Page 2 of The Billionaire's Final Treasure

Why was she so entranced by a burglar? Why was I so entranced by her in return?

Sure enough, she’s there again tonight, and I’m glad to see her, almost as if she were an old friend.

Sadly, this has to be the last night. I’m already pushing my luck. I take a moment to focus on her, smiling as she sweeps her opera glasses back and forth, biting her lip in concentration as she searches for me. I want to stay there and watch her for much longer, but I can’t risk getting caught. Even if I’ve come to loathe it, I have a reputation to maintain, one that wouldn’t withstand my little hobby coming to light.

I take a few pieces of jewelry and slip out the way I came, scaling my way down the building slowly to draw out her interest. As my feet touch solid ground, I turn to where I’ve parked my car in the shadows, but I can’t make myself get in and drive away.

Instead, I slip across the street to stand under the long series of connected ladders leading up to where she sits. I jump up and pull the first one down, making the old, rusty metal creak and clatter above me.

I need to get a closer look at this mysterious woman.

Chapter 3

Kori

I lower my opera glasses with a sigh. He’s finished for the night and has climbed down into the shadows where I can no longer see his dark form.

My chest is tight; somehow, I’m sure this is the last night he’ll visit the building across the way. I close my eyes, imagining those strong hands of his climbing up my building. I turn to go inside, though I know it isn’t the cool night air that has me shivering. It’s longing. A wish I can’t put into words to actually make.

Not that anyone’s granting my wishes.

A clanging sound below makes me stop with one leg slung over my windowsill and I whip around to see two hands wrap around the metal railing. A moment later, the very man I’ve been spying on, dreaming about, pulls himself up and onto my fire escape. I’m too stunned to move, but I still manage to open my mouth to scream.

His big hand is just as powerful as I imagined as it clamps over my mouth. My heart hammers in my chest.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” His voice is deep and low, a rumble that sends shockwaves through me. He looks down at me, towering over my frame, and smiles a slow, curling smile. “Do you want to come on an adventure with me?”

He lets go and steps back as far as the tiny space will allow, his hands raised. Somehow, I know he won’t harm me. With a wicked grin spreading across his handsome face, he points to the opera glasses on the windowsill and pulls out a pair of binoculars.

“Two can play that game,” he tells me. He knows I’ve been watching him and he’s been watching me. “Do you want to keep playing?”

A warm, heaving feeling fills me as he traps me with his intense gaze. I take a step closer to find out the color of his eyes, but they’re as dark as the night sky. Oh, I really, really do want to keep playing. Not just because he’s so handsome he takes my breath away, but because his invitation to go on an adventure feels like a dream come true. I need what he’s offering like I need the air I’m struggling to breathe in his presence.

“I can’t leave my mother,” I say. “She needs constant care.”

“Fifteen minutes,” he promises. “Give me that much.”

I try so hard not to be bitter about my lot in life, but sometimes it all wells up anyway. I really don’t have any freedom at all; I barely scrape up the time I need to go to school each day. If my mother can’t get used to the nurses and keeps acting up, I may be forced to quit even that, the one bright spot in my life.

He won’t let me look away from his intoxicating grin. “Fifteen minutes,” I answer, motioning for him to follow me through the apartment so we can take the elevator down.

He grabs my hand and pulls me close to him. “That’s no fun.” The next moment, he turns and crouches down. “Climb up and hang on tight,” he tells me.

After I wrap my arms around his neck, he stands and turns his head, our faces inches apart. His breath caresses my cheek and his low chuckle makes me tighten my body against him. He climbs down the fire escape easily, hardly winded when we land on the pavement a short time later. He hurries over to a nearby sports car, sleek and black, swinging open the passenger door with a flourish.

I sneak glances at him as we wind through the deserted streets to a pawn shop, where he sells the jewels, he has tucked away in the bag tied to his belt. I watch as the owner peers at each piece through a jeweler’s loupe, trying to hide his excitement at how much they’re worth. Once we’re back outside, getting into the car, I realize I don’t even know this my handsome burglar’s name.

“Who are you?” I ask, not sure I’m even awake. This all feels too much like a dream for it to be real.

He pulls me close and dances me back to his car. “Finn,” he tells me. “That’s all you need to know.”

I tell him my name, and he repeats it back as if he’s tasting the syllables. I can’t take my eyes off his mouth. “One more stop,” he says. Before he starts the car this time, he leans close, our noses almost touching. “Having fun?”

“Yes,” I breathe.

“Good,” he says, before racing off into the night once more.

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