Steal the Light (Thieves #1)(21)

Daniel was immediately on his guard, but luckily Dev didn’t know me as well. He immediately started discussing the game. I feigned interest, occasionally patting his chest flirtatiously. Dev obviously enjoyed the attention. He scooted closer to me, his hand moving dangerously close to my thigh. I found what I was looking for on the second try. There it was. A little piece of plastic in his right jacket pocket. It was the simplest thing to slip it out and into my purse while he was pointing at the screen and complaining about the Mavericks’ lack of defense.

I safely tucked the package away, flipped my hair back and “discovered” I’d lost something.

“Oh, my gosh,” I said in a panicked tone. “I lost my earring. Does anyone see it? It’s a gold hoop.”

Everyone gamely looked around the room. After a moment, I sighed. “Duh, I’m so stupid. I know where it is. I probably dropped it in the bathroom.”

“Do you want me to have my staff find it?” Dev asked.

“Oh no, please, don’t go to any trouble. I think I know just where it is. You keep track of the game for me.”

Dev gave me a huge smile and squeezed my hand before he let go. “Okay, but hurry back.”

I promised I would and headed off toward the bathroom. I stood by the door for a moment, watching the movement of the security cameras as they swung back and forth. To a layperson, it would simply look like a bunch of cameras moving carefully to try to catch as much of the building as possible. To a thief, it was a path to success. The person who installed the cameras timed them perfectly to create a path from the back door of the club to the stairs that led to the second floor, all the way to Dev’s office where the safe was kept. It was just a matter of timing. It took me a few minutes, but I got the sequence down and then I was off.

I realized I was smiling as I managed to make it to the stairs. I was sure the cameras had caught nothing of my journey across the club. It had been a long time since I ran a job on my own, much less one where there was no pressure, and I enjoyed it.

A large bouncer guarded the base of the stairs. I wasn’t sure exactly which species could lay claim to him, but I was betting he was one of the weres who hadn’t called in sick. Carefully keeping my back to the camera, I approached him.

“Sorry, miss, the second floor is off limits,” the big guy said.

I smiled brightly. “Oh, Dev said it was all right.”

“The boss sent you?”

This was the part where I blushed and stumbled over my words in an entirely charming manner. “Um, I kind of left something in his office this morning.”

“No problem, I’ll have someone run up and get it for you.” He pulled a walkie-talkie out of his pocket.

“Oh, god, no!” I practically shouted. “Please, you can’t do that. Look, it’s kind of personal, and by that I mean it’s entirely personal, and I would be horrified if anyone else had to find it. It’s just Dev and I were…this is so embarrassing. I left my panties in your boss’s office…there I said it. I’m so sorry. I could just die now.”

The big guy tried to contain his laughter, and I knew I was going to make it in. There was no way the big bad werewolf saw me as anything other than some bimbo his boss had banged, and a human bimbo at that.

I smiled my best “humans are harmless” smile and pulled out my trump card. “He gave me the key, you see. I think he realized how embarrassed I am.”

“Well, don’t let me keep you then.” He gestured me on.

Then I was home free. I slipped the keycard into the door and sighed with pleasure as I heard that loveliest of sounds—the click of a forbidden door opening just for me.

I waltzed into Dev’s office. Normally I would leave the lights off, but Dev obviously wasn’t concerned with conserving energy as the lights were already on. I looked around the office and realized this was much more of a window to his soul than the club. The club was a marvel of hard-edged decadence, but this office was softer. It was comfortable, with none of the pretense of the floor below. The desk was large and looked good, but it was obviously old and had a sturdy feel to it. There was a comfy-looking chair in one corner with a small bookcase beside it. I let my fingers glide over the spines as I read the titles. He seemed to like thrillers as books by Steve Berry, James Rollins, and Preston and Child populated the shelf. I could see Dev sitting in that chair, reading escapist fiction just like I did late at night when I couldn’t sleep.

A small framed picture caught my eye. I picked it up and saw a smiling man in clothes that looked like they were from sometime in the seventies. It must be his human father. His mother and the Fae side of his family would never allow themselves to be photographed. Dev said his father died, and his Fae family no longer spoke to him. This might be the only piece of family he had left. I suddenly felt like I’d seen something he might not be happy sharing with me. I felt the weight of my intrusion and decided it was time to finish the job and get out of here.

I was just about to find the safe and leave the note Albert and I agreed on when something pushed me roughly against the wall. I felt the breath knocked out of my lungs and the pressure of a hard body against my back. I hadn’t heard a thing and knew that whatever was behind me was dangerous. I knew in that moment what it felt like to be a rabbit just before the rattlesnake struck.

“Thief.” There was a harsh whisper against my ear. “I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this.”