Page 19 of Prettiest Little Thief (Band of Thieves #1)

The only thing I could think about today was getting to Monroe.

The entire way to the airport, the entire flight… Every. Fucking. Second.

There has never been a woman to completely snatch my attention. It was foreign territory for me. I needed to get to her no matter what. Even if I didn’t have the backup from anyone.

Luckily for me, I had done business with some of the most notorious gang leaders around. So, a couple of phone calls to call in favors was all I needed to get the reinforcements to put the Crimsons in line.

“Is she doing okay?” Rafael asked just as my foot hit the main level.

“She’s… comfortable. But I’m going to grab her some pain medicine.”

Fox, Rafael, and Evie stood together; arms crossed over their chests.

I didn’t quite know Monroe’s relationship with the Raf, and it sent a twinge of jealousy through me. He was at the museum the night Monroe was taken. Apparently, he and Fox were there to create a distraction.

“You aren’t going to have some fancy doctors come to check her out?” Evie asked. A lioness ready to pounce .

I smirked. “Nice to meet you too. And yes, a doctor will be here in the morning to check her over. I’m going to try to keep her from being taken to the hospital. But if they think it’s necessary, we will go from there. For now, she’s resting.”

“Oh.” She dropped her attitude.

Evie’s protectiveness was a good thing. Especially after that douchebag Frankie left Monroe high and dry. She had people who cared about her and watched out for her.

“Fox, can I get a moment?” I asked.

With a nod, he followed me into the kitchen, where I started to rummage through the medicine cabinet.

“What’s up, Lucas? Are you good?” Fox halted just near the island and observed me.

“I asked her to marry me,” I said as the search continued for anything that could take away Monroe’s pain.

“I’m sorry. I must have gone completely deaf for a moment.” He stuck his finger in his ear, pretending to clear it. “Come again?”

“For her own safety, I asked Monroe to marry me.”

“I’m confused.”

“About what?” I found the bottle and set it on the counter and turned to face my best friend. My back against the countertop.

“Why would you ask her to be your wife? I thought you couldn’t stand her.”

“She’s… different than I thought. And if I can get her to a point where she’s safe, we can divorce. After she helps us get the second half of Anastasia’s Keepsake. ” I ran my hand over the stubble on my jaw. A reminder of how badly I needed to shave.

“Did she agree?” Fox placed his hands on the counter, a look of disbelief still plastered on his face .

“Not yet.”

He choked on a laugh. “Did you think Roe would just give in to you so easily?”

“No.” A pause as Fox raised his brows at me. “Yes. It’s the logical thing for her to do. But she also doesn’t want this type of life anymore. At least if she does this last job, she won’t have to worry about it. That will be the end of her criminal career.”

“Dude, you’ve been an asshole from the moment you met her. You can’t expect this shit to go smoothly. I mean, you can’t just help her out without the rings and paper?”

“I couldn’t promise that shit wouldn’t hit the fan again. If something happens to me because of Christian—”

“No. Don’t even say it. I will fucking kill Christian myself if he pulls some psycho shit like your dad did.” The anger on Fox’s face let me know how serious he was.

I scratched my head. “I don’t know, man. I feel bad. I didn’t realize that her stealing my car and me keeping her here would end up with her being brutalized by Charles’s minions.”

“You couldn’t know. She kept that to herself, and none of that would show up in background checks. Would you have done anything differently if you did know about it?”

My jaw clenched as I thought about how angry I was when I first met Monroe. “I think so. If I found her believable.”

“And now that you know what type of person she is, you want to keep her protected?”

“I do. That’s why I figured marriage would be a good thing. I could pay off her debt to the Crimson Brotherhood in exchange for her helping us get the chest.”

Fox shook his head. “I never thought I would see the day.”

“What?” A frown formed on my face .

“The day my guy fell for a woman. And one that crashed his car, no less. I knew you had the hots for her, but this is some next level shit.” A wild grin spread across his face, and his eyes glinted with knowing.

“Shut the fuck up, Fox.” I tried to sound pissed off, but it fell flat. Fox had a way of getting me to lower my guard, and a smile tipped up at my lips.

“Oh man, you have it so bad!”

“Remind me why we’re friends again,” I replied.

“Because you know I won’t wither under your evil stare, and I can handle your bullshit.”

“I should fire you.”

A loud laugh left him. “You can’t and you won’t. But don’t tell Roe that. I told her otherwise.”

As silence started to fill the kitchen again, and I asked, “What’s the deal with Monroe and Rafael?” I had to know. It was eating at my insides.

“I wouldn’t worry about Raf. He owns the chop shop she would bring the stolen cars to. Seems like a cool dude. He wanted to make sure she was all right.” Fox shrugged.

“No past experiences with her?”

“Naw, Lucas. As far as I know, she hasn’t been with anyone since Frankie. At least, that’s what she told me.”

Frankie. I hated that motherfucker. I would break all of his fucking fingers for touching her if I could. For even thinking about touching her.

The fact that he even got the opportunity to get Monroe off created a current of envy within me.

“You’re thinking too much about it. Which means you want to bang Monroe.” Fox snapped his fingers and pointed at me like he had just figured out the greatest mystery of all .

“I’m not going to even reply to that comment.” Instead, I went to the cupboard that housed glasses and filled it up with water.

“Does it make you mad, bro? That she fucked that loser but hasn’t gotten down and dirty with you?

“Fuck off,” I grumbled and snatched the bottle of medication as I strode toward the archway to exit the kitchen.

“Just admit it! You’ll feel better,” he yelled after me, a deep chuckle echoing.

If we weren’t such great friends, I would have knocked his ass out. I flipped him off over my shoulder without turning around, which only sent him into hysterical laughter.