Chafing at the condescension rife in such a name, Ally huffed in exasperation. “I have it on good authority that someone in your gang took it.”
“What authority exactly? Who told you my gang has your precious heirloom?”
“That’s none of your business.”
The Raven’s face stiffened. “And I suppose you won’t tell me what the heirloom is, either. How am I supposed to help you when I don’t even know what it is I’m supposed to have?”
Ally shook her head. “You amaze me. I don’t know what it profits you to lie to me, but I don’t have time to play games. Give me back my heirloom, or leave me alone.”
The whistle blew, letting her know it was time to resume her shift. Ally turned and headed toward the door. Several other workers in matching coveralls all streamed toward the same spot.
“Wait,” his gravelly voice said.
Ally ignored the shiver it sent down her spine and kept walking. It really was useless to talk to him. She couldn’t understand why he’d even bothered to seek her out.What kind of a thief taunts his victims after the crime?
For the umpteenth time, Ally swore to herself that she’d find some way to get Evie off this rock and back to safety somehow. It was now more important than ever. The Raven tracking her down to the plant made her realize that she’d gotten the attention of someone powerful and dangerous.
Maybe Evie is right. Maybe I should just let it go.
But then assholes like the Raven win. He can take things from innocent girls with no repercussions.
No. It’s not right.
But Ally grasped that there was little she could do about it. If he denied having it, it wasn’t as if she could infiltrate his gang to get it back.
And if he was snooping around because he thought he could lure her into his bed, he was about to change that tune. He might be beyond handsome, but he was still a pirate. A thief. A bad guy.
She’d had enough of bad guys. The weeks after her parents died, as her world crumbled around her, she’d seen exactly what bad guys could do.
If it meant giving up the heirloom that had been in her family for as long as anyone could remember, then it would be a small price to pay to avoid the attentions of another group of bad guys.
And one in particular. The worst of them all, if the rumors about him were true.
As she felt a hand grip her arm and pull her to a stop, she realized she might have already missed her chance to avoid attention.
The look in the Raven’s eyes said he wasn’t ready to let her escape.
CHAPTER 3
LYK
He couldn’t remember being this frustrated in ages. Lyk stared down at the female who’d walked into his life like a whirlwind and was trying to walk out again without an explanation.
“If you tell me what you’re looking for, I can help you find it.”
Her demeanor radiated disdain. “I’m not in the mood for gas-lighting. And even if you were telling the truth, I wouldn’t take help from someone like you.”
Someone like you. The way she said those words made him tense up. She considered him scum. It was obvious. Someone who would steal her precious heirloom and then lie about it for his own sick amusement.
You can’t expect her to believe anything else. You are scum, at least in popular opinion.
Lyk had done many difficult things in his life, but this somehow seemed harder than most of those things. He let her go.
She got two steps away before he called to her. “Wait.”
Turning back, she eyed him, her expression saying he had less than a second before she bolted.
“Here.” Lyk pulled out a wad of credits from his pocket and held them out to her.
