Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 34520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 173(@200wpm)___ 138(@250wpm)___ 115(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 173(@200wpm)___ 138(@250wpm)___ 115(@300wpm)
His eyebrows are at his hairline. “Let me get this straight.” He coughs into his hand. “A thief came to steal one of your prize possessions, and instead of ending her, you’ve decided to marry her?”
“Precisely so.”
He gawks at me, completely unable to connect the dots as I’ve laid them out.
“The wedding is at seven sharp. I expect you to be there by six so we can prepare.”
He leans forward. “You and me. We’ve been all over the world. Met more women than I can remember, stolen from a lot of them, worked with others. You’ve never once looked twice at a single one of them. But now, out of nowhere, you’re engaged to a petty thief?”
“She’s not a petty thief. She cleans houses.”
He scoffs. “What?”
I knew I’d have to do some explaining with Elliott, but I didn’t realize how fucking hilarious he would be. He really can’t compute.
“She used to clean houses. Marigold also volunteers at a local animal shelter. That’s where she is right now.” I check my watch. “Her shift is over in an hour. I’ll meet her there and escort her back home.”
“Does her family know about all this?”
I shrug. “She hasn’t mentioned her mother, so I suspect she’s either dead or not around.”
“What about her father?”
I was hoping we wouldn’t get to this little detail just yet, but Elliott isn’t the sort to leave anything alone.
“He’s a cop.”
He almost knocks his coffee cup over. “You can’t be serious. This is … this is too much.”
“I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.”
“You might be cuffed to it. You realize that, right? If he’s worth his salt, he’s already checking up on you. Once he finds the Interpol records–” He whistles, mimicking the sound of a bomb dropping. “You’re toast.”
“Like I said, when I have to address it, I will. Until then, all you need to know is Marigold is mine, and you will be at my house at 6 p.m.”
He breathes in deeply and lets it out slowly, like a pressure cooker releasing. When he meets my gaze again, he asks, “How did you know?”
“Hmm?”
“How did you know she was the one?”
“I thought you were doubting me.”
“No.” He slices a hand through the air. “It sounds crazy. I mean, I think you can admit that. But you’ve always had a way of knowing what’s real. Remember the Rembrandt?”
I smile. “That was a fun trip. The Louvre thought for 50 years they had an original Rembrandt on their hands. What fools.”
“We still nicked it.” He smirks.
“If the Louvre backed it, then I didn’t see why we should leave it behind. And if I remember right, we banked a good paycheck for that ridiculous forgery.”
“Not as much as when you found the real piece in that vault in Vienna,” he says.
“I thought you were going to lose your mind when you couldn’t get the lock figured out.”
“So did I.”
“But then you did. You always do.”
He nods. “And you strode in, right past a dozen other paintings that looked like the real thing, and walked right up to the original. You just knew.” He sighs. “So no, I don’t doubt you about this Marigold. If you say she’s the one, then she’s the one. I just hope you know what you’re getting into, especially if her father’s a cop.”
“Heirloom loves her.”
“What?” His brows draw together. “More than me?”
I clear my throat. “He still loves you,” I hedge.
“Oh my God. He loves her more than me.”
Of all the things we discussed, this is the one that hits him in the gut. I try not to laugh.
“Look, you’ll see him tonight, all right? You two can strengthen your bond even more while I take care of my bride.”
He smirks. “It’s like that, is it?”
“It is.” I rise and toss some money on the table.
He stands, too. “I’m happy for you, man. I really am.”
We grip forearms. “Thanks, Elliott. I never thought it would happen to me, but I knew immediately. One look, and I was done.”
“Damn.” He grins. “I can’t wait to meet the woman who turned your head.”
I increase my grip. “Remember, she’s mine.”
His grin widens. “I know you don’t share. Remember the pair of jade dragons we took in Beijing?”
“They went together as a set.”
He laughs. “That’s what I’m talking about. No sharing. But that’s okay. At least I get Heirloom.”
I only smile, mainly because I don’t have the heart to tell him that Heirloom is just as smitten as I am.
14
MARIGOLD
“Goldie?”
I scream, and the treats in my hand go flying into the air. I spin around and glare at Avery.
“I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Kittens scurry around my feet to get all the treats that they can. I’ve been on edge since my father left. It’s not only because I think he might be on to what happened last night but with how he treated me. When I switched my shirt to one of the shelter tees after one of the older cats had an accident on me, I saw the marks on my arm where my father had grabbed me. They turned red rather quickly. I’m not sure if they are going to fade or grow worse.