Page 22 of As Thick As Thieves

“Can’t I just wash the noodles?” I asked as I started opening windows, snatching the dish towel to flap at the awful alarm.

“Jesus Christ, no. Throw them in the trash, Whitlock. You can’t wash fucking noodles,” he said with exasperation. “Do I have to come and supervise you?”

“How do I heat up the frozen soup that Zavier made? Maybe I can—”

“You don’t. You hang up the phone to me, then call the pizza place for a delivery. Don’t touch anything else,” he demanded, making me pout.

The alarm stopped but I continued waving the air around, praying it didn’t start again. “But—”

“Since you have everything handled, goodbye,” he huffed before the line went dead, giving me no choice but to order pizza.

I couldn’t decide which one I wanted, so I ordered three, then I sat on the couch to wait.

Chapter Five

Cruz

I parked the car down the street and opened my laptop on the passenger seat, taking two seconds to hack into the security system to disengage everything. I’d already been on one job tonight but it had been faster than expected, and Leah had offered to take the sculpture with her and Jai, so I’d detoured.

I hadn’t bothered going home to change, preferring to hide in the shadows in my black gear, so I climbed from the car and started walking along the road towards the house. I snuck along the side until I reached the backyard, peering through the windows. It was one o’clock in the morning, so most of the curtains were closed, but they weren’t shut properly. With the security off, it was easy for me to sneak in through the backdoor, moving on silent feet through the dark house once I’d locked the door again behind me.

I poked my head into one room, finding it empty. I’d seen the basic layout of the property so I knew which doors were bedrooms, trying them all until finally finding the one I wanted.

The lamp was on, casting a warm glow around the room, my heart calming the moment I laid eyes on Penn. She looked peaceful as she slept, her arms wrapped around a pillow and one of her feet sticking out from under the blanket.

I moved closer, fighting the urge to touch her.

I didn’t make a single noise, but her eyes suddenly flew open and she screamed, scrambling back in a panic.

“Penn!” I hissed, cursing when I remembered I still had my mask on, pulling it off so she could see me. “It’s Cruz!”

The screaming stopped and her eyes turned to slits, launching her pillow at me with a scowl. “What the fuck, asshole? You scared me to death!”

“Sorry,” I winced, raking my gaze over her. She was definitely skinny, but the spark in her eyes was blazing strongly.

“How did you even get in here? The security is insane,” she bit out, getting back into bed properly but keeping her distance from me.

“Where do you think Lopez got his system from? I made it, so I can shut it down,” I snorted, intending on sitting on the edge of the bed, but she threw her other pillow at me.

“What do you think you’re doing? Get the fuck out. I don’t want you here, Cruz.”

“I know, Lopez told me,” I shrugged, raking a hand through my hair to fix it since I’d worn my balaclava for the past few hours. “I had no idea, baby. I broke into your dad’s place to see you but your room—”

“Why didn’t you come after me that day?” Her voice was so soft I barely heard it. “You believed Stone? After everything he’d done to me?”

“He came back to the compound with a gunshot wound, claiming you shot him and ran. I didn’t want to believe him, but it was a little hard not to. I mean, he was shot,” I said with a sigh. “Since you told Drake you’d go with your father to stop the Kings shooting at us, we figured—”

“I told Drake I wouldn’t leave!” she snapped, tears burning her eyes. “Why didn’t you find me? A month in the basement being hurt and degraded, and I got through it because I was waiting for you to save me. Why didn’t you save me?” Her voice cracked as she angrily swiped at her cheeks to brush away the tears, and I didn’t give a fuck if she was pissed at me, I sat beside her and pulled her against me.

Her scent filled my senses and I breathed her in, clinging to her as she tried to fight me off.

“Don’t touch me!”

“Baby, stop,” I murmured into her hair, relief moving through me as she sagged in defeat. She started sobbing and I hauled her onto my lap, shuffling my back against the headboard so I could hold her properly.

“You didn’t save me,” she choked out, burrowing into my chest more and soaking my hoodie with tears.

“I know, I’m so fucking sorry,” I whispered, kissing her temple, rubbing a soothing hand up and down her back, but she flinched back sharply. I’d forgotten about the injuries Beckett had told us about. “Show me.”

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