Page 132 of Their Reckless Thief
A small smile tugged at my lips as I straightened my shoulders. Vivian’s faith in me fueled the fire I needed to face what lay ahead. I was stepping into the most challenging heist I’d ever taken on, but at least I wasn’t doing it halfway.
With one last sweep over the hologram and a final run-through of our plan, we adjourned the meeting. I was much more confident but also relieved that we still had several days to run through it again and uncover any possible missteps.
The midnightquiet of The Below had its own kind of allure, like an unspoken pact among the shadows that they would hold your secrets close if you dared to trust them. Tonight, with everything hanging so precariously over my head, the shadows weren’t as suffocating as usual. They felt still, somehow gentle. It was exactly the kind of night Vivian and I needed.
Vivian and I had made our own little haven with bottles of wine, an assortment of facial masks, and a spread of nail polish. It was comically out of place in our newly chaotic lives. One mention to Vincenzo about us needing a girls’ night, and he’d sent one of his staff members to get everything we needed from the human world.
It was a rare moment of calm and relaxation, but one we desperately needed.
“This,” Vivian declared, raising her glass with a smirk, “is officially my favorite night of the week. Hell, maybe my favorite night this year.”
I laughed, feeling lighter than I had in a while. “Agreed. As much as I love dodging incubi assassins and breaking into high-security vaults, there’s something about midnight facials that’s a little more satisfying.”
We clinked our glasses, both of us grinning like schoolgirls. She handed me a nail file and raised an eyebrow. “All right, what’s your color of choice tonight? Let me guess… red?”
I held up a bottle of dark crimson and winked. “Close enough.”
Vivian laughed and started painting her nails with a vibrant shade of emerald green. “Always so dramatic.”
“Well, I have a reputation to maintain,” I teased. As I swirled the brush around in the bottle and applied the first layer, a calmness settled over me. One stroke of polish at a time, one glass of wine after another. It was a welcome distraction that softened the edges of my worries. But even as I tried to fully lose myself in the comfort of it all, a part of me was restless because I had three men on my mind.
Vivian must have sensed my distraction. She tilted her head, eyes gleaming with curiosity. “All right, spill. I know that look.”
“What look?”
“The look that says, ‘I’m thinking about something complicated’ and definitely doesn’t involve nail polish,” she said, waving the brush at me before continuing to paint her nails. “If I had to guess, I’d say it has something to do with three men we know.”
My cheeks warmed, and I looked down, focusing too intently on perfecting the polish on my ring finger. “It’s… complicated.”
Vivian smirked. “Oh, don’t pull that bullshit with me. This is our time. I want details. Real ones.”
I sighed and shrugged. “Fine. Okay. So, you are familiar with my no-kissing rule.”
She nodded, taking another sip of her wine. “Yes, and I remember thinking it was adorable and completely doomed to fail the first time you told me about it.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I muttered, shaking my head. “Well… I’ve kept that rule. No kissing. But… I think I might be failing at something else.”
Vivian arched an eyebrow, looking at me over her glass. “Go on.”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek, the words tumbling out. “I think I might be… Fuck. I’m falling for them. All of them. Hard.”
There. I’d said it out loud. It was both terrifying and a relief. Vivian didn’t seem surprised, though. She gave me a knowing smile, her expression softer than I’d expected.
“Celeste, why does that scare you so much?”
I laughed, though it sounded more like a sigh. “I mean, have you met me? Love isn’t exactly my area of expertise. And certainly not with three men at the same fucking time.”
“That’s not a reason. You survived a childhood that tried to crush you, you grew up faster than anyone should, and you’ve made it through shit that would’ve broken anyone else. Love doesn’t have to be a combat zone.”
I leaned back, resting my head on the armrest of the couch, and stared at the ceiling. “Maybe not for most people, but for me, it’s … a risk I can’t control. A risk that could ruin me. Everyone always wants something from me. Maybe they just think I’m a good fuck.”
She shook her head. “Celeste, just because you missed out on love before doesn’t mean you have to keep yourself from experiencing it now. You deserve love. You deserve all of it. And I’m sure they’ve enjoyed your… ahem…company, but I can see their affection for you goes much deeper than sex.”
A sharp pain sliced through me… some odd mix of longing and fear I couldn’t place. “But what if I don’t know how? What if I end up ruining it? What if they don’t want that with me? What if they just want what I can provide for them?”
“Celeste, I’ve seen the way each of them looks at you,” she said, putting her glass down. “I think they will be whatever you want them to be for you.”
I stifled the memories of them watching me, their hands reaching out, their voices whispering promises in the quiet. I was afraid to believe what they’ve shown me with their touches and their actions.
