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I needed to avoid being seen, but I wasn’t overly worried.
No one else here knew me.
Dad had been too mortal to brush shoulders with this crowd. As for me, I always avoided any event that involved sucking up to Potomac’s deepest pockets.
Marrying seemed like a total waste of time. You should only ever have one love of your life. Yourself. And, perhaps, a dog.
I waited until a staff member rushed up the steps to shadow him. The symphony of voices below chased us upstairs.
I moved my lips without sound, feigning a conversation to thwart the guards’ suspicion. Once we rounded the corner, I redirected to the library that housed the office.
I’d memorized the mansion’s floor plan by heart.
Thank you, Zillow.
When Zach had purchased the manor from the Swiss royals who had occupied it before, he’d barely made any changes, other than converting the subterranean garage into a high-tech art gallery.
Initially, I thought I’d have to somehow break intothat.
Alas, I’d stumbled upon last month’sWiredcover. A feature on Zach’s latest hostile takeover.
There it was.
Immortalized on the magazine’s shiny double-spread, almost unnoticeable under the power of his soulless glare.
The pendant.
Perched on a shelf.
Secured by glass.
Lo siento, sucker. You’re about to be one piece of art short.
I sauntered down the hall, passing paintings that probably cost more than the entire Ballantine estate.
Especially now, with Vera and her daughters sinking Dad’s company to depths even the Titanic hadn’t reached.
I had no idea what he was thinking, splitting the ownership ofthe cleaning company four ways. Three of us had never worked a day in their lives.
The library door loomed before me. I white-knuckled the handle, expecting it not to budge. I’d spent two months learning to pick endless locks with the kit tucked into my bra.
But the door slid open effortlessly without a sound.
A burst of crisp air lapped my skin, raising goosebumps across my flesh. I edged inside, closed the door, and plastered my back against the wood, allowing myself one quick moment to regulate my heartbeat.
This wouldn’t be the first time I did something that could land me in jail. But it marked my first time stealing from one of the most powerful men in the world.
I didn’t take the time to appreciate Zach Sun’s office, even though I’d never stepped foot anywhere this extravagant before. Not with the pendant beaconing me like a lighthouse. In the same glass box from theWiredspread, right beside an identical copy.
A his-and-hers set.
Well, this seems fitting. One of them is his, the other ismine.
There would be no confusion.
Dad’s pendant bore one imperfection that made it uniquely ours. As a kid, I’d given the tassels a “haircut.” The strands dangled about an inch shorter than they should.
I whizzed past the desk, ignoring paperwork as it somersaulted to the rug with the gust of wind.
