The Beautiful Thief (The Stolen Hearts #2)

by Mallory Crowe

  “Really. See you later, Blondie,” she said before she finally made her escape.

  Running was Adam’s least favorite workout. It was boring, didn’t really help his strength, and there was never a good place to do it. Where he lived in Louisiana, he was always getting on other people’s property or avoiding gators. Not that there were gators out for every run, but there were enough for him to keep his guard up.

  He’d give the cardiovascular exercise its due, though. Being able to run was damn practical.

  And now in downtown Chicago, he had to deal with dodging people heading through rush hour while keeping an eye out for anyone unfriendly who might recognize him.

  At the moment, he wasn’t bothering anyone, so even if someone recognized him, he didn’t expect trouble. By the end of the day, he was guessing that everyone would want to get a hold of him.

  So he kept running and tried to let his mind fall away so all that was left was the pounding of his feet on the pavement. But every time he even started to get to that zone, he’d think of Melody and all his calm would fizzle out.

  She’d run away after they got to the room, and who could blame her? He hadn’t been able to keep his hands off her for even thirty seconds after they’d gotten to the room. And when he’d gone out for his run, she’d been pretending to sleep to avoid talking to him. He didn’t call her on it, though. He’d give her those few minutes of peace.

  He doubted she was going to warm up to him at all during the course of the day. Once they entered into Forbes’s territory, she was going to have to follow his lead. She might be able to handle herself in tough situations, but this was his territory. He knew the players better than she did, and he knew how they were going to react to the two of them showing up and looking for Forbes.

  Maybe he shouldn’t have smashed Ike’s hand. No. The bastard totally deserved it. But Adam hadn’t thought there’d be any reason for him to come back to the city a week later and need help.

  Melody could be right. If he brought her with him, she could butter Ike up. He didn’t like Adam, so Ike would need a pretty face to bat some eyelashes and get information.

  And Melody was determined enough to get information out of anyone. It was the kind of determination that was going to get her killed if she wasn’t careful. Hell, it would get him killed too if he wasn’t on guard with her.

  Which was a problem, because his guard always seemed to be lowered when she was nearby.

  He finished the loop and turned back toward the hotel. When he got to the room, Melody’s bed was empty and he could hear the shower running. He took the chance to peek inside the bags she’d gone out for the previous night. Considering she’d managed to get an unregistered handgun out in the swamps, he was sure that here in the city she’d be just as capable of arming herself.

  Sure enough, in the heaviest bag was a small Beretta with a loaded magazine. He took the gun out and eyed the rest of the purchases. A fortune in makeup and a few different outfits. Nothing else crazy.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  He glanced over his shoulder to see Melody behind him, her hair wet around her shoulders and, most importantly, wearing nothing but a towel. “Morning, darlin’.”

  She started to push him away from the bags but then she noticed the gun in his hand. “That’s mine.”

  “I’m guessing that’s not what the serial number says.” He turned the gun over in his hand. “Oh, would you look at that. There is no serial number.”

  She narrowed her eyes as she held her hand out. “Seriously, give it to me.”

  “Seriously, I’ll give it to you when I think you need to shoot someone.” And when he didn’t think she was about to shoot him. “Are you done in the bathroom?” He assumed she needed to get clothes because that’s the only reason she’d take the chance of venturing out in only a towel.

  “For now.”

  “Good. I need a shower.” He started for the bathroom and Melody turned to follow his movements.

  “You need a gun in the shower?”

  “No. But if you need the gun, you’re going to have to come in and get it. Door will be unlocked but I’ll be in there. Naked.”

  Her glare followed him all the way into the bathroom, but she didn’t venture in while he showered off the sweat. When he stepped out of the shower, the gun was still there. He ran his fingers through his hair, shaking off the excess droplets before toweling off and wrapping the towel around his waist.

  Unfortunately, Melody was dressed when he came back out. Her still wet hair was wrapped into a bun, and she wore a white silk shirt that seemed to fall against her soft curves in just the right way. Even though the neck was high and the sleeves were long, he could make out the outline of her body through the almost translucent material. Almost like she was wearing nothing....

  “What time did you want to head out?” she asked.

  “Eleven is good. There are so many people coming and going around lunch that we should be able to get to Ike before anyone notices.”

  “The CE building that the party was in?”

  “Yep. Forbes got me the job with the security team there. I’m going to see if they can tell me where to find him.”

  “The team that was beating the crap out of you last week?”

  “The very same.”

  “Why would they help us?”

  “Because we’re going to be very persuasive.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means we’re going to ask for what we want and we’re not going to leave until we get it.”

  Melody sat on her bed and undid her bun, letting the wet hair fall around her shoulders, where she started to work at it with a brush. “Who are you going to talk to exactly?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “Yes, it matters. What’s his name?”

  “Ike Shriver.”

  “Hold on.” Melody leaned over to pull her phone off the nightstand, where it was still plugged into her phone charger. She did something with the phone and then he heard ringing through the speaker phone. She must’ve called someone.

  After three rings, the call was picked up. “Mel? Where the hell have you been? I’ve been calling you for days.”

  “And I’ve been texting you that I’m fine,” said Melody as she very obviously avoided looking in his direction.

  “No, you didn’t text me that you’re fine. Text. Not plural. Singular. You emailed me that you’re fine from an untraceable IP address. Which is a trick I taught you and I don’t appreciate it being used against me.”

  “No matter how I said it, it’s true. But I need a favor.”

  “A favor? After sneaking out on me? What the hell makes you think I’m going to do a damn thing for you?”

  Melody’s head fell back as though she were looking for patience. But instead of trying to convince the woman on the other line, she just came out with what she wanted. “I need information on someone. His name is Ike Shriver and he works security for Jordan Belli.”

  There was a long pause on the other end. “You’re kidding, right? I know you wouldn’t seriously be asking me to do this.”

  “No kidding, Toni. I need something on him or else we’re just going to have to beat it out of him and that isn’t how I like to do things.”

  Another pause.... “We? Who’s we?”

  “I have a partner I’m working with.”

  “You won’t tell me what you’re doing but you’re working with a partner?”

  “Adam is fine. Totally trustworthy.” She glanced over in his direction. “Adam, say hi to Toni.”

  “Hey,” he said simply.

  “The trustworthy guy whose prints you ran last week?”

  “Toni! Are you going to help me or am I going to be doing this alone?”

  “I think you’ve made it clear you don’t want our help.”

  “Okay then, I’ll talk to you—”

  “Wait.” There was a clacking sound, as though Toni was on the keyboard. “Wh
at’s this guy’s name?”

  “Ike Shriver.”

  “All right. I’ll see what I can find.”

  “Thanks, Toni. And just so you know, I’m at the Congress Hotel.”

  “You’re just telling me that because you know I can trace this call in two seconds.”

  “Love you! Thanks again.” She hung up the phone before Toni could say anything. “There. That should be easier than violence.”

  Adam shrugged. “Don’t know about that. Violence makes a lot of things easier.”

  Melody sighed. “You would say that. Please put on some pants, Adam. We have a long day ahead of us.”

  Melody tried to center herself but nothing worked. She hadn’t done a play like this in too long. Making matters worse was the fact that so much of this was depending on Adam. He was getting them into the building, he was getting them to security, and he was the one who was going to convince Shriver to talk.

  Toni had come through, but it wasn’t as juicy as it could’ve been. Apparently the guy had been messaging with a nineteen-year-old college student. As in messaging pictures of private parts she really had never wanted to see. None of that would be a problem if he hadn’t been married.

  Luckily, Toni had also gotten a look at his bank accounts. Thanks to an underwater mortgage and massive credit card debt, the guy couldn’t afford a divorce.

  Adam was back in a suit. The same type he’d been wearing when she’d rescued him from that stairwell. It was strange to see him in the classy outfit. He looked good in it, sure. The man would look good in anything. But he also seemed... out of place. If she were casing a room, she’d be able to point him out as security in half a second.

  They were both headed toward the CE building. Adam was going to be recognized no matter what because of the people he was going to meet, but Melody was hoping to keep a low profile. It was an office building, so she was dressed in business casual clothes. Her hair was pulled back in a sleek ponytail, and she had picked up a pair of glasses to obscure her eyes just a bit more than normal.

  She didn’t wear a jacket. It was too warm for the extra layers and it was too hard to move in a jacket that fit well.

  When they reached the building, Adam held the door open for her and she walked inside. It was strange to see the same place in the daylight. It seemed more innocent. The natural light from the many windows illuminated the large reception and security desk in the lobby and the hallways leading to the elevator banks.

  Everything seemed to be a shade of black or gray, adding an extra modern feel to the office space. The floors were a black marble and the countertop on the front desk was white marble with black lines cutting through.

  “Let me do the talking,” said Adam into her ear as they approached the desk.

  In order to get past the front reception area, everyone had to show an ID and go through a turnstile, like getting onto a subway. Melody didn’t remember this from the reception that had been thrown last week. There must be a way to remove them so the elites of society wouldn’t have to go through the indignity of security measures.

  She let Adam take the lead and hung back while he walked up to the desk.

  “Adam Smith here to see Ike Shriver.”

  “Is he expecting you?” asked the man behind the desk.

  “No, but he wants to see me. If you just let him know I’m here, he’ll let me up.”

  The man picked up the phone and dialed.

  “He’ll let us up, right?”

  Adam held up a finger, silently telling her to hold on.

  After saying a few monotone words into the phone, the security guard hung up. “You’re clear, Mr. Smith.” He hit the button to allow Adam to go through the turnstile.

  Melody started to follow, but the guard held up a hand. “Who are you here to see?”

  She frowned. It had been pretty clear she was there with Adam. “I’m with....” She trailed off when she realized that Adam was already halfway to the elevators. Son of a.... “I’m sorry. I left my wallet in my car and it had my keycard and my ID in it. I was hoping you’d let me through just this once?” She smiled and tried to look as innocent as possible, but when the security guard told her that he’d need to call her boss to get her entry into the building, she wasn’t surprised.

  “I think she’s out for the day. Let me just go back to my car. I’m sure my wallet just fell out of my purse in the backseat.” She smiled at him as she turned around, but the smile quickly turned to a grimace once the security guard couldn’t see her. “Damn it, Adam.” But if he thought that she was going to wait patiently for him to get out, he had another think coming. The incident at Carlo’s should’ve proved that.

  When she was closer to the door, she stopped and looked at the mass of people leaving the building to go to lunch meetings or grab their first cigarette since getting to work that morning. There were hundreds of ways for her to get in.

  Adam hadn’t given her a roadblock; he’d given her a speed bump.

  Picking out a mark was easy. Purses were easy to slip into, but getting a particular card out of one was more difficult. But men were easy in a different way. For one, they were easy to distract. Also, the man she noticed wore his identification clipped onto his belt. She was sure it made it easy to always have on hand, but it also made it easy for her to pick it up. As he stepped out of the building, Melody followed. She took her cell phone out of her pocket and pretended to make a call as she quickened her steps. Soon enough, she was in front of the man in question.

  She would like to let this go on a bit longer, but she didn’t know anything about his schedule. He could be about to wave a cab over or turn in to any of the nearby shops or restaurants. She’d need to make the lift now.

  So Melody abruptly stopped and started to speak in short, clipped words into the phone. “What? No, they can’t do that. That’s it. I’m coming back.”

  Sure enough, right as she turned around and took a long stride back toward the CE building, the mark was right there. She slammed into him with extra force and stepped on his foot for good measure.

  He grunted at the unexpected collision and was just about to yell at her, but Melody could see the exact moment he realized she was hot and he ended up swallowing whatever curse he was about to spew at her.

  “Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry,” she said in a soft and breathless voice. She kept on touching him, first his shoulders and chest, making it so he wouldn’t know where to focus. By the time her fingers closed on the badge and it slipped off the belt, the mark was muttering out an apology.

  “No, it’s my fault.” Melody suddenly knelt down and picked up her phone. Then, still at crotch level, she looked up at him. “I’m just so clumsy.”

  Without another word, she got up and walked away, leaving the poor man dumbstruck in the middle of the sidewalk.

  Adam knew abandoning Melody downstairs had been a calculated risk, but it was one he was willing to take.

  If he’d left her at the hotel, he was sure she’d have time to figure out a way to beat him there or get her own entry into the building. Hopefully the last-minute switch would give him enough time to work with. He wasn’t expecting the conversation with Ike to last long.

  But when he left, Ike would be vengeful. If he saw Melody, that would make her the ideal target. Her little stunt in the stairwell had scared off Shriver’s guys easy enough, but that was mostly the element of surprise. Next time they saw her, they’d be expecting her to fight.

  And if they saw her with him, they’d think hurting her would be a way to directly hurt him. Which wouldn’t be completely wrong, Adam admitted to himself.

  As long as they were doing this... whatever they were doing, she was his responsibility. So even if she had a death wish, he would do his damndest to keep her alive.

  Besides, he had a feeling that whoever she’d talked to on the phone earlier wouldn’t be too forgiving if Melody got hurt.

  The elevator hit the security level and Adam braced himself as t
he doors opened. Ike wasn’t taking any chances with this meeting because Bett and Rickards stood there, waiting for him.

  “Well, I missed you too.” He smirked.

  “We thought it was clear that you’re not welcome here anymore.” Bett was younger than Adam by at least five years but spent every spare moment at the gym and, based on the size of his muscles, injecting steroids. But Adam knew from experience that even though the guy was strong, he didn’t know a thing about fighting. Rickards, on the other hand, was a bit more dangerous. Either way, taking on two at once wouldn’t be easy.

  If he played his cards right, he shouldn’t be fighting anyone. “I’m just here for my exit interview,” he said dryly as he stepped out of the elevator. “Where’s Ike?”

  “He doesn’t want to see you.” Bett came in closer, every overstuffed muscle looking ready to pounce.

  “Tell him Emily sent me.”

  “Who is Emily?” asked Rickards.

  “Ike knows.”

  Rickards pulled the radio off his belt and had a quick, hushed conversation before he came back. “Ike wants to see you.”

  “That’s what I thought. Lead the way.”

  Bett looked as though he were about to snap and Adam smiled at him. Sure, he didn’t pick this job, but he had to take a moment to savor the little joys, like pissing off the guy who had so recently kicked him right in the gut.

  He was let into an office with no windows. Just an older desk, two run-down chairs, and beige walls and carpet. There were no computers or pictures in the office, signaling that it wasn’t in use.

  And it probably had no cameras, so Ike could do whatever he needed to do to Adam. But it was a good thing. That meant Adam could speak, and act, freely too.

  Ike came in less than a minute later. “Smith. What an unexpected surprise. I didn’t expect to see you crawling back, looking for a job so soon after you quit.” Ike held up his hand, which was currently in a sling as evidence of exactly how violently Adam had offered his zero-day notice.

  Baby. It wasn’t as if he broke anything.

  “I’m not looking for a job. I’m looking for a favor.”