Page 88 of As Thick As Thieves

“Yeah. Let’s face it, you’re not going anywhere so I think we can trust you.”

“I get to be a thief?” I squeaked, tears burning my eyes and making Cruz grin.

“We think it’s time. People are already shooting at you, so there’s no harm in you being all in I guess. Besides, teaching you the tech side of things isn’t exactly like throwing you into a house to rob.”

“I was good at that when you took me to that house in Crestford! You said so!”

“Keep eating and training like you are, and you’ll be robbing the rich in no time,” he teased, getting to his feet. “I’m going to take a shower. I’ll be back out soon.”

Knox’s hand slid onto my thigh as if to stop me from following him, and I waited for Cruz to vanish along the hallway before speaking.

“What’s wrong?”

“You’re not really going to visit your dad, right? I heard you mention it to Estelle earlier,” he said quietly, taking my hand and giving it a squeeze. “I don’t want anything to happen to you again.”

“I don’t think I need to. I wouldn’t get anything out of it,” I answered, sliding my eyes to Drake. “Right?”

Drake nodded, giving me a wink. “I don’t think so, but if you do want to go back, I’ll come with you to take more shit. He has a lot of nice stuff.”

“If you’d listened to me when you kidnapped me, you could’ve cleared out the fucking safe,” I deadpanned, grabbing the empty cups off the table and rinsing them in the sink. “Without starting an argument, has anyone checked on Stone to make sure he’s alive?”

That had kept me awake for half the night, too. He’d been radio silent, and that made me nervous.

“Beckett said they left him breathing,” Drake offered, the worry in my stomach only getting worse.

“That sounds hopeful then,” I muttered, slipping my phone from my pocket to quickly send a text to Stone.

Penn: Please tell me you’re alive, asshole.

I put it away, tidying the kitchen while I waited for his response. It never came, my panic growing by the minute. Cruz wandered out, and the guys got set up at the table, but I excused myself for a shower, too, needing to stress in peace where the guys wouldn’t notice.

I tried calling Stone three times once I was alone in the bathroom, but he didn’t answer, so I messaged Leah.

Penn: Are you at the compound? Have you seen Stone?

Leah: Jai tried to speak to him this morning through the bedroom door but Stone told him to fuck off. Why?

Penn: I was just checking if he was alive.

Leah: He’s well enough to be a dick if that helps. I miss you.

Penn: I miss you too.

I put the phone on the sink and stripped off, stepping into the shower and ducking my head under the hot spray, closing my eyes and letting the water run down my face. I vaguely heard the door close, and I wiped a hand over my face to get the water out of my eyes, finding Knox standing in the middle of the room. I held my hand out and wiggled my fingers at him, encouraging him to join me, and he held my gaze as he pulled his shirt over his head before pushing his sweats down.

“You good?” I asked as he stepped in behind me and threaded his fingers through mine, his forehead dropping to the back of my head.

“No.”

“What can I do to fix it?”

“You can’t,” he mumbled, his hand tightening in mine. “It just numbs it.”

“What does?” I turned to face him, sliding my arms around his neck.

“Being with you.” His jaw clenched as he said it, and I thought he was going to take off until he blew out a breath and relaxed his muscles a little. “Deep down, I know I can trust you, but part of me is freaking out about you telling people or seeing me differently. Tell me I can trust you, and maybe I’ll believe it.”

“I swear, I’ll never tell a soul,” I promised, stepping closer to him to press my lips to his chest. “Please tell me he’s dead.”

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