Page 48 of Scarlett Thief (Criminal Underground 2)

I nod. "Yeah, pretty much. Turns out, I was actually much better than my dad. I took everything he failed at and made it better."

"He must not have been too bad if he kept you and never got caught," Hadrian pointed out.

I laughed. "Oh, no," I said, correcting him. "He got caught. He got caught multiple times. Would end up in jail for this or that—when I said I went to school for a few weeks at a time, that was because I was in foster homes. But he was never locked up for long. He was bad at stealing and even worse at getting caught, but the man had a lucky streak an ocean wide. Something always happened and they'd have to let him go—evidence burned up or a witness was no longer reliable or jurors just plain couldn't see how a single father, a 'traveling salesman,' could do all of the things police accused him of with a little girl depending on him." I shook my head. "It was fucking ridiculous. There were times when I wished they'd keep him just so I could stay wherever I was." And there'd been times when I'd been so lonely without him because every time I'd tried to talk to the other kids my age and tell them about myself, they'd shy away—afraid I'd take their stuff. It was those kids that had taught me to be good at lying. Liars were bad but not nearly as bad as thieves.

"He always came and got you?" Wolf's words pierced my skull.

"Yeah," I admitted. "He did." Every time. Without fail.

"Where is he now?" Hadrian asked.

I snorted, and just like Wolf, I challenged him. "What? The great El Diablo doesn’t know? You found out about his kid, which I’m sure was a needle in a haystack, but you don’t know where Tomás Medina is?" I shot back.

His face was serious though when I glanced toward him. There was no smile. No hint of his normal joking behavior. Just cool detachment and mild curiosity. He didn't know, I realized. Or if he did, he was giving me the illusion that not everyone knew my secrets. It was sweet, in a weird way. I'd bet anything he did know, but I appreciated the fact that he was pretending just so I could save myself some heartache—so I could be given the fantasy that I had a choice in what to reveal to them.

"He died," I said. "Tried to con the wrong man—his luck ran out and he was gunned down in a business deal gone bad in Tampa, Florida a couple of years ago."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

I shrugged. It felt weird to accept condolences so long after he'd passed. My chest felt tighter than ever before and suddenly, I didn't want to be in this room anymore.

"I think that's enough storytelling for tonight," I said, getting to my feet. I felt more than saw the movement of their eyes as I stepped around the coffee table, leaving the mostly empty bottle of Vodka on the coffee table, and headed for the back bedroom. "Today was a disaster, but we'll regroup tomorrow and hopefully, we can grab the diamond at the next location."

"Scarlett." I stopped in the doorway to the master bedroom, a sense of dread creeping up within me.

Turning back, I watched as both Hadrian and Wolf fixed their gazes on me. Even though it had been Hadrian who'd called my name, Wolf was the first to speak. "Who was that man tonight?"

I didn't want to tell them. My father was one thing, but Jaxson … Jaxson was a part of my past that I had hoped to never have to think about again. I turned away, but I didn't leave the room. Instead, I just closed my eyes and sucked in a breath.

"He's an ex." I pushed the words out of my throat before my brain could stop me. They were my partners and they deserved to know. The reminder that I'd nearly gotten Wolf killed tonight—would've gotten them both killed if Hadrian hadn't been such a good getaway driver—sat like a heavy rock in my gut.

"He's more than that, isn't he, Princess?" Hadrian prompted.

I swallowed. "Yes," I said without looking back. "We worked together on a few jobs a couple of years back. He has his own team."

"He's going to pose a problem." It wasn't a question. It was a statement. I answered anyway.

"Yes."

"We'll deal with it," Wolf said.

That had me moving, pivoting to face the two of them. "Jaxson is dangerous," I warned. "He won't hesitate to kill either of you."

Hadrian stood up from the couch and faced me. "So?" he said with a tilt of his head.

My lips parted. He didn't understand, and I had to make him understand. "There's a reason I don't work with him anymore," I began.

"Sounded like you ran from him to me," Wolf interrupted. "From how he spoke, you didn't exactly give him a letter of resignation."

I shot him a dirty look. Hadrian was the smart ass; I didn't need it from both of them, but he didn't look particularly concerned by my glare.

"Exactly," I said. "He's a thief like me—well more of a mixture of mercenary and thief. He's willing to do whatever it takes to get a job done. I kill when necessary, but he—Jaxson wanted to do kidnapping and ransom notes for rich people's kids. A job went bad, he killed a kid. I can't—I couldn't…” There were just some things a person shouldn't do. Lines that should've never been crossed. Some people saw those lines as suggestions or as guidelines and sometimes, they disregarded them. But for Jaxson, things were different. For him, there were no lines. He would torture, maim, kill, rape—do whatever he wanted or needed to do to get what he wanted. He was a monster in human form. I might have dealt in the shadows, but he was nothing but darkness.

"We can't leave this mission, Scarlett," Hadrian said. "We won't. Even if we didn't have to worry about Mr. Black exposing us or hurting Wolf's daughter, we wouldn't fucking leave you to deal with him."

My head reared back in surprise at that statement. Wolf stood up and then, the two of them moved forward—their gazes watching me with a keen interest and something much darker, something almost sinister. It was as if they were angry, but not at me—on my behalf. Had anyone ever been angry on my behalf before? My father certainly never had. When kids had been mean to me, when boys didn't like me, or any of the numerous stupid instances where I'd been hurt as a child—he'd coached me on how to overcome it. He'd never once exuded this level of domineering, protective rage.

"We need to make some things clear, Scarlett," Wolf said, drawing my attention to him.

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