Raven
I’m up early the next morning, partly because I’ve hardly slept.
Damn Declan whatever-his-name-is, torturing me even in his absence.
Hours I spent last night, trying to wrestle my emotions under some semblance of control, while his voice tortured me with hollow promises of love, support, loyalty and truth.
The worst thing of all is that when I finally reached for my nightstand drawer and battery-powered relief from thoughts of him, the opposite occurs. But instead of being there with apologies and tenderness, he’s there with ropes, his sexy little smile, and no shirt. I come in minutes, faster than I usually do, gritting my teeth to not cry out his name.
I’m in a bad mood when I climb onto my bike, hitting the 210 and keeping it under the speed limit through sheer willpower. It wouldn’tbe smart to get pulled for speeding while carrying approximately eight million in contraband diamonds. Especially when I don’t have a friend in the FBI, because he fuckingresigned.
Over me.
Allegedly.
I still reach Kurt’s unit shortly after nine, taking the stairs with pissed-off stomps to announce my presence. Irritatingly, that still isn’t enough to make Tasha look up from her laptop. What the hell does she do on there all the time?
“Get yourself a coffee,” she mutters, clicking her mouse as she stares at her screen. “And for the love of God,chill.”
“Where’s Kurt?”
“He was out with his cans of spray paint somewhere. He’ll be here in about twenty.”
I do and don’t want to see Kurt. After the intensity of the escape from Meridian Pacific, his subsequent capture, and the week I’ve had, I could use some of his unruffled calm. On the other hand, if he mentions Declan’s name, I’m not sure I can be held responsible for what happens.
I take Dario’s gun out of my jacket and leave it on the coffee table, out of temptation’s range.
Kurt walks in a few minutes later, looking as tidy and as alert as he always does. He clearly has no problems sleeping.
“Good morning, Genesis.”
In reply, I pull the hardware wallet out of my jacket along with both velvet bags of diamonds, andhold them out.
“Ah. Thank you,” he says, taking them. “I’ll get these fenced. It’ll take a few weeks.” The diamonds go on the coffee table, but he gives the black box a cursory look, before sliding it into his pocket. I’m thoroughly relieved to see the back of it.
“Do I want to know what’s on that?” I ask.
“Probably not, no.” He gives me a smile. “You’d have been a lot more scared riding around with it if you’d known. You’re still better off not knowing.”
Tasha leans back in her chair, fixing Kurt with a look. “I would like to know.”
“You can ask me later.”
“I’m asking you now.” Her eyes narrow in confrontation. “What could possibly encourage you to take such risks, give up your share of the diamonds, offer to cover the crew when Raven and Declan take half,andresult in you getting picked up by the Feds, only to be released the next day?”
I raise an eyebrow at Tasha. I figured she always knew the details of the jobs we did. Evidently not.
“Different matters,” Kurt says lightly, but Tasha keeps glaring at him. There’s a tension in his voice he can’t quite disguise. “My offer to Genesis had nothing to do with the contents of this box. I made that decision because it was the right one.”
“I’ll accept that,” Tasha says grudgingly, “but only because those two idiots needed a kick.”
“I’m sitting right here,” I mutter, but it’s like both of them have forgotten I exist. There’s energy in the air, and it’s the hair-standing-up kind, not warmvibes of camaraderie.
“Why did you get picked up, Kurt?” Tasha presses.
“What does it matter?” He says, waving one hand casually. His other is in the same pocket as the wallet, like touching it is reassuring. “What’s important is that I was carrying nothing incriminating, and they had no charges.”
“Not what I asked.” Tasha leans forward. “Why were they waiting for you?”
