’ll bring you back a car.”
He started for his room and faintly heard Melissa calling behind him. “That was a joke!”
Gabby grabbed another long-stem rose out of the packaging and ran her razor-sharp knife over the stem, quickly taking off all the thorns before setting it into a new, pristine vase. She repeated the process on another two dozen or so until the vase was practically bursting with the high-quality, perfect flowers. Then she moved them from the back of the shop and into the glass-faced refrigerators up front. She was just closing the door when she saw the dark reflection of someone behind her. Letting out a yelp of surprise, she slammed the door shut while she jumped around to face the intruder. Only it wasn’t an intruder at all. It was Kate, who had somehow gotten inside without the little bell ringing. Gabby pressed a hand over her rapidly beating heart and stared at her best friend. “When on earth did you get here?”
Kate’s eyes were wide, as though she were as shocked as Gabby. “I just walked in, like, two seconds ago.”
Gabby shook her head and let out a sigh. “Sorry. I’m just really jumpy for some reason.”
“Well, of course you are. You keep on waiting for the stud from your past to show up. I’d be nervous too.”
Gabby rolled her eyes. “I’m not counting on that stud to show up any time soon. It’s only been a day, and I haven’t even gotten a form response back from that security company we emailed.” She shouldn’t be surprised they hadn’t heard anything. Even when she’d been typing the email, she knew the chance of failure was high. Hell, after how she and Hunter had left things, she wouldn’t be surprised if he never wanted to see her face again. She’d been selfish back then and she was being selfish again.
Lying and playing on his sense of responsibility to get him to come back. She couldn’t also lie to herself. Nothing she was doing was for his own good. This was purely her looking for some sense of closure to a horrible part of her past. How could she expect to move on while her past was still holding her back?
“It’s okay,” she said finally, probably talking more to herself than Kate. “Even if he doesn’t show up, at least I can say I tried.” The thought of not getting through to Hunter somehow seemed unacceptable.
Kate approached and put her nose so close to the glass it was almost touching as she studied the flowers out for display. “I can’t believe they still sell carnations. If a guy ever brought me a bouquet of those, I’d kick his ass right to the curb.”
Gabby snorted. “I’d be happy just to have someone to bring me flowers.” She opened the door next to Kate and reached in to grab a simple red carnation. “Now stop hating on the carnation, okay? This baby is one of my favorite flowers.”
Kate raised an eyebrow and took the flower from Gabby while eyeing it suspiciously. “Your favorite? You’re kidding.”
“Well, maybe not my favorite favorite. But it’s so reasonably priced, and these babies last forever. You’re not going to get a rose to keep its color and shape for nearly as long as a carnation. And for the price of one rose, you can get two to five carnations. And if you get enough in a close enough space, they hardly even look like carnations anymore. They’re transformed into something wholly original.”
Kate didn’t seem convinced as she rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I get it. That doesn’t mean I want a bouquet of the cheapest flower.”
Gabby let out a little laugh as she set the carnation back into the refrigerator. “So are you on break?” Kate was a receptionist at the real estate office across the street. It wasn’t enough to live on, but Kate lived alone in a house she inherited, so her bills were minimal.
Gabby lived on her own and not only worked at the florist’s, but also picked up side jobs cleaning up after weddings to make her rent and utility bills. But she wasn’t exactly hanging in the wind. She’d been working as the main assistant to Edna Flowers—real name, not made up—since she was eighteen, and Edna had promised that she’d one day pass the shop down to Gabby. When Edna had made that promise, she’d been seventy-five years old and that hadn’t seemed so far away. Now Edna was eighty-three and healthy as a horse. Gabby would never wish ill on anyone, especiall
y someone she loved and respected as much as Edna, but it still put her future plans in question. She didn’t want to be an assistant forever. Hell, at the rate her savings account was dwindling, she couldn’t afford to be an assistant for much longer.
“Yeah,” said Kate, answering Gabby’s earlier question about her break. She glanced at her phone and groaned. “And it looks like it’s time to head back.”
Gabby looked over her shoulder at the oversized clock on the wall. “You’ve only been here a few minutes. Your break can’t be that short, can it?”
“All right, you got me. I wanted to run to the coffee shop and get one of those fancy frozen lattes.”
“You don’t drink coffee,” pointed out Gabby.
“I don’t, but the super-hot Realtor does. I figured I’d let him know that the receptionist has been paying attention to details.” Kate winked.
Gabby smiled. “Good luck with that. And may he never buy you a single carnation.”
Kate smiled before she ran out the door.
As soon as she was alone, Gabby turned around and looked at the empty shop. She’d already removed the older flowers and made some sale bouquets with them, set out new inventory, and arranged a large assortment of premium bouquets. The bulk of the money they made was off arrangements for weddings and, unfortunately, funerals, but she still wanted to be prepared for anyone who came through that door. However, it was Monday, so that meant it would be slow.
It was too early to start working on the weekend’s weddings. So the only traffic today would be a few guys trickling in for apology bouquets for whatever stupid things they did over the weekend and a few older ladies who liked to have fresh flowers showing at all times in their homes. Gabby was lucky enough that she was able to take the older flowers home whenever she wanted, so she was able to constantly surround herself with the flash of bright color and the comforting scents of the flowers.
Ryan had never appreciated the flowers. At the slightest hint of brown, he’d insist the entire bouquet be thrown away. Even though they smelled fresh and clean, he’d insist that all he could smell was rotting flowers.
The Deadly Thief (Stolen Hearts Book 7) Page 1