Page 128 of Heist

Chapter Thirty-Seven

“Thank you so much for being here, Mr. Sutton, Miss Sutton. Please accept our apologies on behalf of the museum and New York City.”

Patrick stood stiffly next to Holly for the unveiling of the diamonds and listened to the curator apologize for the dozenth time. They were all there and Tim Reyes was behind bars. The poor man had cried real tears when Patrick went to visit him yesterday. Fatherly love had somehow driven him to frame Patrick for the heist in an effort to get his daughter the medical treatment they needed and save his family from drowning in debt.

The only thing Tim wasn’t willing to say was who hired him. Whoever it was though had gone to ground, but not before dumping the diamonds on Tim’s doorstep with a death threat to his family if he named names.

FBI agents had been brought in to trace the money, but so far, they’d had no luck. Lance and Jax were still digging as well but as far as Patrick was concerned it was his father. All of his known assets were still frozen, but that didn’t mean there weren’t connections and money the police didn’t know about.

Holly seemed less convinced of their father’s involvement, but she wasn’t ready to accuse Grant Sterling either. Jax was digging into him as well, but so far nothing was tracing back to him.

Tim’s daughter was indeed very sick and had benefited from the large sum of money he was paid to pull off the heist. Since that money was no longer helping her now that Tim was going to prison, Patrick was now covering her medical bills. She didn’t deserve to suffer because of the bad choices her father had made. He’d made that mistake with Holly when he left home at eighteen.

He glanced around the crowd at the museum, which was twice the size it would have been at the original unveiling thanks to the publicity of the diamond heist.

“She’ll call,” Holly said, patting his shoulder.

He’d been doing his best to give her the time she asked for, but it was hard. It had been two weeks since Lance had passed her message along. He just wanted her back, but he knew he would have to work to win her trust again.

The museum curator had stepped to the podium and was giving a brief statement before he introduced Holly, who had also prepared a statement. Patrick wasn’t going to say anything but agreed to a few pre-screened questions.

None of the questions caught him off guard, and he stuck to the script this time. He called on the final reporter, a man near the back of the crowd, but instead of asking a question he stepped to his left.

His heart leaped into his throat when Austin stepped into the reporters vacated spot. She looked like she hadn’t had a good night’s rest in weeks. He would have to have a talk with Lance about what it meant to make sure she was taking care of herself.

“Will you have dinner with me tonight?” she asked.

As the reporters turned their attention to her, Patrick gave a slow smile. “It would be my honor.” There were chuckles from the press pool, and a few shouted out questions, but Patrick didn’t hear them. He stepped back from the podium and made his way toward Austin. Holly or the curator could handle the questions.

When he got to her, she was holding out her hand and he gladly took it.

“Hi,” he said, feeling shy. He hadn’t felt shy around a woman since puberty.

“I was hoping you would say yes, so we have reservations about six blocks from here.”

Patrick turned his head and motioned to the press. “I would say let’s walk, but I have a feeling we would have company.”

Austin tugged him through the museum to the back entrance where a car was waiting for them.

The silence in the car was deafening at first as the driver pulled into traffic. “Austin,” he started.

“No. Let me talk first,” she said.

He nodded and shifted so it was easier to look at her.

“You hurt me,” she said, a slight tremor in her voice now. “Really fucking hurt me.”

“Baby girl,” he breathed. “I’m so sorry. I’ve wanted to call you and apologize every day, but I wanted to respect your request for space.”

“I appreciate that respect. I hated every minute of it, but I needed the time. In that time, I got a phone call from the attorneys of the innocent man I put away. They’ve finally been granted a retrial and I’m being called as a witness to testify on his behalf. It’s all very complicated but exciting.”

Patrick gave her a lopsided grin. “That makes me so happy for you, but what does that have to do with us?” he asked.

You hurt me, but I need to apologize to you as well. Because of my obsessive guilt over this other case, I latched onto your case as a way to prove that I could redeem an innocent man. I put so much pressure on you and I didn’t handle my responsibility as your attorney or as your partner very well. Yeah, you were an asshole, but I should never have let you get that stressed. I should never have brought my own baggage into this.”

Patrick reached for her hand and she let him take it in his.

“Baby girl, you didn’t do anything wrong, though I appreciate the introspection that must have been required for you to come to that conclusion. I’m the one who royally fucked up and stomped all over your insecurities and broke your trust. You were right when you said you’ve always given me anything I asked for. If you’re willing to have me back, I’ll spend as much time as it takes making it up to you.”

A sob escaped her throat and he couldn’t hold back anymore. His arms wrapped around her and he crushed her to him.

“You kept fighting for me and my freedom even after I walked out. Why?” he asked when she relaxed into his arms.

“Because you’re worth it,” she whispered, “You’re worth more than every diamond in the collection combined. I wasn’t sure what would happen with us, but I knew you needed someone fighting for you.”

“I love you,” he said, tilting her chin up so she met his gaze. “I hope you know that. I’ve loved you since our first kiss, I think.”

Her response was to press her lips to his.

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