Page 51 of Tastes Like Misery

Once we arrived in our room and the bags were dumped on the bed, the sparkle of the gorgeous gemstones shook me from my worries. I stared at them, wanting to be dripping in diamonds.

“Why don’t you model them for us,” Dane stared at me, his devilish grin making every part of me drip with desire.

I started to rip off my clothes, but hesitated when the picture of the cops busting in ran through my mind. “I’m not sure it’s safe. Maybe you should put them away in case we need to run.”

Ollie looked up from counting the money, “We won’t need to run. I’ll let you all in on the rest of my plan once I see you sparkle like the princess you are.”

I didn’t need any more encouragement, throwing my clothes on the floor and standing as they used me for their own personal model. I loved the feel of the cold metal against my skin and twirled, watching the lights dance off the stones. Millions of dollars’ worth of precious gems were mine, even if only for a short while.

Ollie took an intricately designed choker with diamonds dripping down it and clasped it around my neck. I didn’t move, not wanting to smudge the beautiful stones. It was heavy, and the jewels dripped across my collarbone, making almost a web design across my chest. Three large stones completed the pattern, with the final one resting right between my breasts. I gasped as I looked at myself in the mirror, feeling like every bit the princess they teased me of being.

Rubbing his bottom lip, Ollie huskily admired me, “I think this one should be yours. The three stones match your engagement ring and will always remind you of us, the three men who own you.”

Shocked, I didn’t know what to say, my mouth opening and closing without a word coming out.

“You broke her, Ollie,” Finn chuckled as he came over with a matching bracelet and secured it on my wrist. “Now it’s complete,” he smiled as he stepped back to look at his handiwork.

Tears sprang to my eyes at the gesture. Dane may have been the one to ask me, but they all sealed it in their own way. “I love you guys,” I sniffled. “I never thought my life would take me to such a perfect place. Thank you. All of you.”

With the jewels still on, I fell into them, showing them just how much my love for them spanned. Each one getting their special treatment and attention from me until we were all satiated. Ollie’s confessions could wait until the morning. We had no idea how much time we’d have left together, and I was determined to make every second count.

Chapter 31

Special Agent Leanne Bailey

“They aren’t hiding themselves anymore,” a tech team member remarked after the tenth time of watching the news report of a smash and grab in Illinois.

“No, they aren’t,” I stated simply as my mind whirred with all the reasons it could be. Possibly taunting my department, daring us to find them. Or maybe just laziness. Whatever it was, we needed to pack up and go immediately. I’d leave behind a few agents to finish processing the crime scene.

I was always one step behind them, but their luck could only last so long. With a new body added to the list, I needed to stop them before another person was killed.

Sweating in the Arkansas heat, I was happy to leave the recent crime scene. Between the fingerprints and the tire tracks, there was no doubt in my mind it was them, though the scene needed to be properly processed.

Dane Barrow, Finn Hale, Oliver Thornton, and Vivian Parker were all on my most wanted list, despite the director not agreeing with it officially. I didn’t doubt he would change his mind after this new crime, proof they weren’t stopping.

Gathering my team, I informed them of the change in venue, “The suspects are in Chicago as of last night. I’m flying out immediately. Flock, Bartow, Fields, and Fisher will join me. The rest of you will stay and finish this before joining us in the Windy City.”

With nods of approval, I picked up my cell and dialed the Chicago field office. Agents were already on the scene, assuming it would fall under our jurisdiction, as it often did with jewelry store robberies. Patched to the special agent on the scene, I passed him the information I knew about the suspects and informed him of my team’s upcoming arrival.

His agents would work with the local police and start the task of canvassing for means of escape, putting us well ahead of where I’d been since I started this investigation.We would find them and bring them to justice, no matter how long it took me to do so.

Chapter 32

Vivian

I thought I’d lost my fear long ago, pushing them aside for the thrill in every crime I was a part of. This time, though, fear gripped me, no matter how much Ollie assured me we would make it out alive.

Despite how much he planned, things could go wrong. It was those things that kept me from sleeping, pacing the hotel room and wondering if I should leave. It was madness, and only luck would get us out. Even then, it wouldn’t be without injury.

My mother’s voice in the back of my mind came rushing forward. Her constant disapproval of me, cutting me down as much as everyone else did. I’d never amount to anything. I’d always be a poor and lonely woman, not loveable, and my funeral would be void of attendance.

Right now, I had the complete and utter devotion of three gorgeous men. All of us are madly in love and living a life of great riches despite how ill-begotten they were. I had no conscience to tell me it was wrong, felt no regrets about the people we’d stolen from or the dead bodies left behind.

This time on the road gave me the life I craved for so long, giving me everything I never knew I needed. If I turned back and went back to my old life, I wouldn’t want to live anymore.

“A short life of enjoyment is better than a long life of misery,” Finn said as we readied ourselves for the last job. His words pushed away the last bit of doubt, and I knew I was in. The risk was worth it in the end.

With my pink pistol tucked into my large, empty purse, I was ready. Everything we owned worth saving had been dropped off at a location we all knew, along with the maps pointing to the remainder of our goods. The risk of one of us dying great, Ollie made sure if any of us survived we would be able to get to it and disappear. I balked at the thought, but he reminded me no matter what happened, he didn’t want all of it to be lost to any of us.

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