Page 50 of Steal Me (Rebel Hearts Heists 1)
“That police alert is a problem in more than one way. How are we going to leave the country, if we’re on the FBI’s most wanted list? I’m sure that the minute we turn up at an airport or try to get on a boat, we’ll be taken into custody.” He doesn’t know how right he is about that.
“I was thinking, could you help us get false IDs? Money obviously isn’t a problem, but the fake passports have to be perfect. Could you get in touch with your ex-army buddy who got you that safe credit card? We can lay low here for a few days, until everything is ready. And I can fly us to Monte Carlo on one of the few assets that we managed to save from the feds when my dad got arrested. They didn’t take our private plane and this house because they were in mine and Blaine’s names.”
“You have a pilot’s license?”
“Yeah, flying is one of my passions, together with football. I have a friend at a small private airfield not far from here. With the right incentive, he’ll make sure that we pass all the security checks but we need different passports because with ours, we won’t be going anywhere.”
I nod and clap him on the shoulder. “I’ll see what I can do. But it might take a few days.” Royce leaves my room and when I’m sure that he’s out of earshot, I try to call Agent Walker again. Nothing. Ideally, we’ll get out of the country with false documents provided directly by my bosses and without blowing my cover, but the fact that all my calls to Walker keep going to voicemail, isn’t a good sign.
???
Sloane
I open my eyes and it takes a few seconds for my vision to adjust to the darkness and to register the unfamiliar surroundings. But one thing I know for sure is that the warm, solid body that encases me in a protective hold belongs to River. I went to lie down when my cramps got worse again and I realized that the Plan B must’ve worked because I started to spot, which is a relief that at least I’m not bringing a baby into this messed up situation.
River followed me into the bedroom earlier on with a glass of water and two pills. After I took them, as if that was the most normal thing in the world, he just spooned me from behind and placed a warm, soothing hand on my cramping stomach. This is the thing about River: one second he’s cutting his hair with a sharp knife with an unhinged look in his eye, acting like a psycho and the next … he’s running his hand over my belly in a soothing motion to put me to sleep.
Kaden isn’t wrong when he says that River is batshit crazy.
However, I’m starting to see through that craziness. I’m starting to understand how that’s an extra layer of protection to keep the world at arm’s length.
I know because like River, I have trust issues too and I’ve been keeping people away for years. First my family, when I didn’t want them to know what was really going on between me and Pierce and then everyone else once I made it to California, because I needed to stay hidden.
River growls and tightens his strong, tattooed arms around me when I try to move away and I giggle when he nuzzles my neck and then licks my skin, tickling me with the tip of his tongue.
“I just need to use the bathroom, Rivs. I won’t be a second, I swear.”
“Hmm, I was so comfortable, kitten. I’ve never slept as soundly as when you’re by my side.” I go do my business, still smiling at his comment, in the en suite bathroom, thinking that River is right and that since I’ve had one of these men hold me in my sleep, I haven’t had any nightmares. It’s as if Pierce can’t touch me as long as one of them is by my side.
When I return to the bedroom, River is sitting up in bed, stretching his toned, muscled arms above his head. He looks like a panther or a mountain lion, graceful and powerful at the same time, with those incredibly sexy hazel eyes running up and down in a hot perusal of my body.
And I notice immediately how he must like what he sees because the bulge under the sheet, between his thighs is unmistakable: River is hard for me and my body’s instinctive reaction is a painful, needy throb between my legs.
“Why don’t you come back to bed, kitten?” His tone is low and inviting, tempting and a little teasing but I hesitate, embarrassed by what I’m about to say.
“I … I just got my period, Rivs. Sorry.”
He doesn’t look concerned. “So? If you don’t feel comfortable about it, I’ll respect you Sloane. But to me that makes no difference.”
“You don’t find it disgusting?” I immediately use the word Pierce did and I realize just how harsh it sounds. Had I really let him talk to me that way?
River shakes his dark blond head and for a second, I miss his long locks and the way they would have moved, silky and a bit wild. But the short hair enhances River’s gorgeous features, his high cheekbones and the perfect shape of his jaw.
“Nothing about your body could ever disgust me, kitten. You’re beautiful and perfect. I’ve always felt this way about you. Even when I kept saying that we should kill you.”
His gaze is intense and I try to break the tension by grabbing a pillow from the bed and throwing it at him.
“Right. Even then.”
He remains serious and takes one of my hands, pulling me back on the bed and into his arms. “Seriously, Sloane. I never said sorry about how I acted at the beginning. I kept suggesting that we should get rid of you …”
I shrug, touching my nose to his. “I know that it wasn’t personal. You were just trying to do what it took to stay safe and not to get caught. And you were right, you got identified because of me, so …”
“Yeah. You’re right. But I hated myself for the way I acted, even in the moment. I liked you from the first second. I had already noticed you on campus but I was too chicken to come and talk to you.”
I run my hand circling the edge of his ear, following the strong line of his neck, tracing the tattoos that adorn his skin down to his collarbone. “Really? Why didn’t you come talk to me?”
He cups my jaw with his large, warm, slightly rough hand. “You intimidated me. You’re gorgeous and you looked like you didn’t want to talk to anyone. Especially not a fuck up like me.”
