Romance of a Robbery: Thieves of Desire Book 5, page 2
“What will he do with the artifacts he steals?” she asked, leaning over the counter, watching the door to make sure that no customers arrived to overhear their conversation. They had made a valiant effort to ensure that no one could ever accuse the jewellery shop of being anything less than legitimate – including denying Arie’s offer to supply them with jewels that may have been sourced a bit less… lawfully.
“He will return them to Greece,” Xander said, “although in what capacity, I am not entirely certain. He also has plans to take with him a few items that will make it all worthwhile for the lot of us.”
“He will steal other items, then, that have no meaning to him?”
Xander flashed that quick grin of his. “Basically, yes.”
“I see,” Annabelle said, trying to come to terms with everything they were telling her. The thought of robbing the British Museum was nearly laughable. From everything she knew, no one had ever stolen from the museum. To remove the majority of the statues… it was impossible, was it not?
But if there was one thing she knew about Arie Hondros, it was that he would not go forward unless success was assured. From what Juliet had told her, the only time he ever failed was when the yearnings of the human heart – never his own – interfered.
She couldn’t say that she completely approved of the plan, but she also wasn’t entirely against it.
But what did it matter what she thought?
“This is all quite intriguing, to say the least,” Annabelle said, picking up a silver ring with an emerald in its center, toying with it between her fingers as she spoke. “But what does it have to do with me?”
She had taken her eyes off the door as she spoke, and just as the words fell from her lips, she belatedly noticed the jingle of the bell. As the newcomer began to respond in the low, gravelly voice that she had grown to detest, the ring fell from her fingers with a clatter on the counter.
“Because I need you, Annabelle, to be my wife.”
* * *
Arie had once heard that everyone had a certain store of patience within them. He figured if that was true, he had used up all of his waiting to put this plan into action. He no longer had any of the supposed virtue remaining to see if Juliet and Xander could convince a woman who hated him to agree to his plan, one that was now riding entirely on her answer.
Diana had finally rolled her eyes at his pacing and told him just to follow after them and speak to Annabelle himself.
He hadn’t appreciated when she had called out after him to “be nice.”
Yes, because that was what was going to sway the decision of a woman like Annabelle. He didn’t know much about her, truthfully, besides that she made jewellery and she had previously been convinced to help Juliet when she had discovered her new friend was a thief at heart. At the very least, he knew Annabelle wouldn’t turn him in or warn the museum of his plans, not if she didn’t want him to share any information of her own actions with anyone.
He would simply provide her with the facts and make sure she understood that it was most definitely in her best interests to help them.
Then he had opened the door of the jewellery store that she and Juliet and Xander had quite successfully opened and grown – something that he was actually prouder of than he would ever admit to them – and had seen her standing there.
Reminding him all over again of why he had initially thought that this might not have been the best of plans.
For there she stood with the light of the late afternoon sun filtering in through the window, touching upon her blond hair and giving her the ethereal glow of an angel. It danced upon her pale skin, over her pert, upturned nose and bowed pink lips, which were currently pursed as she was in contemplation over whether or not she should join this scheme of his.
And then he had spoken, the words rolling off his lips, sounding so perfect and causing him such contentment that he nearly walked right back out the door onto the street.
For Arie Hondros was not a man who would ever marry or fall in love. He loved his siblings, yes, though he had never set out to do so. He had simply wanted to provide them a home, to make sure that they would never know the same loneliness that had befallen him. They could never know the depths of the love he felt for them, for to have that relationship and then lose it was something he knew that he could never allow to happen to him again.
There was no place for Annabelle in his life.
Except that, for the interim, there was no one else who could take on the role he so desperately required her to play.
He stood there in the doorway, frozen in place when she had turned the brilliance of her beautiful blue eyes upon him. They were like sapphires themselves, and he wondered how many other men had used that line upon her. Not that it mattered to him.
Her lips circled into a round O.
“I beg your pardon?” she managed, blinking rapidly at him.
“Our plan relies on a woman posing as my wife,” he explained, stepping into the shop. “Someone who can help convince the trustees at the museum that we belong there, that we might have an artifact ourselves to donate to the museum. Someone who can charm the board of trustees. Someone who can provide a reason for visiting more than once, to study some of the artifacts for a legitimate reason. I had always envisioned Calli taking on the role but that is no longer an option.”
Annabelle narrowed her eyes slightly as she studied him.
“And you thought that I would not only fill all of those requirements, but that I would also agree to work with you?”
“Well,” he said with a shrug, “yes.”
She stared at him for a moment, and for a heartbeat he thought that she was going to agree, would say yes and make all that he had dreamed of come true. The thought both enthralled and terrified him.
“Absolutely not,” she said, before pushing away from the counter and heading toward the back of the store, where she would likely try to hide away in the room where Arie knew she created all of the jewels that were on the counters before him.
“Running away, are you?” he called out after her, purposefully goading her, ignoring Juliet’s dramatic sigh of exasperation. “I thought you were better than that.”
Annabelle whirled around to face him, tendrils of her blond hair falling out of the knot on top of her head.
“How dare you,” she said through gritted teeth. “You are asking me to participate in a robbery that would likely see me hung if we were caught. I would be risking my life. And for what? To help a man who would have been more than happy to let me go hungry when I had nothing, when I had worked so hard? Or have you perhaps forgotten about how Juliet and I spent months planning to steal jewels from a man who I thought was the worst man I had ever met, only to have you sweep in and attempt to take all of the treasure from us?”
Heat began to sweep through Arie, although he couldn’t say whether he was angry, hurt at her accusations, or stirred by the force of her words. He let the anger take over, for it was a much easier emotion to manage.
“The profits which led to the establishment of this jewellery shop we now all find ourselves in?” he countered, and her face dropped slightly as she looked to the side, realizing the truth to his words.
“Yes, well, it took some time for you to come around,” she mumbled, although she held her chin up defiantly. “And that was only because of Juliet.”
Arie strode farther into the room, stalking toward Annabelle. He had to admire her for holding her stance rather than backing away.
“It doesn’t matter what you think of me,” he countered. “Hate me all you want. Everyone else does. It makes no difference if you do, too. But consider this. What has made everyone else say yes? Diana, Wade, Damien, Grace, Xander, and yes, even your good friend Juliet, who I would say has hated me more than anyone else.”
He looked over at Juliet, who shrugged slightly as if to say that was one point she couldn’t argue.
“They have agreed to this plan because they know that this is the most well–thought–out scheme there has ever been. I promise you that you will not get caught, for there is nothing to catch you doing. You will not be involved in the actual theft, Annabelle. I only need you to help gather information, to create a piece that can be passed off as an artifact to allow us entrance, and to provide me with more legitimacy as I pose as a donor. If you can do all of that, I will make sure that you are most properly compensated. That I can promise you, and I am a man of my word, if nothing else.”
Annabelle stared at him, indecision playing over her face as she balled her hands into fists at her side.
“What he says is true,” Xander said, speaking up from behind them. “Arie wouldn’t lie to you about something like this.”
“But the choice is yours,” Juliet added. “Don’t agree because of me. You must come to your own decision based on what is best for you.”
“I—” Annabelle opened her mouth and then closed it again. “I will think on it.”
Juliet smiled encouragingly. “That is fine.”
“You have until tomorrow,” Arie said turning on his heel, not missing Juliet narrowing her eyes at him. “We don’t have any more time,” he snapped at her before he stepped outside and let the door shut behind him. The cold air slapped him in the face, and he tugged his cloak tighter around him as he turned toward Aphrodite’s, his gaming hell. He preferred to have others run the operations in the front of the hell, although he saw to everything behind the scenes. Arie could never completely give up control to another. His siblings were competent, and he did give them more responsibility than he would anyone else, but at the end of the day, there was only one person he could fully trust.
Himself.
CHAPTER 3
Annabelle stared at the setting of the broach in front of her. It was a custom piece, meant as a gift for the Countess of Wanfield. But she seemed to have lost that creative spark that usually drove her.
All because of Arie Hondros.
She pushed back her chair and began to pace up and down the small room, as if by moving she could convince her drive to return.
Which was how Juliet found her half an hour later.
“Annabelle, what’s the matter?” she asked from where she stood, framed in the doorway. “I thought there was a pack of goats parading behind this door.”
Annabelle snorted. “If only. They might do a better job on this piece than I am.”
“Would you like to tell me what’s wrong?” Juliet asked, slipping into the room, standing against the door, which closed at her back.
“What’s wrong?” Annabelle repeated, turning to Juliet with hands on her hips. “You know perfectly well what’s wrong. It’s Arie Hondros and his ridiculous plan. Why would he involve me, Juliet? He has to know how much I hate him.”
Juliet bit her lip as she clasped her hands together in a wringing motion.
“Ah…. Well, the idea for your involvement didn’t come from Arie.”
“Didn’t it?”
“No,” Juliet said, shaking her head, looking up at Annabelle with apology in her eyes. “It was my suggestion.”
“Juliet!” Annabelle exclaimed. “You know how I feel about him. After everything he did to you years ago, trying to keep you and Xander apart, and then how he tried to take everything from us much more recently… I just don’t see how I can ever forgive him.”
“You’re a loyal friend, Annabelle, and I am more fortunate than I could ever imagine just at the fact that I have you in my life and in my corner,” Juliet said with a small smile. “And I understand what you are saying. Arie… well, Arie is like sandpaper. He’s rough and prickly and sometimes he hurts people, but what he leaves behind is a smooth surface.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It just means that Arie does have better intentions than we realize,” Juliet said. “Even if it is hard to understand his motivations.”
“You’re too forgiving, Juliet – at least when it comes to Xander and his family,” Annabelle said, crossing her arms and shaking her head. “When I learned Xander’s motivations for leaving you all of those years ago – as well as his intentions for the future – it did change my outlook on who he was and what he meant to you, but as for Arie… Juliet, nothing good comes from that man.”
Juliet tilted her head to the side, a dark curl brushing against her forehead while she peered at Annabelle, her eyes crinkling.
“I can understand your sentiments, although I do have one point to the contrary.”
“Oh?”
“He raised Xander and his siblings when he was still basically a child himself. That’s worth something.”
“I suppose,” Annabelle said begrudgingly.
“I am not trying to force you to do anything that feels uncomfortable,” Juliet said, walking over and putting a hand on one of Annabelle’s shoulders. “You are more than welcome to say no if you don’t like the idea. I just don’t want your animosity for Arie to blind you to the opportunity.”
Annabelle raised a brow. “The opportunity to break into one of the world’s greatest museums?”
“Exactly,” Juliet said with a laugh.
Annabelle tapped her foot for a moment, mulling it over once more. “I do have one question,” she said, and Juliet lifted her chin as she waited. “What exactly does Arie want me to design?”
Juliet smiled, knowing that Annabelle’s attention had been captured. For if there was one thing Annabelle couldn’t turn down, it was the challenge of creating something new.
“There is only one way to find out,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders that Annabelle knew was supposed to be innocent. “You will have to ask Arie himself.”
* * *
Annabelle knocked on the door of the narrow grey brick townhouse an hour later. It was most definitely out of place here in the middle of St. Giles. It was well kept, the exterior having obviously been updated recently, and even the door knocker, surprisingly a dolphin head, positively gleamed at Annabelle. She narrowed her eyes at it, as though it was an extension of Arie himself, before the door swung open, and Annabelle heaved a sigh of relief when she saw it was Diana on the other side. Diana and Wade, along with two children they cared for, were staying with Arie until they could settle into their new home, much to Wade’s dismay.
“Annabelle,” Diana said, the surprise in her voice evident. “How are you? Do come in.”
Annabelle nodded and stepped past her, into the front foyer of the house she had stayed at once a few years ago. Since then, she had done her very best to avoid the place and the man who owned it. The foyer was simple, yet elegant, not what she would have expected to find in St. Giles with its hunter green wallpaper and gilded edging.
“You’re here about Arie’s plan, aren’t you?” Diana asked shrewdly, never one to miss anything, and Annabelle nodded.
“I have a few questions.” She brightened considerably at the thought of speaking to Diana instead of Arie. “Perhaps you could help me.”
“If it has anything to do with your role in the scheme, then I’m afraid I don’t know much,” Diana said, waving her hand to Annabelle in a gesture to follow her before she turned and started down the hall toward the back of the house. “Arie has kept everything rather close this time. He’s in his study,” she said, pointing to a closed door. “You can go in.”
“Perhaps you should see if he has time to see me?” Annabelle asked, hearing the break in her voice and feeling a coward. Now that she was here, she was beginning to second-guess her decision to come, to even entertain the idea of having anything to do with a plan that not only involved Arie Hondros, but that he had dreamed up.
Diana nodded curtly and then opened the door, sticking her head in.
“Arie?” she called. “Annabelle is here to see you.”
Annabelle only heard a low murmuring from within before Diana pushed open the door.
“In you go,” she said, and then as Annabelle forced herself to step forward, Diana placed a hand on her forearm and briefly, gently squeezed. “It will be fine,” she whispered. “Just don’t let him see any nerves.”
Annabelle nodded, wishing she could reach out and clasp Diana’s hand to force her to come in with her, but knew that was a foolish notion. Instead, she stepped forward, into the darkness of the lion’s den.
It took a moment for her eyes to adjust. The curtains were pulled shut over the study’s only window, while the colors of the room were navy and dark green, most of the furniture black.
Annabelle was so busy studying the interior that she didn’t see the man to whom it all belonged until it was too late, and she jumped when his voice startled her more than welcomed her.
“Miss Kennedy,” came the rumble from the darkness that encompassed the chair behind his desk. “How lovely of you to visit me.”
His voice was low, dark and raspy, and it sent all kinds of smoky shivers running through Annabelle, from her chest down to her center, a place where Arie had no business affecting her.
He was a terrible human being, she reminded herself, which also brought up the question – why was she even entertaining this idea to work with him?
She should say no to his proposition and run as fast as she could from the man.
“What can I do for you?”
Annabelle shook herself out of her reverie, reminding herself to show strength in front of him.
“I came to ask you a question,” she said, proud of the clarity of her voice.
“Yes?”
“When you said you would need me to create something – just what is it you would require?”
“You are a jeweler, Miss Kennedy, are you not?”
“Yes. And you might as well call me Annabelle.”
“Very well, Annabelle.”
Oh, why did her name sound so sensual coming off his tongue? He was doing it on purpose. He must be.
