The Cocky Thief (Stolen Hearts #1)(38)

“Someone needs to keep an eye on Jen and Mel.”

“That’s not fair and you know it.”

“Can we focus?” said Scott. He was sure the family could use a few solid counseling sessions, but this wasn’t the time. His phone beeped; he took it out of his pocket to glance at the screen. “Miles and Jennifer are on their way back. Weston signed on and will be joining them soon.”

“Who’s Miles?” asked Toni.

“He’s the other member of my team.”

“Jennifer’s new boyfriend,” said Isobel at the same time.

Scott frowned. “They’re not—”

“I think I know Jennifer better than you. And I could definitely read the signals your boy was giving off. He was hardly subtle about his intentions.”

Toni abruptly stopped typing and looked over her shoulder at Scott. From this angle, they were strangely close because he’d been trying to keep track of what she was bringing up on her screen. “Seriously, who are you?”

“I’m just like your sister and your mom. I got sucked too far into a job.”

Toni’s blue eyes looked into his and for a moment, he was worried she could see all too much. “No you’re not,” she finally said before she turned back to her computer. A map popped up on the screen and she zoomed in. “There we go. I found Mel.”





“What do you mean we’re just supposed to wait?” snapped Jennifer as she paced back and forth.

“I mean Weston is currently on his way with a Jeep loaded down with illegal weapons and ammunition, and Hart is probably breaking fifteen different speeding laws getting here from Santa Maria right now. From the sound of it, he’s already halfway to a plan and Toni has a location on your sister already.”

“If we know where she is, we should go. We can’t just wait for hours.” Austin was quiet and she suddenly knew that there was more he wasn’t telling her. “What?”

Austin rubbed at the back of his neck and winced. “After they left, when they were about an hour out, Isobel finally got the call.”

Jennifer’s eyes widened. “The call? The call, the call? They set up the drop? Where? Why aren’t we planning right now? Get everyone on the phone and we’ll conference!”

“Jennifer—”

“No.” She wasn’t about to sit around and twiddle her thumbs. She was going to fix this her damn self. She started to cross to the hotel room door, but Austin reached out and grabbed her arm. Jennifer wasn’t in the mood to be manhandled by anyone, no matter how helpful he’d been. Her fist shot out and she would’ve hit anyone else, but somehow Austin managed to duck just in time before he grabbed her fist with his other hand and pushed up against a wall.

They were back at the cheap hotel and the cheap framed print on the wall shook with the impact.

Jennifer pushed back against him, but he didn’t give her any leeway. “I need to go! She’s my sister!” she screamed.

Austin kept a stone-cold face as he looked down on her. “You’re too emotionally involved. You know that when emotions get in the way, that’s when mistakes get made.”

“It’s Melody! I can’t just stay here!” The room seemed to get smaller and she gasped, trying to get enough air. Here she was about to have a panic attack and who knew what her sister was currently going through. She needed to—

“The last time I screwed up a job,” said Austin carefully, “was because my emotions got in the way. I’m not going to let that happen when the stakes are so high.”

“The last time you screwed up a job was with the Dragon Heart.”

“Exactly.”

The admission was worse than a blow to the head. “She’s out there all alone and I’m just—”

“You’re doing everything you can. And we will get her back. I promise.” As he spoke, he bent in closer. The soft words resonated as if he’d shouted them.

She shook her head, even though she wanted to believe him. “You don’t know that.”

“I do. Because I’m going to make it happen. I never fail, remember?”

A tear rolled down her cheek. “You’re such a liar.”

He wiped away the tear with a thumb, but his hand didn’t move from the side of her neck. “You’re one of the most powerful women I’ve ever met. If the two of us put our minds to something, it’s going to get done. No question about it. Do you believe me now?”

Jennifer looked up at him from beneath her lashes. His green eyes seemed so sincere and he was just as pretty as when she’d first seen him walk on that plane, which seemed so long ago. “No,” she said honestly. Then she closed the small distance between them and kissed him.

She didn’t want to sit here and do nothing but with backup on the way, the stupid, logical part of her needed to give it time. If they were going to rescue Mel, they needed to do it right.

But right now, there was so much emotion swirling around inside her...anger, grief, adrenaline. And then there was Austin. The man helping her for no apparent reason. The man keeping her from making mistakes that could cost her Mel.

The man she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about. For the moment, it was just her and him. Might as well make it count.