The Arrogant Thief Read online

  By Mallory Crowe

  Copyright

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Fonts used with permission from Microsoft.

  Copyright © 2018 by Mallory Crowe

  Mallory Crowe (2018-6-12). The Arrogant Thief (Stolen Hearts Book Eight)

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Copyright

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  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Lucky Liar

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  Melissa stepped onto the historic porch and leaned against the outside wall of the picturesque bed-and-breakfast. It really would’ve been an ideal vacation spot under different circumstances. An idyllic town and an idyllic bed-and-breakfast run by an idyllic little old lady.

  But she was all too aware of the corruption that ran just beneath the surface. She was pretty sure anything that seemed perfect on the surface would have to have an undercurrent of something darker.

  The front door beside her squeaked open, and she turned to see Gage walking out. Immediately she tensed as his presence seemed to engulf the charming porch. That’s just how Gage was. When he was there, he was there, seeming to take over any space he entered as though he were the owner and operator of all of the world around him. And considering all she knew he was capable of, that might not be too far off from the truth.

  He walked out and lit up a cigarette. Melissa curled a lip in disgust. She’d spent enough time as a bartender to learn to hate the smell of smoke. But damn it if Gage didn’t look good as he took in a long drag and dropped the hand holding the cigarette to his side.

  “Don’t you think that’s disrespectful?” she asked. He hadn’t paid any attention to her, so she assumed he didn’t realize she was there. But of course he didn’t jump at the question.

  He just glanced over at her and took another drag. “It’s my body. I can disrespect it if I want.”

  Melissa pursed her lips together. Damn it, Gage knew that wasn’t what she was talking about. If he ever found the opportunity to give her crap, he’d gladly take it. “This a historic home owned by a very nice lady. You shouldn’t disrespect her by making her porch smell like cancer.”

  He didn’t say anything at first. Instead, the corner of his lip curled up as he took another drag. “Well, aren’t you judgey tonight?”

  “You’re just doing this to annoy me, aren’t you?”

  He sighed before pressing the butt out against one of the aged wooden posts. Melissa was about to tell him how unsafe that was before he brushed the embers away and there was no sign of the offensive behavior. “I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing it for me.”

  “That makes even less sense.”

  “I don’t smoke usually. If you space out the cigarettes enough and don’t get addicted, then when you smoke, you get a little buzz. A high that doesn’t affect your ability to work or drive. I’m just taking the edge off, Mel. Stop acting so much like a hall monitor.”

  The need to defend herself shot through her, but Melissa knew that the more she protested, the more she’d prove him right. And so did he, hence the little self-satisfied grin on his face. She instead tried a different tactic and worked on changing the subject. “Why do you need to take the edge off? Are there issues with Hunter’s case?” They were only here because their teammate, Hunter, had been plagued by mystery enemies from his past.

  Well, everyone else was there for that. She was there for support, mostly. She didn’t have the hacking skills of Gage or her boss Toni. She didn’t have the physical combat skills of Hunter. The member she could most relate to was her other boss, Scott Hart. Because of her years as a waitress, she’d honed her people skills perfectly. However, his years of experience as a detective had honed his skills in a much sharper and, admittedly, more useful way than her. She mostly handled paperwork, coordination, and scanning emails for the group. Peter, her brother who worked with Scott and helped lay the groundwork required for the many teams across the country at any given time, had gotten her the job. For the most part, working here kept her busy enough to not think about Josh all the time. But then there were nights like this, where there was nothing left to do but think....

  “Do you want one?”

  She jerked her head around to stare disdainfully at his outstretched hand holding a pack of cigarettes. “What are you, fifteen? Of course I don’t want one.”

  “Sorry. You just look like you could use some edge taken off.”

  “I don’t,” she snapped, quickly proving him right. “I just wanted some time to think alone. I don’t appreciate getting interrupted.”

  “You don’t own this porch.”

  “You’re right. I’ll leave you to poison your body alone. Good night, Gage.” Melissa stepped down and started down the driveway. She didn’t really know where she was going on this spontaneous midnight walk, but as soon as she heard footsteps behind her, she knew this wouldn’t be a relaxing trek.

  “Hey, you know you can’t be out here alone.”

  She rolled her eyes and went through her catalogue of insults she could shoot back at him. Instead, she tried for the reasonable approach. “I’m not the reason for the investigation here. I can take a walk on my own anytime I want to, and I sure as hell don’t have to answer to you.”

  “Maybe not, but I have to answer to your brother. Therefore, your safety is kind of on my priority list.”

  Melissa stopped and turned to face him. She expected him to stop as well, but instead he did a totally Gage move and kept going until he was an inch away from her and she had to crane her head to meet his eyes. “My brother is a few hundred miles away, and he’s not my bodyguard. You should care more about irritating me than him.”

  “If I irritate you, I get scolded. If I irritate him, I get dead. I weighed my options and think I selected the better of the two.”

  “When I first met you, I had this idea of you being so brave and strong. Storming into my bar and beating up my date. Like some annoying chivalrous white knight. All you are is a coward who’s too afraid to actually take what he wants.”

  “Whoa. How did this escalate so quickly?”

  “It hasn’t escalated quickly. In fact, it’s escalated extremely slowly. Please leave me alone or don’t. I don’t have time for this balancing act anymore, Gage.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I mean—” Melissa stopped abruptly. No, she wasn’t going to do this. She and Gage had been bouncing around whatever it was between them for months now, and they weren’t any closer to confronting it. Why on earth would she pick now to push things to a head? Gage just had a way of throwing her off-balance and questioning everything, even things that had made complete sense before he showed up.

  “Just go away,” she said weakly.

>   “Fine. Come back to the house and you can have as much space as you need.”

  “You understand how contradictory that is, don’t you?”

  “I’m trying to keep you safe, Mel.”

  She let out a resigned sigh. “Fine. We’ll go back.” She headed back to the bed-and-breakfast without waiting for him. But his footsteps behind her were ever present.

  “Do you hate me?”

  She rolled her eyes. “No, Gage.”

  “Do you like me?”

  She stopped in her tracks. What a stupid and loaded question. She skirted the answer by saying, “I could never like you as much as you like yourself.”

  He snorted. “What can I say? I’m damn pretty.”

  She really wished she could refute that. Turning on her heel, she faced him. “What does it matter if I like you? What does it matter if anyone likes you?”

  “Curiosity?”

  “Well, you heard what happened to the cat.”

  He let out a laugh and took a few more steps toward her. “Well, you know I like danger.”

  “If you like danger, you wouldn’t care about what my brother thinks and you would’ve kissed me ages ago.”

  “Melissa—”

  “For fuck’s sake.” Melissa threw caution to the wind and took the half a step necessary to reach him, throwing her arms around his neck. When her lips first touched his, a shock ran through her. As though she all of a sudden realized that she was finally doing it. Kissing him. How many times had they flirted over the past few months? Danced around this very possibility, each of them refusing to take the final step.

  She expected Gage to throw her off him or bounce away from her as if he’d been burned by acid. Instead, he kissed her back. Slowly at first, as though he were just as surprised as she was to be touching like this. Soon enough, he was taking over the kiss. One of his hands reached up along her back to grip her hair. He didn’t pull it, but used it to hold her as he tilted his head and took over her mouth, plunging in with his tongue.

  Even though this was a hundred percent more than she bargained for, she couldn’t fight him. It was like getting swept away by a tsunami. There was obviously no way to overpower the wave, so why try?

  Her hands gripped his shoulders as the kiss seemed to go on forever and at the same time ended too soon. They both stood in silence, staring at each other in the darkness. She could just see the light glinting off his eyes, adding an air of fantasy to the whole thing.

  Is that what this was? A fantasy? A vivid dream she was having about Gage? A cool spring wind brushed against her skin, reminding her that this was all too real. She opened her mouth, but Gage beat her to the punch.

  “I’m seeing someone,” he said abruptly.

  Of everything she expected him to say, that was the last thing she would’ve guessed. “I, what?”

  “I don’t want to make you think this is more than what it was. A lapse in judgment.”

  She took a step back as she tried to digest what happened. “We, I...” She shook her head as the world seemed to tilt on its side. “You didn’t tell me,” was all she could muster up.

  “I don’t tell you a lot of things.”

  Blinking rapidly, a wash of embarrassment came upon her. No, he didn’t. What had she been thinking? They weren’t friends. They weren’t anything. She started to say something else, but no words came out. What could she say to that, anyways? Instead, she backed up, one foot and then another, suddenly desperate to put distance between them.

  She finally turned around and started for the bed-and-breakfast. Her head was swimming with everything that had happened and almost happened. So Gage was dating someone. What did she care? He could do whatever he wanted with his life.

  “Melissa!” he called from behind her. Close enough for her to know he was following.

  She didn’t answer. She just had to make it to the house. As soon as she was there, he’d have to leave her alone. Right?

  She was just about to the safety of the porch when Gage grabbed her arm and twisted her around. She couldn’t contain herself anymore. Who was he to touch her? He’d just admitted exactly how unavailable he was. “What?” she snapped. “What do you want from me? You have a girlfriend and I kissed you like an idiot. Now are you going to pat me on the head and patronize me? I don’t want to hear it.”

  He narrowed his eyes at her and was quiet for a moment. She thought he was going to give up and let her go.

  “She’s not my girlfriend.”

  Melissa rolled her eyes. She didn’t have the time or the mental capacity for this conversation. “And neither am I. Goodbye, Gage.” She turned and walked back to her room.

  She didn’t know she was going to go home until she was back in her car and sitting in the front seat. She wanted to think that she was going to get some air, but she knew she wasn’t going to stop until she was home.

  He’d fucked up. He wasn’t sure exactly where he’d gone wrong, but he’d definitely fucked up. He stared out his window as Melissa finished packing up her rental SUV. He tried to think of what he should’ve done differently. He wasn’t used to regretting his actions. Hell, he wasn’t used to making the wrong actions.

  He did what he wanted when he wanted and usually put enough thought into it so he wouldn’t have to second-guess anything. When Melissa was around, it was harder to think straight, crooked, backward, or any direction.

  Where did he go wrong? Smoking in front of her? No. He was an adult, and if he wanted to take the edge off, he was allowed. Following her when she ran off into the darkness? No. It was dangerous out there for anyone, especially for a member of the team. And she kissed him. It wasn’t as if he made a move on her.

  But he never should’ve kissed her back. Yep. That was the second everything went wrong. The second his control had slipped from his grasp.

  He was just about to call her one more time, even though he was sure she wouldn’t answer, but the cell phone in his hand rang before he could even unlock the screen. For a flash of a second, he thought it was Melissa calling him back, but winced when he saw it was Sarah on the other end. He debated not answering but figured it would be best to get this done fast, like ripping off a Band-Aid. “Hello?”

  “You were supposed to call,” she said quickly, without leaving room for pleasantries. Normally he liked that get-down-to-business attitude, but right now he could use some pleasantries.

  “I’m in the middle of nowhere, Michigan. Signal is finicky.” Great. Now he was lying? Fuck, he’d broken up with women before. It wasn’t that fucking hard.

  “You’d never stay somewhere you couldn’t have your cell phone working. Are you lying to me?”

  Of all the bimbos he could have been with, why did he choose the smart one? Obviously lying wasn’t going to work anymore, and he had to figure out what he was going to do. So he came out with it. “I don’t think this is working out, Sarah. I’m sorry.”

  There was a pause on the other end, and he waited to hear the shock. The tears. The rage. All he got was an utterly calm and bemused, “Are you kidding me?”

  “No. I don’t think this is working out.”

  “Yeah, I heard the words. I’m just in disbelief. There’s obviously an attraction between us. I thought we had an understanding. What went wrong?”

  Well, wasn’t that the fucking question? “Life went wrong. I didn’t mean to lead you on or get your hopes up—”

  “Please don’t patronize me, Gage,” she said, echoing what Melissa had just told him. “You know I didn’t have my hopes up.” There was a brief pause. “It’s because of her, isn’t it?”

  Immediately a picture of Melissa came to mind, and he shook his head, clearing the image. “I know you can do better than me. I’ll see you around, Sarah.”

  There was another silence over the phone until he heard a sigh. “I doubt it,” she said softly. Before he could try to say anything, she was gone.

  By the time he hung up, he already had a plan in place. It woul
d take Melissa a good two days to get back home. If he kept track of her and made sure he drove through even when she needed to take breaks, he could catch up to her long before she ever made it home.

  He was packing his laptop up and all the clothes within reach. He wouldn’t need everything because they’d be back within a day if he planned it right. He’d convince her that she’d overreacted and have her come back before anyone even knew something had happened.

  Using an app he’d created himself, he loaded up the map and the GPS tracker he had on her phone, the same tech he had on everyone’s phone at Hart Securities in case of emergency.

  As soon as it was loaded up, he took his backpack of clothes and his laptop bag full of his supplies and headed down to his car. He didn’t know what Melissa was thinking at this very moment, but he wondered whether somehow she realized he was coming for her.

  Melissa pulled into the small motel—sorry, inn. It looked like any other motel she’d ever stayed at, but the brand name out front proudly said “Inn,” and considering how cheap the price was, she wasn’t about to assume that it was going to be anything special inside.

  Though she’d give the place credit: there seemed to be a recent coat of paint on the vinyl siding, and the picturesque red doors all looked up to date. But from the gaggle of stray cats playing together in the parking lot, she had a feeling there was a lot of bad behind that coat of paint. She only hoped that the cats weren’t making their living by catching vermin around the grounds.

  She gripped the room key tightly in her hand as she stepped out of her rental SUV and toward the door. It didn’t have to be a palace. It just had to let her get a few hours’ rest before she reunited with Josh in a few days.

  As soon as she stepped inside, her worst fears were confirmed. The musty smell filled her nostrils, and she really hoped she wasn’t getting any mold mixed in with that. The beds had dated comforters on them, and when she sat down, the mattress felt like little more than a wooden box. It wouldn’t be comfortable, but it would do for the night.