Page 8 of The Eagle's Vault

“Now you’re curious?” I shot her a grin and marched out of her tent to riffle through my bag for one of the custom phone cases.

“What are you doing?” She pushed the wall of canvas aside and stood at the entryway like a guard dog.

“I want to try something.” Something that would impress her. I made quick work of snapping the magnetic case onto my phone so I could mount it next to the Barton safe’s processing unit. I’d show her how easy it was to get into her little baby.

Leigh barred my path, holding the open sides of the canvas wall with each hand. “And what exactly are you trying to do?”

“It’s killing you, isn’t it?”

Her eyes narrowed. “What?”

“You want to know how I got into your safe, don’t you?”

The muscles in her jaw ticked, and I could almost imagine the war going on inside her head. Was she as drawn to the puzzle as I was? Or was she simply angry I was better than her? Her gaze fell to the floor, and she sighed as she moved out of the way.

That was too easy.

For all her fire, she apparently lacked a backbone.

“I’ll show you how simple it is to bypass.” I wasn’t just a professional; I was an expert. Of course, I could get into her safe. There was no reason to feel bad about it. All the same, a twinge of guilt slithered up my spine. Unpleasant emotion.

“Your design was good.” Now I was trying to make her feel better? What was coming over me? “I simply have tools so amazing they’d make you cry.”

Probably not the right words to make things better.

I held up my phone to show her. The damn thing was a technical marvel, created by the Reynolds gadget guru, Will, and programmed by our hacker genius, Brie. It had busted through her so-called smart lock in five minutes. It hadn’t done its wonders in London last week, but no need to share it was fallible.

With the phone app’s analysis mode, I’d be able to download data about any false entries and access history. Maybe that would provide a clue about what had happened. As I moved it closer to the lock, I said, “Let’s see if the thieves—”

“No!” Leigh shouted, almost drowning out the soft click as it connected with the metal.

Before I could stop or even turn around—

My world was blue.

The safe spat out a cloud of dye, covering my face and shirt. Filling the air. And a stench worse than rotten eggs. I stumbled back, gagging.

Behind me, the sound of stifled laughter.

Goddammit. Not only had I not impressed her, I was now the laughingstock.

More laughter filled the library, and I waved a hand in front of my face to clear the air. Jayce sounded like a braying donkey, and I recognized it immediately. Great. First, I’d barely been able to scale the wall after her. Now she saw this. There would be no living today down. I was an expert safe cracker, not the court jester.

I glanced at Leigh, who held a hand over her nose, the other pressed against her stomach. The disgusting smell and cloud of rapidly dissipating gas had changed her. Gone was the grumpy woman avoiding my eyes. Instead, she was still laughing, eyes bright, tears streaming down her face.

Aw hell.

Leigh Barton, free of pretense and no longer trying to prove herself? She wasn’t just naturally pretty.

She was fucking gorgeous.

Chapter 4

Leigh

Ittookadayand a half to finish my repairs. After Declan messed with my safe and triggered the dye, I’d had to start from scratch, building the security measures back up. Isaac’s meetings would begin in the morning—despite it being Saturday—and he’d confine me to the hotel.

‘It’s too dangerous for you to roam the city on your own,’ he’d said to me.

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