Chapter 13
13
Magnus wrenched himself upward with a powerful gasp and found himself back in the light. In an unfamiliar bed, trapped in an even more unfamiliar room. He looked around wildly to see a familiar, albeit shocked, face.
Celeste sat beside him, knees up to her chest and resting against the plush headboard. She wore sleeping clothes: a tank top, shorts and a satin bonnet on her head. She slowly placed the book she had been reading on the covers and searched his face with a concerned gaze.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“What are you doing in here?”
Celeste scoffed as she returned to her book. “Okay, weirdo. You’re the one who begged me to tuck you into bed. I only came back in here because it sounded like you had a nightmare last night.”
“Nightmare?” What in the hell was she talking about? He hadn’t begged her to stay in his room, had he? He flopped back onto his sweat-soaked pillow with a sigh. He couldn’t remember anything, not even a nightmare. “The Ambien.”
“The Ambien,” she intoned, flipping to the next page. “How long you been on that stuff?”
“On and off for the last two years.”
“Has Michelle experienced a doped-up Magnus?” The humor in her voice made him glance over. It sent a chill down his spine as he thought of an answer. He didn’t know why her teasing tone did that to him. Celeste peeked over her book, waiting for his reply. “Sorry,” she said. “It’s none of my business.”
“I’ve never taken it and gone to bed with someone. I have no idea how I act on it.” He tried to keep panic from creeping into his voice. “Did I do anything embarrassing?”
Celeste shrugged. “You’re very chatty when you’re high. You desperately needed someone to cuddle with, we kissed until I put an end to it, you called me the most beautiful woman in the world.”
Magnus’s eyes widened as he stared at her. “I didn’t.”
“Okay, well, you said I was the most beautiful woman at Victor Sanderson’s party.”
He closed his eyes as his face went up in flames. He hadn’t lied, but Jesus Christ, why would he tell her such a thing? “We kissed?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Did I try to...” He trailed off, afraid to finish that sentence.
“You were actually kind of sweet,” Celeste offered. “A bit clingy. Don’t worry about it.”
Easy for her to say. Magnus was fully worried now. “You kissed me back?”
“I probably shouldn’t have... You weren’t really in control of the situation. And from what I remember, you really like control in the bedroom.”
An exasperated laugh escaped him. He couldn’t believe he was in this position, left wondering how bad things were, and her describing how it had been even worse than he could imagine. But her jokes made the situation slightly better. “You liked it, too,” he returned.
Another page flipped. “I don’t remember all that,” she murmured.
Magnus shifted on his side and raised himself onto his elbow. “No, you liked arguing with me in front of the crew just so I could get you home and spank you.”
She scoffed, but didn’t reply.
He suddenly had the urge to run his fingers down the length of her shin just to feel how soft her skin was. It was a crying shame he couldn’t remember the feeling of it from last night. His dreams would have to be enough to sustain him until—
Christ, until what?
Just because they’d found themselves in bed with one another, didn’t mean it would happen again. This was just a bizarre fluke.
“You’re staring at me,” Celeste said to the page she wasn’t reading.
“I’m still waking up,” he lied.
“We’re not going to fuck any time too soon,” she warned. “So, you can get that thought out of your head.”
“I wasn’t thinking about fucking you,” he lied again.
“Or spanking?”
Her suspicious expression made him laugh despite his defenses. “Fuck you, CeCe...”
“Not in this lifetime.”
“What did it feel like?” he asked before thinking.
“What did what feel like?”
Before Magnus could change his mind, he plowed forward foolishly. “What did our make-out session feel like? I obviously can’t remember.”
The small pause before she shrugged was barely perceptible, but he saw the conflict on her face in the shape of a tiny wrinkle in her brow and a twitch near her mouth. “It wasn’t a big deal.”
Liar.
Celeste had to work hard to suppress the microexpressions he’d picked up. He saw them all and read them like they were pages in a diary. Even though she was having fun at his expense, Magnus decided to let her have this one. He threw back the blanket and slipped out of bed. “Crew meeting today?” he asked, padding to the en suite bathroom.
“At 10:00 a.m.,” she replied without looking up.
“I’m assuming we’ll keep this to ourselves?”
A small smile slipped from Celeste’s mask. “Of course.”
“I’ll be honest with you. I’d never heard of Estonia before you texted me last night,” Santiago said, pouring himself another cup of coffee. This morning, he dressed down a bit, going for a gray twill dress shirt and charcoal slacks. Magnus felt a little slovenly sitting beside him dressed in an undershirt and pajama bottoms.
“Americans tend to skip over that part of Europe,” Magnus replied, trying to shake himself of his Ambien hangover. Now that he was working, that would have to be the last time he’d take it. He’d need to be on his toes and keep his head in the game.
The crew, as it was, gathered in the kitchen going over what little plan they had. No one had commented on the fact that he and Celeste spent the night at Dr. Grant’s home, and he wouldn’t give them the ammo. For her part, Celeste had kept their strange evening to herself.
“Mags has already been,” Celeste said, standing at the stove, helping Lawrence make breakfast. “Though I can’t imagine what the hell we need from Tallinn.”
“Doris has a safe house in the city. She hung out there in the eighties and nineties. Whew... I’ll tell you what, the fall of the Soviet Union was a helluva time. All the corruption and confusion made it easy for a thief to get lost for a while,” Lawrence said with a chuckle. “I’ll get us there and we’ll figure out the next step.”
“Sounds good to me,” Beatrice said, quickly shoveling scrambled eggs into her mouth. While sitting between them at the kitchen island, Magnus noticed how closely Santiago watched the woman and how oblivious she was to his attention. If he didn’t know better, he’d call Santi...smitten? Which was strange because Santiago didn’t get hung up on any woman. “Are you going to eat that?” Beatrice asked Magnus, pointing her fork at the toast on his plate.
“Have at it,” he said, pushing the plate toward her.
“So, we’re heading out when?” she asked.
“As soon as possible,” Magnus said, rising from the breakfast nook. “Celeste?”
“Affirmative,” she said, popping a piece of bacon into her mouth. “Santi? Got a way for us to get there?”
Santiago was their logistics and transportation man whose fast driving got them out of more than one jam in the past. He took a contemplative sip of his coffee while staring at Beatrice.
Magnus snapped his fingers under the man’s nose. “Santi?”
He blinked and ran his hand over the top of his buzzed head. “We’ll take the Gulfstream,” he murmured. “I can hire a crew for this evening if you don’t mind a red-eye.”
“That soon?” Beatrice asked, pausing her meal.
“The sooner, the better,” Celeste said. “Update the store’s website with a message for our customers. Tell your dad we’re headed to Europe for an emergency auction trip.”
Beatrice cleared her throat and put a scrap of toast down. “I mean, I just assumed that we needed to train or something. Like in the movies?”
Everyone in the kitchen laughed.
“What’s your skill?” Magnus asked the girl.
Her brown skin darkened with blush. “I usually take care of tech for Celeste.”
“Then you’re our tech person,” he said. “You have all the training you’ll ever need. We won’t know what we’re prepping for until we get to Tallinn. For now, get all the tools you’ll need for a month of travel.”
“A month?” Beatrice blanched.
He now worried that the young woman wasn’t up to the task of being with this crew. Magnus glanced at Celeste, waiting for her to reassure Beatrice, but she continued eating alongside Lawrence.
“Pack with practicality,” Santiago said with a grin. “It’s a Gulfstream, not a 747. I suspect this job won’t take longer than a week if we’re smart about it.”
“ Always overpack your tools. Bring your laptops, backup drives and whatever else tech people need.” Magnus waved his hand dismissively. Hacking stuff wasn’t his area of expertise.
“Okay, Grandpa,” Celeste said, teasing a smile back on her young protégé’s face. Beatrice polished off her breakfast before springing from her chair. As she walked to the sink to wash her plate, Magnus watched Santiago’s eyes follow her with intense interest. He could tell he’d have to get out in front of this. The last thing the team needed was their getaway driver asleep at the wheel.
And then Magnus wondered if calling Santiago out might be hypocritical after a night of begging Celeste to sleep with him.
Once the women had their heads together, he could hear Celeste talking softly. She playfully nudged the girl’s shoulder. “You wanted this, right?” she said. “To hang out with the big kids?”
The girl shrugged her narrow shoulders. “Of course... I just thought we’d have a little time to get ourselves situated.”
Celeste rubbed her back. “No time like now.”
“Does Beatrice have a change of ID?” Magnus asked.
“I’ve got her covered,” Celeste said. “My forger was able to hook her up last year.”
“Okay, so we’ve got a location,” Santiago said. “Is there anything in the clues that could suggest a mark?”
“There’s mention of Kadriorg Palace,” Magnus said. “Which is incorporated in the city’s museum system.”
“Anything in there worth stealing?” Santiago asked.
Magnus shrugged. “Depends on who you ask. As far as palace museums go, it’s not very exciting. There’s a permanent exhibition of Dutch and Italian art, but I could think of better marks.”
Santiago nodded thoughtfully.
Lawrence sighed. “Knowing Doris, it could be anything. CeCe, you find anything interesting in her diary yet?”
Celeste wiped her hands on a dish towel before leaning against the kitchen sink. “I was reading it this morning, but I got interrupted,” she said, smirking at Magnus.
Ahh, so that’s what she was reading in bed... The tips of his ears burned in embarrassment.
“I’m still in her early years, though,” Celeste continued. “If I can get some peace and quiet, I can keep reading on the plane.”
Magnus fought the urge to roll his eyes. For a moment, he ignored her snarky quip and surveyed his team. After an unbelievable turn of events, he had returned to his crew. Well, not exactly his crew... Lawrence was older and without Doris, even more reserved. He wondered if the old man still had it in him to get into some trouble. Santiago still looked like he was in good shape; light on his feet and slippery as ever.
Beatrice was a concern. He’d never worked with her or seen her in action. But if she and Celeste bested him at Victor Sanderson’s emerald party, there was hope. Hell, if she was being mentored by Celeste in the same way Doris mentored them ... Beatrice would become a cutthroat thief in no time.