Resigning herself to her fate, Harlow didn’t argue when she was taken on a tour of the Floyd’s apartment and discovered where the two doors led. One took her to what used to be the master suite. In its place was an extremely messy closet-office. Lined with dressers, rails of clothes and filing cabinets, there was a desk facing into the room under the window and on the opposite wall was a couch in front of the closets.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out that it was the space where the crew dressed and where Dover did all of Floyd’s paperwork.
The guys had a bed each in the main apartment space, hence the four double beds. Maze had asked her if she was tired, probably as a way to break the tension. Noon had started talking about the curtains that could be pulled around the beds, like this was some kind of hospital ward or something.
But she couldn’t say she’d paid much attention. Harlow had explored the messy master, and then come out to storm through the second door into what turned out to be a huge bathroom. At least that room was clean… ish. There was a double vanity, large claw-footed tub, and a shower cubicle that contained only one shower head but was probably twice the size of a typical double-wide stall.
The pristine tile was beautiful and didn’t match the state of the run down bar beneath the apartment, or the untidy living room it was attached to. Nothing was dirty, certainly not to the level of being noticeable, it just seemed disorganized. But, in that minute, she wasn’t complaining.
The bathroom door didn’t lock, it didn’t even close properly. Harlow pushed it over as far as it would go and crossed to the vanity. Running her hands through her hair, she took a minute to look at her reflection and breathed out.
The makeup she’d put on earlier had faded. Her lips were still bright, but that was probably more about the kissing she’d done than the gloss she’d applied at Hagan’s.
Bending over to splash water on her face, Harlow was pleased to be revitalized by the cool liquid. Nothing could wash away the melancholy of her life. This was it for her now. Harlow hadn’t asked for any of this, but that didn’t matter, she couldn’t ignore it.
A sound made her peek over her shoulder. Ryske was coming in. He pushed the door into the frame, though it popped back out to hang open more than an inch. He didn’t stop or go back to it, he came over, and sidled up behind her.
“Good?”
Harlow just rolled her eyes at his reflection and nodded at the toothbrushes. “Which is yours?”
Reaching over her, he plucked one from the cup behind the sink. She took it from him to begin brushing her teeth.
“You know why we’re doing this,” he said, sliding his hands onto her hips. Harlow pushed them away. “We want to protect you, Trink.”
While she was brushing, she couldn’t respond.
Finishing fast, Harlow had to bend over to spit and rinse out her mouth. His hands crept onto her hips again and he began to gather up the shirt that protected her body, so that when she stood up, her abdomen was exposed.
“Mm,” he said, skimming one hand around to her bare stomach.
Massaging her there, he used the other hand to scoop her hair away from her shoulder, giving him access to kiss and tease her neck.
Harlow tried to hold onto her anger, but her body was beginning to loosen. She had to grab control fast. Spinning to face him, she pressured his chest meaning to put space between them. Instead of taking the hint and backing off, Ryske got closer, coiling his arms around her to cup her ass and pull her to him.
“No,” she said, pressing harder. “You can’t do that. You can’t come in here and kiss me like we’re some established couple having a tiff. We are not an established couple; we’re a very un-established couple.”
But he didn’t seem to hear her assertions. His eyes were heavy and his lips loose. “I could fuck you right here,” he murmured, digging his fingers in deeper. “I want you so bad.”
That was more expressive than the apathy she’d got from him on the couch. Except she couldn’t let herself feel that expression; she had to use her senses and be strong about resisting his advances. If Harlow gave in, she’d never get her answers, or convey how unhappy she was with the restrictions he and his crew were putting on her.
“Tell me about Anwen.”
Ryske’s job involved him being able to absorb any development and go with it as though he’d expected it to happen.
This time. He failed.
Harlow wouldn’t describe his expression as straight up shock. It was sort of a mixture of horror and outrage, while at the same time, subdued. Ryske knew he should be hiding his reaction; he just couldn’t manage it.
He swallowed hard. Part of her did feel bad for cornering him like this. But the other part was determined to start making sense of this mess.
“Anwen is why he hates me,” he mumbled.
“Explain it to me…” No response. “Crash?”
When he opened his mouth, no sound came out. His gaze flicked between her eyes and she recognized for the first time in her life what speechless looked like up close. Holding her silence, Harlow drew her lower lip into her mouth, hoping that he’d be honest with her, that he’d trust her.
“Fuck!” he exclaimed, making her jump. Shoving away, he marched the width of the room to stop by the bathtub. “That prick couldn’t fucking resist.”
Pacing the length of the bath, he ended up facing the wall in the space between the head of the tub and the shower stall. Placing both hands against the tile, he let his head droop between his straight arms.
Whoever this Anwen woman was, she meant something to him, or he felt something for her. There were so many possibilities, but one quickly came to the front of the pack.
“You love her,” Harlow said, propping herself against the vanity.
“That what he told you?” he grumbled.
“Ophelia.”
Another jab of shock. Spinning around, he locked his focus onto her. “Ophelia? How much time did you spend with her?”
“None,” she said. “I met her for the first time tonight.”
He took a step toward her. “What did she say?”
Harlow shook her head and a finger. “Oh, no, Crash, this is your turn. I’m asking the questions. Who was she?”
“Hagan’s fiancé,” he said and swallowed again.
This made him uncomfortable. Harlow couldn’t say she was desperate to hear about Ryske being intimate with other women, but they needed this. To be together, they had to start getting past the raw attraction and focus on building trust.
Theirs would have to be deeper than most typical relationships because she’d have to hold onto her faith in them while watching him going out there to run cons. If Harlow couldn’t believe that what he did for work meant nothing to him and that he’d always come home to her, this would never work.
“You slept with her.” He nodded. “Why?”
“She was beautiful.”
That honest, but basic answer, was a surprise. “That’s it?” she asked. “It wasn’t a job or a con, you just… had to have her?”
Concerned that it might have been stupid to embark on this conversation while they were in a fight about something else, Harlow hoped she hadn’t made a mistake. Her being restricted from leaving Floyd’s could cause a problem between them in itself without adding the tension of this on top.
Difficult as this might be for both of them, she’d put off getting answers too many times. Harlow had to listen to the uncomfortable truths. This was just the beginning; she doubted this was close to the last of the awkward revelations she’d have to hear. It would be good practice for her poker face.
“Hagan was running an auction,” he said. “It was stupid. The money he raised was going to his newest property development, so it was going to him. It wasn’t charity. The biggest donor was allowed to name the building that was in a prime position by the river next to the museum.”
“When was this?”
“ ‘Bout two years ago,” he said, slipping his hands into his pockets. “We were tangled with these people and had donated a piece we needed to fence. It was a fake, but a good fake; gave us credibility in the crowd. Anyway…” Sucking in a long breath, he blew it out before continuing. “An associate of ours was interested in the sister lot and had a buyer on standby. The opportunity fell into our lap while we were in the middle of another job… it was a favor for a friend. We’re not jewel thieves by nature. When we do get into that, we’re more old-fashioned about it. You know, smash and grab… subtle, sophisticated smash and grab.” He might have been making a joke but didn’t crack a smile. “We had an investor at that event… a mark… Gil Parratt.” The distorted-glass window by the shower was tall and skinny. It wasn’t possible to see through it, but he looked that way anyway. “That was the night I met Anwen.”
“Love at first sight?”
The first hint of a smile crept to his lips. Slow in its ascent, it took its time to build, but by the time it was there, she couldn’t doubt that the smile was one of nostalgia. “She glittered. It was impossible for men to take their eyes away from her. She was like… I don’t know, it was like one of those Old Hollywood movies, you know? She sat there perched on the edge of her stool at the bar wearing this shiny dress, surrounded by guys who were clamoring for her attention.”
“And you wanted to be the one who got it,” she said, turning her back, but the broad mirror above the vanity made it impossible for her to get away from him. “I understand that competitiveness.”
Her attention dropped to the sink. “Anwen pursued me,” he said. Raising her head, Harlow landed her attention on his reflection that was a step closer than it had been before. “I saw her at the event, knew she was beautiful, but she wasn’t part of the plan. I was there to network, keep my eye on the auction, leave with Parratt, charm him. I had to make myself seen at the after auction event, then get back to the auction hotel to do the switch of the sister piece for our buddy. Maze got me in, Noon got me out. Went like a dream.”
“The switch?”
“The jewel our associate wanted, we had a fake for that too. It’s always a good idea to leave the real deal on show for as long as possible. The event was over. Everyone had gone home. The piece would’ve been packed for shipping the next day. No one who does the packing is expecting a fake, probably wouldn’t know the real deal if it bit them on the ass. So the piece is packed, goes on its way, and no one can prove when the switch was made.”
She didn’t want a lesson on how to commit theft. “And Anwen…”
“She was outside,” he said. “Job was done. I got out. Noon was an alley over waiting. I was on my way out, my way home. I walked out of the hotel into the service alley on my way to meet Noon and ended up face to face with Anwen. She’d had some fight with Hagan and was pissed as all get out. She remembered me from the auction. I just wanted to get the hell out of there. Comforting angry women isn’t my forte.”
Already, Harlow could tell where this was going. “I don’t think there’s anything that isn’t your forte when it comes to women.”
He didn’t grace her comment with a reaction. “I had to get out of there, fast… so I did what I know.”
“You slept with her.”
Ryske raised his brows. “I fucked her,” he said, adamant about the difference. “She wanted payback ‘cause she thought Hagan was messing around on her. She said she was sick of his attitude. I don’t know. I was only half listening, and had Noon yapping in my ear about what the hell was causing the delay. Maze was with him, tapped into security. They knew I was out of the building…”
“But you didn’t make it to the getaway car.”
“I made it,” he said. “I was just delayed.”
Because he was waylaid by Anwen… and having sex with her. The story was dubious. “That was her pursuit? She was crying in an alley, so you had sex with her? That’s hardly a grand chase.”
“No, that wasn’t it. The pursuit came after,” he said. “Far as I was concerned, that night was it. I didn’t need to see her again. I’ll be honest, I didn’t even think about her again. In that alley, I thought on my feet, that’s what I do.”
“And if that involves sex, that’s a bonus,” she said, without meaning to sound so snide.
It wasn’t fair to be sarcastic when he was being honest. Ryske had a past, and so did she. Neither of them were virgins. Harlow’s contempt wasn’t judgment, she was smart enough to recognize that her response was rooted in jealousy. Her life had never been one of abandon like that where she’d have sex in an alleyway just because the moment called for it.
Her life had been void of anything even close to adventure. Danger was a word used in books and movies. She’d never taken a risk in her life. Not a real one. Ryske and his crew were daring, living on the edge. In her studies, she’d read countless stories about people whose lives were cut short by prison or death because they chose that life.
But it was attractive, alluring, exciting, interesting, all of the things her life hadn’t been.
The story wasn’t finished, so he kept going. “I’d met Ophelia before then. She didn’t know me like she does now, but she’d been my in to the auction. She believed I was the quiet, rich entrepreneur I wanted her to believe I was.”
“You seduced her first.”
“No,” he said, coming closer still, but staying out of reach, which she was grateful for. “We flirted. We’ve always flirted. But things get messy fast when you mix business and pleasure. I didn’t need to screw anyone but the mark for that job… least not in the original plan. Ophelia was a business contact. To get close to Parratt, I needed a way into that circle. Ophelia was it. I gave her some advice to help her in her role with Hagan, one she doesn’t have any more, but at the time, she was trying to make a name for herself in the company. I coached her, we flirted. Yeah, the relationship was fun, but that was it.”
To him maybe, Ophelia had thought it was something more, or could’ve been something more. “How did Ophelia find out about you and Anwen?”
“They were best friends. Maze set up a digital answering service for us years ago. Means we can change the number any time and never have to answer calls. None of us carry phones. People want to talk to us, they leave messages, and we get back to them, ignore them, take action, whatever… Anwen got the number from Ophelia’s phone, that call was a goddamn surprise, let me tell you… Anwen wanted a replay. At first, we ignored it. But Anwen called and called and called. Maze was about to change the number when Anwen left a message saying she was going to tell Hagan what had happened. She’d already told Ophelia. Shit was falling apart.”
“So you had to see her again?”
He nodded. “To let her down gently, to tell her I didn’t want trouble with Hagan, I didn’t… Then I got there and…”
“You couldn’t contain yourself.”
He’d already said she was beautiful. It wouldn’t have been easy to refuse the advances of any woman determined to have him. But if Anwen was as perfect as he’d implied, he wouldn’t have put up much of a fight.
Harlow pictured him meeting Anwen in a hotel room somewhere, walking in to find the beauty in some silky negligee, begging him to satisfy her. Ryske wasn’t picky, as demonstrated by his early lust for her.
The only time Harlow had worn negligee she’d felt like an idiot. Rupert had bought some Victoria’s Secret apparel and she’d tried it on. It looked fine, was softer than air. The trouble was, she didn’t feel delicate and wasn’t patient. Standing in front of Rupert while he “admired” her had just bored her.
“She threatened me,” Ryske said, jarring Harlow out of her thoughts. “Said we had to keep going or she’d tell Hagan… I didn’t want to be the guy who screwed other men’s wives. We’d been working the con with Parratt since before the Hagan auction opportunity cropped up. Parratt was about to hand us more than half a million dollars. I couldn’t risk that deal, we needed that money.”
The reason he needed that money was interesting, but she could only pursue one line at a time. “So you… you and Anwen kept going? You had an affair with her.”
“Yeah,” he said. “For six months before he found out.”
Stunned, her reaction was instant. “Six…” Spinning to face him, she expected some kind of contrition, but didn’t find any. “How did he find out? Wasn’t the point that he wasn’t supposed to know?”
“The deal with Parratt was done by then. We had the money and I was out of their circle. Parratt never admitted we’d taken him for the half mill. Guess he was embarrassed. We strung him along for a while. Whenever I see him, I’m still convinced he thinks I’ll come up with the goods.”
“You told Hagan the truth?” she asked, wondering if the confession was his way of getting out of the affair.
Except, if they’d been sleeping together for six months, Ryske must have developed some kind of feelings for her.
“I didn’t owe Hagan anything. That’s always the way I feel if I’m in a married woman’s bed, or an almost married woman’s bed. I didn’t make any pledge to their other half. But with women like that, women who would do that to their partner, I… there’s always an element of…”
It was like he was searching for his meaning, but she got it. “Anger,” she said. “Resentment. You can’t understand why they would do that to someone they’re supposed to love.”
His head bobbed. Silence reigned for a few seconds. “Business, I understand, if everyone’s on the same page. If it has a reason, a purpose, I get it. Sex is just sex; it can be just sex. But she was sleeping with me to hurt him, that’s what it was about. Except… they would fight and he’d…”
Pushing the heels of her hands into the vanity, Harlow straightened. “Hit her? Did it get violent?”
“He’d have his men do it, Brash and Animal usually. Hagan doesn’t like to get his hands dirty. So I understood her need to have control, to feel like she had some kind of control. When she was fucking me, she was trying to fuck out that hurt and her hatred for him, I get that.”
“Why marry him?” she asked. “If she hated him so much, why was she still engaged to him?”
“Anwen came from nothing,” he said. “Hagan has money. He was supporting her. Her parents were gone, she had no one. Her life was entwined with his, and if she even thought about leaving him… Let’s just say, he’s the kind of guy who holds a grudge. He’d never let her just walk away. He’d take it as a personal affront. She was stuck. She didn’t have the power to get away from him. Even if she did, he had the power to pull her back every time.”
“What happened when Hagan found out about you and Anwen?”
That answer was simple. Ryske looked her straight in the eye as he delivered it. “She killed herself.”