Page 17 of Prettiest Little Thief (Band of Thieves #1)

Lucas refused to let me walk through the house of the Crimson leader.

He scooped me up into his big, tattooed arms as if I weighed nothing. With no more energy to hold my head up, it lolled to the side and right into his muscled chest. The scent of him surrounded me, and my heart settled into a soft rhythm. Anxiety fled and consciousness waned.

I heard the voices of men around me as Lucas carried me to the car. I could have sworn Raf was one of the deep timbres that circled around me. But that couldn’t be right. Raf didn’t know Lucas.

He had saved me. Never in a million years would I have thought Lucas Knight would rescue me. And in doing so, it led to a ton of questions that muddled my thoughts. Uncertainty skittered through me that I didn’t really know who the grumpy business owner was.

What I did know was he shot Rocco without remorse for hurting me. And he called me… his .

Maybe I was overthinking it. Maybe I was so dazed from the brutal attack from Rocco that he had never even said it. That had to be it. Because Lucas hated me .

After we arrived back at Lucas’s, he lifted me in his arms again and carried me straight up the stairs to the bathroom that was attached to my room.

When he tried placing me on my feet, I nearly collapsed from lack of energy the moment my flesh touched the cold tile.

But Lucas caught me around the waist and had me sit on the edge of the tub before he reached over and turned on the hot water.

“A bath?” I croaked.

Lucas tested the temperature with his hand and glanced at me. “Yes, Monroe. A bath.” His hard face was on display again. Any softness that had been there previously was gone.

“Why?” I wrapped my arms around my middle.

“For one, you’ve been shivering since I found you.” He was right, I was freezing. My arms and legs were covered in goosebumps, and my body wouldn’t stop shaking. “And two, I want to clean the blood from you.”

“I can do it.”

“No. You can’t”. He left no room to argue, his sharp gaze firm. With the lack of energy I had, I could barely sit up straight.

And even though I didn’t want Lucas to see me broken, bruised, and naked , leaving me by myself was probably not the best idea.

My hands trembled as I reached to pull my shirt over my head. Lucas averted his gaze to give me an iota of privacy and poured bubble bath into the water. The smell of eucalyptus wafted into the air. I inhaled and tugged my shirt off, dropping it to the floor.

Before taking off my bra, I removed the necklace from around my throat.

With dirty hands, I nudged Lucas’s arm. His attention snapped to me, his eyes trailing down from my face to my battered body.

Violet bruises lined my ribs. Blood from the blow to my nose had soaked through my shirt and stained my skin.

“Fuck,” he grunted. A pained look crossed his face. But then his eyebrows raised the moment he saw the relic in my hand.

“I managed to get the key before the Tweedles rolled up on me and Evie.”

Lucas’s lips twitched. “Tweedles?” He gently picked the necklace up from my palm, our fingers touching. Electricity zapped through my hand and up my arm, a warming sensation rushing straight through my chest.

I cleared my throat as I drew my hand back, digging my nails into my palm.

“Yeah. Two idiots. Rocco being the biggest one.” I began to unbutton my jeans, trying to get to my feet.

Lucas placed the antiquity on the counter.

“Here let me help you.” He held out a hand to help me stand.

“Hold onto the wall if you can.” I followed his instructions, and he hooked his fingers into my pants, pulling them down gently.

A hiss left me, as more bruises peppered my thighs.

Lucas frowned as he took the marks in. “Did he…” His gaze slid to my face.

I shook my head. “No. Thank god.” Biting my lip, I stared down at the man who saved me, and relief flashed across his handsome face.

Gently, he continued to pull the fabric from my legs and off of my feet until I stood sans clothes.

Only a matching underwear and bra set covered my most private parts.

I wouldn’t consider myself an overly modest woman, but the thought of Lucas seeing me completely nude had a lump forming in my throat.

“Do you need help with…” His eyes slid down my body and landed on my panties.

I swallowed down a laugh, as hard as that was to do, and rolled my lips in an effort to keep the giggles from bubbling up.

I stared down at a hunk of a man kneeling at my feet.

His sandy colored hair was disheveled, a couple days’ worth of stubble peppered his square jaw, full lips downturned in seriousness.

The most handsome man I had ever laid eyes on, and he was asking me if I needed help taking my underwear off. And not for the sake of sex.

“I think I can manage,” I finally murmured.

Lucas pushed to his feet again as I leaned against the wall for support and unhooked my bra, letting the straps fall off my shoulders and onto the floor.

His eyes wandered around the bathroom, but he stayed close, probably in case I fell, he would be at an arm’s length.

Then, I proceeded to push my panties over my hips, wiggling them the rest of the way down.

“Okay,” I said. Lucas held out his hand, and I slipped mine into his, the beastly-sized mitt dwarfing mine.

He still didn’t look at my goodies. More of a gentleman than I would have expected from him.

My steps were sluggish as I placed one foot into the tub at a time and sank down into the blessedly hot water. It soothed my aches and the pain that radiated from muscles to bone. The bubbles were thick and high enough to completely cover my breasts.

Lucas finally gave in and brought his eyes to mine. “Did you plan on getting the keepsake when I was gone?” His eyebrows inched up his forehead as he strode the short distance to the cabinet, pulled out a few washcloths, and came back to me, sinking to my level. “Well?”

I licked my lips. “Yes. We planned it around your trip.” All the while, Lucas squeezed body wash onto the cloth and lathered it before swiping it across one of my shoulders. I flinched. Not from pain but from being startled by his gentleness .

Never would I have imagined that this grumpy man had such a caring and soft side to him. He continued to wash my shoulders, neck, and back. “I figured we would do it together.”

“I convinced Fox that we should do it without you.”

“And why would you convince him of that?” Lucas pushed my tangled hair over to one side.

“Because you’re a grouchy control freak.” Not an ounce of regret from my confession.

Lucas barked out a laugh. “I admit, I don’t think anyone has ever said it to my face.”

I turned my head to face him. Those bright eyes of his stared into my soul. “Besides, this was my job to pay you back. I can leave now. You have what you want… the key. I have to get back to paying the Crimson Brotherhood.”

“What exactly do you owe those assholes for?”

I sighed and turned back to face forward and stare at the wall in front of me. Lucas picked up one of my arms, scrubbing my skin in soft circles. “Do you remember when I told you my mom died?”

He grunted and mumbled, “Yes.”

“Well, before she died, she had cancer.” My mind flashed back to the memories of my mom in the hospital with stage four breast cancer. She had been so frail. So small. The opposite of the person she was prior to her diagnosis.

Mom was the person who lit up a room with her smile. With a big personality, she was patient and kind. She never let my excessive energy levels as a child bother her.

“The doctors, they said there were all sorts of new drugs and new experimental treatments. I didn’t want to lose her.

She was… she was my everything. My rock, my best friend.

I had tried going the traditional route and applied for personal loans, so ld everything that I owned.

No bank would give a college dropout without a job a dime.

And anything I sold wasn’t enough to begin treatments. So, I went to Charles.”

Lucas had stopped his movements, listening to the why and how of my life.

A thief’s truth. I continued. “Charles gave me the money upfront, and so long as I made payments, he was willing to work with me. But she died anyway. All of it was for nothing. And still, I had given him every payment as he asked. Until…”

“Until I forced you to repay me,” Lucas growled, dropping the washrag.

I placed my hand over his as it rested on the side of the tub. The energy between us pulsed through the smallest of touches.

“I don’t blame you. For any of this. I did this all to myself.”

“No.” His jaw clenched, the muscles fluttering beneath his flesh. “It’s my fault. I couldn’t let it go.”

I sat up straighter. “Lucas, I got what I deserved. I’ve stolen, cheated in life. I crashed your freaking car. It’s karma at its finest.”

“It’s not. You may be a thief, and you may have crashed my car, but you’re a good person.

I see it in everything you do. In how you are with people.

Now I understand why you chose this path.

And I can’t blame you for the choices you’ve made.

I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same.

” He turned his hand, threading his fingers with mine, and the sweet moment quickened my pulse.

With his free hand, he pushed a strand of my hair behind my ear.

The rush of tears burned the back of my eyes, but I didn’t want to cry in front of Lucas. I suppressed the urge to let them fall. “I don’t want to do this anymore.”

“Do what?” he asked .

“Be a thief. Be a bad person. Take from others to pay my debt.” My throat clogged with emotion.

“Oh,” he replied. His face was crestfallen.

“What? Did I say something wrong?”

He shook his head. “I just had an idea, but it’s okay.” Lucas started to stand, but I gripped his hand to keep him in place.

“Tell me about your idea.” Maybe it would get my mind off of everything.

“I… I don’t want to make you feel like it’s something you have to do.”

“ Tell me ,” I implored.

Lucas settled back into his previous position. More at ease. “How much do you owe Charles?”

“About eighty grand.” I cringed at the number. The payments I had made hardly put a dent in what I owed the Crimsons.

“I have another proposition for you.” My stare locked on Lucas, and seconds ticked by as I waited for him to send me on some ridiculous job for him now. “Marry me, and I’ll pay off the debt for you.”