The Beautiful Thief (The Stolen Hearts #2) Read online

  She knew what he was doing. He still thought she was freaking out and he was trying to break up the tension with humor. Well, she was laughing and she felt a lot better than she had in the bathroom, so she couldn’t knock his methods.

  The club wasn’t too far from the hotel. The bigger issue was finding parking. They didn’t want to go into a garage. Garages were too well lit in this day and age. Darkness was your friend when running from the scene of a crime. There wasn’t any street parking for about two blocks—which could be better, could be worse.

  Adam parallel parked as if he did it for a living, and Melody found herself wishing that he was still telling jokes to cheer her up. All those nerves were creeping right back up.

  She tried to keep the fear from showing as she got out of the car. Adam put some coins into the meter. There was a forty-five minute max, probably why there was no one parked here. But if they got a ticket, they would deal with it.

  “Ace of Spades is this way.” Adam pointed east.

  Melody repeated all the uncertainties in her mind. They didn’t know whether Forbes was going to be there. They didn’t know whether they would have a chance to take him out. Hell, at this point they didn’t even know whether they were going to get into the club.

  All of the sudden, Adam’s arm went around the small of her back and pulled her in close as they kept walking. “Time to pretend you like me, darlin’,” he drawled into her ear, his Southern accent showing more than normal.

  Damn it, he’d done it again. He’d noticed her nerves and was working to calm her down. She reminded herself that she was an attractive woman walking on the arm of an attractive man. No, attractive wasn’t the right word for Adam. She let her biases against him slip away and admitted it. He was dripping with sex. Even though he was in long pants and long sleeves, it was obvious just how much strength he had. When he leaned over and whispered in her ear, every nerve ending went on high alert, trying to prepare herself for the next words or next touch.

  She allowed her muscles to relax and molded herself to his body as they approached the club. They weren’t coworkers now. They weren’t a team infiltrating a building. For right now, she let herself truly believe the lie.

  She was just some random girl off the street and she was with a strong, powerful man she wanted. She allowed herself to feel the heat of his body through the thin material of her dress. She allowed herself to notice the strong muscle of his arm around her waist. She allowed herself to inhale the masculine scent mixed with the clean, crisp smell of the hotel soap.

  She was so distracted by the sensory overload that she barely noticed the line they were passing until they stood in front of the bouncer. Melody made sure to project calm and confidence. As though she wasn’t even worried that they wouldn’t be let into the club.

  Adam went a step further as he reached into his back pocket with his free hand and let her go for the briefest second before he fished out a wad of cash and, not even trying to be subtle, handed it to the bouncer.

  The man didn’t even count the bills before he moved to unhook the rope. Melody gave him a quick smile as Adam once again had his arm around her waist and ushered her inside.

  The thumping dance music was immediately overwhelming as they walked in the door. She wanted to pull Adam aside and start to search the place, but he kept walking, leaving her little choice but to follow.

  Adam kept going until they reached a little standing table. He stopped and suddenly pulled Melody close. Her back was against the table, the high top hitting the middle of her back, and Adam at her front. One of his legs was between hers and his face was close, his nose brushing her cheek as he said, “There are cameras everywhere.”

  It took a second for Melody to find her breath as she realized what he was doing. If their faces were close, it would be hard for the cameras to get a good view of either of them.

  She scanned the room, but with the dim lights, it was impossible to tell whether Forbes was there. The Ace of Spades kept with the card theme, and the black, whites, and reds of the club were diluted with the flashing lights on the dance floor.

  The clientele of the club was a lot of older or portly men and the girls were all gorgeous. This was a club for rich men; there was no doubt about it. Forbes should stand out considering he was in shape and younger than a lot of these guys by a good ten years.

  “Stay here.” Adam started to pull away.

  Melody grabbed his wrist and pulled him back against her; this time his entire body went flush with hers and for a brief second, she forgot how to talk. Just as quickly, she regained herself. “We can’t split up.” She’d seen enough horror movies to know what happened when people split up when they knew nothing about what they were facing.

  Adam leaned close to her ear. “If Forbes is here every night, he’s going to have a private room. Get a drink. I’m going to find him and then I’ll find you.” Before she could ask how he thought he was going to find Forbes, he reached for her purse. She let him have it as he slipped out a good chunk of the twelve grand. “Don’t do anything stupid.” He pocketed the cash and gave her back her bag.

  “Let me go with you.” She didn’t come here to be stuck on the sidelines.

  She expected him to give her some excuse, but instead he took her completely by surprise as he leaned in once more and, instead of speaking into her ear like she expected, he captured her mouth with his.

  The kiss was so unexpected that Melody just stood there, motionless. No, that wasn’t true. She moved her lips against his, kissing him back. All the noise and lights around them seemed to slip away. The kiss was soft and exploratory. His hand went to the curve of her waist, but he didn’t pull her closer. It just stayed there, a slight sign of possessiveness. Just as quickly as it started, it was over as he pulled away. Melody immediately covered her mouth with her palm, partly to keep her face covered and partly out of pure shock.

  Why? She knew they were trying to blend in and keep their faces hidden, but was it necessary?

  Who was she kidding? The only reason Adam had kissed her was because he wanted to.

  Adam would take the deserts of Afghanistan over a noisy club any day, but being able to work side by side with Melody more than made up for the migraine-inducing noise and the drunk people surrounding him.

  The kiss was like a spark of energy had been injected directly into his bloodstream. It had been a stupid move. She’d been cornered. It wasn’t as if she could slap him in the middle of the club and yell at him for being a jerk.

  But she’d kissed him back.

  At first, she hadn’t seemed to know she was doing it, but soon enough she had been responsive enough to make him wish he didn’t have to stop.

  It was stupid to kiss her here and now, but at the time it had seemed like a good idea. She was a bundle of nervous energy and that energy needed an outlet before it got them into trouble. The energy charging him at the moment was a different kind. It was as if he were back overseas again, walking into a dark, empty building. There could be nothing; there could be a guy with a fully automatic weapon just waiting to try to see how many extra holes he could put in Adam.

  But he didn’t have nerves. You didn’t walk into as many stupid-as-hell situations as Adam had with stage fright. But he did have the adrenaline that came before a job. The adrenaline that would keep him alive. The adrenaline that could have him jump out of the path of a speeding bullet just in time and the adrenaline that could have him draw his weapon first.

  So before he walked off into the unknown, he’d used that adrenaline to give him the strength to kiss her. Because if he died right now, that might be his only regret.

  Now that he knew she would kiss him back, it seemed stupid to corner himself time-wise like this.

  He made his way to the edge of the club. He didn’t like leaving Mel alone, but it would be smoother without a plus one. He needed to find Forbes. The guy came here every night, so Adam suspected he was in a private back room, which he wasn’t gett
ing access to unless he convinced someone to let him back. And that required finesse and money.

  If it were quieter, he’d be more than happy to have Mel work her charm on any poor sap. But the music had a way of creeping up on someone who wasn’t expecting it. It gave you a false sense of security, and less experienced people would drop their guard. Thing was, the music might hide any time a lie caused a tremor in your voice, but it wouldn’t hide any fear in the eyes.

  Adam had a lot of faith in Melody, but he’d promised to deliver her Forbes. So if he wanted to make sure he did that as quickly as possible, he was going to have to leave her alone for just a minute.

  There seemed to be a few different hallways that led toward any number of back rooms. He’d have to take a guess. There were cameras everywhere, but he’d have to expose himself if he wanted to find Forbes. He could hope that Forbes wasn’t in charge of monitoring the feed. Theoretically the guy was here for fun, not to work, so it was a good chance.

  As he approached the closest hallway, the bouncer moved to block his path. “This way’s closed,” said the guy in a deep voice that rumbled almost as much as the pounding bass.

  “I need to talk to someone who can let me in,” said Adam, letting the calm confidence in his voice speak for him.

  “This way’s closed,” said the man again.

  Well, it was time to take out the magic key. He reached into his back pocket and took out a large chunk of cash. “Want to tell me when it opens?”

  Melody stirred the drink she didn’t even want. But it was a good reason to look down and avoid cameras as she waited for Adam to come back. She’d tried to follow his progression through the club, but with the lights and the increasingly packed crowd, it was hard. She’d think that with the line outside and the supposedly rich clientele that the club wouldn’t be so packed, but this was probably part of its success.

  The packed space projected success and people gravitated toward that success. She stirred her drink more before bringing it to her lips, but didn’t take a drink, setting it back on the table right after the ice barely touched her lips.

  “Want a refill?” said someone into her ear.

  Melody immediately shied away from the new voice. His breath was hot and moist and way too close to her ear. She held up her mostly full glass. “I’m good.”

  The man looked to be in his mid-forties. He was halfway attractive, but considering her skin was still crawling from the feel of his breath, it was hard to see him as anything but a troll.

  “Come on. Why don’t we get you something off the top shelf?”

  She was just about to tell him where he could shove his top shelf liquor when something warm pressed her back. She jumped at the suddenness of it, but the warmth spread to her hip and pulled her back against a hard body. A hard body she recognized as Adam’s immediately. Should she be worried that she recognized Adam by the feel of his body alone? That was something to worry about later.

  “Her drink is full,” said Adam simply as he kept his grip on her.

  It would be easier to mark the possessive hand and posturing as part of the act if it weren’t for that kiss a few minutes ago.

  The guy nodded in defeat before he moved off. Melody was irritated that she’d told him no and he’d kept pushing, but Adam appeared and like magic, the dude was suddenly respecting that she was off-limits. No wonder Forbes liked this place. It was full of assholes like him.

  Instead of letting her go, Adam circled his arm around her waist and kept her in his arms. Before she could ask what he was doing, he bent forward and said into her ear, “I hit the jackpot. Are you ready to get this done?”

  She stiffened in his grip. Get it done? That had to mean that Forbes was here and that Adam thought they could get a shot at him.

  Adam’s beard brushed against her neck. “Let’s get going.”

  She nodded wordlessly as he started to let her go before he took her hand in his and led her through the crowds of people until they reached the entrance to a hallway. The lighting in the hall was dim, but she could make out a series of doors on either side that stretched farther than she would expect for a basic restroom. Exactly what all was in this club?

  The other ominous thing about this particular hallway was that it had a bouncer standing in front of it, with a particularly surly expression on his face. But the second he saw her and Adam, he stepped aside and let them through. She was going to assume that meant he’d made good use of her money.

  Adam walked past the first few doors and stopped in front of one with a keypad on it. To her surprise, he entered in the code, allowing it to pop right open for them.

  Adam took a quick glance up and down the hall to make sure they were alone before he took her hand and pulled her inside the small room.

  Small room was an understatement. This was no more than a closet, maybe six feet deep and three feet wide. The only blessing was that it cut most of the pounding music out, so for the first time since she’d walked in, she could hear herself think. But before she could say anything, Adam held a finger over his mouth, signaling her to stay quiet. If he wanted her to stay quiet, that meant there was someone who could hear. The only light in the room was a dim bulb above them; Adam reached up and pulled a little string, which plunged them into darkness.

  Okay.... She didn’t see any benefit to taking away all the light, but he’d warned her to stay quiet, so she kept her questions to herself. She could hear him moving around and then there was a shift in the air and the sound of something... rolling?

  Soft light started to stream in and it finally hit her. Adam was rolling away a section of wall. This was a voyeur room. Lots of club owners would have spaces like this hidden around the club. There was so much bad business that went on in back rooms like this, if an entrepreneurial spirit wanted to get a leg up in the world, it helped to get some fly-on-the-wall access to these back rooms.

  But they weren’t going to be using this space to eavesdrop. They were going to kill someone.

  Once the wall was moved away, it was as if they were right there. The only thing separating their little closet from the club room next door was a thin dark material. Considering how dark it was in the closet, Melody knew that this wallpaper-like material probably looked opaque from the other side, but from where she stood, she could see almost everything happening next door.

  “Oh my God,” she breathed. Sure enough, Baldie was right in front of her. Just a few feet away and sitting on a couch with a pretty young blonde, who looked barely out of high school, practically sitting on his lap and giggling loudly at a joke that couldn’t possibly be that funny.

  And he was alone. This was exactly what she wanted. Adam had delivered her the man who killed her mother, and this flimsy barrier between the two rooms would do nothing to stop a bullet.

  Adam came behind her and set his hands on her waist. But instead of the possessive, sensual touches he’d been giving her all night, this was more practical as he positioned her feet into a shooting stance.

  Melody took a deep breath. This was it. He was setting up the shot. She allowed her body to move in the way he wanted, so one foot was slightly in front of the other, shoulder width apart. Then he was placing the warm metal of the gun in her hand. She’d expected it to be cold but then remembered that it had been pressed against his body all night.

  Funny, of all the times she’d imagined getting her revenge, there were so many little details she hadn’t taken into account.

  She’d fired a gun enough times that she knew how to hold it. She kept her thumb clear of the slide and used one hand to hold the butt and the other hand to brace her grip to keep it steady. But then Adam’s hands went around hers, working as another brace and, probably more importantly, an aim. She was a pretty good shot, but this wasn’t the kind of thing that allowed second chances. She had one shot to take Forbes down. He was a professional and could think faster on his feet than most.

  She knew he wasn’t afraid to pull the trigger. If Adam w
as right that his apartment address had been leaked on purpose, that meant he was expecting a fight. No. She needed to get this one in one bullet.

  Adam didn’t think she’d be able to do it, but now, faced with the chance to put down the bastard who killed her mother once and for all, she didn’t have any second thoughts. There was no morality biting at her or an angel on her shoulder pleading with her to change her mind. All she thought was that this was justice. This was a monster, and she needed to stop him from hurting anyone else. To stop him from hurting her again.

  She took a deep breath and steeled herself.

  “You ready?” whispered Adam.

  She nodded, not trusting her voice to work right.

  “Then take the shot.”

  The permission/order from Adam was all she needed. She took aim and her finger started to tighten—

  The door to the room Forbes was in opened and a young girl was pushed inside, landing hard on her hands and knees. Forbes jumped off the couch to look down at the girl.

  The suddenness was enough to knock her out of her killing haze and her finger moved off the trigger.

  “Melody,” warned Adam.

  But before she could even think about bringing the gun back to ready, the girl who had been forced into the room looked up at Forbes. The girl was small.... Her delicate features were a stark contrast to the angry Forbes glaring down at her. “You shouldn’t have come here, Willa.”

  Her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath and there was genuine fear in her eyes as she looked up. Two other guys walked in to flank the tiny girl. Maybe woman. It was so hard to make out an age. The backup proved that Forbes was expecting something to go down. He wouldn’t have had so much backup for one woman like this.

  “Please, Matt. I know you hate him too. Help me and—”

  “No,” he said dispassionately. “I don’t give a damn about your daddy, but if I sided with you, I’d burn too many bridges.” He looked up at one of the burly guys who had come in with the girl, Willa. “Take care of her.”