Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 97071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
He ignored me. “You don’t understand. Gauthier knows me very well. There’s no way someone will be able to take my place. They announce people at galas like this. Plus, I might even be able to get him to acquire the fingerprint we need.”
My jaw literally dropped. “Are you fucking crazy? We are not going to get the French ambassador to Greece to participate in our illegal operation on foreign soil. Have I mentioned yet that what we are doing here is not exactly sanctioned?”
Now it was King’s turn to stare. “No, actually, you didn’t mention that. But that’s fine, I’m used to unsanctioned operations.”
The man loved to tease, even if it gave other people heart palpitations.
“The answer is no. No foreign-dignitary involvement in the op. I can’t believe I just said that out loud,” I muttered. “Maybe it’s the lack of coffee.”
While I poured a cup, I tried not to think about just how close King would have to be to the ambassador to ask him to do such a thing. That wasn’t the kind of thing you asked an acquaintance to do, and it wasn’t the kind of thing you even asked a friend to do. It was the kind of nefarious activity you might ask your spouse to do, or your boyfriend. And I didn’t want to think about him dating the damned French ambassador to Greece.
I could see Linney thinking from here. So when she spoke, it wasn’t a surprise. “He’s right though. He has to be the one to go in with the invitation. Otherwise, the ambassador’s security personnel could cause us problems.”
I knew she was right. But I didn’t have to like it. “Fine. I’m going in too.”
King looked like the cat who’d stolen the cream, and suddenly I felt like I’d been played. Was I destined to always feel this way with him?
As he took his seat at the table, I glared at him. “That doesn’t mean you’re going to be the one to procure the fingerprints. There’s no way I’m going to let you get close enough to Elek’s new boy toy to do it. So stop looking at me like that.”
“Like what?” King asked, batting his eyelashes.
Mouse chuckled. Ziv rolled his eyes. I let out a sigh. “Like you just put my king in check. I wish you’d stop looking at this like a game.”
King’s eyes hardened, and his expression turned serious. “And I wish you’d stop treating me like a child. Maybe if you told me what the stakes truly were, I would take this more seriously. But until you trust me to be a true member of this team, I’m going to try and keep as much control of the situation as I can. And you and I both know that you would do the same in my position.”
“I’m not authorized to give you more information,” I told him for the millionth time.
Linney snapped her fingers to get our attention. “Can we stop with the dick-measuring contest and get to work please?”
I nodded and reached over to pull my laptop out of my bag. After setting it up on the table and booting it up, I pulled up the spreadsheet that had the master list of things we needed to do on it. I checked off the entry about acquiring an invitation to the gala.
“So now we need to get tuxedos for both of us,” I said, looking at Mouse. “Do you think you can work on that?”
Mouse was already making notes on his own laptop. I looked over at Linney. “Any luck on the fingerprint-capture technology yet?”
King interrupted. “Before we get to all of that, I want to talk about something else. I think we should make an attempt to enter the house before the gala.”
Ziv scoffed. “Why would we do that? We don’t have the fingerprints we need.”
King looked over at him. “What’s your problem with me? You should know by now that I want this crown returned to the Hungarian people as much, if not more, than the rest of you. Granted, I’m looking forward to screwing over Elek Kemény in the process, but I also care about returning a precious historically significant relic to its rightful owner. Which is the Hungarian people. And I’m assuming there’s a reason we can’t do that until we get the crown off Elek.”
Ziv snapped back, “Forgive me if I’m suspicious of the art thief wanting to do something that might tip off our target before the primary op.”
King’s nostrils flared. I could tell he was getting annoyed as hell with Ziv’s constant jabs. “You guys wanted me to tell you how I’d do this job. This is how I’d do the job. And you know I have a history of returning things to their rightful owners.”
Ziv sat back in his chair, his eyes still on King. “This, coming from the man who took a two-hundred-million-dollar Van Gogh from its rightful owner.”