Page 76 of Pack of Crooks

I ignore the thought and quickly tap in the code. Holding my breath, I send a little prayer to the guy in the sky, hoping he’ll forgive all of my many, many past transgressions. The key pad flashes green and I exhale. With adrenaline rushing through me, I open the safe and go on my toes to peek inside.

A gun. Stacks of money. Documents. I grab those and delicately leaf through them, but they’re a bunch of contracts that mean nothing to me. Sighing, I place them back and look for the thumb drive or external hard drive, but they’re not here. The stairs creak.

“Shit,” I mutter under my breath, checking to make sure the safe is just how I found it before closing and locking it and snapping the picture back into place. A shaky breath stutters through my lungs and I make it ten steps away from the painting, pretending to stare at the bookshelves, when the butler’s scent fills the room.

“What are you doing?”

I whirl around and fake surprise. “Oh.” I titter. “Sorry, I saw the library and I wanted to peek.”

He scowls. “You should leave.”

“Right.” I smooth my hands over my outfit. “I’ll just be going then.”

The butler makes a sound, and if I actually gave a shit what he thought, it would cut through me. I don’t, so I keep my smile on my face and head to the door, hating that I didn’t find what the guys wanted. Hopefully they won’t be too disappointed.

When I get in the cab, I send them a text.

I didn’t find anything.

EZRA

Fuck.

MAD

He must have gotten rid of the evidence.

KILL

On to Plan B.

I’m sorry.

EZRA

You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s okay. We’ll regroup and make a plan.

I lock the phone and stifle the worries. This pack is nothing like my mom. They’ve given me no reason to think that they’d lie about it being okay and then freak out on me later. I want to ask if Kill is still planning to come over, but I don’t want to come across as desperate or insecure. Instead, I chew on my cheek, watching the scenery pass by while I work through my baggage and tell myself everything is fine.

They’re a good pack.

Lying in the dark, I stare at the ceiling, counting in my head, hoping Kill doesn’t disappoint me. They can’t break into the apartment anymore, but that doesn’t mean I can’t go meet him outside. Part of me still wonders if my failure to find anything in the safe will change his mind. Like our relationship hinges on me being valuable. I try not to give that thought too much attention.

My screen lights up and I practically jump off the couch, shoving my feet into my boots. There’s no way I’m wearing flats at night in this part of town. Too many creepy crawlies.

I let myself out of the apartment, lock the door, and tuck my key into my bra, tiptoeing down the stairs so I don’t wake the other residents. The light in the small lobby flickers off and on, but Roger would never invest in updating the electrics. He’s too cheap.

The fall air is cool and I shiver as it washes over me, scanning the street for Killian. I take a step away from the building. Maybe he’s across the street?

Arms wrap around me. One hand on my stomach and the other on my mouth. My heart leaps into my throat, and chocolate and vanilla surround me. The moment of fright dissipates and is quickly replaced by excitement. I tip my head back, find Kill’s smiling face, and grin against his palm.

“Hello, pretty thief.”

“Alpha,” I say, the word stifled.

With a hum, he uncovers my mouth and glides his hand to my throat. “What are you doing walking around at night all by your lonesome?”

“Looking for my alpha,” I rasp, reaching up to play with the hairs at the base of his neck. “And here he is.”