Harris snorts. “They’re easy to sell and easier to hide. Are you insane?”
I turn and face him. “Maybe.”
His brows twitch slightly and a faint glimmer of uncertainty rises in his eyes. “Huh.”
“But you’re insane too, right? Why else would you do something like this? Y’know, I’ve been trying to work out what felt wrong ever since that night, as if a piece of me has been missing and I briefly found it again. I thought the sensation was because Peter was dead, but that’s not quite it, because the more I thought about it, the more I didn’t miss him. I gave up my life for him, I gave up everything, and people say he was a kid, but you know what? I was a kid too. I’ve spent my life doing everything for someone else, bending over backward so that I can just exist, and I’m tired of it. And then I got to thinking.”
Very slowly, I walk a lazy path toward Harris.
“Those robberies? I was so caught up in how wrong it was that I mistook excitement for nerves. Granted, I had Peter to think about, but more than that, it was exhilarating. Finally taking something for once in my life? Having that kind of control over myself and other people?” I breathe deeply and smile. “It’s not something I’d ever felt before, and it took me so long to realize that’s what I was missing. That’s what I’ve been craving. And getting rich off it?”
Harris looks me up and down and starts backing away, but with nowhere to go, he ends up down on the threadbare couch that creaks loudly under his weight. “Craving it?”
“Exactly!” In a rush, I throw myself into his lap with my knees pressed against his hips and my hands curling into his shirt. “We got to say fuck you to the rich bastards that earn off our broken backs. I got a taste of a life where I didn’t have to worry about rent or taxes or even healthcare because we’d end up rich enough to pay for what we want. So why stop there?” I widenmy grin, throwing my whole soul behind my act. If I pretend it’s Bradley beneath me, then it’s far easier to lean into him. “Why not go further?”
Harris gulps, and his rifle rests loosely in one of his flung-open arms. “Further?”
I narrow my eyes. “You’re telling me you never thought beyond this?”
“Not exactly.”
“God,” I groan. “This is why we would work well together, don’t you see? I have the ideas. There are a bunch of businesses I could easily slot into. I’m a woman of many trades. We’d have at least two more attempts in New York before someone got suspicious and then we’d have to leave, but think about it. Those stores aren’t the only fronts, and what sells more than diamonds?”
Harris lifts one brow and his eyes dart down multiple times, growing distracted by cleavage as I lean into him. “I’ve no idea.”
“Drugs! Duh. That shit is like liquid gold, and if you were able to pick up on something like diamonds, then surely, your contact can do some more digging?”
“Hardly. We learned about the diamonds because some drunk dock worker couldn’t keep his mouth shut but— hold up.” His eyes dart back up and lock onto mine. “The fuck is with this change of tune?”
“It’s not a change so much as I finally feel free enough to express myself,” I reply, leaning closer and sliding one hand up to his neck. “Think about it. There’s literally nothing holding me back anymore. No life. No family. No brother. Nothing. There’s just me and all these exciting ideas that just get me so… damn… hot.”
Melting into Harris is easy, and I slowly purr those last words until there’s only a hair's breadth between us. My nose nudges his, and Harris’s head tilts back slightly. I pivot to the opposite angle and our mouths collide.
Disgust churns in my stomach as Harris opens his mouth and all but pants against my lips, his chest heaving under my hand. Even from memory, he kissed like a wet dog, and now I have Bradley to compare him to.
A real man.
As our lips twist together, my hand wanders down his chest to his abdomen and Harris thrusts his hips upward. He dislodges me just enough to lift me and as I crash back down, I feign reaching out for balance and my fingers close around the cold, heavy assault rifle in his hand.
Perfect.
Biting his lower lip, I leap back as Harris gasps and tear the assault rifle from his hands in the same second. He remains seated for a long moment, stunned by the bite and visibly struggling to keep up with what just happened.
I steady myself on the uneven floorboards and lift the rifle, aiming at his chest. But that’s all I can do. Valentina’s training took me through handguns, not rifles, and now that it’s in my hands, I do everything I can to mimic how he was holding it when he opened the door.
“Get up,” I snap, gathering my saliva in my mouth. Once I have it, I spit it off to the side to try and erase that kiss from my lips.
“The fuck?” Harris’s daze finally wears off, and he bolts upward but quickly rethinks any attack when his eyes drop to the barrelof the gun. “Careful,” he sneers. “That’s far too much gun for a girl like you.”
“Don’t you dare,” I snarl. “I know what I’m doing.”
“Do you?” He arches one brow and slowly, wetly licks his lower lip. “Was it worth it?”
My stomach rolls.
“I should have known you weren’t telling the truth. You’re far too much of a stick in the mud to take any enjoyment out of a world like this. Peter always said you were fucking pathetic, a wet blanket, he called you.”
“Shut up!”
