Page 48 of Sticky Fingers

“I just wanted to have fun. I was bored.” Her fake pout at her words is over the top and stops as soon as it began. “But really…if you’re talking about art theft, I’m really just an amateur.”

“Did you steal other things?” I ask.

She shrugs, then grows serious as she looks at me.

“I grew up without a mom,” she starts. “She died in childbirth. So, I was pretty much raised by my Dad—who was driven by his career. Police commissioner is the apex of his professional ambition, but at home, he’s done as good a job as he could.”

I pause, letting Sonia continue.

“A part of that meant protecting me. From the world,” she says as I nod my head in understanding.

What father hasn’t wanted to protect their beautiful daughters from the ugliness of the world? Hell, from people like me?

“He wouldn’t let me date till I left the house to go to college. Even in college, he had his people watching me. You never know how many eyes are on you when every single NYPD officer and civilian knows your face and is watching out for you,” Sonia says.

“That must have been rough,” I say.

Sonia rolls her eyes. “Especially if you’re going to college at NYU. Want to go out for a drink on a Thursday? Cops watching me. Want to go ditch class and go to the beach? Plainclothes officers tailing me on the way to Long Island. It got so bad that I started figuring out ways to dip under the radar and break free,” she confides.

“You got good at that?” I ask.

She nods. “That’s how it started. Get out from the watchful eyes and lose your tail. Maybe stop the cab in the middle of traffic. Maybe dart into the subway and then go out the other way once the people assigned to watch over you run in. But once you’re free, what do you do? Well, my first thought was do something bad. Something you’re not supposed to do.”

I keep nodding. I can understand where she’s coming from.

“At first it was just go buy a move ticket and stay and sneak into all the other movies. But then there was the thrill of shoplifting. The more expensive the item, the more the thrill. The accomplishment of illicit victory. And then it became art.”

“All so you can feel free.”

“So I can feelalive.”

We sit in silence for a bit before Sonia dives back into her sushi.

I sit and wonder if I could have found anyone more interesting to spend time with. She might be a bit of a fucking lunatic but…aren’t we all?

Besides, the way she shakes everything off as inconsequential and does exactly what she damn well pleases is so fucking hot. I bet if I told her to blow me under this table, she would think about it for three seconds before diving under the table cloth.

So fucking hot.

I’m so due for some great fucking karma.

She’s exactly what I need.

“Alright, so you like fun, huh?”

Grabbing my cell phone on the table, I hit the speed dial for my limo and driver. I tell him to come pick me up in a voice that Sonia can hear. As I end the call and place the phone back on the table, I look into her eyes and smile defiantly.

“What was that?” Sonia asks, her eyes curious.

“Baby,” I say with a drawn-out breath afterwards, “that was me getting ready to show you something that is definitely not boring.”

“Oh?” Sonia asks. “When?”

“Now.”

Pulling out my wallet, I drop a few bills on the table to cover our check and then some.

“Now?” Sonia asks, her eyes wide.