Page 77 of Heist

Inside, he walked to the safe on the wall and pulled out a jewelry box like the one that had Austin’s training bracelet in it.

“Can I still wear this one at home?” Austin asked, holding up her wrist.

Patrick smiled. “I think so. I can’t see why it would be a problem, especially if the leak was electronic and not from the club itself. We just have to be careful here at the club until we know for sure.”

“You’re still mine, Austin,” Patrick said as he lifted the colorful bracelet from the box.

He dropped to his knee in front of the chair she’d sat in and lifted her hand, pressing a kiss to the back of her palm.

He reached for the clasp on her bracelet and let it fall into his hand.

“I’ll keep this in my pocket for now. You can keep it by your bed at home.”

Austin smiled at him, though he could see tears shimmering in her eyes.

“I feel like I caused this.”

“How?” he asked as he slid the other bracelet onto her wrist.

“If I were more secure on the internet or whatever.”

Patrick was going to punch Lance. “Stop. Lance means well, but he was being a dick back there. You didn’t cause this. An asshole with no respect for privacy caused this. Not to mention, if it were an electronic leak, we wouldn’t be changing your bracelet because what you do here wouldn’t matter. We’re making this change just in case someone from the club is the leaker.”

Austin blew out a shuddering breath as she wriggled the new jewelry on her wrist. “OK. How long until the party? I don’t even know what time it is.”

Patrick glanced at his smart watch. “Three hours, baby girl.”

“Can I go take a nap?”

Patrick pulled her to her feet and kissed her gently. “I’m glad you asked because that’s exactly what I was going to tell you to do. I’m going to step out for some things, so we don’t have to leave the property for the rest of the weekend unless we just want to, OK?”

Austin nodded and trudged off in the direction of the upstairs suites. Patrick sighed and locked the safe again before calling a car to take him into town. Their weekend was not going as planned so far. Hopefully the party tonight would change that.

---