The Beautiful Thief (The Stolen Hearts #2)

by Mallory Crowe

  Upstairs, there was no sign of anyone. Not surprising. Whitney hated to see her husband come home late day after day, so she was always taking the kids out and making excuses to get out of the house. The one time Melody had brought up the possibility of Marcus being unfaithful, Whitney had immediately lashed out. Apparently because Melody’s own husband hadn’t been faithful, Whitney thought she was incapable of being an impartial observer.

  Hell, who was Melody to disagree with that argument? Even so, she doubted Marcus was working late, had a burner phone, and had all of a sudden taken up doing his own laundry because he was completely innocent.

  Huntsville was a bit too big to be considered a small town. It was about forty minutes outside Gary, Indiana, so almost every big box store was only a short drive away. And yet because the town’s economy all revolved around a local steel galvanizing plant, it still had the sense of tight connection and relationships that went back generations.

  It was the perfect place to escape her past. And she had made a life here. She made friends and connections that she thought would last a lifetime. Except when Ben announced that he was leaving her, everything had fallen apart. As people she thought were her friends suddenly chose sides, and as her savings dwindled, she’d come to realize that maybe Isobel’s thieving ways hadn’t been all that bad. At least she’d never wanted for the basic necessities.

  The walk from Whitney’s to the coffee house wasn’t long. The late summer evening was still warm, but there were just enough clouds in the sky to keep the heat from getting out of hand. Even though she had a car, one of the few things she’d gotten in the divorce, she didn’t drive it. Toni would be proud of her for walking. Depressed people stayed inside and wallowed. Happy people got in touch with nature. Right?

  Once she got to the coffee house, she was able to get her skim latté without waiting in line. The early evening crowd had taken up every table. Mostly teens, who crowded around laptops with friends and classmates. Melody was able to find herself a chair close enough to an outlet to plug her computer in. She didn’t have a job or any classes, so there wasn’t any need to be online. But she was fulfilling what she said: she was out and about and Toni would be proud.

  Except once she opened her laptop, she drew a blank. The Internet offered her overwhelming amounts of information and ways to pass the time, but her fingers were frozen over the keys. What was she even doing here? She didn’t care about celebrity gossip. News would only serve to depress her even more. Considering what her family did for a living, she didn’t have much of a social media presence, one of the things Ben loved to bring up to remind her how anti-social she was.

  So after a few minutes, she went to the search bar and typed in the only thing she really cared about: Jonathan Sterling. She didn’t know what she expected. It wasn’t as though he was going to have a public record of his exploits online. Definitely not anything she could access without Toni’s help.

  But still she looked. She fell deeper down the rabbit hole as she clicked every single article until she was ten pages deep and multiple image searches in.

  Through all the articles, there was one reoccurrence. A man he was continuously photographed with. Jadon Belli, COO of Cordon Enterprises, which was a subsidiary of, not so shockingly, Killion Group.

  Melody changed her search to show the most recent articles for Jadon. According to an article at the Chicago Tribune, he was about to be honored at a dinner for his philanthropy. She snorted at the thought of anyone related to Sterling being honored for anything having to do with charity work.

  But she could be wrong. Maybe this Belli guy was stand-up and she was too jaded. No. This guy was a slime ball and he was too busy fooling other people.

  Melody drummed her fingers on the laptop as she finished reading the article. The celebration in Jadon Belli’s honor was being held at the Cordon Enterprises headquarters in Chicago in a week.

  Toni hadn’t been able to figure out where Sterling was, but Melody was willing to bet dollars to donuts that Belli knew where Sterling was. Chicago was so close.... It was tempting to go there herself.

  No, Toni would kill her. But Toni was out there looking for Sterling and she hadn’t pulled up a single thing yet. Melody could call Toni and share her suspicions with her sister, but what would happen then? Toni would tell her to stay in her small town while the professionals took care of it.

  Melody shut the laptop, and for the first time since Isobel had died, she knew exactly what she was going to do.

  Melody was one hundred percent certain about what she was going to do. For now. In another minute, she’d be second-guessing herself once more. That was how the past week had gone. One second she’d be chickening out and the next she was ready and raring to go.

  But that hadn’t stopped her from booking a hotel in the very heart of downtown Chicago, arriving a day early, spending more on clothes and jewelry than she had in years, and putting on so much makeup that she didn’t look a thing like the good little wife she used to be.

  For a few long moments, she stared in the mirror. This was... surreal. Her skin was naturally clear, but the matte foundation made the tone almost inhuman, the shimmery highlighter on the cheekbones only exaggerating the effect. Her brown eyes were outlined in black and faded out in a way that made the brown iris almost match the kohl eyeliner. She had bought some fake eyelashes but opted not to use them, instead going for multiple coats of mascara. If she did get into any trouble, she didn’t need any stray lashes falling in her face.

  Then she topped off the look by filling in her brows, contouring her cheekbones, and opting for a nude lip. Really, the eyes did all the work. Her hair was down and in loose waves around her shoulders. She knew she looked better when her hair was back, but she also knew men didn’t care. Hair down was sexier nine times out of ten, and considering she was going to have to rely completely on her charm, what men wanted really mattered tonight.

  She didn’t know how to break into safes like Jen or hack into a security system like Toni. But there was one skill that she hoped hadn’t failed her.

  Suddenly she was overwhelmed with another wave of self-doubt. Sure, when she was sixteen, she could have gotten in anywhere she wanted with an innocent smile and fake laugh at whatever the guard said. And sure, men seemed more susceptible to her charm, but women also used to fall to her will. Isobel had said that one day Melody would be one of the most powerful women in the world.

  Melody let out a bitter laugh. Oh, how far that was from the truth. Not that she’d tried to make that future come true. She’d run far and fast from all that potential Isobel saw, and now she felt so far behind the pack that she’d never catch up.

  If she called Toni or Scott Hart, they’d pull her out of here so fast she’d never get a chance to find Sterling. And even though she knew she wasn’t at the top of her game, she couldn’t let her family take this away from her. None of them had been there. None of them had seen what happened.

  What had happened because of her. The only reason Isobel was in that godforsaken basement was because she’d been looking for Melody. Now it was her responsibility to find the men behind this. She couldn’t let her family sideline her for this, the most important job of her life.

  Besides, it wasn’t as if she were slipping into a bank vault. She either got into the upstairs offices or she didn’t. Nothing that would end up with her in a jail cell or on the other end of the security team. Just in and out. No big deal.

  She smoothed her hands over the dress and made sure everything was in place. The black fabric felt heavy and expensive under her fingers. When was the last time she wore something this nice? It had been a blast from the past when she’d walked into the expensive boutique and started to try on the clothes. Thanks to her baggy jeans and t-shirt, the sales clerks had ignored her at first, but as she started to tell them in explicit detail what she wanted, suddenly they were scrambling in the back to please her.

  And they’d done well. The dress was loose eno
ugh to give her room to breathe, but the deep v neckline took away any illusion of this being an innocent dress. Her breasts were placed carefully with the help of tape and no bra. She normally wore a C cup, so she hadn’t gone braless in, well, probably six years. It was a stupid thought, but she couldn’t help but think that Isobel would be proud of her. What a strange relationship they had....

  Even though the Cordon Enterprises building was in walking distance, she still took a cab to the big party. If she did need to make a hasty escape, she wanted to save the pressure on her feet.

  A group of well-dressed socialites walked into the building, and Melody kept close enough to appear she was in the group but far enough away that she wouldn’t draw their attention.

  Inside the CE building, the reception area ballroom was pretty enough, but she’d seen nicer. The one side was all windows that overlooked the Chicago skyline. Apparently it wasn’t a sit-down function because there were no tables and chairs set up. Just tall cocktail tables for people to lean against and set their drinks on. It wasn’t hard to find the man of the hour. Jadon Belli was toward the front of the room and surrounded by people. Must be nice to throw yourself an entire gala just to show off how nice you supposedly were.

  Melody once again remembered that she had enough money to do the same if she wanted. She was probably the worst rich person ever. The dress felt strange and foreign on her, but in reality, this was who she could be: going out to fancy parties and wearing clothes that cost more than a mortgage payment.

  She let out a deep sigh and cleared her mind. If Belli was there, she needed to try to see where he kept his computer. If she could swipe his laptop and make a clean break, she’d call this night a success.

  She turned as she started to case the room for the exits, but her blood ran cold as she suddenly felt another presence.

  Sure, she was in a room full of people, but this was different. Someone was watching her, and she could feel his gaze like a cold caress. She continued her slow turn until the blue-gray eyes she never thought she’d see again bore into hers. Any semblance of control she had faded away as she stumbled back a few steps. It was only when she bumped into a waiter and had to teeter on her heels that she broke out of the panicked trance. But when she regained her balance, the man was gone.

  Once again she searched the room, this time frantically looking for a sign that she hadn’t imagined him. That he was real.

  So one of two things was happening: either she was going crazy, or Blondie, the one who had held her captive as Isobel had been shot, was right here in this room with her.

  Adam fell into the shadows. He could see the girl trying to search him out but knew that it was no use. She looked completely different from the last time he’d seen her. Back then, she’d been scared and trembling. Now she was....

  Adam scanned the room, taking note of every single man who had taken notice of Melody Murray. It seemed as if every other head turned in her direction and Adam had to suppress a growl. Of course she wouldn’t make this easy.

  But he wasn’t surprised by the attention. He’d been half under her spell and she’d been exhausted and terrified out of her mind. Now she was sleek and sexy and looked as though she was about to take on the world. The only chip in her armor had been the few seconds after she saw him. It was his own fault. Even though he’d recognized her immediately, it had been so jarring to see her again. In reality and not in some fevered dream.

  She was still looking for any sign of him and Adam balled his hands into fists. Damn it, why was she here? She’d barely escaped their last encounter alive, and now she was going to throw herself to the lions once more? Fine. If she had a death wish, that was on her. He’d already done too much for her. If she wasn’t going to take his order to stay away seriously, then she’d have to deal with the consequences.

  And if she was there for Belli? The guy he was supposed to be watching? He reached for the radio hooked onto his belt. “I need to step out for a second. Someone cover my area.”

  He kept to the shadows of the edge of the room as he headed for the exit. Except when he reached the corner, he didn’t leave. He found Melody once more and just watched her. When she walked, the slinky dress seemed to move with her as though they were one and the same. It hugged the curves of her ass. And when she turned toward him again, it looked as if she defied physics to keep those breasts contained.

  Damn it, what was she doing here?

  “What are you doing here?”

  Adam knew the speaker immediately, and he let his eyes drift closed for just a second as he worked to regain his composure. He could maybe handle the sudden appearance of Melody and maybe handle the overbearing man who was supposedly his boss, but not at the same time. Well, according to all the paperwork and structure of the security company he was with, Ike Shriver was his boss, but Adam just couldn’t give him that kind of position in his mind.

  “It’s not time for your break yet,” said Ike. His manager had a good two inches on Adam, but the man had almost no muscle mass. Whoever thought security was a good line of work for this guy had probably never been in a life-or-death situation. Although Ike might be able to handle a gun, Adam doubted he’d ever be able to beat even the most anorexic model in a fistfight.

  “It won’t be long,” said Adam, doing his best to play nice.

  “It won’t be at all. We need all the coverage we can get tonight.”

  Adam nodded. “I agree. That’s why I’m going to cover the stairwell for a few minutes. I’ll let you know if I find anything.”

  Ike did the worst possible thing and grabbed Adam’s shoulder. All the tension in him sprang out, and in one fierce movement, he had Ike’s hand and twisted it until the bones were just about to snap. Adam had done this move enough times to know exactly when to stop. Ike should be grateful he had controlled himself enough to stop in time, but from the mix of pain and range in his “boss’s” eyes, Adam didn’t think Ike saw things that way.

  “I’m going to take a long break.” Adam unhooked his radio and dropped it on the floor at the same time he released Ike’s hand and walked out the door before Ike could even pretend to fire him.

  But when he looked over his shoulder once more, there was no sign of Melody. Probably for the best.

  Melody took a deep drink of champagne. She had to have imagined it. If Blondie were here, why would he hide? If anything, he would’ve already dragged her out and probably finished the job he didn’t do before. No, this was her subconscious reaching out and trying to scare her.

  Trying and succeeding. She finished off the rest of the champagne and set the glass down. Someone currently stood on the raised platform at the front of the room and went through the list of accomplishments that Jadon Belli had apparently accomplished. Soon he’d be giving his acceptance speech, and if she wanted that laptop, now was the best time.

  She slipped into the hallway that ran perpendicular to the wall of windows. Stairs were usually in the corner of buildings, but they required security cards to access. She might as well try her luck with an elevator. She was just about to head down the drab hallway when she heard footsteps approach. Melody fell into the nook of a doorway and flattened herself against the thin protection of the nook. Immediately she cursed herself.

  She wasn’t supposed to be hiding from the security team. She was supposed to be charming and flirting. Isobel had never once been caught snooping. She’d been caught “getting fresh air” or “looking for her lost sister.” She always had a story ready to go.

  Now if someone walked by and saw her cowering in a corner, what were they going to think? Maybe she could pretend she lost a contact....

  “Where is he?” asked a man from around the corner.

  Melody caught her breath and willed her heart to slow down. She wasn’t doing anything wrong. If they found her, there was nothing they could do....

  “They’re bringing him down now,” said a second voice. “Ike wants to make sure he gets a... special send-off.” />
  Both of the men laughed and Melody frowned. She was missing something.

  “I’ve been wanting to do this from the second the little dipshit showed up,” said guy number one.

  “They wanted us to play nice and we did. If Smith wants to leave, who are we to say no?”

  They both laughed again and then Melody heard a door open. From the sound of the heavy latch, it was the stairwell. She was just about to convince herself to ignore it and go back to scope out the elevator, but a sound reached her. It was barely audible, and she held her breath as she waited to hear whether it was going to come again.

  There it was. Almost a moan? She poked her head out of her nook, but she was alone in the hall now. Even though she knew she should go for the elevator and ignore any of these variables, she didn’t like the uncertainty. Hell, this entire night was filled with so many variables that she didn’t need one more.

  Once again, she reminded herself that she wasn’t doing anything wrong. She was just a lost guest. If someone saw her, they wouldn’t think anything of it. She stepped closer to the stairs, where the sounds came from. The slotted window to the stairwell was narrow, only three inches wide, and the wire support obscured her view, but she could make out a few large figures in the corner. But they weren’t standing still. They were huddled over something—no, someone—and viciously kicking.

  And for once Melody didn’t know what Isobel would’ve done. Walk away and use the opportunity to get the job done? But Isobel had been anything but a coward. If someone needed help, she wouldn’t have hesitated to speak up. Partly because people had an uncanny track record of doing what she said. She looked down at the handle; the door hadn’t completely latched. It would be easy to step in and threaten off the attackers. And if she screamed from here, it would be loud enough to be heard.

  But then the attackers separated for a brief second; Melody saw exactly who was being attacked and the decision was made for her.