Page 5 of The Thief
Mumbling under her breath, she stalked past me, then stopped in front of her dad. His scowl turned to a smile, and he kissed the top of her head, saying, “Have a lovely day, princess.I’ll see you later.”
And then she was gone, leaving me standing there with her dad and my guilty conscience.
Mr Porter sighed and shook his head, then gesturing to the wallet on the desk, he said, “That was good of you. You didn’t need to come all the way down here, though. Tillie at reception would’ve taken it and passed it on. You might be late for registration now.” Then he reached forward to pat my arm like he’d done before. “But thank you. I knew the minute I saw you that you were one of the good ones.”
I didn’t respond. I wasn’t one of the good ones, but I didn’t want to acknowledge that fact.
“You’d better get back to class,” he announced, and I nodded and walked out, closing the door behind me.
I strode back down the corridor, and as I turned the corner, I stopped dead in my tracks. His daughter was leaning against the wall, arms folded over her chest as she stared daggers at me, waiting for me.
“Got a problem?” I asked, smirking. I couldn’t wait to hear what she had to say. I had a feeling I was going to enjoy this.
“You’re the one with the problem,” she sneered back, and I gave a low laugh. Yes, I was definitely going to enjoy it.
“How so?” I lifted my chin and put more swagger into my walk to add an extra dose of cockiness to my demeanour. She was riled up, and I couldn’t wait to knock her back down.
She pushed off the wall and came to stand opposite me, her head only reaching my shoulders. But when I stared down at her, feeling a sense of superiority, she just glared right back up at me. The height difference hadn’t dampened her feisty little mood. She was ready to go toe-to-toe.
“You expect me to believe you found my dad’s wallet and returned it out of the goodness of your heart?”
I leaned a little closer to her and she grimaced and leaned back.
“What can I say? I’m all heart,” I mused.
“I know who you are,” she snapped in disgust.
I cocked my head to the side. “And who am I,Jessica Porter?”
Her eyes drilled into mine, fury and venom firing back at me. “You’re Tyler Evans. A nasty thief. You got kicked out of school because you stole anything that wasn’t tied down.” She took a step closer and through gritted teeth she hissed, “And if I find out there’s a penny missing out of my dad’s wallet, I’m going to make your life hell.”
I laughed in her face.
“Good luck with that,little girl.”
Her jaw ticked, and she took a moment before she snarled, “Don’t underestimate me. If I need to kick your ass, I will.” And then, without saying another word, she spun around, her ponytail whipping my chest as she flounced off, leaving me standing there with the biggest grin on my goddamn face, despite the fact she’d just called me out and threatened me.
She had guts.
I’d give her that.
And that little display made me have some respect for her.
I just wished I could be in the room when she found out how wrong she was about me. I might be a thief, but her dad had been lucky today, because this thief had gone off-script. Developed a conscience that I never thought I had.
I stood for a moment longer in the corridor, laughing at howridiculous she’d sounded, threatening to kick my ass. Then I grinned, thinking about how my morning had gone so far. It had certainly been eventful, and I had a feeling that things were about to change for me—and change for the better.
I shook my head, feeling a little dumbstruck, then made my way back to the classroom. As I walked back in, the two lads glared at me. The quieter one was still sitting at his desk. The mouthier one was leaning against the window. I took Steadman’s wallet out of my pocket and threw it down onto the desk I’d previously sat at.
“Was I right?” the kid at the window asked.
I shrugged, not wanting to tell him he was, but when he reached forward and took the wallet, opening it to see the cash inside, he grinned and quirked his brow. “Looks like I was.”
He threw the wallet back at me and I caught it. I’d half expected him to take some of the cash for himself, but he didn’t.
“And Alfie?” he asked.
“Is fifty pounds better off today,” I replied, and he pushed himself off the windowsill. The smile that spread across his face seemed to light up the rest of him. His whole aura changed in an instant.
