Page 110 of Tempting Little Thief

“Enzo’s men?”

“I don’t think so, no, but perhaps. I have a few trusted men looking into it, quietly, of course, but so far, nothing concrete has come back to me. We’re dealing with a shadow, it seems.”

I mull over his words in my head a few times, coming to a conclusion. My eyes widen, and I shift, my body facing his. “You’re creating bait.”

He tips his head back and forth. “Not so much bait as misconception.”

“You know someone is watching, and you chose to put me on that yacht. To put us both on that yacht, right there in the open for dozens along the shore to see.”

“I had men every four hundred feet, darling. I am no fool and I would have protected you with my life, but whoever it is paying such close attention to our family needs to see what I wish for them to. Weaknesses and flaws in our system that do not exist.”

He’s wrong. There are flaws in our system, big ones, but how can I tell him this without giving Bastian up in the process?

“Such as being on a yacht without security and allowing yourself to be intoxicated?”

“Precisely.”

“Are you hoping someone mistakes me for Boston?”

“No.” He pulls a gun from beneath his coat and wipes the handle clean with his pocket square. “What I need is to see if they’re smart or easily set up for failure. If they believe us to be weak or flawed, they will come at us, and we will be ready.”

He holds the weapon out, offering it to me, so I open my palm, and he sets the lightweight metal in my hands.

A small frown builds along my brow as I draw it close, a small golden Greyson crest etched into the bottom of the handle.

“It’s a Staccato XL. Custom built.”

I nod, admiring the work. “It’s lighter than my clutch.”

“I imagine it is.” I look to my father, catching the slight tip of his lips.

His eyes lift to mine, dark and heavy. Suddenly he looks so tired, aged, but in a steely, strong sort of way.

Worry works its way into my veins. “Dad?”

“I cannot leave you in this world unprotected. You know this, yes?”

My pulse spikes. “I am not unprotected. That is what the Greyson society is for.”

“The Greyson society is full of young, impressionable students.”

“They’re essentially trained soldiers.”

“Who wear pleated skirts and gowns or suits purchased with their parents’ money.”

I say nothing, leaving the Greyson’s fast-growing accounts where they belong, in the dark.

“What you’re doing is a good thing, smart and beyond what I would have assumed we’d reach in strides in my lifetime, but those students will graduate. It would be foolish of you to assume the allies made today will be there for every tomorrow.”

“I am no fool, Father.”

He nods, watching me for a moment, and then his face is a mask once more, his spine straight, as he repeats himself, “I cannot leave you in this world unprotected.”

Before I can open my mouth, he kisses my temple and climbs out, my door opening moments later, allowing me to do the same.

My steps are slow as I enter the foyer, and Jasper approaches instantly, offering to take my coat and bag, not bothering to ask for the gun hanging in my right hand. He follows behind me up the stairs. As we reach my door, he rushes ahead, opening it for me and trailing me inside.

I sit on the chaise at the end of my bed, pulling off my heels, and he returns from the closet, hands empty.

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