Page 9 of The Wrong Idea (The Kinky Bank Robbers #2)

Chapter Seven

“We’ll need nice clothes for Guvvey’s,” Thor said. “Can we sneak by the hideout and grab our suits?”

Zeus shook his head. “We can’t go back there until Manning’s done sweeping and monitoring it. Our enemies came too close. We’ll hit the hideout after we know it’s clean. Only after it’s clean. Tonight maybe.”

“I’m good with that,” I said. “Better safe than sorry.”

Odin watched Zeus closely. He had objections.

“What? Our enemies are onto us,” Zeus barked at Odin. “We can’t wreak vengeance against those who wronged us if we’re dead. We let Manning do his job, ensure it’s clean.”

“I’m not talking about the hideout; I’m talking about the Prime Royale. You seriously want us to knock over the Prime Royale? How is that not a death wish?”

“Because we’re awesome at robbing banks,” Zeus said. “That’s how.”

Thor and Odin grumbled.

Our little group was a democracy when it came to hotels and restaurants, but we were an army when it came to criminal activity, and Zeus was the commander in chief.

Why were they feeling so unhappy about the idea of robbing the Prime Royale? What was so different about the it?

“I want to make another safety sweep of the hotel,” Thor said. “Let me take Ice to check out the atrium.”

Zeus nodded. “Good idea.”

I threw on some clothes. My guys had gotten concerned about picking up tails lately. The enemy was getting smarter. We couldn’t rest just because I was fake dead.

Five minutes later, Thor and I were strolling off the tenth-floor elevator.

This was one of those hotels where rooms looked out over an interior courtyard.

You couldn’t see that much from this high up…

unless you were a super high-functioning criminal who had glasses with a small scope attached to them.

I leaned over the railing next to Thor, who was discreetly examining the people lounging around below. I was giving him cover, making this look like a romantic liaison instead of a spying liaison.

A giant plastic dolphin was suspended from the atrium ceiling, apparently in mid-jump, just hanging there over a reflecting pool far down below.

“Every time I come out here, I just itch to shoot the chain and send that dolphin into that pool down there,” Thor said.

I smiled. “And let him complete his jump?”

“I’m not joking. I really want to.”

I frowned. “For real? Dude, it’s a giant plastic dolphin”

“Yesterday I brought my piece out here. With a silencer.”

My heart pounded. “No.”

“It’s not like it would hit anyone,” he said. “It would just fall in the pool.”

“There are other problems with shooting down that thing than whether it hits people or not.”

“I just wanted to release him. Give him a little resolution.” He sounded weary.

“But you know you so shouldn’t, right?”

After a bit too much hesitation, he said, “Right. It’s just, you know . Mid-jump. He’s trapped.”

“It’s art.”

Thor grunted.

The conversation worried me.

I sometimes felt Thor straining at the bonds of this life. Always on the run, taking chances. I thought about a certain experience that might be called the orgasm-while-weaving-around-in-traffic-in-front-of-a-traffic-cop incident, which Thor recklessly incited.

Did he want to get caught? Did he want to bring things to a close?

A life of crime can be hard on people. My guys had been frank about that.

I’d had a difficult time deciding if I should say anything to Zeus about Thor’s recklessness that day in the car with the cops and the orgasm. I didn’t want to seem like a tattler.

And really, taking dangerous chances with the cops? Did that qualify as a problem in this new world? Flaunting the law was practically in the bank robber job description—right under “ability to effectively communicate hold-up demands” and “outstanding multitasking skills while wearing a mask.”

I’d asked Zeus about it in principle a while back—if there were things members should alert each other on.

Like things with Thor? he’d asked me.

Things with anyone, I’d said diplomatically.

Zeus had seen right through me. I’m well aware of where Thor is at, he’d said. I’ll figure something out.

“Imagine seeing it drop into that pool,” Thor said, interrupting my train of thought. “Not like anybody would know it was us. They’d think it broke.”

“You shouldn’t shoot down giant sculptures,” I said. “I think that’s a rule we could all agree on.”

“That’s why I want to do it,” he whispered. “Because I shouldn’t.” It was almost a confession.

It was then that I noticed he had his gun out.

“Put that away!” I said.

Thor grinned. “C’mon. It’ll be such a spectacle.”

“You can’t,” I said.

“I need to,” Thor said.

“You don’t need to do that, Thor,” I said. “Tell me what you really need.”

He just fingered the trigger.

I grabbed his chin and turned his face to me, staring into his blue eyes. “What do you need?” I asked, noting the weariness I saw there. Or was it sorrow?

“Fine.” Thor shoved the gun into his pants. “Come on.”

We continued on with the second half of the sweep, which involved a spin by the front desk and a stroll through the lower lounge.

Had he really been about to shoot that thing down? Did he want me to stop him? Or did he want me to watch?

I felt so worried. What did he need? He was so smart. Was he not being challenged? Was that the problem?

Zeus and Odin were still lounging in bathrobes when we got back to the hotel room.

“Isis needs a better gown for Guvvey’s this time,” Thor announced. “She deserves to go out there in style this time.”

“Take six large out of the case,” Zeus said to Thor. “You and Isis handle it.”

“Six is all we have left,” Thor said.

“Let’s blow it all tonight, then!” Zeus said. “Fuck it!”

“You better not buy me any fashion boy outfits,” Odin said.

“We’re getting you a double-breasted fancy suit and aviator glasses,” I teased.

“That settles it. I’m going with you,” Odin said.

“What the hell, we’ll all go shopping,” Zeus said.

I felt relieved. I wasn’t eager to go shopping with Thor alone, what with the reckless mood he seemed to be in.

“We go shopping and out to dinner at Guvvey’s,” Zeus announced.

“It’ll be like our first proper date. As a group.

” He pointed at all of us, one after another, and growled, “It’ll be a romantic date with no fucking until afterwards.

Got it? Because the four of us are like a couple, and that’s final. We are going to have a proper date.”

“You are so romantic.” I said it like I was joking, but it touched me that Zeus wanted the four of us to have a proper romantic date.

Thor turned to me and said, in his gravelly dirty-talk voice, “Then, after our romantic date, we will use your body mercilessly for our own gratification. We’ll tie you up so that you’re helpless and then fuck you like a whore.”

“Hmm,” I said jokingly, as if his words didn’t send a jolt of desire into my core.

Odin came over and drew a finger up my neck, stopping at the point below my chin. He tilted up my head, forcing me to stare into his eyes and at the bruise covering his cheekbone. “Is something-g amusing?” he asked me.

I swallowed. “No.”

He came closer, invading my space. I was feeling wild. I wanted to kiss him on the badass bruise.

“No, I think you are amused, Ice,” Odin said. “Do you think we use you like a whore for your fucking-g amusement?”

I swallowed, enjoying the feeling of being off-balance by his unpredictability. “No, Odin,” I said smoothly. “I don’t think you do it for my gamusement , no.”

Something flared in his eyes. “Oh, Isis.” He grabbed my wrists, squeezed. My heart sped. “That is what a naughty goddess says.” He walked me backwards until I hit the wall. He pressed me there, panting, looking strangely alive. “Bring me the case with the paddle,” he called.

My pulse raced. “The paddle ?” He’d only ever spanked me with his hand.

“You think this is for your fucking-g amusement. It is not.”

My heart pounded. Odin always pushed it. He understood me in a way that Zeus and Thor didn’t. He understood that thrills and danger called to me.

He lowered his voice. “You will take your punishment, and it will not be easy.”

“Jesus,” Zeus said. “Are we ever getting out of this hotel room or not?”

“I’ll get the case,” Thor said.

My insides turned to jelly. Odin nuzzled my cheek with his sandpapery whiskers, and I reveled in it. I felt completely receptive to him, at his mercy.

“You will take it, Isis.” He latched on to my earlobe with his teeth, and I melted. My nipples rubbed against the inside of my robe, still incredibly sensitive.

“I didn’t technically disobey,” I managed to whisper.

He said, “Not technically. But you did, Isis.”

“Did we not just agree to a romantic date?” Zeus demanded. He put on his sunglasses and hat, all ready to go, just as Thor came in with a small black case. A case of paddles?

“You’re right,” Odin said. “We must go on our date first.” He pulled away from me, amber eyes glittering, like he’d thought of something dastardly. He took the case from Thor, held it in front of him, unopened. My imagination began to run wild.

“What’s in there? D-do you have a lot of paddles?” I asked breathlessly.

“Zeus is right,” Odin said. “You will find out what’s in the case after our romantic date. And you will feel your punishment as you have felt nothing in your life.”

“Hold on,” I said. “You won’t show me now?” A wild thrill buzzed through me.

“You will wait,” he said, watching me watch the case. “And you will contemplate what it means to me that you would make fun of my fucking-g accent.” He smiled, daring me to say gaccent.

I wanted to say it—I wanted to!

Thor took one look at my expression and rolled his eyes. “Sweet Jesus,” he said. “Don’t say it or we’ll never get out of here.”

“You want to say it,” Odin said. “This, too, I will remember.”

I smiled. “You can’t get me on what I want to do!”

“I can get you on anything,” Odin said.

“Not fair!” I protested.

He lowered his voice to a rumble. “I can never be fair where you are concerned, baby.”

Heat blossomed between my legs. Whatever dirty punishment Odin had in mind, I wanted it to happen now , not tonight.

Odin smiled. He reached out and took the sunglasses Zeus handed him and put them on. They were junky mirrored sunglasses with purple frames in the shape of hearts, like something you’d make your dog wear in Facebook pictures. “Tonight,” he said.

With those glasses on, I could no longer see his eyes. Somehow the fact that I couldn’t see his eyes increased the thrill factor, which was also amped up by the sheer weirdness of the glasses.

He smiled again. “You like them? Perhaps I will wear them when you receive your punishment. Perhaps I will wear gloves. Perhaps I will be a different person.”

“A fashion-challenged sociopath, perhaps?” I teased.

“Perhaps.”

I snorted.

He spun around. “Let’s go.”

It took me a while to collect myself.

I looked over at Thor to find him smirking. He handed me sunglasses and a ball cap and then put on his Greek fisherman’s hat and Ray-Bans. Zeus wore a ball cap and aviator glasses.

“We look like we’re in disguise,” I observed as we left the room. “Like, a little conspicuously in disguise.”

“Not in LA,” Zeus said. “Incognito blends here.”

“People will think we’re movie stars,” Odin said. “Or more, that we want people to think we’re movie stars. Nobody would suspect the truth, that we are among America’s most wanted. We love this fucking-g place.”