Page 38 of Brazen Mistakes

I lean back against Jansen, all of me at ease between my guys. Add one more, and this night would be perfect. “It seems like the kind of thing beginning criminals ought to learn to do. That and chess. Evil masterminds always seem to love playing chess. Oh! And pool. I should learn to be a pool shark. That’s what they call it, right? Pool shark? Pool hustler? Wait, now I don’t know which is which.”

Trips huffs. “It’s pretty obvious at this point that you got all your information about this line of work from bad movies, Crash.”

Jansen hands me the whiskey and I take a swig, the burn somehow pleasant after a few passes. “Well, humor me. Unless you think it’s a waste of time. Then just teach me the good stuff.”

“How about I put you to work?”

“What kind of work?”

I pass the whiskey on to Trips, but he holds it instead of taking a drink. “I want you working the New Year’s Eve high rollers party with us.”

“Really? Am I bartending? Playing? Observing?”

“Undecided. It’ll depend on the skills you learn this week.”

“Cryptic.”

Jansen nuzzles my neck. “We can do team lifts. It’ll be fun.”

“I’m still at the bar, right?” Walker asks.

“Yeah. If you could listen for any possible art requests, as we lost our fence for the time being, that’d be great.”

Walker slumps against the back of the couch, and I crawl into his lap in sympathy. The liquor might have pushed me into such a public move in front of Trips, though. “It’s notyour fault things are messed up with Jasmine. It’s Trips’ dad’s fault.”

Trips scoffs. “Thanks for throwing me under the bus.”

“I’m not throwing you. I’m throwing your dad. And maybe your brother. Anyone else you want under that bus?”

“How long do we have?”

“How long is this bus? Is there such a thing as a stretch limo bus?”

He rolls his eyes while he finally takes a sip from the bottle, but the hint of a smile sneaks onto the corners of his mouth, and I want to purr. He passes the whiskey to me, waiting until I take a sip before he speaks, his gaze stuck to where the bottle touches my lips. A slight hint of red coats his cheeks before he rubs his hands against his thighs. “On that note, I’m calling it a night. But tomorrow morning, we’re starting on my family. If you do well, maybe we’ll do some etiquette or dancing or some shit.”

Jansen rolls so he’s lying on his back on the coffee table, feet planted on the ground, staring at Trips upside down. “When do you think I should get back to lifting cars?”

“Tomorrow or the next day should be fine. How bad do you need it?”

“I’m not strung out or anything, but soon would be nice. How much are you looking for?”

“Enough for another down payment by February.” Trips stretches as he gets to his feet, a glimpse of skin between his shirt and pants visible, and I want more. I always want more from him. Only I’m not sure I’ll ever get it.

Jansen kicks his feet like a windmill, using the movement to sit up on the table, distracting me from my thoughts. “Fun! I wanna take Clara.”

I freeze, and Walker chuckles, shifting me so my back is tight to his chest. “Can you even drive, princess?”

I force my muscles to relax. “I’m an excellent driver. Turns out I have a former car thief for a dad, and he’s the one who taught me. It’s just, isn’t that a big risk? Taking me to actually steal something?”

Trips stops on his way out of the room, turning back with one eyebrow raised. “Clara, you were with us for three separate jobs in Chicago. Why is this one weird?”

My fingers are drumming on my leg before I can stop them. “I don’t know. I guess, a museum is big and impersonal? And stealing someone’s car from their house seems a lot more, invasive, maybe?”

Jansen laughs. “You’ve literally run toward guns twice now, beautiful. Slipping in and out of a mega garage in the middle of the night will be a cakewalk in comparison.”

The weight of what they’re saying sinks in. This is what’s normal for them. This is day-to-day business.

The email from the FBI flashes in my mind, a shimmer of a different future waiting for me. “I guess, if you really think it’s something I should learn about, I can come.”

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