Page 54 of Taken With Trouble

“Why did you date Scarlett?” she whispers.

This is not the question I anticipated, and my chest deflates. The last person I want to think about right now is Scarlett. “She was fun.”

“That’s it? Because she was fun?”

“She was wild, and at the time, so was I.” I sigh, debating whether to continue. “Our relationship was not so much of a romance as it was a cover.”

“What do you mean?”

“She stole half the things on that list in your little black book. The other half, she convinced me to steal. We were both thieves and it was adventurous. We dated for years, and I can honestly say she loved the thrill of the game more than she loved me.”

“But you loved her,” Serena says.

I catch my breath. “Yeah.” Or at least I thought I did.

“And… do you still?”

This question hits me in the stomach. For a long time after Scarlett passed, I felt I had to atone for her sins as well as my own. When she was no longer there, the pieces of my past self seemed to unravel. I may be a decent thief, but she was an expert con. She had me convinced that she loved me, but I was simplytwisted around in her game so much I think I only loved the idea of her and all we accomplished. I was never actually in love with her.

“No,” I say firmly. That love died a long time ago, but the guilt over Scarlett’s death has been gripping my heart like a vise for so long. Am I ready to let that go, to be free? I look at the woman in my arms, and the answer is as clear as day. “You know I don’t love her anymore.” I can’t say more than that. I can’t admit more than that. Not unless she asks. Not unless she brings up this thing between us and opens the door for the conversation I long to have.

But she says nothing.

I take Serena’s hand and spin her out, once then twice, then pull her into my arms and dip her. Her hair drags across the carpet, and I watch the surprise light her face. I want to drop a kiss to her lips, to her neck. I pull her up, intent on doing just that, but she slips out of my arms and takes off the blindfold.

“Well, I think I’m a pro dancer now. I’m ready to take on the gala.” She tosses the tie at me and leaves me standing there, mute and confused like the last ten minutes didn’t happen. Like those admissions no longer count because the dance is over. They will remain in a bubble we created, and we will simply go back to our normal lives of annoying each other.

I want nothing to do with that life.

Chapter 20

Serena

My heart races asI shut the door to Liam’s room, locking it behind me. I press my fingers to my neck, counting my pulse. One hundred and thirty beats per minute. Stupid heart. It’s acting as if I worked out. I feel like I have. It’s been a while since I exercised the muscle beneath my chest in this way, and it’s protesting the very thought.

“You know I don’t love her anymore.”

The weight of those words press hard against my chest, trying to infiltrate the tiny crevices in the armor around my heart. But I can’t allow them entry. They were a lie. He’s playing with me. He has to be. He and Scarlett were like Bonnie and Clyde. Or he was just Clyde, and he’s manipulating me to think he’s a philanthropic thief and therefore better than everyone else. Because that’s exactly what a conman does. So no, I don’t believe him. And no, I won’t read into those words like there was a special message for me. We have a job to do tonight, and in the morning, all this is over. I have to focus on that.

I drop onto the bed, exhausted. Rolling to my side, I cradle a pillow to my chest.

My pulse finally, fully slows, and I glance at the time on the wall.

Wait. What’s that…?

He has a camera in his clock.

That man! How on earth can I trust any word coming out of his mouth?

I pinch my eyes closed. In the morning, when Liam’s grandfather is safe, I’ll get another message to Caleb. Hopefully a full one this time. Soon this nightmare will be over.

But after a restless thirty-minute nap, I wake feeling heavy, like the nightmare is only beginning.

Six hours later, we’ve gone over every aspect of the mission in detail. How we’ll enter, how we’ll act, when the lights and security will go down and how we’ll get away. Each plan has a backup Plan A, B, C, and D. We’re prepared for any scenario. I have to hand it to Liam; he’s good at this.

Because it’s who he is.I have to remember that. There will be no heart fluttering when he pulls me in for a dance. It will be strictly strategic. There won’t be any longing looks or touches from him that mean anything because it’s all for the con.

I fix my hair with the curling iron Liam had but wouldn’t tell me why. He insisted it was a necessity when forging a specific kind of painting.

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