AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I thought you wanted a drink.”
“Yes, but I didn’t specify which kind,” I chuckled.
The man was smitten with me. Of course, he was this smooth with all the ladies. I’d seen it when I walked through the doors of his gallery. He just happened to focus on me.
We walked into the cafe, sitting at a corner table. I did the whole flirtatious song and dance, trying my best not to rearrange everything in the cafe. It was chaos. One of the employees was walking around, wiping down tables. When she finished, everything was thrown back on the table in the most haphazard manner.
I forced myself to focus on the main objective, which was to distract this man until I could make my move. We drank coffee and ate scones. The crumbs drove me crazy, but again, I did my best to ignore them.
Thankfully, just as I was about to fake a phone call, he received one. It sounded urgent, and I was worried he would head back to the museum, but when he got off the phone, he said he had to go to his sister’s.
“Oh, that’s too bad. Well, it was nice of you to show me a good time.”
He hesitated as he was about to walk out the door, but finally left. I followed him out, watching as he went in the opposite direction. When I was sure he was really gone, I headed back to the museum. Night was starting to fall and I still had a few hours until I had to go back. I changed in my car and waited a few blocks away, only leaving when I hit the designated time Rafe had mentioned.
Grabbing my tools, I headed for the back entrance. Dressed in head-to-toe black, no one would be able to tell who I was. I pulled out my portable device and clipped into the security box. In just a few seconds, I had the system offline. Of course, it would trigger the alarm, but that’s what I was supposed to do. The response time was five minutes, so I hustled inside, heading to the main gallery where one of the world’s rarest diamonds was on display from an Indian dynasty. I broke the glass and snatched the diamond, shoving it into the protective pouch I hid in my pants.
I rushed to the front, stopping only in front of the Cézanne, straightening it about five times before it was perfect. Satisfied, I headed for the back door, then pulled off my gloves and casually walked away. Two minutes later, I heard the sirens in the distance. But by then, I was already walking into a bar.
6
NICHOLAS
Darkness filled the room with only the slightest light filtering in through the window where the curtain wasn’t quite closed. A heavy smell of dust coated the walls and the beds, and the underlying scent of smoke still lingered in the air. I sat in the chair in the corner of the room, waiting for my target to return. One day later and I would have missed him.
I could hear their voices as they approached outside the door. I shifted my gun, resting it on my knee in a casually threatening manner. The key slid smoothly into the lock and then the door slid open easily. Their shadows loomed in the doorway for a moment, signaling that they saw me in the corner. As soon as the door swung shut, the lights flickered on and a gun was pointed at me.
Rafe glared at me, never lowering his weapon. “What are you doing in my room?”
“It’s nice to see you too.”
“I didn’t invite you here.”
“Yet, here I am.”
Libby shoved her way out from behind Rafe and walked over to the bed, flopping down. “Just tell us what you want.”
“I want a name.”
“Is that all?” he asked.
“The woman on the roof. Who is she?”
“Why do you want to know?”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t know why I needed her name. I just knew I couldn’t stop thinking about those green eyes staring at me. I had to know her secrets, who she was and where she was going. It was driving me insane not to have even the slightest information about her.
Rafe slowly lowered his weapon, his eyes never leaving the one on my leg. “I don’t know where she is.”
“But you know how to contact her.”
“I have my ways. She’s not easy to reach. Why?”
“Maybe I have a job for her,” I answered casually.
He huffed out a laugh, shaking his head at me. “You don’t need her for anything. You either like her or want to kill her. I’m not interested in getting involved with either.”
“I think you will,” I said, cocking my head at him. I didn’t know Rafe well, but I had an idea that something else was going on with him, something he didn’t want Cash to know about. And all I had to do was press on that issue until he gave in.
