The Dangerous Thief (Stolen Hearts #3)(52)

“You weren’t sent here to kill me,” said Willa. “If you leave now, no one will know.”

He didn’t loosen his grip but she could see him starting to waver. “Sterling has eyes and ears everywhere.”

“So do I.” Toni stepped next to Jennifer. “That girl in your arms is one of us and I don’t think you want to see my vengeful side.” Then she pointed to James. “And you sure as hell don’t want to see his vengeful side.”

Finally Willa felt the slight loosening of the fingers in her hair and she had to ball her hands into fists to keep from rubbing at her sore scalp.

“You’re not just going to let me go....”

“As the girl with a gun pressed to her head, you have my word that we’ll let you go.”

“I just killed your daddy, hun. That kind of blood don’t wash off that easily.”

The confirmation of Jadon’s death didn’t surprise her but it still hit her like a brick. She kept her cool as she forced herself to remain calm. “He had blood on his hands too.” She hadn’t wanted this. She hadn’t wanted Jadon to die. But with the life he was leading, the things he was hiding.... Death happened in that line of work.

It must’ve been the right thing to say, because the man abruptly released her and held up his hands, the gun dangling from his trigger finger. She knew a guy like him could have it back firmly in his grip and ready to fire any minute now, so she didn’t hesitate as she ran for James.

Once she reached him, he moved to stand in front of her but she staggered herself enough so she could keep an eye on everything. The man looked at each of them and after a few seconds of no shooting, he took a few steps back. Then, without another word, he turned and walked down the driveway.

Everyone watched the man’s retreat until he was no longer visible. The next thing she knew, James had wrapped her up in a tight hug and lifted her so her feet didn’t even touch the ground. “I’m never letting you out of my sight again,” he breathed against her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close. She had only been away from James for a few hours, but it had felt like days. Weeks. And when he said he was never letting her go again, she was a hundred percent okay with that.

“What the hell was that?” asked Jennifer while Willa and James stared into each other’s eyes.

Willa pulled her gaze from his, but he didn’t let her go. “It was an educated guess.”

Jennifer wasn’t appeased. “An educated guess that he wanted Sterling dead? What gave him away?”

Willa gave James’s shoulder a little squeeze and he let her down. She tried to think of a way to say it that would make sense to anyone besides her. “I’ve faced down death more times in the past few weeks than most people do in a lifetime. I saw my father kill Jules. I saw Matt Forbes order my death. I was stabbed by that maniac at James’s place. And not once in any of those three times did they hesitate. That guy, I have no doubt he would’ve killed me. I just knew he didn’t want to and I was hoping we could use that to our advantage. Guys like Sterling can’t have employees with a conscience.” She sighed. “If that makes sense. I might have just been grasping at straws....”

“No, that makes total sense,” said Jennifer. “That you picked it up so fast from a guy you’ve never met before... you’re really good at reading people.”

James tightened his grip on Willa. “Don’t say it.”

Jennifer gasped. “You’ve thought of this.”

Willa glanced between the two of them. “What are you talking about?”

Jennifer gave Willa a wicked grin. “Willa, has anyone ever told you that you would make a great con woman?”





Willa started to crawl out of bed, but James’s hand shot out and wrapped around her upper arm. “Where are you going?”

Busted.... “Nowhere,” she said softly even though it was just the two of them at his house in Arizona. They’d flown in that afternoon, and except for a few bathroom and shower breaks, neither of them had left the bed. On one hand, it was incredibly stress relieving. On the other, it was just reminding her of everything else she should be doing. James pulled her back down and into the crook of his body as he wrapped his big arms around her and nestled his face into her neck.

“Then be nowhere with me.”

She had no idea whether he meant for that to sound so romantic, but she practically swooned. “I just....” She tried to take a note from his book and use as few words as possible to get her point across. “I’m so happy. And I shouldn’t be.”

“Is this about your father?”

She thought about the night before. She had stayed outside while James and Jennifer had gone inside. They’d found her father’s body and the burned remains of what they’d probably been looking for. The Department of Defense documents. When she thought about her father not being around anymore, she felt... a lot of things. She did feel sad, but she was also grateful. Relieved she didn’t have to worry about his activities. Guilty she didn’t feel worse. Guilty that she felt bad about his death.

“I think I’m getting the hang of this whole denial thing,” she admitted, grateful that the bulk of the emotion hadn’t caught up to her yet.

“It will hit you eventually.” James ran his fingers over her bare shoulder. “And it will be a shitty day but you’ll get through it.”