Epilogue
LUCAS
I held my flashlight in my mouth as I sat in the crawl space, careful not to move too much.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I didn’t risk stopping to see who was calling.
The thing was, when you were a newly crowned prince, the king apparently liked to call you at all hours to handle all kinds of things while he was on his extended honeymoon. So I had to answer. Just in case it was my brother.
“What’s up, Seb? I’ve got my hands full right now.”
But the voice that came back to me was not my brother’s. And it was less disapproving and more amused. “Is it a woman or a piece of jewelry?”
I paused for a moment. “Damon Hunt. What’s the matter, do you miss me already? I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon.”
“Just checking in on you, man. You all right?”
“Yeah, I can’t complain. You know, or I could, but who would listen?”
I kept sewing. I knew I had a limited amount of time. In thirty minutes I would need to be off the Sterling estate. Zion Sterling had a renowned art collection. Including a Wistell painting.
Zion also liked to throw a party. What better way to show off your art than to display it to your other rich friends?
And I’d had the distinct displeasure of meeting Mr. Sterling with my brother just last week. He was a dick. Treated his employees like shit. And, well, he was very handsy with the waitress. Sebastian had been meeting with him about some art endowment. I’d told my brother I wanted to go but hadn’t mentioned that I would be depriving Mr. Sterling of his most prized possession: the Wistell.
I hadn’t lied when I said I was mostly retired. I wasn’t running scams anymore. They were too risky. I certainly wasn’t interested in anything violent—that carried real time. But the art and the jewels... Even though I was a prince now, that didn’t stop the itch to take . Especially if it meant taking things from people who didn’t deserve them. People who treated others like they were beneath them.
Sometimes I liked to think of myself as Robin Hood. Lord knew I didn’t need the money now. So I made donations with the proceeds. In the case of the waitress, I planned to go back and leave her a very special tip. But mostly I stole to keep my skills fresh. You never knew. “Something tells me this isn’t a social call, Damon. Is everything okay with your brother? He’s all right now, yeah? No other problems?”
“No, yeah, he’s fine. He’s got a job working for Galen, so he’s keeping his nose clean. This is about something else.”
I liked Damon a lot, but now was not the time. I finished sewing the lining of the tuxedo jacket and admired my handiwork for a moment before sliding the protected and folded canvas in, then sewing it shut.
“It’s Ari. She’s been driving herself up the wall chasing this group called the Silver Fox Gang.”
I froze.
The Silver Fox crew was decades old. The original members were either in prison, retired, or dead. So I’d had no qualms about temporarily resurrecting their name to pull off a few select jobs.
“Oh yeah? What about this crew?”
“You know Ari. She’s like a dog with a bone. She couldn’t figure the case out until I said something when I proposed to her about having to hide the ring on me so she wouldn’t find it. And then suddenly she was off and said she knew exactly what she was looking for. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about the crew, would you?”
A cold sweat ran down my back. The buzzer on my watch went off; I had twenty-five minutes to put this tux jacket back where it belonged: out of the crawl space. And then I had to get back with the laundry crew and off the property so I could go home, get dressed, change, and come back as a guest.
“That’s really interesting. But I don’t know the gang personally. So I can’t give her any insight. Is it an active case or something? And don’t think I missed that part about you two being engaged. Congratulations. I owe you both the best champagne.”
“Thank you. I still can’t believe I managed to convince her to tie herself to me.”
I wrapped up the tuxedo and shoved it into the dry-cleaning bag, then crawled out of my hiding place. “Why not? You’ve gone legit now. Not to mention the last time I saw you, you couldn’t keep your eyes off her. I’m no expert on love or anything like that, but she seems like the real deal.”
“Thank you. I appreciate you saying that. Which is why I feel the need to warn you: Ari is on her way to this fundraiser that some rich idiot Zion Sterling is having. She thinks the Silver Fox Gang is after a Wistell painting. If you have any friends in that crew, now might be a good time to tell them to pull out.
Well, shit. He had called to warn me. “Like I said, I don’t really know the gang. But I’m going to see your fiancée tonight. I’ll be at the benefit.”
He sighed. “Lucas, I’m telling you, she’s hell-bent and determined to catch them in the act. So, like I said, if you have a friend in the crew, now is the time to tell them to pull out.”
“I don’t really believe in pulling out as a birth control method. Sometimes you just have to take your chances. Thanks for the warning, Damon. Make sure you enjoy that champagne I send you and Ari. And console her about the Silver Fox Gang. She won’t catch them tonight.”
I hung up, returned the jacket to its place in Sterling’s closet, and got in the laundry truck with five minutes to spare.
I had always liked Ari Denton, but tonight, she would not get her man. But I did understand, if she was sniffing around, maybe it was time to hang up the gig. Besides, I was a prince now. I should concentrate on making my brother proud.
And I would . . . after this last job.
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