The Deadly Thief (Stolen Hearts Book 7) Read online

She let out a bitter laugh. “Wouldn’t that be taking the easy way out?”

  “Don’t you deserve to take the easy way out? Shouldn’t one of us take that way at least once?”

  Exhaustion took over, and Gabby stopped trying to fight it. She fell back until her head hit the mattress and she was staring up at the ceiling. “I don’t know what the easy way is. I thought I did. I gave up on looking for you and settled down. He was a nice guy. Had a good job as the manager of that credit union down in Grand River and he had a good family. I was supposed to pretend that my father was never the head of a gang of drug dealers and that I was always the girl next door. And then my husband screwed a bank teller and now I’m living in a tiny apartment with no college education and no savings account. Don’t you get it, Hunter? There is no easy way out. The easy ways are all traps. Just look at you.”

  Hunter took a swig of whiskey before lying back on the bed with her. “What about me?”

  “You were one more easy way out. Instead of moving on with my life and trying to pick up the pieces, I desperately reached into my past and contacted you. And, trust me, nothing about you is easy.”

  “I feel like that’s an insult.”

  “Well, it ain’t a compliment.”

  “Okay. Partial credit then. I won’t tell you everything. You ask me one question and I’ll answer truthfully.”

  “What? I thought I was getting everything.”

  “I’ve changed my mind. You get one question. Make it good.”

  Gabby squinched her face. This was too hard. How did she ask a good question that told her enough to satisfy her curiosity and keep her from feeling too guilty? But instead of overthinking it, she went in the opposite direction and said the first thing that came to mind. “If nothing life-or-death had ever come between us, would you have kissed me?”

  There was just silence that met her question, and she closed her eyes in shame. That? That was the one question she asked? Totally about her and nothing about him. Not what he did with his life or if he’d ever moved on. Would he have kissed her? She was just about to tell him to forget about it when she heard the bed creak, and a second later, she could feel his body over hers. Not actually feel it, because he wasn’t touching her, but the tiniest bit of heat as the bed dipped a bit on each side of her as his weight came down.

  She forced her eyes open to face Hunter as he looked down at her. “When?” he asked. Blinking in confusion, she tried to figure out what he was talking about. “When would I have kissed you? Yesterday when I originally found you or back when we were kids?”

  “Does it matter?” she squeaked out in a barely there voice.

  “No.” His eyes very obviously dipped down to her lips and stayed there. “If I had my choice, I’d never stop kissing you. Not when I was eighteen and not now. I’ve always wanted you, girl next door, and I always will. Consider yourself lucky that I haven’t consumed you completely.”

  And just like that, he was gone. After pushing himself off her, he picked the whiskey back up and headed out the door, slamming it in his wake.

  After remaining stone-still for a few seconds, Gabby finally pushed herself up and glanced around the room suspiciously, as though Hunter had never truly left. Once she verified she was actually alone, she let out a deep sigh. Maybe he should’ve left that whiskey....

  Hunter very rarely lost control of anything. His body, his emotions. But everything was in a tailspin right now. He couldn’t believe he’d done it. He’d brought Gabby here. Safer than home but a whole different lion’s den. Not only had he brought her here, but he’d put her in Gage’s room, which was right next to him. Stupid or genius? He didn’t even know right now. Fuck.

  “Right out of the bottle?” asked Melissa from the front of the room she used as an office. “That’s not a good sign.”

  “I don’t want to talk,” he grumbled as he took another drink.

  “Fair enough. I thought you should know that I told Toni about our new addition and she’s on her way over.”

  “You’re telling me you screwed me over. Thanks so much for your honesty.”

  “Please. I didn’t do anything you didn’t already know I was going to do. If I recall, you never actually asked me to stay quiet about our houseguest.”

  “Why would you warn me you betrayed me if you didn’t already know I didn’t want you to say anything?”

  “Because we’re not friends, Hunter.”

  He frowned. He never really considered Melissa a friend. He didn’t know her well enough and knew far too much about the sins of her brother. Even so, hearing her say it out loud made him feel... guilty? He had never been anything close to rude to the girl, but he’d never said more than basic social pleasantries. No, they weren’t friends. “I guess we can’t all be Gage.”

  It was her turn to frown. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Sure, it wasn’t fair for him to bring up Gage just because he was annoyed. But it was in his nature. When he felt threatened, he was going to aim for the most vulnerable opening he saw. And for Melissa, her most vulnerable point was Gage. “I mean, he’s your friend, right? Maybe I should ask him some pointers for how to interact with you.”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t need pointers on how to interact with people.”

  He didn’t say anything. Instead, he just took another drink out of the bottle before one of Melissa’s hands shot out and ripped the bottle from him, a few precious drops spilling on the floor.

  “Don’t drink,” she snapped. “You have more than me to worry about right now,” she bit out before she turned and walked out, his drink in hand.

  He knew a few other places that Gage had hidden drinks around the house, but instead of hunting down something to raise his blood alcohol content, he crashed down on the closest armrest. Melissa was right. He brought Gabby here to keep her safe, and getting wasted wouldn’t help that at all.

  So instead of falling into depravation, he closed his eyes and took a breath. He wouldn’t sleep, but he would think. About the men who’d attacked Gabby. About his short time working for her father.

  And, of course, he’d think about Gabby.

  Gabby blinked, slowly remembering where she was. It wasn’t an unfamiliar sensation. How many times had she woken from one of her many naps in the car with Hunter and had to slowly come to the realization that she was in the car with a possible psychopath and had no idea where she was going or whether she was still in danger?

  But now it came back to her all too quickly. Her half-assed attempt to kiss Hunter. The man who’d destroyed Edna’s shop before getting shot by Hunter. The long car ride that brought her here. And then yesterday. She didn’t even know how to describe it. The time Hunter had loomed over her... ominously? Sensually? She bit her lip at the memory. It was as if he’d somehow touched every part of her, but she remembered that he hadn’t actually touched her at all.

  But the way he’d looked at her.... The way he seemed to absorb every inch of her without actually lifting a finger....

  Gabby shot up in bed, pushing the memories away. But then she was confronted with the tray sitting on the empty dresser in front of her. It was a pretty silver, old-fashioned thing with two different mugs on it, a bowl of fruit, and a plate with a bagel covered in cream cheese. If she wanted comfort, it was gone. Whoever had brought her the tray had probably meant to be nice, but the idea of someone coming in the room while she was sleeping was especially unnerving.

  And was it the woman she’d only met that one time for a few minutes? Or was it Hunter? She didn’t know which option was worse. Either way, the generosity was overshadowed by her unease. She stood and walked cautiously to the tray as though something were about to jump out and bite her.

  But the tray ended up being just as innocent as it appeared. There was one cup of coffee that was now only slightly warmer than room temperature, and a glass of milk. She didn’t have any appetite for food that could’ve been sitting there for a while, but she was interested in the phone
sitting on the tray next to everything else. Her phone.

  Somehow, she never thought she’d see it again. Hunter had seemed so adamant that she’d never be able to go home. She’d assumed someone who was going to keep her from everyone she ever knew would also cut her off from communication. Just because Hunter was giving her food and her phone didn’t make his kidnapping any better.

  Even more surprising than having her phone was when she looked for notifications and saw that the phone was at full power. She tucked the phone into her jeans, which she had officially been wearing too long now.

  Odd. She wanted to question what the hell Hunter thought he was doing, but at this point, her head hurt too much from questioning things. But there was a chance for answers. After she picked up her phone, she noticed the folded white piece of paper.

  She opened it to see the harsh writing meant for her. She immediately knew it was Hunter who left her the note. It was in pencil and the graphite lines were harsh and dark. As though Hunter had used all of his strength to push the pencil into the paper. Figures, he wouldn’t know how to hold back. The message was short and to the point. “Make yourself comfortable. Don’t run.”

  Hmm.... So was that why he’d left her phone? Was it a sign of trust? She checked and verified that she had cell service and internet. That was some trust. Even though Gabby knew she should be calling a cab and getting the hell out of here, she found herself putting the phone down. He wanted her trust, so she’d give him the benefit of the doubt for just a few minutes.

  She left breakfast untouched and went for the door, half expecting it to be locked. But surprising her once more, the door opened easily when she turned the handle. Now that she wasn’t exhausted or feeling as though she were being watched every second, she could take her time as she walked down the hallway.

  The walls were bare. No family pictures or memorabilia. Considering the computer setup when she walked in, maybe that made more sense. It wasn’t a home, but more of an office space with sleeping quarters.

  There were plenty of closed doors she passed, but she was too chicken to actually open any of the doors. Hunter could be behind any of them....

  Instead, she took the stairs until she reached the first level. It was eerily quiet. There was no Melissa around or Hunter. She was feeling less and less trapped by the second. She had her phone. She wasn’t under observation. Maybe Hunter really was trusting her.

  She made her way to the kitchen. There was coffee in the pot, which made sense considering she’d been brought a cup. This pot was also close to room temperature. It had obviously been made this morning, but not recently. So someone had been awake and moving around. In the pantry, she found a few boxes of protein bars and took her chances with the most chocolaty, least healthy looking one. As she nibbled on her breakfast dessert, she walked around more. If she’d thought the computers she saw set up in the front room had been intense, it was nothing compared to the massive layout in the living room. Where there should’ve been a couch and coffee table, a long three-by-ten-foot dining room table had monitors and desktop towers and laptops laid out on every available inch. And where the normal-sized television would be set up, there was a wall of big-screen LCD TVs set up in a grid pattern. From the little rubber strip on the floor covering a hump of wires, it looked like all the TVs were connected to one of the computers on the table. Basically one large monitor.

  Fancy. She looked around and had the strange thought that this place needed some flowers to lighten the mood.

  Great. She’d been away from the shop for a day and she already missed it.

  She was about to continue her search when she heard something toward the entryway. She ran toward the front of the house and saw the silhouette of two bodies through the frosted glass. She wanted to run back to her room, but she could already hear the key entering the lock. Damn it.

  She opened the first door she saw and burrowed herself in the coat closet. She started to pull the door shut, but decided to leave it slightly ajar when she heard the front door creak open. If she shut it now, they’d hear the noise. She left it cracked and quietly inched as far back as she could. Even though the crack of the open door provided hardly any light, she was suddenly aware that she was right next to Hunter’s jacket. She didn’t need light to recognize his smell. And damn it if she didn’t take a deeper inhale when she realized she was smelling him....

  “Of course there’s no one here,” mumbled a female voice. “They’re all hiding.”

  “It’s early. They’re sleeping,” said a much more reasonable male voice.

  “Psssh. If Hunter knows what’s good for him, he’ll be hiding.”

  Gabby straightened. Who were these people? Were they coming after her?

  “Just talk to him first.”

  “No, Scott. I don’t want any of your reasonable bullshit, okay? We have simple rules. We’re nice to the guys. We don’t demand too much of them. But the one very simple, very reasonable rule is that they don’t go off on their own without at least letting us know. Now he comes back and brings some stranger with him? We just got this place set up. If we have to move again because he’s going renegade, there’s going to be hell to pay.”

  “If he was reckless, I’ll make sure he gets what’s coming to him. Trust me. But I think we owe him the benefit of the doubt.”

  “Stop being so nice, please.”

  “Do you want me to not be nice?”

  “You know I only find you sexy when you’re mean.”

  “I happen to know you find me sexy under all circumstances,” the man, Scott, said in a low voice.

  Gabby shuddered as she suddenly realized she was overhearing an all-too-personal conversation.

  “Accurate.” The woman sighed. There was a moment of silence, and Gabby didn’t want to think about what they were doing.

  Finally, the man spoke again. “I want to handle this carefully. I don’t know what this Gabriella Cooper is involved in.”

  “The whole thing is a mess. I looked at the police reports. Vandalism, murder, and flowers. Nothing that goes together. And the girl they arrested had absolutely no evidence showing how she’s involved with anything.”

  Gabby stiffened. Who the hell was arrested? She leaned forward, and a little jingle made her go still again. Damn it, Hunter had left his keys in his jacket. Gabby held her breath as she waited to hear whether they’d discovered her.

  However, the rattle of the keys that had seemed deafening to her must not have registered to anyone else.

  “So what do you want to do? Storm in on Hunter and demand answers?”

  “You know he won’t respond to that.”

  “What about good cop bad cop?” she asked.

  “No bad cops. Hunter probably had good reason. We’ll ask him like we’re his friends.”

  The woman let out a snort. “Yeah. Because Hunter is known for all his friends.”

  “He has us, though. Remember that he’s not our enemy.”

  “What about the woman he brought into our house?”

  “One step at a time. Do you want me to bring the luggage in or—” Gabby couldn’t see what was happening, but the man immediately changed his tone. “Okay, we’ll go see Hunter now. You lead the way.”

  She heard them walk away, and the footsteps became quieter and quieter. Gabby finally emerged from the closet and was alone once more in the entryway. She tried to figure out what had happened. She’d been gone for a day and someone had been arrested. “She,” they’d said. Her heart sunk as she took her phone out of her pocket and looked up the small local newspaper online. Sure enough, there was a link to an article about what had happened. There was one suspect arrested in the mess, and her picture was flashed lower in the article.

  Kate.

  Hunter opened the door to his room before Toni had a chance to knock. “Morning,” he said as he looked down at her. Toni might be short, but she more than made that up with attitude and the unwavering willingness to follow through on any threat she
gave.

  “Morning my ass.”

  “Toni,” muttered her boyfriend. “Good cop.” Scott Hart had a tendency to fall behind Toni, offering constant support and seemingly letting her walk all over him. But if you spent enough time with the couple, it became apparent that Hart wasn’t a doormat for Toni. In fact, seeing the two of them fight was one of the oddest experiences of his life. The room would go quiet as they’d stare each other down. The silent battle might go on for a few seconds or a few minutes, and Toni would be the one who gave in half the time. Hunter had a feeling she could win almost any fight with fists or words, but that silent strength that Hart would shoot at her would somehow break her down.

  Unfortunately, Hunter didn’t have that silent fight capability.

  “You brought a stranger into my home without prior approval or even thinking to mention it to me. Want to explain yourself?”

  “I was helping a friend in need. Isn’t that what we do now? We help people.”

  Even though he’d given an honest answer, somehow Toni seemed more upset by his words. “Tell me something, Hunter,” she asked all too innocently. “If you think it’s something we do and that I’d be okay with it, why didn’t you ask me first?”

  Hunter was quiet. Sometimes if there was nothing good to say, silence was the best policy.

  But, as he figured, Hart and Toni already knew everything he didn’t want them to. “Tell me about the Cooper family. Is that what this is about?”

  “That’s a possibility.”

  “Let me tell you about them,” said Toni in a not-so-helpful tone. “Mason Cooper was arrested under the RICO Act. He was messed up in dirty politics, money laundering, and got most of his own personal political fundraising from sizable donations from the local drug runners. Competing drug runners. It was almost a blessing that he got arrested or they probably would’ve killed him for running both sides. I also am aware that you worked for this man before shooting down one of his hired hands when you were a kid before Sterling pulled you out to groom you to be his personal guard dog. I get all of that. Dirty politician, young kid doing what he could to make a living until things went wrong. All of that makes sense to me. But what caused you to haul his daughter—who, by all reports is innocent, by the way—back here? And what caused the shootout in a fucking florist shop that ended up with one person dead that I’m sure you had nothing to do with? And, most importantly, why am I learning all this from Melissa and hacking into some local police databases instead of straight from your fucking mouth?”