Page 53 of Power and Possession

I looked at my watch. I wanted to try and talk to Ashlynn before I left for the city, but I was running out of time if I wanted to go to the warehouse at the dock for one of our burner vehicles.

“Yeah, I’ll meet you at the warehouse in a couple of hours.”

I disconnected the call and ran my fingers through myhair. I could feel my temples throb, the beginning of a headache starting to develop. I wasn’t sure if it was the fact that I hadn’t had alcohol in several hours or if it was the situation with Ashlynn. I quickly dressed, pulling on dark jeans and a black shirt. I’d put on a bullet proof vest when I got to the warehouse. It was overkill, especially in Europe, but you never knew when you might need it.

I walked by Ashlynn’s door and knocked.

“Go away, Steele.” Her voice was hoarse from crying.

“I’m heading out. I’ll be back around midnight. When I get back, I expect you to be dressed. We’re going to have dinner together and discuss this like rational humans.”

“Screw you.”

I hoped she would. But I’d have to convince her. Once she realized the depth of her own feelings, it would happen. I was sure of it. If there was one thing that Ashlynn wasn’t, it was a coward. She would eventually be brave enough to face this relationship. If I had to use sex as a way to continue to bond, I would. And she couldn’t resist me.

Feeling a bit better, even though our dialogue was still the same, I left the estate and drove towards the warehouse. The two-hour drive seemed to fly by. My mind was preoccupied by my thoughts. It made me slightly nervous to pull off such a big heist when my mind was somewhere else, but I tried to push thoughts of Ashlynn away and focus on the task at hand. This next job would finance another diversification of my assets. I wanted to expand my hotel business further, and I wanted to do it all at once.

I pulled into the underground garage in the warehouse and parked the car. Cooper was waiting for me at the dock. As I approached him, he looked at me, brow furrowed.

“Steele. Can you handle this tonight? Something is off. You can’t put our enterprise in danger if this isn’t something you can deal with right now.”

“Our enterprise? It’s my enterprise,” I reminded him, taking out some of my frustration on him.

He didn’t say anything but retreated to his messy office. I followed him down the hall until I reached the weapons storage. I slipped on my vest and packed a bag of the usual ammunition, along with some decoys I had made by an engineering company in Germany. They were small, coin-sized devices that, when detonated, could send out high pitched sound waves to set off alarms in other parts of the museums, making it easier to get in and out if needed. But most of the time we slipped in and out undetected.

I marched into Cooper’s office. He was already wearing his vest and had his own bag tossed over his shoulder.

“Let’s move out.” I gestured towards the door and he moved in front of me. My driver, Mario, met us in front of a burner van that would be abandoned later. We crawled in the back, careful to avoid the sterile packing material. Completely bullet-proof, the casing would house the painting until it was exchanged. Once we acquired the piece, my team would be waiting for us at another warehouse twenty miles from here to exchange vehicles. Then it would be on track to its new owner’s hands.

Cooper and I didn’t speak as we made our way to the Louvre. I was engrossed in my own thoughts, and I knew he was pissed at me for my shitty attitude. I sighed, wanting to mend things before we started the job.

“Cooper, look, I—”

Before I could finish, the van swerved and jerked, sliding into incoming traffic.

“What the hell?” I called out to Mario.

“The tires have been shot out—”

Another loud ping, and the back tire deflated as well.

“Shit,” Cooper swore, looking out the van window. From where I was crouching, I could see at least three large SUVs hot on our tail. “Who are these guys?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but the front of the vehicle suddenly burst into flames. Knowing we only had seconds before the entire van exploded, I grabbed Cooper and threwmyself at the back doors, pulling him out with me.

I felt the gun to my head the second I landed in the grass along the side of the road.

“Hello, Steele. So good of you to join us. Mr. Phillips sends his regards.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Ashlynn

I refused to leave the room, not wanting to take any chances of running into Steele in the hall or in the kitchen. He’d given me free access to every part of his estate, but I hunkered down in my borrowed room. I slept off and on throughout the night, trying to use sleep as a sedative for the situation I’d gotten myself into. But whenever I woke, Steele’s confession came back to me, ringing in my head.

I love you, Ashlynn.

It was absurd. The minute he said it, my mind had tried to make up excuses. It was just something he said in the throes of passion. It was an accident. He meant to say he loved my body, or the way we came together.

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