Stone Goddess (Isabella Hush Series Book 3) Page 23

  Whatever effect he was looking for, he didn't get it. He almost looked chagrined when I spoke up.

  "Don't bother with the sexual innuendos," I said dryly. I didn't want to be lulled by that charming facade. "I know your big secret, remember?"

  He held my eye and I respected that. He wasn't flinching. In fact, he leaned backward in his chair far enough that it lifted from its front legs and hovered on its balance point.

  "How about a proposition, then," he said. "Will you feel better if you think you have a choice."

  I noted he didn't say I had a choice, just that I might feel better thinking I did. I pushed away from the counter.

  "A proposition." I crossed one ankle over the other as I watched him get up from the table and close the distance between us. I tracked his progress with my eyes.

  "Nothing good ever came from a proposition from a virgin."

  I stressed the word virgin as though it was dirty.

  "Work for me," he said. "I can't promise Absalom will leave you alone, but it will help you network and it will allow me to..." he paused there as his eyes lit on mine before trailing down to my mouth. "...Well, it will let me keep an eye on you without lurking in shadows and breaking into your apartment out of fear someone has decided to treat you like a pinata."

  So he had been listening. More than that, he had been paying attention. I felt a rush of warmth cascade over the back of my neck. I couldn't speak for the swell of gratitude.

  He must have thought I was still hesitant because he added, "And I could use someone at Recollections that has a good sense of property reallocation."

  A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth, wanting me to allow it to surface.

  "You mean a thief," I said. "You're looking for a thief."

  He put his finger alongside his nose.

  "A good thief. The Shadow Bazaar is only one facet of my business. Recollections is my clandestine business inside of it. When Doyle disappeared I set it up as a way to find him and the stone, but it turned into a real money maker. It's the perfect way for a woman such as yourself to start fresh while using the skills your gods gave you."

  "Recollections," I mused. "I might be persuaded. What kind of name is that? What would I be stealing, exactly? How would I be paid?"

  He grinned broadly and pinched my cheek playfully.

  "I guess you'll have to see, Kitten."

  <<<finito>>>

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