Code Name Heist (Jameson Force Security 3)

Her eyes light up, her teeth flashing. “We were going to get a Corgi and name it Lord Alfred.”

I frown sternly. “You and I remember that conversation differently.”

Sin laughs. “I remember a Corgi for sure. And a house in London with our parents moving in with us, which now that I think about it, what the hell were we thinking?”

Chuckling, I shake my head. “I’m sure we would have eventually settled on getting them their own places close to our home.”

“You don’t have that opportunity now,” Sin says, her voice going from jovial to morose in a nanosecond. “I took that away from you.”

My fingertips go to her lips. “Don’t. Just let that go, okay? I have.”

She doesn’t respond, and I can see her eyes are shiny.

I change the subject. “Do you want to go see your dad today before we head back to Paris?”

We have nothing left to do in London. Our job was a quick trip in to get our own lay of the nightclub before heading back to Paris where we’d finalize details with William.

Her gaze comes to me, a smile on her face. “Could we?”

“Of course.”

Sin hasn’t said much about her dad since we’ve ‘reconnected’ besides he retired. But I came to care for her dad a great deal when we were together. He’s a true thief down to his core and could not have been prouder his daughter was in love with another thief. Training Sin to be as good as she is today was an immensely proud achievement for him as a father.

Which is so funny because Sin would never have kids unless she was out of this lifestyle. Sin doesn’t love it the way her father did. She has a conscience.

“Why did your dad retire?” I ask.

“He had a stroke.”

“Jesus, Sin,” I exclaim. Her dad had always been healthy, and he wasn’t all that old. “Is he okay now?”

She shrugs. “Yeah… I mean, he’s doing pretty well. Able to care for himself and all, but he can’t—”

Her words fall flat, but I know what she means. He can’t work anymore, which means he can’t do what he loves.

Steal.

“I’m sorry,” I murmur, taking her hand in mine. I bring it to my lips, wanting to offer her solace. Sin loves her father, and she wants him to be happy. Retirement most definitely would not make him happy, especially if medically forced.

She’s silent a moment. When she does speak, her words are so small and meek it’s hard to hear them. “I have to tell you something, Saint.”

A secret. I can hear it in her tone.

“What?” I ask, although I dread what she’s going to say. I may have forgiven her, but the fact a pit formed in my stomach says I’m still miles from trusting her.

Her eyes come to mine, and she swallows hard. “I was ready to get out of the game. I was tired of this life, but now Mercier won’t let me out.”

My head spins a little, having not expected her to say anything of this nature. “I don’t understand.”

“My dad was working a job for Mercier, and he had the stroke in the midst of it. It got all fucked up, Mercier ended up losing a lot of money, which he holds my dad responsible for.”

I prop on an elbow, incredulously demanding, “He did what?”

Sin nods. “Said my dad owed him the money he lost, and I could work it off by joining his crew. He’d been wanting me to come on board, but I hadn’t wanted to. I’d been working on my own since you… you know… since you left, and I had no desire to work for him. But now… I don’t have a choice.”

“Jesus,” I mutter, pushing my hand into the mattress to sit up more fully. I’m wide awake now. “He’s holding you hostage?”

“I call it more indentured servitude, but, yeah.”

“He can’t do that,” I growl.

“I told him that,” she says, rising to lean against the headboard. She tucks her legs up, resting her chin on her knees. “He told me if I didn’t work it off, then he would kill my dad. It was that simple to him.”

I don’t know Julian Mercier at all. Met him only that one time, so I have no way of judging how ruthless he is. But one thing is clear… I don’t doubt what Sin’s telling me.

Which means I must trust her a lot more than I’m giving myself credit for.

Christ, this is a clusterfuck. I’d hoped to be able to convince Sin to somehow leave this crew before the big heist goes down. I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out how to do it without blowing my own cover. I had even hoped now that we’re intimate with each other, we’d get closer and I could use my charm to get her to do what I want.