The Cocky Thief

Chapter 34

Austin had never been to a funeral before. Well, that wasn't true. He had been to them before, but never seriously. He'd gone while trying to get close to a mark once. The dead bastard had lived a horrible life and there hadn't been one wet eye in the entire place.

This was different. Even though the crowd was small, each one was profoundly sad about the woman currently being set into the ground. He was profoundly sad. He didn't know Isobel well. Hadn't agreed with her all that much either, but she'd seemed to love her kids, which was more than he could say for either of his parents.

And when she thought hope was gone, she'd gone charging in with no backup, willing to face anything to get Melody back.

All three of the girls—Jennifer, Toni, and Melody—stood together. It was a funeral, but funny enough, most of the people there were dressed more casually than he'd seen them before.

Toni wore black tattered jeans and a t-shirt. Melody was in a simple black knit dress and Jennifer was in black slacks and a silk black blouse.

James Weston was off to the side, wearing black cargo pants and a black hooded sweatshirt. Hart stood a bit farther back from Weston, in dark jeans and a black sports jacket.

The six of them were the only ones there, but Austin wasn't surprised. Isobel was the type of person who had acquaintances in all corners of the globe, but not many friends. Everyone in his line of work signed on for this. A life full of adrenaline, adventure and, hopefully, money. But you were also always moving and looking over your shoulder; it didn't leave room for a lot of friends and big funerals. Instead, you were laid to rest quickly and quietly and the world moved on. All you had were the whispers of your reputation and, in Isobel's case, three women who were all formidable in their own right.

Not too shabby, in his opinion.

He looked over to Jennifer and for the briefest second, their eyes met before she looked away. She'd been avoiding him for days. Ever since the job.

When they'd walked out of the building and seen Melody and Toni, Jennifer had known immediately that she was never going to see Isobel again. When she'd turned to him, he hadn't hesitated to hold her as she let out her own sobs of grief and loss. And for a brief, selfish moment, he'd been happy.

Not about Isobel, of course. But the idea that she'd turn to him. She would lean on him for comfort that he was more than happy to provide.

But quickly it became apparent that Jennifer had very different ideas. She'd gone out with her sisters that night to discuss everything that had happened and never came back to the hotel room. He'd only known about the funeral because Hart had told him.

Now that the casket was about to be lowered into the ground, this was his last chance to talk to her before she disappeared forever. And he might be a dick, but not even he was going to beg her to give him a chance at her mother's funeral.

He kept looking at her, willing her to make the first move. Willing her to do something to acknowledge him.

Instead, Toni was the one who stared at him inquisitively.

He narrowed his eyes, daring her to come over and tell him to leave her sister alone, but instead, she leaned over and whispered something into Jennifer's ear. And then, both of the sisters stared at him.

They exchanged a few words, each appearing more agitated by the second before Jennifer finally turned from her sister and walked across the grass of the cemetery toward him.

Shit. Even though this was what he wanted, he wasn't totally prepared for what he was going to say either. He straightened and gave her a half-smile as she approached. "Hey stranger."

She stopped a few feet away and for a few moments, she didn't say anything. She just stared at him as though she was waiting to see what his next move was. Then she broke the awkward silence. "When's the next funeral?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Word on the street is that Austin Miles is dead. There's an army of computer nerds who have avenged his death by draining the bank accounts of Stranger's most lucrative clients."

"According to the recent deposit into my checking account—my private checking account, by the way—I think your sister was a part of that." And based off the size of the deposit, he was willing to bet that all of Stranger's clients were dead broke by now.

Her expression was still cold and unchanging. "Why did you do it?"

"Stranger is a dick. I wanted to hurt him, so I told Toni to pull the trigger."

She shook her head. "No. If you wanted to hurt him, there are a thousand ways you could've done it. Now you don't have anything. Your name, your reputation—it's all done."

He shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you, Jen. I didn't like the guy. I wanted him to suffer."

"I just— I don't want you to have done it for me."

"What?"

"You spent years and probably risked your life countless times to build your name. Now you have to give it all up and I don't want that to be my fault."

Austin rubbed at the bridge of his nose and then ran his hand through his hair. "Stranger brought this all on himself. None of this is your fault."

"Tell me then. Tell me you didn't do this for me. I can't leave you thinking I screwed up your entire life."

"Thinking you... No. You didn't screw up my life."

Jennifer's brow was so furrowed much that her head had to be pounding, so Austin finally decided to cut the bullshit. She was about to leave forever. Why not tell her exactly what he was thinking? "Hell yes, I did it for you. If it would make you happy, I'd go after presidents, dictators, and emperors. From now on, anyone who causes you even a stress headache is going to be on my shit list. So when we found out what happened to Isobel and you leaned on me for comfort, yes—from that moment, I knew that Stranger was going down. And if you don't want to leave me thinking you screwed up my life then, for the love of God, don't leave me." Austin waited for her to laugh, slap him, or tell him how impossible it would be for them to have anything together.

But all he got was more silence.

"Jennifer, I—"

"What would we even do?"

"What?"

"Together. If we gave this a chance... Would we go on dates? Long walks on the beach? Maybe the two of us are just too strange for a relationship."

For the first time that day, he seemed to let go of the weight that had been pressing down on him ever since they took down Stranger and let out a loud and long laugh. "Oh, Jen. I know exactly what we would do."

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