Page 32 of Gifted Thief
‘You bet your cute arse it would be.’
‘Hmm. Okay. How about you find an object? Lost and found has got to be pretty simple, right?’
He scoffed. ‘Yeah, right. You ask for the Hope diamond as a test and then you’re set for life.’ He waggled his finger at me. ‘No chance, sweet cheeks.’
‘Hey, you don’t need to retrieve the object. Just tell me where it is. If you don’t think you can do even that though…’
‘I can do that! Of course I can do that! What shall I search for?’
I tapped the corner of my mouth. ‘There was something in the paper yesterday about a jewel. Some kind of sapphire, I think. Lia Saifire, perhaps?’
He clicked his fingers. ‘Done!’
Placing two fingers on his temples, he closed his eyes and began to murmur. ‘Shamamamamamama.’
‘What on earth is that?’
He opened one eye and frowned. ‘Don’t interrupt me! I’m concentrating.’
I leaned back and kept my mouth shut, doing everything I could not to grin. After several seconds, he looked at me again. ‘The Lia Saifire is in the possession of a young Sidhe man. He has dark hair, two adorable dimples in his chubby little cheeks and he’s staying at the Astor Hotel in room number 907. Ta da!’ His brow creased. ‘Hold on. Where are we right now?’
‘We’re on the floor next to a coffee table.’
‘The floor where?’ Bob’s eyes narrowed. ‘Wait a minute. We’re in the Astor Hotel too! You bitch! You tricked me! That’s what you wanted to know all along!’
‘Oops.’
‘I hate you, Uh Integrity.’
‘Sorry, Bob,’ I said, obviously not sorry at all. ‘Knock knock.’
Bob sniffed loudly. ‘Who’s there? Bitch.’
‘Raoul.’
‘Raoul who?’
I gave him a serious look. ‘Raoul with the punches.’
‘I hate you!’ he howled.
‘Bye Bob. Go back and catch up on your sleep.’
He waved his fists in the air. ‘I’m going to pay you back, you know.’
‘Yeah, yeah.’ I nudged him gently with the tip of my finger. ‘Go on. Off you go.’
He turned his back on me and folded his arms. ‘I’m not talking to you.’
‘I deserve that.’
‘You’re damn right you do.’ Without another glance at me, he leapt back into the letter opener. I only just managed to shield my eyes in time. ‘Sorry,’ I murmured again. ‘Needs must though.’
I returned the blade to its sheath and considered what he’d told me. I knew exactly who he was referring to. What didn’t make sense was why Byron had palmed off the jewel to one of his entourage rather than keeping it for himself. Unless it was a gift, of course. A pretty expensive gift, though.
I leaned back on my hands. It appeared I’d been attempting to seduce the wrong Sidhe. Oh well. It was a lady’s prerogative to change her mind. I pushed away the flicker of disappointment. From the blush I’d received from my new target in the bar yesterday, he’d be far easier to manage than Byron. I just needed to shift gears slightly.
I got to my feet and yanked down my dress. As I was about to pull on my shoes and leave, I heard the buzz of voices right outside the door. Shite. I grabbed the shoes, my bag and the letter opener and made a dash for the spare bedroom. Byron’s timing sucked.
