Page 21 of Their Reckless Thief
His grin widened. “I am, actually.”
I wanted to throw something at him, but I had nothing. I settled for crossing my arms and leaning against the cold wall, glaring at him from the shadows.
I sank onto the thin cot, pulling the hoodie tighter around me. The smell lingered, curling into my senses and making my chest feel tight. I tried to push it down, tried to focus on something other than the fact that I was trapped in here with no way out.
Dorian leaned back in his chair, watching me with a strange sort of curiosity, like he couldn’t quite figure me out.
One thing was for sure—I wasn’t going to sit quietly in this cell, waiting for whatever they had planned. I was going to find a way out. One way or another.
And if that meant playing their game for a little while... then so be it.
6
DORIAN
I leanedback in my chair, stretching my legs out in front of me as I watched Celeste pacing inside the cell. She was a sight, no doubt about it… fucking gorgeous, even in this dingy basement with shadows crawling around like they owned the place.
Her long blonde hair was swept to the side, with one strand falling into her green eyes. She was slender but built like an athlete. Her brow glistened with sweat from the stress, and the hoodie swallowed her tiny frame. The way she kept chewing on her lower lip…damn near sinful.
I should’ve been focusing on other things, like, oh, I don’t know, the fact that this woman broke into Vincenzo’s mansion and got her ass caught. But no. There I was, sitting in this basement, with the hottest woman I’d ever met locked in a cell, and all I could think about was how she had no idea just how deep of a mess she’d gotten herself into.
She had a fire in her. It was in the way she moved, the way she spat venom when she spoke, the way her eyes—Gods, those eyes—held nothing back. She didn’t seem scared. She seemed fuckingpissed.
“What were youthinking?” I asked, more out of curiosity than anything, twirling a dagger between my fingers as I watched her.
She stopped pacing and turned to me, with one eyebrow raised. “Thinking?” she echoed. “I wasn’t thinking. That’s the whole problem, isn’t it?”
I chuckled, tilting my head. “You’re telling me you broke into the house of one of the most dangerous men in The Below without a plan? Come on, Celeste. I know you can’t bethatstupid. You have a reputation for a reason.” Or so I’d heard.
She didn’t answer right away, just stood there with her arms crossed over her chest. I could see the gears turning in her head. There was something she wasn’t telling me—something that felt a little too honest. Maybe she was losing a grip on her own situation. And damn it if that didn’t tug at me in the weirdest fucking way.
Finally, she sighed and leaned against the cold stone wall. “Honestly? I don’t have anything left to lose,” she said quietly, her voice dropping low enough that I almost had to strain to hear her. “This was supposed to be my last job for a while. Enough money to buy out and live a life that didn’t involve people like you, plus extra. I was going to cover my rent and my friends’ rent for a while. Fill our pantries. Experience truefreedom.”
I blinked. I hadn’t expected that. There was a realness in her tone, like she’d resigned herself to the fact that this might be the end for her. It was a bitter truth, and it cracked something in me. A tiny fucking crack, but it was enough to make me rethink this whole thing.
“You’ve got some nerve,” I said with a smirk, trying to keep things light, keep myself from feeling… I don’t know what. “Most people would be pissing themselves at the thought of crossing Vincenzo, and here you are, being all noble and shit.”
She shrugged, but the corner of her mouth twitched. “I guess I’m not most people.”
“No, you’re not.” I dragged my gaze over her again, slower this time. “You’ve got a lot more fire than most do, for one thing.”
She rolled her eyes, and I grinned wider, leaning forward on my chair, elbows on my knees. The tension between us crackled like a lit fuse ready to go off. But I wasn’t about to make a move. Not here, not now. I had to keep my shit together. More importantly, I had to keep my eyes on the prize: finding out what the hell she knew.
“Listen,” I said, tapping the edge of my dagger against my palm, “you broke into the house of a mafia lord, heard things you shouldn’t have, and somehow, you’re still breathing. That’s impressive, I’ll give you that. But you’re in over your head, Celeste. What did youreallythink was going to happen here?”
“I thought I was going to get the score,” she said flatly. “Get in, get out. No one was supposed to be here. I had a vision that no one would be here.”
I shook my head, biting back another chuckle. “Bad luck, love. We are very much here.”
She rested her head against the wall, her eyes fluttering shut for a second before opening again. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“Oh, absolutely,” I said, the corner of my mouth quirking up. “But I’m also curious. You’re pretty damn good at what you do. Luca told me the stories. You’re the one who’s been scoring on some of the hardest-hitting guys in The Below. For a human? That’s impressive as hell.”
She didn’t respond. Instead, she just stood there, her gaze shifting to the floor, and then I saw it—the exhaustion, the weight of whatever had brought her here. She was tired. Tired ofrunning, tired of fighting. And as much as she tried to hide it, I could see through the cracks in her armor.
That’s when I knew she wasn’t lying. At least, she wasn’t lying about everything.
Celeste finally lifted her head, studying me like she was piecing together a puzzle. “And what about you? You seem pretty comfortable playing bodyguard for one of the most dangerous men in The Below. What’s your story?”
