Page 17 of Catching a Con Man

“Do you want to?” asked Tyler. “Do you want to know who I am? What brought me here?”

“I…” I’d seen his files. I knew who Tyler was. “…I’d like us to understand more about one another.”

“Then turn off the light and come to bed,” Tyler said.

I wished he’d said it in better circumstances, but as he moved around the bed and tucked himself under the covers, I knew I was joining him no matter what. “Lights off,” I muttered, and I made my way to the bed as the room got dark.

For a minute, there was nothing but the sound of our breathing. I did my best to sync up with his slow breaths, and for a second I thought he might have fallen asleep.

“How long have you known?” asked Tyler.

“Since the second you pretended you were Holden’s grandson,” I said.

“Because you know Holden?”

“Yes, and because I know his wonderful husband. Holden is my godfather.”

“Damn. He kept that quiet, and so did you,” Tyler muttered ruefully. My eyes were adjusting to the faint light that filtered up from downstairs, and I could just about make out his silhouette now.

“Yup. You probably could have targeted any other rich person in that room and they might just have believed you. I know Gloria did.”

“Fucking hell,” Tyler groaned. “But you don’t know who I am, or why I was there?”

“Tyler Bevan, I know all about you,” I said.

“Fucking billionaires. Resourceful bastards,” Tyler whispered.

“So tell me…with no fear of retribution, no judgement…what were you doing?” I asked. “Why break into the most expensive gala dinner in the world just to pitch a business idea?”

Tyler went quiet, and I could imagine him blushing. I reached out to stroke his cheek, and he didn’t pull away. “I was scamming you,” he said so quietly I almost didn’t hear it. “Well, not completely. The plan was to get some money and then…Robin Hood it. Give it to those who needed it the most.”

I chuckled. “That would have been the stupidest idea ever. You could have been jailed for life.”

“Don’t care,” Tyler said petulantly. His hand reached up to where mine was on his face and he linked our fingers together, holding our hands between us. “I live in one bedroom in a shitty flat, I’m working fifty-hour weeks just to get by. If I could pull off something like that…I wouldn’t care what happened to me. It can’t be much worse, right?”

“I think prison might be much worse,” I whispered, though I had no idea. I’d never lived his life. “Ironically, your business idea was fantastic. And a legal way to get what you wanted done.”

Tyler went quiet. “Never would have worked though, would it? Imagine getting rich people to give up their hoards of ill-gotten coin for the local people that need them?”

“Then…let’s make it work,” I said on impulse. “Come and work with me. We’ll put our best minds on it, and see if it’s a workable project.”

Tyler snorted. “That’s…fucking ridiculous. I just admitted to trying to scam you. You could have me put in jail for fraud. Why the fuck would you give me that chance?”

“Life deals some of us a shit hand,” I said. “I don’t know who I would have been had I not been born with so much privilege and money. That and I’ve abducted you and taken you to a foreign country without a passport. So we’re kind of one for one with crimes right now.”

“I guess so. Bet I’d still get in more trouble than you though,” said Tyler. “No rich daddy to bail me out.”

“I’d bail you out,” I said. “My father would have you put in jail, but I’d bail you.”

“Whatever,” Tyler said. “I just…this isn’t my world. I grew up with so much resentment for people like you. I went that night to the gala to…I wanted…”

“Revenge?” I suggested.

“If you like.”

“And now you’re sleeping with the enemy,” I joked.

“Literally, so get your head out of the gutter. I’m not going fromeat the richtorim the richquite so quickly.”

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