The Arrogant Thief (Stolen Hearts Book 8)

by Mallory Crowe

  Or maybe the sex was just relaxing. Who knew?

  She stepped out of the cab, and Gage put an arm around her waist. All of a sudden, she was transported back to the dressing room when he’d held her so close but didn’t kiss her.

  And that had thrown her off all day. How could she focus on anything after that non-kiss? Why couldn’t he have just finished the job instead of making the whole day feel like foreplay?

  Walking inside, she and Gage made their way to the hostess stand. She held her breath as Gage gave them his name, but sure enough, she grabbed two menus and walked them over to a small table at a secluded corner. It was hidden from the prying eyes around them, but Melissa quickly realized who was sitting at the table next to him.

  Dawson Vance, Courtney’s older brother, sat one table over with a woman. And when Melissa started to sit down, she realized she recognized the woman with him. Brenda Blithe, the one they’d just framed for stealing seventeen million. That gave her answers and raised more questions at the same time.

  It was Dawson Vance’s phone they were expected to make a discreet copy of. Courtney wanted to spy on her brother and steal money from some random woman in the company who apparently wasn’t so random. The plot was getting thicker. She really wanted to hear Gage’s opinion on all of this, but this was hardly the place to talk about it. Melissa took the seat facing away from the table they needed to keep their eye on. She figured Gage was the one who was going to take all the risk with the phone, so he’d need to be the one to observe him more carefully.

  Almost as soon as they sat down, the waiter came to the table. Almost scarily fast, he started to run down an intimidatingly long speech about the wines offered. But he saved the shockingly best for last. There was a chilled section! Melissa managed to feign interest, and Gage must’ve recognized her lost look because he cut the waiter off and ordered for them.

  Once he was out of earshot, she leaned forward. “Please tell me you didn’t order the most expensive thing on the menu.”

  “Don’t worry. Twenty bucks a glass. I’m sure that poor guy is already assuming we’re cheapskates.”

  She let out a relieved sigh. “Good. We’ve already spent enough money today, and I don’t want to know how much of it was taken from my account.”

  “Careful,” warned Gage as he took a sip of the ice water left out for him.

  Right. They were next to the enemy. But it wasn’t as though sound carried in here. She couldn’t hear a thing he was saying, and she was sitting closest. The surrounding restaurant noise and the soft sound of classical music coming from the speakers was enough to keep individual conversations drowned out.

  But if they could get the cell phone cloned like they planned and deliver it to Courtney, she wouldn’t need to be close to eavesdrop on her brother. She’d have a bug on him at any given time. And she thought her family relationships were odd.

  The waiter came back and made a big show of pouring their wine. She’d worked as a bartender for years and she’d never once heard someone complain about her taking too long to pour a drink, that was for sure.

  When they were alone again, Melissa leaned forward. “So.... What’s the plan?”

  Gage leaned forward as well. “We need to get the,” he glanced at the menu, “bruschetta alone.”

  “How long would it take you to, um, eat bruschetta?”

  “Two minutes. I’ve already seen the cook enter in the recipe to access the bruschetta, so all I have to do is install a backdoor app and we’ll have our special cloned bruschetta and we can enjoy the rest of our dinner.”

  A shadow fell over the table, and Melissa smiled at the all-too-attentive waiter. A little bit slower service wouldn’t be that bad in this case.

  “Are we ready to get started with some appetizers?” he asked politely.

  “Bruschetta,” she and Gage said at exactly the same time. Apparently she wasn’t the only one who had gotten hungry at the constant mention of the food.

  The waiter nodded and didn’t share in the laugh before he disappeared. “So...” said Melissa when they were alone again. “I guess this would be a nice place to take a date to.”

  Gage nodded and glanced around them. “I think I could really impress a girl with a place like this.”

  “Is this where you’d take me if you wanted to impress me?”

  “Oh. So you’re wondering where I’d take you on a date?”

  “No.” Melissa glanced down to the table and then back to Gage. “I mean, the thought had crossed my mind.”

  He let out a laugh. “I wouldn’t take you to a place like this.”

  She blinked a few times in surprise. “You wouldn’t want to take me to a nice restaurant for a date?”

  “Too public. I’d take you to some club.”

  “Like a dance club?”

  He snorted. “No. Do I look like a dance club guy?”

  “I’m just trying to decipher your words here.”

  “I mean some underground club. Not too bad but just scary enough so you’d be holding my arm tight the whole time.”

  “Going to scare me into sex with you. Why am I not surprised you’d have that trick up your sleeves?”

  “You’d be safe with me the entire time, I promise. I just want to give you a taste of adventure. Just enough to get you addicted to it. So you keep coming back for more.”

  “You’re not my only taste of adventure, you know.”

  “Maybe. But I’ll be the best taste you’ve ever had.”

  Melissa abruptly picked up the wine and took a deep gulp, trying to cool her suddenly overheated body. Considering that she was already craving more tastings of this man in front of her, she would hate to imagine how much worse that desire would be if he were actually trying.

  Gage tapped her leg under the table. “Showtime,” he whispered.

  Risking a glance over her shoulder, she verified that Vance was getting up and leaving the table. “Showtime? Do you have a plan?”

  “I have part of a plan.”

  “That doesn’t make me feel better.”

  “More than I usually have. Can you distract his date for a bit?”

  “Want me to spill more coffee on myself?”

  “She doesn’t look like the type to care. I’d say try spilling wine on her.” He highlighted the fact by pushing his mostly full glass over to her.

  “And I’m using the cheap wine at that. Oh, the shame.” Her nerves were already creeping up and threatening to have her chicken out, so she decided not to wait any longer. “Well, if that’s how you really feel,” she said loudly, “I don’t think I need to listen anymore.” She added a little stumble in her step before pivoting around on her ankle and sending a stream of liquid careening on poor Brenda.

  “What the hell?” demanded Brenda.

  “I’m sooo sorry,” said Melissa before remembering that she should be acting a little drunk.

  “Are you okay? Val here can be so clumsy.” Gage started to lift napkins off the table to quickly dab at Brenda’s expensive-looking silk blouse above the red pencil skirt.

  “I’m not clumsy!” she shot back, getting into it and also grabbing napkins to dab at Brenda, thoroughly invading all of her personal space.

  Glancing over at the other side of the table, she didn’t see any phone. Did that mean Gage had picked it up or....

  “This looks really bad,” said Gage. “I’m going to find someone in the back to help. Apologize to the poor woman, Val. You’ve embarrassed me enough tonight.”

  For a moment, Melissa was shocked out of her act. Oh, she was going to make sure he paid for that one.

  Gage didn’t want it to come down to this, but the job had to get done. Toni hadn’t come through with her end of the bargain, so he was going to have to put Melissa’s safety as his number one priority. And one way or another, he was going to get this task done.

  Vance was obviously smart enough not to leave his phone at the table, so he’d have to get it another way. There were lim
ited options for where Vance had gone. He either went outside to take a call or more likely....

  Gage pushed open the door to the men’s room and saw Vance immediately, standing at a urinal. There was no honor in attacking a man with his cock out, but it sure as hell made things easier. He quickened his step, and as soon as he was behind Vance, he hooked an arm around the man’s neck and locked it in place with his free hand, putting a crushing pressure around Vance’s neck.

  Of course, the response was instantaneous. Gage knew a few ways to get out of the hold if he were ever in that position, but Vance apparently didn’t. He swung wildly with his hands and kicked out frantically. Gage moved him toward the middle of the room so he wouldn’t make enough noise to draw attention and never let up on the pressure at all. At any second, some poor schlub could walk in and this entire job could be in the toilet, so to speak.

  But Gage couldn’t worry about that right now. Just focus on Vance, and soon.... Vance went limp in his arms, and Gage didn’t waste any time. He pulled out the man’s phone and wallet. The cloning process was easier than it used to be. He used Vance’s own Wi-Fi to install a backdoor on the phone. If he’d left his damn phone on the table.... As soon as the app was installing, he put the phone back exactly where he’d found it and went for his wallet. If Vance knew that his phone was compromised, he’d have a new one in just a few hours. Gage would have to redirect any suspicion so he’d think this was a basic robbery.

  He pocketed all the cash and credit cards in his wallet before pulling Vance into the nearest stall. The deadweight was a burden, but he managed to sit him enough on a stall so anyone who came in wouldn’t be too suspicious and pulled the door shut. Even though it wasn’t locked, it thankfully stayed in the shut position.

  From this point on, the clock was ticking. He took long strides and made sure his face wasn’t showing any of the adrenaline rush currently coursing through his system.

  He walked past Vance’s table and stopped by their table. “Let’s go, honey. We’ve embarrassed ourselves enough for one night.” He tossed a hundred on the table, which should be enough for a solid tip and the wine and appetizer they never got a chance to eat.

  Melissa thankfully didn’t question him. She knew if he was in a hurry, there was a reason. When she was up, he started to pull her arm to get her moving faster but realized that would look odd. Instead, his hand went lower to intertwine with hers as they made their way out of the restaurant.

  Once they were on the street, she broke her silence. “Did we get it?”

  He didn’t answer her, instead flagging down the first cab he saw. He ushered her into the backseat and gave the address to the driver.

  Melissa was too attentive for her own good, though. “That’s not—”

  Gage kissed her. This wasn’t the time to talk about anything, and right now he had fight-or-flight running through him and demanding release of some kind.

  She kissed him back and ran her hands through his hair.

  He kissed her deeply, thoroughly, until neither of them remembered where they were. His hands slid up her thigh until he could just touch the lace of her panties beneath her dress. His other hand tangled in her hair and angled her head for the best access.

  He dominated her mouth with his, tasting and exploring with his tongue. He took his time and rushed all at once. Then his hands moved from her neck and lower. He kissed along her jaw, and down the sensitive skin of her neck until he was at her collarbone. He could feel her heart beating against his lips. The rise and fall of her chest brought her breasts ever closer to his mouth before retreating again. He managed to keep himself from tearing at her dress, instead kissing her even through the fabric of her sexy-as-hell dress and bra. Letting her know exactly what he wanted to do to her if he had the chance.

  All too quickly, the taxi came to a stop. “You guys want to borrow the car, it’ll be a lot extra,” said the no-nonsense cabdriver.

  Melissa jerked away from him as though she just realized they weren’t alone.

  “We’re good.” Gage handed the cabdriver forty bucks. He then opened the door and helped Melissa get out. He took great pride in the fact that her legs were shaky as she reached down to smooth her dress. The taxi quickly drove off, apparently not willing to deal with any more of their shenanigans.

  It was just then that the confusion passed over Melissa’s face. “Where are we?”

  “About that. I thought it might be better if we didn’t go back to the Plaza tonight. We’re at a friend’s place.”

  “A friend’s place? What friend?”

  “Sarah,” he said hesitantly. Maybe she wouldn’t remember who that was....

  “Sarah? Your ex-girlfriend Sarah?”

  Nope. She remembered.

  Of all the ways she expected this evening to end up, like maybe with her getting arrested or with her brains splattered across the walls, she never once even considered that she’d end the night at Gage’s ex-girlfriend’s apartment. Very, very recent ex at that.

  She was so skeptical that when he buzzed up said ex, Melissa was fully expecting the woman on the other end to tell him to go fuck himself. But nope. She seemed totally fine when she heard Gage’s voice on the other end and immediately gave the doorman instructions to allow them up.

  The doorman walked them to an elevator that went straight up, almost forty floors, until it reached Sarah’s apartment. Melissa couldn’t shake the feeling of unease as they ascended, and it only got worse when the doors opened.

  The woman’s apartment was massive. Even the house she’d shared with Josh had been smaller than this apartment. Considering how much real estate cost in New York, she couldn’t even begin to imagine this woman’s income.

  The apartment was bright and white. It almost looked contemporary, but the furniture filling the sitting room off the entrance was adorned with a floral pattern and set off with a vase of freshly cut flowers. There was no TV, which made her think.... Yup. As she went farther down the main hallway, there was a separate living room. This room had a comfortable-looking leather couch and recliner set, along with the giant screen television over the fireplace.

  “You all relax here, and I’ll get the spare bedrooms ready. Do you want a drink?” asked Sarah. “I have some wines, a few beers. I might have some iced tea too.”

  Melissa shook her head. “You’ve already done enough.”

  “You need to drink something. I’ll get you a bottle of water and you can crack it open whenever you want. Sound good?”

  Melissa nodded. “Sounds great.”

  “I’ll take a beer,” said Gage, apparently not as modest about making requests from their host.

  “Coming right up.” Sarah smiled at them before she left the room. She wasn’t exactly what Melissa would’ve pictured when imagining Gage’s ex-girlfriend. Somehow she thought she would be... different. But it wasn’t as if Sarah wasn’t pretty. Her light, almost white-blonde hair had to be bleached, yet it looked so full and healthy. Of all the expensive things in the apartment for Melissa to be wowed by, it was definitely the hair dye job that got to her the most. Sarah was short, probably around five four, with delicate bone structure. She seemed almost too fragile for someone like Gage.

  Apparently not only was she strong enough for him, but they broke up on good terms. She couldn’t imagine being friends with Gage after all this. How could she go from feeling so strongly about someone to just being friends?

  Not that she felt that strongly about it. Like, he meant a lot to her, but he’d always meant a lot to her. Even before they had sex, they hadn’t exactly gotten the friend thing down. There had always been some level of tension between them, either sexual or angry. Sometimes the two seemed to intertwine.

  After Sarah left the room, Gage leaned closer to her. “Are you okay?”

  Melissa took a step back. “Fine. Just... confused. What are we doing here?”

  “Things didn’t go quite as planned. I want to go back to the Plaza, but I don’t know h
ow Courtney’s going to react.”

  “Oh, your partial plan didn’t work out. I’m shocked.” She could see his clenched jaw and knew she was pushing the boundaries of his frustration.

  “I can only plan so much with the limited information that was given. Cut me some slack here.”

  “Oh, I’d love to, but it seems like you get a lot of slack, especially from your exes. Are you sure she knows that you’re broken up?”

  “I’m sure. She’s just helping a friend.”

  “I noticed you didn’t exactly have to think for a long time about this in the cab. You knew we were going to come here, didn’t you?”

  “It was one of my backup plans. You know I have backup plans, right?”

  “How would I know that? You don’t even fill me in on your partial plans. Now tell me exactly what happened back there. Why do I feel like I’m the only one who doesn’t know what’s going on?”

  “I got the phone. I cloned it just like I was supposed to, but there was a problem.” She moved her hand and made a rolling motion, urging him to continue. “Because he didn’t leave his phone on the table when he went to take a piss, I had to take it from him while he was in the bathroom. I staged it to look like a robbery, but it wasn’t subtle and it wasn’t discreet. The police are going to be called in, and I’m sure his girlfriend got a good description of us. So we need to be a bit more careful than we have been.”

  “We? I’ve been careful. I’ve been careful this entire time. You robbed him? Like you attacked him in the bathroom?”

  “He didn’t see me.”

  She blinked at him and set her hands on her hips. “How do you attack somebody in the bathroom, and not let them see your face? Were you wearing a mask?”

  “No, I came up behind him. I cut off his airway until he passed out and I did my phone thing. Then I took all the credit cards out of his wallet. I’m sending the credit card information to Toni right now so she can ring up charges and keep Vance off the scent of what we really did. It’s all taken care of.”

  “Please don’t lie to me. This is not all taken care of, and you know it. I hate that everyone keeps lying to me to make me feel better. Lying doesn’t make me feel better. It makes me feel like I’m about to die, and my boyfriend doesn’t even like me, and everything will go to shit at any second, and I’m currently standing in my boyfriend’s current girlfriend’s apartment and I’m about to freak out. So please stop lying.”