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“I’ll see if Leah can help you with a few things. You two seem to get along well.”
“Do you think I could go and hang out with her some time? Like, go shopping or something?” I asked unsurely, but he didn’t hesitate to nod.
“Sure. Just let me know, you can take my credit card.”
“Cruz—”
“You need anything, just ask for the card, Penn. I don’t use it much myself so I’m glad someone has use for it,” he cut in. “And I’m being selfish because she’ll take you shopping for sexy little outfits that I get to tear off you.”
My pussy definitely liked that.
Chapter Ten
Cruz
“Are you fucking insane?!” Stone roared as I walked into the office, ignoring the few people who slipped out to avoid our argument.
I shrugged, offering him the vase and painting.
“Possibly, but humor me. Get these inspected and tell me if Penn’s right. She said a few mill for the vase and half a mill for the painting. The painting we went to get was fake and I didn’t know.”
“It wasn’t fucking fake!”
“How do you know? What do you actually know about that piece?” I demanded, dropping down into a chair and opening some of the security footage of the garage, watching some of the thieves unloading merchandise. “How many exist?”
“One. It’s an oil painting and a distinctive piece of art,” Stone scowled, holding the vase up to look it over while he talked. “That client was offering a lot of money, Cruz.”
“Penn’s father has the painting so the one in Crestford can’t be legit. Penn also said the signature is supposed to be black and in the bottom right corner, but the one today was in blue paint on the left and it wasn’t the fancy oil paint. She knows her shit, bro. She also knows a lot of rich people so maybe she could be a good addition to the team. We can train her on stealth and I can even teach her some tech stuff.” I glanced at him to find him thinking hard, some of the fury gone from his expression. “She’s fucking good. We can train her here for a while and take her on the easy jobs, then she can work her way up the old fashioned way. Give her a chance, man.”
“She doesn’t even know how to wash her own clothes. You expect me to let her loose in my organization? My brother built this and turned it into what it is today. I won’t let her ruin that. Princesses don’t belong in our world and you really need to take her home. Do you know how fucked we are if this goes south? What if she starts to worry about her dad and runs home to him? She might spill literally all our secrets. Then we have a problem because it means we have to make her vanish. I don’t like killing people if I don’t have to,” he muttered, but he was looking thoughtful so maybe there was a chance to change his mind.
“Call the Psychos to kill people.”
“Just because I like Beckett, doesn’t mean I want to get completely tied in with the crews. I work with them because they pay a lot for our tech and manpower when needed, but it ends there. Owing people like them only leads to trouble,” he warned, putting the vase back in the padded box before raking his hands through his hair. “I have enough shit to deal with and I don’t need to be worried about the spoiled brat putting us at risk. Everyone here grew up on the wrong side of the tracks so we know their stance on cops and loyalty. Penelope is a scared little girl who’s most likely playing you. She’s getting her kicks with bad boys right now but she’ll grow tired of it. I’m not being a dick about her just to make you mad, brother. I’m fucking worried about you. For all you know she’s going to cry rape when she runs back home and tell everyone you kidnapped her. You can’t trust rich girls.”
“I believe her about her father being an abusive piece of shit. She doesn’t want to go back.”
“The one thing I’ve learned in all my years of being in this organization is that rich girls like money and familiarity. You’re nothing but a thrill for her right now but what happens when things go bad? What if she gets caught breaking into a house? She won’t keep her mouth shut, she’ll freak out about going to prison and she’ll call Daddy Dearest for a lawyer. They’ll cut a deal where she gets out if she throws all of us under the bus.”
“Her father’s telling everyone she’s currently in the nuthouse,” I said lightly, knowing he was likely to flip out for taking her to the meeting. “The rich dude who bought the other painting is the father of the guy she was supposed to marry.”
“I’m going to actually kill you one of these days and no one can say they didn’t see it coming,” he bit out, jabbing a finger at the computer. “She doesn’t go on jobs again. Train her on a few things here but she doesn’t test them out until I approve her. Understood? Don’t undermine me with this or all bets are off. I’ll drive her back to her house myself and explain that she ran away and tried to use her family name to buy our protection.”
It was better than nothing.
“Understood. Where’s Knox and Drake?” I asked, changing the subject before he could go back on his word, and he snorted, giving me a dirty look.
“While you were playing cops and robbers with your girlfriend, Drake and Knox were breaking up and wrecking the compound. Knox smashed his room up and is currently beating up anyone who’ll take him on in the gym, and Drake’s here somewhere sulking. He hasn’t left but he’s not in his room.”
I knew exactly where he’d be and I hoped Penn was soothing whatever emotional wounds Knox left him with. Drake was going to be a permanent part of my bedroom for a while, I just knew it.
“I’ll check on him. Let me know how you go with valuing those,” I said as I motioned to the vase and painting, getting to my feet. “You really need to get laid, dude. You’re way too tense. You’re getting forehead wrinkles from scowling so much.”
“Fuck off before I throw you in the gym with Knox,” he grunted, pulling his phone from his pocket to most likely call one of the art experts on payroll.
I left him alone, closing the door behind me before heading to my room and letting myself in, not surprised to find Drake crying against Penn’s chest. There was no point in me asking if he was okay since it was obvious he wasn’t, so I locked the door and kicked my shoes off before climbing onto the bed behind him.
I dropped an arm around his waist to hug him but stayed quiet, letting Penn murmur comforting words. She seemed to be handling it fine on her own but I wanted him to know I was here if he needed me.
