Page 29 of The Love Bandits

I raise my eyebrows. “You bring so many women home you don’t even remember their names?”

I’m not saying he deserves to be stolen from or to have his apartment ransacked, but honestly.

He swears and dips his head again, his hair brushing a path on my skin—ticklish and tempting. “You must be talking about Chloe.”

“No, her name’sdefinitelyCleo.”

“I was drunk,” he says, his tone defensive, his hand flexing against the wall.

“You brought a drunk woman home with you?”

“I saidIwas drunk…she seemed sober. It was… I was having a bad night, and I overdid it.”

Well, that does put a spin on things. Again, I’m thrown by how thoroughly Cleo reeled me in. I’ve been taught how to twist people’s impressions to my advantage my entire life, and still I was hoodwinked by the need to believe what I wanted to believe—that she was an innocent who’d been taken advantage of by a man.

Because I might not be an innocent, but Iwastaken advantage of, and it still hurts. It’s a splinter I carry around in my heart, and I’ve started to think it’ll always be there, as much a part of me as my hair.

“Sorry,” I say, pausing, then add, “Anyway…she told me she’d broken up with you because you were a cheater, but you kept her heirloom necklace. She hired me to look for it. Showed me a photo of you and everything. I didn’t realize it was a copy of the Heart of the Mountain, honest to God. I didn’t even know what the Heart of the Mountain was until yesterday.”

“I don’t let people take photos of me.”

“You looked pretty hammered. Maybe you don’t remember.”

He gives me a flat look. “You expect me to believe that bullshit story?”

“It’snotbullshit,” I insist. “I did a background check on herandyou before I accepted. I had no reason to think she was lying. She is who she said she was… I had no way of knowing she was using us to steal from you.”

“A legitimate business wouldn’t steal anything.”

“You’re not wrong.”

He sighs, his hand brushing the wall as if he can’t not move. “Why didn’t you recognize the necklace? Didn’t you see it here?” He nods to the stone wall behind us, his hair brushing me again. Each time it does, it sends little bursts of sensation across my skin.

“No,” I admit. “Mrs. Rosings only decided to put it on display yesterday. I guess Nina’s been asking about it, but to be totallyhonest, I only listen to about half of the things Mrs. Rosings says.” Silence hangs between us for a moment, and I add, “I’m sorry. My business partner said this was like a training wheels mission for me, but I overstepped.”

He swears and lets one of his hands drop. Takes a step back so he’s no longer pinning me.

Something is seriously wrong with me, because I’m disappointed.

Then his gaze narrows on me again. “What about the cat? Did you really pick up someone else’s cat?”

“She wasn’t mine,” I admit. “That was a ruse to meet you, but she’s mine now. Your neighbor with the menses tea recognized her. I guess some dickhead abandoned her in the apartment building after he moved, and she’s been a stray ever since.” I wince. “Sorry about your pillow…and all the clothes I threw around.”

He nods slowly. “It could have been worse. At least I didn’t walk in and find everything covered in blood.”

Surprised laugher escapes me before I manage to put a lid on it. Shrugging, I say, “Men and periods. Besides, I really did have my period, so it wasn’t entirely a lie.”

“Did the menses tea help?”

My eyebrows lift. “I didn’t try it. It was from a stranger. I don’t trust strangers.”

If he sees irony in this, he doesn’t say so. His mouth just lifts slightly at the corner—a half smile. “I’m starting to see things your way. Did you get the glue trap off the cat?”

I nod. “They had to fully sedate her.”

His lips twitch up at both corners this time. “I’ll bet. She’s a hellcat just like you. Do you have the necklace?”

The tension has leaked out of him and he’s less angry now. He seems almost relieved. So maybe it’s time for me to ask some questions of my own. I won’t give him the necklace before I do.

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