I looked down at the way my hand was holding hers, and I licked my lips before looking back up. “I don’t know how to go about things, how to keep you from hating me when I screw up, because Iwillscrew up. Just promise that you’ll try to keep that in mind. Promise that you’ll be forgiving and give me time to fix things.”
The corner of her mouth lifted slightly, and she squeezed my hand. “As long as you’re open and honest with me, and you don’t cheat on me, I’ll be willing to work on anything. Don’t lie. Don’t cheat. Don’t purposely leave things out because you know I’ll react badly. Just… tell me. Everything. OK?” She shook herhead. “I’ve just been through too much of that stuff already. If we’re starting over, we’re going to do it the right way.”
“I promise,” I agreed, kissing the back of her hand, my heart in my throat because I knew I needed to come clean about her old man.
She smiled, but it instantly fell away as her eyes dashed to the window. “I don’t know what kind of car that is, but it looks expensive.”
I turned my attention to the parking lot of the hotel next door. “Holy fuck,” I murmured, standing and moving around the table to sit beside her so I had a better view.
“What kind of car is that?” she asked, watching just as closely as I was.
“It’s a Rimac Nevera R. They only produced about forty, making them extremely rare.”
“And expensive?”
I nodded. “I mean, if you think two point five million dollars is expensive, then yeah. It’s expensive.”
Her eyes became bright, and she smiled widely as she looked over at me. “So, it’s the one?”
I grinned and nodded. “It’s the one.”
We got to work right away. We started watching the owner and doing our homework. I wasn’t the kind of car thief who just hopped in a car and took off with it. People who did that kind of shit deserved to be caught. I was good at what I did because of the amount of research I put into my work. I looked up the car’s owner, learned his name was Klaus Seeley, and that he was a big fucking deal.
Italian mafia, but German-born. Owned a security company worth millions. Real estate. Clubs. He was even linked to a popstar named Bishop. Two sons. The guy was loaded.
He lived in L.A. Had a mansion. More than one rare car. He likely wouldn’t miss this one.
He was doing a convention for some big real estate thing in the city soon. He was a guest speaker.
Even though he wasn’t set to speak until Friday and Saturday, the event started on Thursday, and they even had speakers planned for Sunday as well.
So the next step was a little stakeout in the parking garage to see the best way to get into the car because I assumed he’d bring it. And if he didn’t, I already had his address. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d rerouted someone’s security system and stolen right from their heated garage.
Amelia and I hung out in the shadows for several hours, watching the way the valet handled the cars they parked. Aside from the security cameras, once they were parked, they weren’t seen again until the valet came to get the car for the owner. If Klaus was early to the event, I knew his car would be left unattended for at least eight hours. And that gave us a wide window to gain access to the car, break in, and take off. The problem was that breaking in was part of it. I couldn’t afford to set off any alarms. The best way to get the car out of the garage without anyone realizing it had been stolen was by getting our hands on the keys.
Only one member of the valet staff looked like a veteran. The rest were young rookies, easy to distract. I knew Amelia wouldn’t like it, but I planned on her being their distraction. The second my brain came up with it, my stomach tightened in jealousy. I hated using her as a pawn in this. Especially after seeing Mr. Mushroom about to cream his jeans just from sniffing her hair. I shook my head to clear it. I didn’t have time to dwell on the past or to let my jealousy get to me. I had to stay focused and form a plan.
Crash and I got back to our hotel late from our stakeout, but I had one more thing I had to do. I had to call my boss and get him to agree to the deal. I knew he’d been looking for me, and I knewI owed him a car. I knew he’d never stop until my debt was paid up. Before, I didn’t care if my only way out was dead, but once I met Amelia, everything changed. I wanted out, and I wanted to live. I wanted to spend the rest of my very long life by her side. I couldn’t do that if I couldn’t break away from my past.
“I’m going to get a shower. You want to join me?” she asked as she walked over.
I was sitting on the edge of the bed, so she stopped directly in front of me and wrapped her arms around my neck. I looked up at her while she looked down at me. Her blonde hair fell over one shoulder, and her blue eyes were tired yet bright. I wrapped my hand around her wrist and pulled her hand away, kissing her palm. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
She gave me a small smile and nodded before turning away.
I waited until the door was shut and heard the water come on before I pulled out the burner phone and made the call.
It only rang twice before he answered.
“I wondered how long it would take you to call,” he said when he picked up.
I breathed out. “How’d you even know it was me?”
“Call it intuition. Honestly, I’m surprised it took you this long. You’ve been avoiding my guys for days.”
“I wasn’t ready.”
“Now you are?”
