“I don’t, but you’re right. A nightcap will be nice, and I’m with you there. I’m not interested in only hooking up with you.”
“You still feel like that now that your blood has settled?” Cash asked as he led her to the kitchen. He sat her at the island and poured two glasses of wine before sitting beside her, pulling her stool close until she was practically in his lap.
“Of course, I do.” She took a sip before resting her head on his shoulder, and it struck Cash how right this scene was. Thiswas what life should look like. Wild sex after the kids went to bed and then meaningful conversations in the dark to solidify their connection.
“I don’t want you to think I’m crazy because I never latch onto the men I’m dating and tell them what I told you,” she continued. “I’m also not trying to disrupt your family life, and I normally wouldn’t say this stuff so soon, but…” she shrugged, her shoulder nudging him, and he couldn’t stop himself from kissing her temple. “It just kind of slipped out, but I meant every word. I don’t know what will happen to us, but my feelings are genuine.”
“Mine are too, Sable.” He wrapped his arm around her, and for a silent minute, they sipped their wine in comfortable peace. “So, there’s a gala at the museum coming up. I have to work it, but it’s still a black-tie affair. I wanted to ask you to go with me, but I wasn’t sure you’d want to. Clover will be there as well as all my coworkers, which means everyone will know we’re together, but after what you said, I’m feeling brave. So how about it, beautiful? Will you be my date?”
Sable hung above the sensor-filled floor, stifling the urge to scream. The museum microphones would pick up anything louder than a breath, and screaming would bring the entire security team down on her dangling head. She hadn’t seen Cash since she agreed to be his gala date, and she didn’t particularly care for this moment to be their reunion since she wascurrentlyhanging from the ceiling by a harness to avoid the weight sensors in the tiles surrounding the Precieux Exhibit.
Based on her three-dimensional simulator, this approach should yield success,and ithad almost worked. She hovered close enough to see the magnificent golden eggdown to itsfinest details. She was the only thief who’d made it this far, but Cash wassmarterthan her, it seemed. The last line of defense wasa DNAscanner,and only the Fae authorized to handle the egg could pass through the barrier without triggering the alarms. The second she crossed that invisible border, the scan would detect the Easter Bunny within her, and unlikethe other security defenses she’d either hacked or tricked, this one couldn’t be disabled because it wasn’t a device. It was Fae magic, and only someone versed in magic this powerful could combat it.
Sable opened her mouth and silently snarled at the egg before retreating into the ceiling vent. She’d failed, but she hadn’t expected to succeed on her first try. Cash was too smart to be defeated in a single night, so she’d predicted this would be a dry run.
Sable pulled the vent cover back into place and stared at the shining egg. Conflicting thoughts waged battle in her mind, and she sat in her hiding spot for so long that she lost track of time. No one would notice her until right before opening, though, when thenextscheduled electronic scan pulsed through the building to search for unauthorized heat signatures.
Sable usedthesilence to work the problem before her, both the Fae DNA sensor and her relationship.She hadn’t seen Cash because the gala preparations were consuming his time, but just because they hadn’t had a date didn’t mean they hadn’t talked. They spent almost every evening on the phone together, nurturing their connection emotionally and mentally without the physical getting in the way. It killed her not to revisit their night on the couch, yet their growing friendship was the intimacy she truly craved. But by strengthening their bond, she was also increasing their heartbreak. The more he loved her, the more her crime would destroy him,which was whyshe sat frozen in the museum vent. She’d attempted the theft tonight, but her heart wasn’t in it. She couldn’t bear to be the reason Cash lost everything.
A soft sound captured her attention, and Sable shifted in her cramped hiding spot to see Corvid enter the room. Righton time. There was more than one reason she’d remained in the vent, and it also accounted for why she’d started testing her break-in strategies. Other thieves were getting restless, and the theft attempts had increased, so while Sable weighed her future options, she took it upon herself to ensure no one else succeeded. She’d thwarted three attempts already, but Corvid had gotten the farthest beside her. He would fail. He didn’t know what she knew. Most didn’t have the insider information shehad access to, but Sable didn’t feel like waiting for him to trip the alarm. She wanted to go home and sleep, so she pulled the laser from her belt and shined it on the heat sensor. It overheated within seconds, triggering the echoing alarm, and Sable retreated through the vents to the exit as the guards chased their intruder. Corvid was good, but The Rabbit’s Foot was better, and it seemed she’d become another guard, protecting the egg when she was supposed to be stealing it.
“I can’t believe you’re still awake,” Peter said when she answered the phone.
“If you didn’t think I would be awake, whyare you callingme?” Sable pulled off her wig, tossed it and her apartment keys on the kitchen table, and collapsed onto the couch.
“I would’ve left a message.”
“Sure.”
“Okay fine, I wouldn’t. I would have dialed until you picked up,” Peter chuckled. “How did it go?”
“It went until it didn’t.” She gave her friend a quick recap of her failure. “We knew my first attempt would fail, but I didn’t retreat completely empty-handed. I removed Corvid from the playing field.”
“Wow, that’s huge for you.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“You guess? Are you okay?” Peter asked, and she opened her mouth to assure him she was fine, but she paused before the words escaped. Peter was the only person who knew she was The Rabbit’s Foot, and while their relationship revolved around theft and hacking, they were friends of sorts. Would he understand her predicament? Could she confess her feelings for Cash to him? Would he help her figure out how to navigate these uncharted waters, or would he abandon her as she destroyed her thief’s reputation because of a man? Over the past week, she’d almost called her mom four times, but every time she tried to dial, she found she couldn’t bring herself to admit the truth about who she was to her mother. She needed someone who understood her love of thievery.
“Actually, can I talk to you about something?” she asked, deciding to be brave. She didn’t want another competitor to hurt Cash, but she no longer wanted to betray him. A lot of zeroswasn’tworth sacrificing her soulmate, and while her mother was better suited to help her navigate the emotions surrounding a mate, Peter was the only one she could confess to.
“Yeah, of course… actually, will it take a while or is it quick?” Peter asked.
“A while. Why? Do you need to go somewhere?”
“No. I called to tell you something,” he answered. “Can I mention it before we talk? That way, it’ll be off my mind, and we can focus.”
“Sure. Go ahead.”
“Okay, so I’ve been listening for any news regarding The Ombra, and unfortunately, the rumors have been confirmed,” he said. “They’ve returned from Europe, and they’re coming for the egg.”
Sable cursed as she stood up and walked to the kitchen. She needed a glass of wine for this conversation.
“Yeah… I would make your move quick,” he said.
“It’s not like I’m not trying.”
“No, I know. I’m sorry,” Peter said. “It’s justI worry about your safety with The Ombra in play.”
