Page 102 of As Thick As Thieves

“Hey,” she mumbled sleepily, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see you. Blink twice if Stone’s holding you against your will,” he joked, and Beckett snorted.

“You’re ridiculous. Get yourself a girlfriend and leave everyone else’s alone.” Penn’s eyes widened at the sight of Beckett, but Beckett just scoffed. “I’m not here to harm your new toy. That’s water under the bridge, right, Stone?”

“Sure,” Stone deadpanned, his hands moving to Penn’s waist to keep her in place. “Already forgotten about it.”

Knox got sick of playing nice and slid an arm around Penn, yanking her onto his lap. Stone looked ready to punch him, but he decided better of it and stood, learning to share like a good boy.

“Who the fuck is smart enough to stay hidden from us? Even when Penn’s father sent people to drag her ass home, they were easy to handle. This person is stupidly qualified or something,” he admitted, and Beckett shrugged.

“The dumbasses that went after Penn before were idiots, that’s why. If this person is trained, it would explain how they remain hidden. For all you know, they’re right in plain sight, and they’re just hacking into shit like you do. They’re probably just covering their tracks.”

That made me frown. “Do we have any rogue Thieves? It could be why they’re so good at hiding. They know how we work internally.”

“Everyone’s accounted for,” Stone answered.

“No one has a grudge against her?” Zavier asked, and Knox shrugged.

“Sandra’s a little pissed, and Jai could have motive despite claiming he doesn’t blame Penn for Leah’s death, but both of them would only count as of yesterday. This has been going on for weeks.”

Penn’s circle wasn’t that big, so it was likely to be a targeted attack to spite her father.

“Hey. What if they’re trying to injure and kidnap Penn in hopes of a ransom? That would make sense, right?” I offered, and Cruz slowly nodded.

“I guess that could be it. The Whitlocks are the richest family in Kingslake. Maybe people think he’s kept her hidden to keep her safe?”

“What about Owen?” Knox muttered, earning a glare from Penn.

“Leave him alone. You just hate that he’s nice to me.”

“No, I don’t trust him, that’s all.”

“He used to patch me up and feed me when Dad wasn’t so discreet with his abuse. It’s not Owen,” she insisted, but he rolled his eyes.

“Maybe your father paid him to keep tabs on you? For all you know, your sense of freedom was controlled.”

“If that was the case, Owen wouldn’t have fucked me. Dad thought I was pure, it’s the only way he could’ve married me off,” she pointed out, all of us scowling in response and making her scoff. “You insecure assholes.”

Beckett chuckled, giving her a grin. “And guys say us girls are the whiney ones in a relationship. They can’t handle a hit to the ego, they complain for years about it afterwards.”

“I don’t know why they’re so worried. Why would I stray? They have such charming personalities,” she said dryly, smirking when we glared at her. “And big dicks. That helps, too.”

“Girls are weird,” Zavier mumbled, giving me the side-eye. “They claim we’re crude, but I know way more girls who talk absolute filth. Your girlfriend is one of them.”

“There’s no shame in being sexually open,” she smiled sweetly, batting her lashes at me. “Right, baby?”

“Don’t make me jizz in my pants in front of guests,” I grinned. “But you’re in our bed tonight, so you can do it later.”

Cruz gave me an irritated glance, not seeming happy with that idea. “Why’s she in your bed?”

“I called dibs.”

“It doesn’t work like that.”

“Does now,” I answered smugly. Beckett was over the conversation, and she walked around to grab Penn’s wrist, tugging her to her feet.

“I need to talk to you.” When we all took a step in their direction, Beckett snorted. “I’m not going to murder her. Fuck off and let the girls talk.” They headed towards the office, and my eyes went to Stone to find him watching Penn like a psycho. His eyes tracked her every movement, but instead of glaring at her, his face was softer with concern.

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