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“I hated every minute of it.”
“But it was lucrative. I’m not saying we turn this into a school. We can have specific days and times that are meant for classes.”
He looked up from his project, which wasn’t turning out the way he wanted. He hated being distracted. Bronte had made excellent points and the additional money would help buy the equipment needed to expand his operation. “Fine. As long as you do the teaching.”
“I’m not as good as you.”
“You don’t have to be. You’re talking about inexperienced people. You have to keep it simple. Teach ’em to make a paperweight or ashtray. You want to do this, I’m hands off.”
She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “I’ll teach if you do a live demonstration and answer questions.”
As far as compromises went, it wasn’t a bad deal for him. He knew Bronte had the business and his best interest in mind as she came up with these ideas. “Fine. As long as you keep it to only a few classes. I’m not giving up my work time to babysit a bunch of newbies.”
She jumped and clapped. The bright smile on her face was almost enough to make him join in her happiness.Almost.
“Now get out of here. Your yammering has caused this vase to be a fucked-up mess. I need to start over.”
“You won’t regret this. It’s going to be awesome. I’ll offer discounts and coupons to drive people in. Before you know it, we’ll have so much business, you’ll need to hire an apprentice.”
He grunted at her as he dropped the blob of a vase into the recycle bin. “I’m not taking on an apprentice. I like working alone.”
“And yet, you put up with me.”
“Family’s hard to escape that way.”
“See you tomorrow,” she called and made her way back through the front of the store.
Ezra watched her leave, and then went back to scoop up another batch of glass to do what he’d come to the shop to do: find peace.
ChapterTwo
London didn’t normally participate in the planning of a heist. It was far from her area of expertise. She understood art, not how to bypass a security system or scale a wall unnoticed. But since Mia’s departure from the team, London began sitting in on the planning, even though she had little to offer. She often drove the van for Nikki and Audrey, and that was as close to burglary as she’d gotten.
If she were being totally honest, she was a little envious of everyone else. Mia had always kept her a little on the outside of the group. A member but not close enough to be part of a con or theft. It wasn’t that her input wasn’t valued—she knew Nikki listened to her advice on how to handle the art. And she had been a distraction during recon for their first heist. However, she didn’t have the same connection the rest did. Audrey and Jared were a couple in love. Nikki and Audrey were odd best friends. And while London was also friends with them, she was still on the fringes.
Kind of like with her own family.
Curled up on the couch with a cup of coffee, London listened while Audrey began a presentation on the TV in the living room.
“Meet Harry Ross,” Audrey began. “He is the owner of the Leach painting that London has already finished.”
The screen flashed to the painting. Then the photo zoomed out to show where the painting was.
“And this is our next hurdle. Good ole Harry couldn’t be like the rest of the dirtbags and keep the painting in his house. No, Harry has it hanging in his office.” Audrey walked in front of the TV with her tablet, tapping on the screen. “This is the building where Harry runs his accounting firm.”
The picture was of a sleek, ultra-modern building of metal and glass. London leaned forward, setting her coffee on the table. “Ooh...are you gonna scale down the outside of the building and cut through the window?”
Nikki chuckled. “As must fun as that sounds, I’m thinking we keep it simple. I go in as part of the cleaning crew.”
“That doesn’t sound like much fun.”
Nikki lifted a shoulder. “It’s not, but it will also be easier to get in and out with the painting. It’s not like it’s a skyscraper where people wouldn’t notice someone on the side of the building in the middle of the night. The neighborhood is filled with clubs and bars. Always busy.”
“I haven’t been able to find who the cleaning company is yet. Harry doesn’t own the building. He just leases the fifth floor. From what I can tell, pretty much everyone in the building is gone by seven in the evening. A few randos might still be working, but not in Harry’s office. They clear out by six.”
“So what I’m hearing is that it’s field trip time,” Nikki said.
“A field trip for what?” London asked. They usually did field trips for recon when figuring out the best way into a mark’s house.
