The Beautiful Thief (Stolen Hearts #2)(22)

Wait... sexy? No. Adam Smith was terrifying, annoying, frustrating and, okay, mysterious. But sexy was not an adjective she was allowed to use for him. Adam Smith, she thought. “Smith can’t be your real name, right?”

He didn’t take his eyes off the road. “What does it matter?”

“It doesn’t. We’re not friends. We don’t talk about things that matter. So for the next hour until we get to the airport, it’s small talk only. Starting with your name. It’s on your arrest record. That’s how I found you.”

“Shouldn’t that tell you it’s real?”

“You’d be surprised how deep a fake alias can go.”

“The name is real but not the one I was born with.”

Melody leaned her head against the window as she thought about his carefully worded response. “You legally changed your name to Smith?”

“You got it.”

“Why?”

He finally glanced over in her direction. “I could tell you but that sure as hell wouldn’t be small talk.”

Melody quickly averted her gaze and stared at the trees flying by the window. She let her eyes drift closed and thought back to when she’d first met Adam. The blank, angry blue eyes that had shown her no mercy. The painful grip of his fingers biting into her arm. The sound of the door closing as he locked her away in that dark closet for hours on end.

And when she opened her eyes once more, she was all too aware of why small talk should be limited.





Melody leaned against the wall as she studied the people coming off the plane. She always enjoyed seeing how people dressed while flying. Some would still be in pajamas while others would wear their best clothes, like it was the golden days of air travel.

She was currently somewhere toward the more casual end of that spectrum in her jeans, sneakers, and black tank top. But she’d long since stopped caring what people thought about her wardrobe, so she was fine to keep on with her people watching.

When Adam walked off the gangway, he was almost impossible to miss. For one, he was taller than everyone around him. But it was more than just the height. He carried himself in that strong, confident way. Even someone with no training at all would know this man was a threat.

His eyes connected with hers almost immediately and he made his way to her. “Did first class treat you well?”

“It was very roomy.” From the looks of his wrinkled shirt and pants, coach hadn’t been as comfortable. She’d taken a moment of pure joy as she’d handed him the ticket she’d purchased and abandoned him as he continued on to his seat. Sure, she enjoyed the little joke, but mostly the separation had been nice. After the hour drive to the airport and the wait to board the plane, she didn’t know how much more she could stand to be around Adam.

It wasn’t that he was annoying or said the wrong thing. It was the silence that got her. She wasn’t the type to stay quiet. But there was no safe topic. Everything reminded her of Isobel and why she shouldn’t be with this man to begin with. No, she was with him because of Isobel. And because of Matt Forbes. Because of the bullet she was going to put into Matt Forbes.

“Did you get any rest?” she asked him as she adjusted the strap of her duffel bag.

“I can sleep anywhere, darlin’. Let’s get going.”

She knew he was only calling her that to get on her nerves, probably a little payback for not getting him a first-class ticket, but she let it go. If she told him it bothered her, he’d probably just use it more.

Neither of them had checked luggage, so they didn’t have to go to baggage claim. She bypassed renting a car and instead took a cab to the very same hotel that she’d dragged him to last week.

“Ahh, the memories,” said Adam as he pulled her duffel bag out of the trunk of the cab.

She reached for it, but he just pulled the strap to his own bag over it and started for the lobby.

The historic hotel was large enough that they could blend in and not draw much attention. The lobby had red leather chairs for people to wait or relax in, historic chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and blue tile mosaics at the top of archways that separated the atrium section from the check-in desks on one side and the entrance to the hotel restaurant on the other.

Like the plane tickets, Melody had booked the hotel. After a short wait, they walked up to the check-in desk. “Should I be worried?” The words were low and whispered into her. She knew he was joking, but it was so unexpected and... intimate.

“No,” she said quickly before she turned her full attention to the desk clerk. She gave the fake name she’d booked under and handed over the driver’s license and credit card that accompanied the name.

Adam gave her a questioning look but didn’t say anything. The clerk went through a list of reminders and information before he slid over an envelope with keys. “You’re in room 637.”

“Thanks,” said Melody as she collected the paperwork and the keys.

Adam was still staring at her with that puzzled look on his face as they made their way to the elevator. Once they were alone and finally on their way up, he said what was on his mind. “One room?”

She groaned. Even though she knew the question was coming, she wasn’t a hundred percent certain it was the right call. “You know I don’t want to spend a second longer with you than I have to.” She didn’t look in his direction, but she could see his reflection in the shiny elevator doors and he was still looking right at her. “But this isn’t a trip for fun. This is a job with dangerous people and dangerous consequences.” She finally turned her head to meet his intense gaze. “Communication is everything. I’ll need you close by.”