And I did.
I believed that his previous pickpocketing had left him empty and remorseful rather than fulfilled and rich. He might have endless wealth now but at what cost? What soul debt?
I shivered unhappily as he tucked the photo frame into his back jeans’ pocket and wrapped his arm around my waist. “Come. There’s somewhere else I’d like to visit today.”
I didn’t ask where or why or what we would do once we got there. All I could focus on was the photo frame in his pocket and the minor epiphany that’d followed on the heels of Elder’s confession.
He might’ve been a thief, but he’d paid for each thing he’d taken. He’d shown himself to be human rather than monster because even though he’d kept what wasn’t his, he’d never been able to let go of his wrong-doing.
Unlike those who’d stole and sold me. They’d laughed. They’d congratulated. Not one had said they were sorry.
And because of that, I forgave Elder for carving out a piece of me. For forcing me to take that man’s property.
I accepted my misdeed, hugged my sin, and accepted that, for better or for worse, I was now a thief.
Chapter Eleven
______________________________
Elder
PIM CLIMBED INTO the back of the black sedan as I held open the door.
Her actions were sad and full of heavy, heavy remorse. She didn’t smile in thanks or glance at me in that intoxicating blend of suspicion and eagerness.
She was muted.
I knew the feeling.
Shit, I’d lived with such agony ever since my life turned from rags to riches.
I’d tried to pay my debt. I’d done my utmost to equalize the unbalanced karma I’d caused, so I didn’t have to carry such colossal mistakes.
But I hadn’t succeeded, and with every dollar I spent, I had the awful knowledge that without that one theft none of my current empire would exist. And if this never existed for me, then imagine what the other guy would feel if he knew I’d stripped him of a future where he’d never had to worry about finances again. Where he could retire and support his loved ones through thick and thin.
I’d taken his good fortune and made it my own because I was selfish and mean.
I would never forgive myself.
Pim had stolen two sun-bleached photos and a five dollar hollow silver frame.
I’d stolen millions upon millions.
In terms of value crimes, she’d done nothing.
It didn’t change the individual value of such things, though.
Robbery was robbery.
I’d turned her into a thief even though I no longer stole.
It wasn’t fair, and I wasn’t that man anymore.
Selix brushed past me to enter the driver’s side. I stopped him with a quick catch to his shoulder. His black eyes met mine, an eyebrow raised. Cocking my head as I closed the door on Pim, I guided him a few feet away and covertly pressed the photo frame into his hand. “Take that to Charlton. Make sure he finds the rightful owner.”
Selix nodded with no questions, no accusations. Just like he hadn’t accused or questioned the night I’d committed the biggest felony of my life. “Consider it done.”
I slapped him on the back and waited until he’d jogged back to the warehouse to fix the wrong Pim had done at my bequest.
Climbing into the sedan, I glanced at Pim. She rested her chin in her palm, staring forlornly out the window. How pure she must be to riddle herself with worry over taking something that didn’t belong to her. How innocent to worry about another after everything she’d endured.
How selfless.
I’d planned on letting her keep her guilt—make her feel a tenth of what I did—but the tugging on my fucking heart couldn’t bear to see her in pain.
Keeping my eyes on Selix as he returned from his task and slipped into the driver’s seat, I leaned closer to Pimlico. “It’s back with its rightful owner.”
Her eyes whipped to mine. “What did you say?”
My hand ached to cup her face, to touch her. “Nothing was stolen. Forgive yourself.”
“You gave it back?”
I nodded.
Her huge sigh of relief managed to heal a little of my guilt as Selix put the car into gear.
“But why?” She shook her head quickly. “I mean I’m glad you gave it back…but I don’t understand.”
Reclining into the leather seat, I closed my eyes. “Because it was the right thing to do.”
For an endless second, she stayed stiff beside me, but then she inched closer and placed her hand over mine. “Thank you.”
Her touch was barely there, hovering rather than claiming, but it set fire to every part of me that’d long since been dark and alone.
I sucked in a breath, keeping my eyes closed so I didn’t trip further into complications where she was concerned. A headache formed from battling the tendencies I constantly lived with, and all I wanted to do was return to the Phantom and forget. But I needed to visit somewhere else before I said goodbye to land.