The Arrogant Thief (Stolen Hearts Book 8)

by Mallory Crowe

  “Gage, I—”

  He reached up, and his big hand cupped the back of her neck, tilting her to look directly into her eyes. “Melissa, trust me. Please. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  She was quiet, and for a moment, it was just the two of them breathing and staring into each other’s gazes. “Can’t we tell her it’s a mistake?” she asked so softly it was basically a whisper. “Tell her you don’t care about me. Tell her I’m not leverage.”

  He shook his head, not moving any farther away from her. “I’m not calling that bluff. You’re going to play nice and do what you’re told. Trust me.”

  He knew he was asking for a lot. Of all the things Melissa knew about him, his untrustworthiness was probably number one on that list. But he must’ve gotten through to her because she nodded.

  “All right, I trust you.”

  “Good. Because I’m going to bring Vance down. I promise.”

  The transport to New York City was both easier and harder than Melissa expected. The man driving the van wasn’t overly mean to her. He allowed her to pick the music and stopped for a restroom whenever she asked. The collar around her neck apparently gave him a good measure of comfort that she wasn’t going anywhere because he never followed her into a bathroom. Thank goodness.

  But he also didn’t talk at all, which made the boredom take over, and she slept most of the drive. Whenever they stopped, he offered to get her food, but her normal appetite was subdued. Maybe under the circumstances, a subdued appetite was normal.

  She kept looking out the rearview mirror but didn’t get sight of the other van that Gage was being transported in. She believed they would be reunited in New York like Courtney said, but she still would’ve felt better if he was next to her. She would’ve felt better if she were leaning up against his strength.

  She knew now was hardly the time to be daydreaming about Gage, but she could use the distraction. Leaning her head against the window, she closed her eyes and thought about the way he’d held her neck. Her face had been so close to his as he’d pleaded with her to trust him.

  Silly man. As long as he was holding her like that, she would’ve promised him the world.

  And how was she supposed to deal with this leverage situation? She was desperately trying not to read too much into it. He wasn’t a great guy, but he wasn’t the kind to sit by idly while someone he knew was killed. Just because he didn’t want her head to be blown off didn’t mean he wanted anything meaningful with her.

  But then he looked at her like that....

  No. This was obviously not the time. Besides, he still had a girlfriend. It wasn’t as if he had time to break things off with all of this going on. He was probably more interested in keeping her alive so he wouldn’t have to deal with Peter’s wrath if anything happened to her on Gage’s watch.

  Her mind was churning as she fell asleep. The bustling traffic of the city woke her up. They were just crossing over one of the bridges to Manhattan when she sat up and looked around.

  The clock said it was evening. She’d been sleeping for a few hours. Longer than she expected, but she really didn’t get any sleep except for the drugged stupor after she was taken from the motel room.

  Good. She’d need her wits about her. They drove farther into the city, and Melissa kept focused on where they were. She wasn’t too familiar with the city, but she could backtrack if she needed to. She’d have to have access to the internet at some point, right?

  She’d been to New York before, but never actually to Manhattan. At one point, Hart Securities worked a job on the overpopulated island, but she was kept off-site in Jersey to provide additional support. Even though she’d led the team through all the different sections of Manhattan, she was struggling to remember them. Central Park was obviously in the center, and Times Square was close, but that was about it. As they drove through, she put a mental map together.

  Finally, they pulled up to the Plaza and the man pulled the van to a stop. Melissa looked at the exit and back to him. Luckily she didn’t have to wait long as he reached in his shirt pocket and pulled out an envelope with a little plastic card in it. “Here’s your room key. The number is on the envelope. Once you get in, you’ll find instructions on what to do from here.”

  She started to say thanks before remembering that she had nothing to thank him for. Instead, she wordlessly took the key and got out of the car. Luckily, once she’d gotten into the van, he’d provided her with a pair of flip-flops, but the overall look was still much too shabby for the upper-class hotel she stood in front of.

  She turned to look back at the van, but it was already pulling away into the busy streets. She debated running down the streets and calling home with the first phone she found, but then she remembered what Gage said. Trust him.

  Tightening her lips, she started forward. She had no ID or credit cards, so it was lucky she didn’t have to check in looking like this. But she remembered that Courtney made a point to say that it was her credit card paying for this. That wasn’t a bill she was looking forward to. Why did she have to have such a high credit limit, anyway? It wasn’t as if she ever needed it, and now it was totally being used against her. The more impressed she was with the impeccable decoration of the hotel, the more bitter she became about the bill. By the time she reached her room on one of the upper levels, she was downright steaming.

  The key she inserted immediately turned the little light green, and she opened the door. Thank God the room appeared to be a standard. Somehow she half-expected Courtney to set them up in a suite. Stepping inside, she glanced at the ornate bed at the right side of the room with two brass-colored armchairs with golden accented pillows in front of it. The curtains also kept up the brass theme, and a portrait of someone she didn’t know was on the wall. Stupid, expensive, beautiful hotel. She pulled the curtains back and was even more upset at the beautiful view of the city.

  “Stupid skyline,” she muttered.

  “You don’t like New York?”

  Melissa twisted around to see Gage standing behind her, buttoning up his fly.

  “Are you just putting on pants?” she asked abruptly, seemingly unable to take her eyes away from what he was doing.

  “I went to the bathroom. I must’ve just beat you here. Was the drive okay? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

  Melissa shook her head as she tried to get her bearings back. “I.... He was nice enough... you know. Considering the circumstances. What about your guy?”

  “Oh, he was a peach. Got about three words out of him the whole drive. But at least the walk to the room wasn’t a loss.” He held up a little smartphone he’d pulled out of his pocket.

  “They gave you a phone?”

  “Hell no. I lifted it off someone in the lobby. The good news is that if they have GPS tracking on the phone, it will show them the Plaza so they won’t be able to find it—they’ll just think they dropped it somewhere in the hotel. Should give us just enough time to give Hart a location and a message.”

  He moved over to the bed and got to work on the phone, leaving Melissa standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. No, she was standing like a completely normal person—just everything she did around Gage felt awkward. She turned around as though she were looking around the room and saw a manila envelope on the desk. After approaching, she realized it wasn’t standard hotel issue. This was a package meant especially for them.

  Glancing over at Gage, she saw he was typing quickly on the phone, so she decided not to bother him. She picked up the envelope and poured out the contents. A stack of paperwork and some photographs. She took a seat at the desk and started to look through everything. It appeared to be an in-depth profile for one of the employees of Vance Industries. A woman named Brenda Blithe. A high-up member of the accounting staff who worked directly under the controller of the company. There was a map of the forty-second level of the Vance Tower that noted where her desk was.

  “Got the message out. It went into the main email ac
count because I don’t want to send anything too specific that could trace directly to Hart Securities since the owner of the phone would be able to read the message. It could take a while, but they’ll get the point.”

  “Could take longer than that. I’m usually the one who checks the messages,” she pointed out.

  “With both of us gone, they’ll be on high alert. Especially if the Hunter case keeps going nowhere. We’ll have backup eventually.”

  “But for now, we’re on our own, and apparently we have to do something involving this poor woman.”

  “Stop that. We don’t know anything about her. She could be just as bad as Courtney for all we know.” He picked up the packet. After glancing through it, he found a single scrap of paper and he set it on the desk so they could both read it. “This is the job.”

  Melissa leaned forward and started to read it out loud. “This is your target. You must gain access to her computer and use her password to make a withdrawal from the account listed below of seventeen million dollars and put it in a holding account. The holding account access information is included in the packet. Further instructions will come after this is accomplished. I’ll be watching you....” She looked up and glanced around for any sign of a camera but didn’t see one. That didn’t mean one wasn’t there....

  “All right. Give yourself a few minutes to regroup and rest. Take a shower if you need to. Then we’re going to do some reconnaissance.”

  “Reconnaissance? You want me to help you steal seventeen million dollars?”

  “I don’t want to let you out of my sight if I can avoid it. Also, if I fail, who knows what will happen to you. If we stick together, we have a better chance of surviving this.”

  She didn’t really know how to fight that. “Are we supposed to pull this off without any clothes or money?”

  “The closets are stocked with clothes. Some business professional stuff and casual. I’m guessing business casual for today. Will draw less attention than flip-flops or suit jackets.”

  Melissa tried to think of what she could say to convince him to let her stay behind. Usually she was gung ho about helping out on these sorts of missions, but that was with the support of an entire team behind her. Not with one ally who was being forced to do things against his will. There were way too many variables in all of this.

  Finally she gave up trying to find a reason to stay and accepted her fate. Standing up, she crossed the room to open the fully stocked closet. She wondered whether all of this was on her credit card too....

  Everything seemed to be in her size, but she didn’t trust that it would fit. She picked out a pink sleeveless silk blouse, a black cardigan, and black pants. It seemed business-y enough.

  Going into the bathroom, she wasn’t planning to take Gage up on his offer to shower, but as soon as she saw herself in the mirror, she decided she could use a good layer of soap.

  Walking over to the door, Melissa turned the little lock even though a not-so-deeply-hidden part of her wanted him to shower with her. She didn’t know how she was going to survive so much time in close quarters with him. Once the water was just a little bit cooler than scalding, she stepped under the flow.

  The warm water pounded against her back, and she let her head fall beneath the flow, enjoying the momentary relaxation and relief after such an odd day. Reaching up, Melissa ran her fingers over the collar around her neck. This little thing was enough to have her jumping at a stranger’s orders. So silly. For all she knew, it was just a choker that cost three dollars that had caused all this trouble.

  But then she remembered the kidnapping to get her to the warehouse and that they’d drugged Gage with something to knock him out good. No, Courtney was very serious about getting this done. She didn’t want to assume anything.

  As comfortable as it was just standing there with the hot water massage, she knew she better get a move on. After quickly shampooing and conditioning her hair with the free bottles provided by the hotel, she soaped herself down. She wanted to be quick and efficient but found herself pausing at the back of her neck. The last place Gage had touched her. Squeezing her eyes shut, she shook her head. She couldn’t let herself fantasize about this stupid crush. Before, it had been distracting. Now, it was downright dangerous.

  And she could bet her ass that Gage wasn’t out there daydreaming about her. When was the last time he’d daydreamed about anything? He didn’t need to. If he wanted something, he’d just take it. If he really wanted someone, he’d just take them. He was so arrogant and full of himself. Who could say no to someone like that?

  Finally she finished rinsing herself off and stepped out. After towel-drying her skin and wrapping her hair in a towel turban to keep it up, she tried on the clothes. She only then realized that she hadn’t grabbed any fresh underwear. Somehow the idea of going back out to see whether that was included in the supplies that had been provided was too embarrassing. Instead, she went pantyless and pulled the expensive-feeling pants over her legs. The luxurious fabric against her bare bottom made the whole thing feel naughty.

  Don’t think of Gage, she ordered herself. Don’t think of Gage.

  Quickly she put on her bra, blouse, and cardigan. She’d really need some makeup to pull this off, but she was looking damn near professional now. Maybe not enough to pull off a seventeen-million-dollar heist, but she’d at least get through the door.

  She stepped out to see Gage pulling his jacket on. Stopping in place, she watched him turn around and sucked in a breath. It was hardly the first time she’d seen him in a suit, but it was still a shock to her system. He looked as though he belonged on these city streets. As if he should be on Wall Street, trading billions and stacks of cash every day.

  “What do you think of the jacket?” he asked.

  His face had a day’s worth of stubble thanks to his inability to shave, but somehow the look worked with the suit. When he looked that good, he didn’t have to do much to help, she supposed.

  “Jacket?” was the only word she could find at the moment.

  He shrugged. “It just feels right. Do you think I should lose it?”

  She blinked a few times. He was asking her opinion? What did she know about dress codes for these types of heists? “It, um, it looks good to me.”

  “Great. Let’s get going.” After picking up the key to the room, he made his way to the door.

  Melissa felt woefully unprepared, but she supposed staring at the room for another ten minutes wouldn’t do her any good. Sighing, she followed him out and let him shut the door.

  “Are you worried about money?” she asked softly. “Should we stop somewhere and....” She tried to think of a tactful way to say it. “Pick some up?”

  “No need. The pockets of my stuff had cash. Somewhere around two grand.” He patted his pocket.

  She raised a brow. “Wait. My credit card is being put through the wringer and you literally have hundreds falling out of your pockets? Is this a sexist thing? I feel like it’s a sexist thing.”

  “If it was a sexist thing, wouldn’t I be paying for everything?” He winked.

  Narrowing her eyes, she continued to the elevator without answering his question. Right as the elevators opened, Gage joined her and hit the button for the lobby. “For real, though, your card was used because you’re more under the radar than me. I got the cash because I’m the more experienced one of us. Don’t read too much into it.”

  “Easy for you to say. It’s not your money.”

  All of a sudden, something warm pressed against her, and Melissa jumped at the contact. “It’s okay,” said Gage softly, allowing her to belatedly realize it was his hand on her waist.

  Considering the circumstances, it made sense that she was jumpy, but she wished she could play it cool.

  Wasn’t that the whole point of this? Not the kidnapping obviously, but the reason she had agreed to work for Hart Securities. After spending all of her life as a young mother and bartender struggling to take one or two classes a semest
er, she got in for the adventure and chance to see the world

  Well, here she was in New York City, about to go on the adventure of a lifetime. Yay?

  The elevator doors opened, and Gage, with his hand still on her waist, led her out through the beautiful lobby and to the street. She looked around at all of the people walking by, some super professional-looking and others in shorts and sandals that screamed tourist. In just a second, Gage was able to flag down a cab.

  He held the door open for her and told the driver to take them to the center of the financial district. It was later in the day and traffic was getting heavy. Melissa sat back in the cab and tried not to focus on the herky-jerky motion of the vehicle.

  “Are you okay?” asked Gage with a concerned voice.

  The last thing she wanted was him worrying about her tossing her cookies next to him. They had time to kill, so she decided to try to get their minds on something else. “Tell me about your girlfriend.” Whelp, that probably wasn’t the best subject to bring up. She really needed to get a better hold of herself.

  “I don’t think—”

  “Nothing else to talk about,” she lied, doubling down on her original question. “I’m just curious. What kind of girl can tempt a guy like you?”

  “What kind of guy am I to you?”

  She let out a laugh and debated ignoring him. But she supposed she was asking him some rather personal questions. It was only fair she answered him. “You’re the kind of guy who is too smart and too pretty for his own good.”

  “Umm.... Thanks?”

  “It’s true. You’re so used to being right about everything that you can hardly take advice or opinions from others. And you’re so handsome and confident that people who do know better than you hesitate to say anything.”

  “Toni and Hart don’t hesitate to say anything.”

  “You’re lucky to have them in your life. Toni is one of the only people you’ve ever met who is more talented—”