Chapter 19 #2
Gesturing for Natalie to follow, I made my way along the fence line. Large snowflakes fell all around us, and I hoped she wasn’t too cold. The discomfort of shivering would be made worse by her bruises. I wanted to get her inside sooner rather than later.
“Are you cold?” I asked.
“No. I think the excitement is keeping me warm.”
“All right. I just want one more look. Stay behind me, and I’ll keep us out of sight of the cameras.”
I led us closer to the road but stayed within the confines of the trees. The noise of an approaching car carried through the otherwise quiet morning. We crouched in the accumulating snow, and I pulled out the binoculars.
The gate started to open. It was quiet, probably well maintained, swinging inward with hardly a sound. A Range Rover turned into the driveway.
Expensive suit, expensive house, expensive car. He was certainly consistent.
Natalie placed her hands on my back, as if to steady herself, and the corners of my mouth lifted. My gut told me Julian was our guy, and I was almost disappointed. Once I retrieved the necklace, the job would be done.
I liked working with Natalie. I liked fucking her too, but that was just the cherry on top.
“We should probably get out of here,” she whispered. “If he’s home, we don’t want him to see us sneaking around.”
“No, we don’t. As soon as we get to the road, we’re just a couple out for a walk in the snow.”
“Got it.”
We rose and crept through the last of the trees. As soon as our feet hit the sidewalk, Natalie fell in step with me. I clasped her hand—just a man with his woman—as we made our way to my car.
“I’d call that a success,” I said once we were inside and back on the road, driving away.
“Did we get enough information? We didn’t even get in his yard.”
“No, but we didn’t need to. This confirms most of my suspicions—He’s a collector. He has money. And his security is formidable.”
“Maybe I should have asked this question sooner, but how exactly does this end?”
“My job is to retrieve the necklace.”
“And by that, you mean steal it back.”
“In a manner of speaking. I’m being paid to return the piece to its rightful owners.”
“Which means you’re going to steal it from the thief.”
I glanced at her and raised my eyebrows. “No, darling. We are going to steal it from the thief.”
She bit her bottom lip, and I could see her trying not to smile. She had a thirst for adventure. It made me like her even more.
“Okay, Mr. Lakes,” she said. “What’s our next move?”
“We need to get inside.”
“How?”
“I haven’t come up with a solution yet.”
We were quiet for a long moment while I drove. I took it slow. I wasn’t worried about my ability to drive in the increasingly heavy snow. I knew what I was doing. But it was other people one had to worry about.
“You said before that normally you’d find a way to get an invitation,” she said. “You meant make friends with him and get him to invite you over?”
“More or less.”
“How would you do that?”
“Find a way to be in the same place and strike up a conversation. Work in something about his interests. Make him feel like we’re long-lost friends. But if he’s suspicious of me in any way, it won’t work.”
“Do you think he’d be suspicious of me?”
“Hard to say. He did seem to want to talk to you at the Snowflake Ball. Why?”
“What if I get the invitation?”
A surge of—dare I say it—jealousy ran hot through my veins. An invitation to Julian’s house would mean a date.
It was probably a brilliant suggestion. If he’d been planning to speak to her at the Snowflake Ball because he found her attractive, she was already halfway there. And what man wouldn’t appreciate her attention?
But Natalie on a date with him? I hated the idea so much I wanted to rip his arms from his shoulders.
“Jensen?”
Realizing I had the steering wheel in a death grip and my teeth were clenched, I tried to relax. “Sorry. I was thinking about how that would work.”
“He saw me at the Snowflake Ball with you, so he might have suspicions about me, too. But what if I could convince him we just met. It’s not even a lie, we basically did.
If I needed to, I could convince him I have no idea what you do.
That I was just arm candy. Maybe I’m even furious with you because I thought you were interested in me, but you blew me off. ”
My brow furrowed. I hated that plan. But she was right, it was a good one.
“I need to think it through.”
“Okay. But I really think I can do it. I know all I’ve done so far is follow you around and do what you tell me. But I bet I could get him to invite me over. And once I was inside…” She trailed off for a moment. “I admit, I’m not sure what I’d do once I was inside.”
“Get me in,” I said reluctantly. “You’d find a moment to slip out of sight and unlock a door or a window.”
“But all those cameras.”
“I can deal with them.”
From the corner of my eye, I could see her excited smile. “Then let’s do it. Jensen, I promise, I can do this. You can trust me.”
I did trust her. Whether or not it made any sense, I did. And her plan was solid. Despite my misgivings, I was impressed. She was thinking like I did. Working through the problem to find a creative solution.
But I still hated it.
“We just need to figure out how to put me in his way,” she said. “And make sure I look good when it happens.”
“That part won’t be a problem.”
The problem was going to be me. And it wasn’t just the raging jealousy. Could I allow her to walk into danger? I’d need to coordinate with Maple—make sure we knew as much as we could. I didn’t want to get into something worse than it seemed. Not when she was the one at risk.
And as for her fake date with another man, when it was over, I’d make sure she knew she was mine.