Page 38 of Forever a Thief

Please, let him come.

But even as I’m thinking it, I remember his words loud and clear.

I’m no hero.

I completely disagree with that statement, and I know he’s going to prove me correct when he shows up in Istanbul. I’d be willing to bet my life on it.

Once we’ve been in the air for a while, Voss turns toward me, pulling out his phone. “Let’s call your boyfriend and fill him in,” he announces, and my heart climbs up my throat. It barely rings once before Rhys answers.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Laurent. I’m sitting here with your girlfriend and we decided to give you a call.” I’m holding my breath, gripping the seat cushion. “I’m going to offer you a deal,” Voss continues coolly, “and I suggest you take it. Otherwise, I promise you things will get very messy. Especially for Ms. Grant.”

“Let me talk to Savannah,” he demands.

Voss stands, reaches down, and yanks me out of my seat. His hand squeezes my wrist, deliberately cruel and rough, and, I swear, I can feel the bones grinding together.

I let out a pained yelp. “Rhys!”

“Leave her alone!” he yells through the phone, forcing Voss to pull it away from his ear with a low curse.

“Listen closely, Rhys,” Voss bites out. “Savannah is taking a little detour with me, and if you haven’t already guessed, we’re heading to Istanbul. You’re going to meet us there with the book you stole from my library the night of the masquerade. Don’t try to deny it. Your man missed a security cam, and I caught you both on the footage.”

Rhys doesn’t say a word, neither confirming nor denying what we did.

“If you don’t come to the address I text you by noon tomorrow, your lady friend will blow up into tiny little pieces. Just like her restaurant did. A shame, too, because she is lovely.” Voss’s gaze rakes down my body, and I try to twist out of his iron hold.

My restaurant? He’s the asshole who destroyed it? Fury ignites, but I conceal it, forcing myself to remain calm and level-headed. That’s the only way I’m going to escape this situation unscathed.

“Don’t you touch her, enculé,” Rhys growls. I abruptly stop trying to jerk away, stunned by his tone. I’ve never heard him sound so fierce. So deadly. “Understand, motherfucker?”

“Bring the book,” Voss hisses then hangs up. He lets go of my wrist, shoving me, and I stumble against the edge of my seat.

“Where’s the meeting?” I ask carefully. The more intel I have, the better.

I’m also trying to slow down my rapid breathing and focus on something other than how Rhys sounded like he wanted to jump through the phone and beat Voss to a pulp. We both need to keep our heads on straight, and Rhys was anything but logical. A part of me knows it’s because he’s upset by the turn of events. Is it also because he’s worried about me?

Yes, I know he’s worried. Underneath his gallant and debonair facade, there’s a loyal and protective man. And he’s coming for me. I know it. Without a doubt.

Voss relaxes, sitting back down in his seat. “What does it matter? I’m sorry to say it’s not going to end well for you.” His thin lips curl up in a nasty smirk. “But that’s what happens when you’re a prying little peacock. I clip your fucking wings.”

Think fast, Savvy. Make him change his mind or you’re dead.

“That would be a mistake,” I say carefully, a plan coming together in my head. If I can make him see my worth, see that he needs me, maybe he won’t kill me. At least, not right away. Not before I have a fighting chance to get out of this.

“Oh? And why is that?” He sends me a bored look.

“Because you don’t have all the clues to the sapphire’s location,” I taunt, going out on a limb. The truth is, I have no idea what he knows. He might have copied the pages in the book and deciphered all the clues already. “And no one is more familiar with that story than me. I’ve probably read it a thousand times, and it still took me a second to realize the Mad Hatter’s poem was wrong.” I give him a nonchalant shrug. “But if you’re so smart and I’m so worthless, I guess you’ll figure it out by yourself. Hell, an intelligent man like you probably beat little ol’ me to it. I bet you’ve known the sapphire’s location for days, haven’t you?”

He shifts in his seat, looking incredibly annoyed. Yet also intrigued. “You figured out it was Istanbul?”

“Immediately,” I declare, waving a dismissive hand through the air. “I assume you did, too since that’s where we’re heading?” A muscle flexes in his cheek, and I have to bite back a laugh. He’s freaking clueless. “What I don’t understand is why you want Laurent to bring you the book. If you copied it and figured out all the clues—”

“I only copied half of it,” he grates out.

My eyebrows shoot up. “Oh! Well, then, you’re going to need a little more than that. Since there are multiple clues and all.” I send him a pleasant, very satisfied smile, as I sit back in my seat and turn my focus out the window. Taking attention away from a man who demands it is going to piss him off. At least, that’s what I’m banking on.

“No shit.” I don’t look back over at him, but I hear the dry, very annoyed tone in his voice.