Page 8 of Cozen

She kept her palm on his cheek, and her fingers at his ear.

Fourth shrugged. “As they say, nothing good comes easy.”

Cozen dropped her hand back to her side, and closed her fingers into a tight fist. “No one said anything about you being good, though. Sorry.”

“Cute.”

Ace clapped his hands together, bringing them back to the man who had been silent during their entire exchange. “Where’s your father, Fourth?”

“Around the back with Pearl.” Fourth waved a hand. “Come, and we’ll sit with them.”

Cozen took in the immaculate estate as the three of them continued on the pathway. Ace chatted with Fourth just a few paces ahead. Something prickled at the back of her neck—she had never been very good at pretending like she could hold back her curiosity.

Maybe that was why she had a knack for stealing shiny, interesting things.

Who knew?

“Fourth is a strange name,” Cozen noted.

Fourth glanced over his shoulder. “And Cozen isn’t? Appropriate, though, considering the meaning.”

Cozen shrugged. “Do you think you’re the first to use that line, or what?”

The man barked out a laugh, and gave Ace a look. “Fuck, she’s a good one.”

“And her bark is just as bad as her bite,” Ace said shaking his head.

Fourth slowed in his walk a bit, allowing Cozen to catch up and walk in stride. “The name is actually Remington Valor Astor the Fourth.”

“How many Remingtons are still alive in your family?”

“Three at the moment. This is how we distinguish.”

Cozen nodded. “I see.”

“Care to share your story, too?”

She gave him a look. “About my name?”

“Mmm, exactly that.”

Cozen smiled sweetly, but then turned her gaze back on the pathway ahead of them. “There’s no story to tell, and not one that I know.”

“Pardon?”

“Even if it has a story, I don’t know it. Ask the woman who left me on the doorstep of a fire department in Vermont with nothing more than my name and age written on a card. And you know, if you find said woman, let me know her name. I have questions that need answers.”

Fourth didn’t reply.

No one ever did.

“Rem,” Ace said, thrusting his hands into the waiting grasp of a man whose black hair was peppered with white. The two shook hands with wide smiles, and glinting eyes. As though they had shared all kinds of stories and secrets with more yet to come. “How are you?”

“Quite well,” the older gentleman said before turning his gaze on Cozen. Dark eyes that looked her over, but quickly went to her face before he offered her a smile. “And you must be the thief.”

At least he had the decency to say it with more respect than Fourth had. Cozen was still a little sour over that.

Cozen simpered him with a smile. “I prefer my name, actually.”