Page 7 of Prettiest Little Thief (Band of Thieves #1)

Evie did indeed give Fox her number. It put him into a slightly better mood after the phone call. Even still, the energy of the night had shifted. Tension was in the air. The shots and drink had done nothing to stop the worry about arriving back at Lucas’s.

Are we going to fight again?

Fox was quiet on the drive home, and I didn’t want him to be in trouble because I had him take me out.

But I’d needed it. I could have stolen a car and taken myself; however, that would have gone over much worse than just having Fox escorting me.

Who knew how long I’d be stuck here. And worse, when I was done doing this job, how was I going to finish paying off my loan?

If I didn’t give them a payment soon, they’d come looking for me.

The possibility of me being able to go back to stealing cars was slim.

I had been lucky this time because of Lucas. Next time, not so much.

We arrived safe and sound at Lucas’s home, and I pulled my coat around my shoulders until we entered through the front doors. I had figured he’d be ready to attack on the other side as soon as I came in. But he was nowhere to be seen.

“He’s in his office.” Fox nodded toward the left. “He wants to talk to you.”

Great. I trudged into the office, where Lucas sat at his desk with papers strewn across it, not bothering to acknowledge my entrance as I sat in one of the chairs available.

After a minute, I let out an exaggerated sigh. Lucas still didn’t take his eyes from the forms on his desk. “Fox shouldn’t be in trouble. I asked him to take me,” I muttered.

His cutting gaze locked onto me. “I’m the one to decide if he’s in trouble or not. I wasn’t told about your little outing. You’re sorely mistaken if you think you can come here and do whatever the hell you want with my employees.”

“There’s no reason for me to be inside these walls twenty-four seven. You don’t own me,” I snarled. Animosity bubbled over. I wasn’t a caged animal.

Lucas let out a laugh, his head kicked back. “Again, you’re mistaken. I can send your ass back to jail with just one phone call. You will do as I say until our deal is completed. Understood?”

I wanted nothing more than to throw myself across the desk and throttle him. But I sat perfectly still, my knuckles bleached white with how hard I clutched the arms of the chair.

“Do you understand me, Monroe?” Lucas said, again.

“Fine.” I pushed to my feet and stormed to the door.

“Before you go, there’s one more thing I need to discuss with you.” He sat back in his leather chair.

I wanted to continue walking away, but he held one of the most important things over me.

My freedom. So, I stopped in my tracks and turned to face him once again.

With my arms crossed over my chest, I noticed Lucas’s gaze lingering on my attire.

All the way to my knee-high boots and up to my hair.

His lips twitched, but he seemed to remember himself and cleared his throat.

“Since you’re not able to immediately retrieve the key, I figured you can come with me as my date to the masquerade.”

“Masquerade? You boujie people really do those things?” I asked.

“Yes. There’s a point in attending. The house it is being thrown at is where I’m positive it’s being kept.”

“We go in as guests and come out with more information on how to get it unseen?”

“Exactly. It’s in a few days, so I’ll have one of the designers come and fit you for a dress. It will be a tight deadline, but they’ll manage.” Lucas’s attention went back to the papers in front of him.

Dismissed. Not another word uttered. I stared at Lucas for a moment longer. His large hands, the tattoos that started at his wrists and wound around his muscled arms. All the way up to where the fabric of his shirt cut off the rest of his skin.

I wondered briefly how much of him was covered in art. How long it took him to acquire such detailed work on his body. His eyes snapped up, as sharp as a predator. I swallowed thickly, spinning on my heel and speed-walking to my room.

***

Lucas hadn’t been present the next morning at breakfast. Or the next. Or the next. Fox was my constant companion, and even though I was curious as to where Lucas had gone, I didn’t want to ask. It may give Fox the wrong idea.

Lucas was handsome. Disgustingly so. He was also a control freak and grouch, which hugely offset his good looks. Kind of.

The designers had come and brought a plethora of dresses with them in every color and style imaginable. While I wasn’t really used to being dressed in something so incredibly expensive, I couldn’t help but feel like a princess in the red ensemble I had chosen. A slutty princess.

The moment the ruby-colored dress slid over my skin, I knew it was the one.

The V-neckline plunged to the middle of my stomach, dual thigh-high slits ended at my hips, and the back laced up.

Fox nearly choked when I stepped out of the bathroom in the gown.

Which was exactly the reaction I hoped to get from Lucas.

Just to piss him off. But I was pretty sure anything I had chosen would make him mad. He was constantly in an annoyed state.

When the night of the party came, I decided to wear a pair of gold strappy heels to match the golden mask I had chosen.

My hair was styled in loose waves, and I chose to accentuate my brown eyes with dark eyeshadow and winged eyeliner, since I didn’t think I would be wearing the mask the entire night.

I strode down the stairs, where at the bottom, Lucas waited with his back turned to me. He spoke quietly to Fox until Fox’s gaze landed on me and he let out a low whistle.

Lucas turned his attention in my direction, and surprise lit up his face.

Icy blue eyes trailed along every inch of my body, and a smirk pulled at his full lips.

Did he like what he saw? Based on the reaction Fox had given me and insane approval of my outfit choice from Evie, I would say my selection was mint. Chef’s freaking kiss.

Lucas didn’t look too bad himself. He was dressed in a classic tuxedo that hugged his fit form and a bowtie. The designers must have told him I was going to wear a gold mask, because he had a matching one in hand.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Lucas offered me his arm. Now it was my turn to be surprised. After a moment’s hesitation, I looped my arm into his as he led me out to the car. Fox was to be our chauffeur for the evening and would be on standby in case anything went wrong.

Fox opened the door for us, and we both slid into the car.

Lucas’s long legs made it almost impossible not to touch him with my bare thigh.

He didn’t seem to mind and kept his leg pressed against mine.

“You look beautiful, Monroe,” Lucas said.

His gaze lingered on my face, not daring to dip down to my breasts, which were pushed up nicely.

“Call me Roe. Monroe is what my mother called me.” I tried not to gape at the compliment.

“It isn’t a common first name.”

“No, she named me after Marilyn Monroe. But she didn’t like Marilyn as much as Monroe, so…” My sentence dropped off.

“She was a fan of Norma Jean then, huh?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“She was obsessed with her. I remember, growing up, she had everything you can think of with Marilyn on it. Blankets, mugs, even plates.” I giggled at the memory. Any time she came across something with her image, my mother would buy it.

“Does she still obsess over her?” My smile faltered, and I had to look away from Lucas, twisting my hands and staring out the window as lights blurred by.

“She, um… she passed away a few years back. But I kept a few of the things she treasured the most.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Lucas sounded sincere. I glanced back at him, and he was still staring at me.

“It was a while ago.” I shrugged, not sure of what else to say.

Lucas’s warm hand gripped mine and stopped my incessant fidgeting.

Somehow, the warmth of his hand calmed me.

Thoughts of my mother usually sent me into a downward spiral of sadness.

But… his touch grounded me. A pulse of energy surged through my fingertips and up my arm, bringing me back to the moment instead of the past I dreaded.

“Grief doesn’t have an expiration date, Monroe.” And that hit me hard. He was right, there was no timeline on feeling hurt. Or grief.

The car stopped in front of an even larger mansion than Lucas’s, pulling me from my thoughts of how he was affecting me. My body and mind. Why he was suddenly being so nice?

“Holy cow,” I said as I leaned over Lucas’s lap to get a better view of the property. “And I thought your place was ridiculous.”

“Ridiculous?” The door opened, and I released Lucas’s hand and climbed over his body. There were probably some areas of him I hadn’t meant to touch, but I definitely did. Man parts, in case it wasn’t obvious.

He chuckled deeply, the sound giving me goosebumps. It was a real laugh, and he exited the car behind me. “I would have moved out of your way if I had known you were this excited,” he said.

“Sorry. I get hyped up sometimes and forget my manners.” He offered me his arm again and I took it. The air outside prickled against my exposed skin, and I shivered.

“Are you cold?”

“I’m fine,” I lied, and then my teeth started to chatter.

“Liar.” Lucas unbuttoned his tux jacket, sliding it from his body and placing it over my shoulders. I basked in the leftover heat and wished I could burrow inside of it. “We’ll be inside in a few minutes. They like to check our invitations.”

“How do you know they have the key?” I kept my voice low.

“Sebastian, the owner of this house, and I are acquaintances. An informant here told me that Bash's grandfather had acquired it on a trip out of the country. Just happens to be lucky that it’s here.”

“An informant? You just have undercover spies or something?”

He chuckled. “Something like that.”

“I guess money really can get you everything.”

“Not everything.” Lucas seemed to tense a bit.

“What’s so appealing about a key, anyway? I changed the subject, since something I’d said had sent a wave of tension through him.

Lucas leaned down, his breath clouding in front of him as he spoke.

“The artifact is said to have belonged to a woman named Ana. Hence, Anastasia’s Keepsake.

She was allegedly involved in an affair with a king.

The king would send his mistress gifts and letters unbeknownst to his wife, the key being one half of the gift.

Separated from the chest it opens over the years.

No one knows what’s inside the chest. There are speculations of a great treasure within but no solid evidence.

Apparently, Sebastian’s grandfather had taken a trip to Kiev and stumbled upon the relic in an old shop.

The chest wasn’t there, but the key was.

He searched for it until he died. No one knows how the seller came across the item, and, of course, it’s all conjecture.

It could very well be a piece of junk. Stories tend to change over time, lies and truths becoming intermingled. ”

My brows shot up. I was about to ask why it was now in his sights, but I had a feeling he wouldn’t tell me. It made no difference. This was just another job—with the ultimate prize, my freedom. “And you need me to be the person to help you obtain the key?”

“There are certain qualifications that you meet that made me think you’d be the perfect candidate.”

“Like stealing cars?” I asked with a grin.

“Yes. Stealing cars and absolutely wrecking them.” Lucas didn’t seem angry about it anymore.

He smirked, and his eyes glistened in the low lighting as he straightened up to his full height again.

I wasn’t sure what had caused the shift in Lucas’s demeanor, but I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. If he remained pleasant, so would I.

We continued on through the front door once our invitation was scanned, and I handed off his suit jacket to the coat check.

Instrumental music played, the lights were dim, and conversations of guests buzzed through the room.

People laughed and mingled in every direction, all dressed to the nines.

There was a full bar with bartenders, and my intention was to go directly there to get a drink to calm my nerves.

The anxious energy that hummed in my chest was almost too much.

When I took a step in the direction of the bar, though, Lucas caught me by the waist. His hand was gentle, and he squeezed my side.

The heat sent a zing of energy through my body, warming my insides.

It was hard not to gasp at the sensation.

At the unusual feeling it provoked from deep within me.

He brought his mouth to my ear, his breath skating across my neck. “Going somewhere?”

“I need a drink.” My voice came out husky and low.

“I’ll go with you. The sharks are out, and you’re the virgin blood in open water.

” I searched around the room and noticed how many people were staring at me.

Gazes peered at me from behind their masks as they whispered to each other.

I was fresh meat, and they could sense it.

I gave him a sharp nod, and without removing his hand, he strode alongside me to the bar.

“Two shots of the best tequila you have,” I told the bartender.

“I’ll have a gin and tonic,” Lucas said from beside me. He was close. Almost too close. His hand still rested on my hip, and even though I loved basking in the intensity of Lucas Knight, he was still the jerk who was controlling my every move.

The inferno that had worked its way up my spine and through my limbs sputtered at the thought. I stepped away from his reach, his hand dropping to his side. Lucas didn’t seem to mind, and we both took our drinks once they were presented in front of us.

I slugged back both of the shots without taking a breath and shivered at the taste. Lucas’s chuckle rang in my ears, and it pleasantly settled across my flesh. When I glanced up at him, he had a smirk plastered on his handsome face, those piercing eyes locked on me.

“Are you planning on pacing yourself or getting completely obliterated tonight?” he asked.

My tongue swept across my glossy lips; he watched the movement. “It depends how the next couple of hours go.”

“Try not to get too drunk before we go search for the key.”

“Noted,” I replied and immediately ordered two more shots.