Chapter Twenty-Eight
Steele
I hadn’t planned on saying it. When I set up everything in the library, I wanted to show her how I felt. Not tell her. But in that moment, with her underneath me, eyes sparkling and mouth agape, I couldn’t help myself. I wanted her to know what was in my heart.
But now I regretted saying it.
The second I said the words, the pleasure abandoned her features, and fear and disbelief were left behind. Her eyes took in my entire face, almost as if she was waiting for me to wink or laugh, as if it were a joke.
It was anything but.
Her hands came up and pushed my shoulders, forcing me out of her as she rolled over, grabbing one of the blankets and holding it over her body.
“Ashlynn—”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Her eyes were red, and I could tell she was seconds away from letting her tears flow. “You can’t love me! I certainly don’t love you.” She backed into the corner, like a frightened animal.
“I think you do,” I said, getting to my feet. I moved towards her, but she flinched.
“I don’t! I could never love you. Ever. This stops, right now.”
“You can’t stop what’s started here. We’re like an avalanche racing down a mountain—we’re only picking up momentum.”
“Screw your avalanche!” The tears came in earnest now, her face turning blotchy. I used to want her to suffer and cry. Now I desired nothing more than to kiss her tears away.
“Ashlynn, don’t walk away from this. You know what we have is good.”
“Good sex! That’s all this was! You’re an evil man—plain and simple. I can’t believe I let myself get close to you.” Disgust flushed over her face, and my heart sank. Her denial wasn’t unexpected, but the ferocity in which she refused our feelings was much more intense than I’d imagined if we ever came to this point.
Before I could utter another word, she was outside the library door, slamming it behind her. The glass vases near the window shook with the vibration from the door. I could hear her feet on the steps, her usually light steps harshened by anger.
I ran my hands through my hair. Damn it. I found my boxers on the floor and pulled them on, not bothering to get fully dressed. If I could just make her see reason, we could be back in my bed in ten minutes, continuing where we left off.
I didn’t see anyone on my way up the stairs, but I was sure Glinda was staying out of sight. She knew how I usually handled my affairs, but she hadn’t commented much on Ashlynn. I knew there would be talk all throughout the estate tomorrow, though.
The door to Ashlynn’s room was closed. I knocked gently.
“Go away!”
“Denying this isn’t going to make it better or change the fact that we care for each other.”
“I don’t want you killed, but I don’t love you. Not wanting you dead isn’t the same as love.” Her voice was muffled, as if she was crying into a pillow.
“Please come out here so we can talk. I’ll break down the door if I have to.”
She didn’t say anything more, but she didn’t come out. My threat to break down the door was as weak as all my other threats were. Instead, I sank down on the floor outside of her closed door, with my head in my hands as I listened to her quiet sobs.
I woke up with an ache in my neck and my legs stiff. I’d stayed outside Ashlynn’s door all night long, hoping she’d change her mind and come talk to me. If not that, I was anticipating catching her as she went to the kitchen for something to eat. But it was five o’clock in the morning, and the door hadn’t opened. I pressed my ear against it, but I couldn’t hear anything. Her sobs ceased around midnight, and I was glad she’d stopped crying. Part of me was furious at her for denying what we had, but the other part of me, the part that loved her far more than I realized, just wanted her happy.
I stood up, stretching and cracking my neck a bit, trying to loosen up my muscles, and then I made my way down the hall to my own bedroom. Stripping my boxers off, I got in the shower. I still smelled like sex, our mingled arousal dried to my skin. She had barely let me finish before she shoved me off. It was just a knee-jerk reaction, I tried to convince myself. She would come around.
I stepped out of the shower and dried off, then I heard my phone ring. Shit. I’d left it on my nightstand all night.
Fourteen missed calls from Cooper.
I pressed one of his missed calls and the line rang. “What the fuck, Steele? I was just about to come over and see what the hell was going on. You never abandon your phone like that.”
“It was just a long night.”
I could practically hear Cooper’s grin through the phone. “That good, huh?”
I ground my teeth. “I’m not going to talk about it.”
“Okay man, I get it. Are you ready for tonight?”
I looked at my watch. I wanted to try and talk to Ashlynn before I left for the city, but I was running out of time if I wanted to go to the warehouse at the dock for one of our burner vehicles.
“Yeah, I’ll meet you at the warehouse in a couple of hours.”
I disconnected the call and ran my fingers through my hair. I could feel my temples throb, the beginning of a headache starting to develop. I wasn’t sure if it was the fact that I hadn’t had alcohol in several hours or if it was the situation with Ashlynn. I quickly dressed, pulling on dark jeans and a black shirt. I’d put on a bullet proof vest when I got to the warehouse. It was overkill, especially in Europe, but you never knew when you might need it.
I walked by Ashlynn’s door and knocked.
“Go away, Steele.” Her voice was hoarse from crying.
“I’m heading out. I’ll be back around midnight. When I get back, I expect you to be dressed. We’re going to have dinner together and discuss this like rational humans.”
“Screw you.”
I hoped she would. But I’d have to convince her. Once she realized the depth of her own feelings, it would happen. I was sure of it. If there was one thing that Ashlynn wasn’t, it was a coward. She would eventually be brave enough to face this relationship. If I had to use sex as a way to continue to bond, I would. And she couldn’t resist me.
Feeling a bit better, even though our dialogue was still the same, I left the estate and drove towards the warehouse. The two-hour drive seemed to fly by. My mind was preoccupied by my thoughts. It made me slightly nervous to pull off such a big heist when my mind was somewhere else, but I tried to push thoughts of Ashlynn away and focus on the task at hand. This next job would finance another diversification of my assets. I wanted to expand my hotel business further, and I wanted to do it all at once.
I pulled into the underground garage in the warehouse and parked the car. Cooper was waiting for me at the dock. As I approached him, he looked at me, brow furrowed.
“Steele. Can you handle this tonight? Something is off. You can’t put our enterprise in danger if this isn’t something you can deal with right now.”
“Our enterprise? It’s my enterprise,” I reminded him, taking out some of my frustration on him.
He didn’t say anything but retreated to his messy office. I followed him down the hall until I reached the weapons storage. I slipped on my vest and packed a bag of the usual ammunition, along with some decoys I had made by an engineering company in Germany. They were small, coin-sized devices that, when detonated, could send out high pitched sound waves to set off alarms in other parts of the museums, making it easier to get in and out if needed. But most of the time we slipped in and out undetected.
I marched into Cooper’s office. He was already wearing his vest and had his own bag tossed over his shoulder.
“Let’s move out.” I gestured towards the door and he moved in front of me. My driver, Mario, met us in front of a burner van that would be abandoned later. We crawled in the back, careful to avoid the sterile packing material. Completely bullet-proof, the casing would house the painting until it was exchanged. Once we acquired the piece, my team would be waiting for us at another warehouse twenty miles from here to exchange vehicles. Then it would be on track to its new owner’s hands.
Cooper and I didn’t speak as we made our way to the Louvre. I was engrossed in my own thoughts, and I knew he was pissed at me for my shitty attitude. I sighed, wanting to mend things before we started the job.
“Cooper, look, I—”
Before I could finish, the van swerved and jerked, sliding into incoming traffic.
“What the hell?” I called out to Mario.
“The tires have been shot out—”
Another loud ping, and the back tire deflated as well.
“Shit,” Cooper swore, looking out the van window. From where I was crouching, I could see at least three large SUVs hot on our tail. “Who are these guys?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but the front of the vehicle suddenly burst into flames. Knowing we only had seconds before the entire van exploded, I grabbed Cooper and threw myself at the back doors, pulling him out with me.
I felt the gun to my head the second I landed in the grass along the side of the road.
“Hello, Steele. So good of you to join us. Mr. Phillips sends his regards.”