Page 1 of All We Want

Prologue

Declan

I still remember the first time we saw her.

It was on a security camera as she walked calmly out the front door of our building, after stealing priceless information from my personal computers.

I had always found it convenient that we built our penthouse apartment on the top floor of our office building, until now. Though who could really have predicted that someone would take advantage of the Christmas party we hosted for our employees to utilize the easy access.

And it’s not as though she was hiding from the cameras as she left.

But she had somehow bypassed all of the security and cameras inside our office, our private elevator from the office to the penthouse and then all the way into our private office. Except for the tiny camera hidden in the bookshelf and just as off the grid as our computers. If it wasn’t for that tiny camera we would have probably dismissed the vixen, dressed in ruby red velvet, as just another guest, exactly how she intended.

I’m not even sure how I hadn’t seen her during the party itself, and she would have caught my attention if I had. She was dressed to fit in with the other ordinary party guests, but there was nothing ordinary about her.

Her black hair was piled high on her head in a riot of black curls, some having come loose to trail down the skin of her neck and back. The dress she wore was almost a work of art in itself, but I couldn’t decide if that was because of the dress or how it clung to her hourglass figure.

Replaying the footage from the building foyer, I watched the gentle sway of her round hips as she walked from the elevator and toward the front door, underneath where the camera is mounted. It captures the tiny moment her blue eyes look directly in the camera and a smile curls on her ruby painted lips.

The party was long over before we knew anything was amiss. But I could feel it in the air the moment I walked into the office. And there was a subtle scent in there that didn’t belong. The scent itself wasn’t subtle, it was bold and spicy, but it was only a slight lingering wisp of perfume.

I knew instantly that someone had been in our space who didn’t belong. Nothing could be seen on all the wired security systems so I checked the one I have hidden for this exact reason. It was only through that camera that we even knew the files she had stolen since it was aimed at my computer.

It’s a pity the information she stole was going to get her tortured and killed.

Chapter 1

Scarlette

There was nothing like the feeling of success.

That combined with the adrenaline of a successful job has me practically flying high. Who would have thought that stealing from the Blackstone brothers would be so easy?

Okay, fine, it wasn’t that easy; it took weeks of planning and a lot of technology to bypass all of their security systems. But I managed it. And now I was going to be a million dollars richer.

I can’t help smiling to myself as I key in the code for my front door. It had astounded me the level of security that they had on their building and then they had twice as much on their penthouse. I wasn’t unfamiliar with high security, I owned a tech security company after all, but theirs was next level.

Walking inside my front door, I move over to the security panel on the wall, putting in the second code and scanning my handprint. The green glow appears moments later, and I hear the locks disengage on the internal entry doors.

Humming under my breath, I move into the main part of my house, leaning against the wall in the entryway to remove one red high heel and then the other. I breathe a sigh of relief at the coolness of the marble tiles under my feet.

I start humming under my breath again, and I realize it’s one of the songs that was playing at the Christmas party in the Blackstone Enterprises offices. I grin again, setting my purse onto the black dining table and retrieving my phone. Pulling up the entertainment system, I find the same Christmas music and press play. The upbeat song instantly surrounds me from the speakers throughout the open area.

Humming and singing along, I reach around my back and start unzipping my party dress as I make my way toward my kitchen. Letting it fall to the floor, I step out of it and continue walking in just my bra and underwear, opening one of the glossy white cabinets to retrieve a wine glass.

Bending down to look at my wine rack, I shake my hips in time with the music. Christmas was my favorite time of the year. I loved the music and the cooler weather, but I also loved how easy my jobs became when people were distracted by the season. Important people hosting important parties like the one that the Blackstone brothers held tonight was an easy way to get whatever I needed with minimal effort.

Picking out a bottle of wine, I continue dancing to the music as I open it and pour myself a generous glass. Taking a sip of the wine, my eyes focus back on my purse, my smile getting wider as I sway my way back over to it, picking the dress up along the way to hang over the back of a dining chair.

Reaching into the purse, I dig out my prize.

Holding the silver USB up to the light between my fingers, I take another sip of wine as I look at it. It’s such a small inconsequential looking item, but the information it held was going to make me a lot of money.

In all honesty, I didn’t even have a clue what the information was. I just had the project name, found the files with all references to it and copied them onto the drive. It could have been the plans for the next city graveyard for all I knew, all that mattered was that someone was willing to pay a lot of money for it.

Closing my whole hand around it, I make my way away from the open living area and toward my office.

As I enter my sleek home office, I can't help but feel a giddy sense of accomplishment. The room is dimly lit, the only source of light coming from the glow of multiple monitors and the ambient Christmas lights I've hung around the room.

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