Page 102 of The Robin on the Oak Throne

Ronan grinned as he melted into the shadows. “Oh, I know she will.”

Kierse laughed. Of course she’d run into Ronan and not Finn, his partner in crime. Finn was a burly Black man who was all golden retriever to Ronan’s edge, and the best friends made the most unlikely of pairs.

Kierse turned her attention from the shadows, knocked once on the office door, and pushed her way inside to find Nathaniel O’Connor seated at his desk, head bowed, curly chestnut hair falling into his eyes. His tawny-brown complexion was waxen from the early hour. A giant thermos of coffee rested on the desk before him, wrapped in his large hands.

“You’ve looked better,” Kierse said.

Nate’s chin jerked up, and those hazel eyes met hers. “It was a rough moon.” He got to his feet and held his arms wide. “Kierse McKenna, in my house. Didn’t think I’d have to go so long. At least it wasn’t a whole year.”

“It might have been if not for the situation.”

“Graves?”

She shrugged. “As you can imagine.”

“Colette sent a runner over after you left. You two arelivingwith him?”

“Yes.”

“And working together.”

“Yes.”

He leaned back against his desk. “So what’s the plan? Where’s the double cross?”

Kierse hesitated. She was always the girl with the plan.With an exit. That was her favorite rule in thieving. She needed ways out of every situation—physical and otherwise. But she didn’thaveone here. The deeper she got into this with Graves, the more she felt like there were no exits.

“Fuck,” Nate said, standing again. “What’s going on?”

“It’s fine. I’m working on it.”

“And you trust him?”

She gasped out a laugh. “No. That’s a big no.”

He blew out a breath. “Well, that’s good. He royally fucked you over last year. I thought you had better brains than that.”

“He’s…trying to regain my trust,” she told him.

“By fucking you?”

She laughed again. “No. Well, maybe,” she said with a shrug. “But no, he’s bringing me in on his business operations and introducing me to the people he works with and trying to help me with a magic problem.”

“Hmm,” Nate grunted. “I still don’t trust him.”

“I know. I told him that I’d let him prove himself, but it’s not easy for me.”

“With good reason.”

“Am I being foolish?”

Nate crossed his arms and looked to the ceiling. “I don’t know. Maybe. The fact that you’d even consider letting him back in after what he did says that you’ve come a long way. If anyone else had hurt you like that, you’d be gone.” He slapped his hands together. “That fast.”

“Yeah.”

“Graves, though…he’s got his claws in you.”

She bristled. “I don’t know…”

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