“I don’t have a whole lot left that belonged to my father, either. He and my mother—they died a long time ago. That’s how I wound up with my grandfather. He took me in when I was just three years old so I wouldn’t wind up in the foster system.”
A career criminal—probably the best safecracker in the world—with a lost little three-year-old girl. Hell. “I’m sorry,” he heard himself say, and Remy meant the words. Sympathy was as unusual for him as the jealousy had been. All of a sudden, he was getting hit with these new feelings and emotions left and right, and he did not like them one damn bit.
She reached out and took his right hand. Squeezed it. “Thank you,” Jacqueline told him softly, her eyes all big and warm with that gorgeous green color shining. “I know we all have our pain, don’t we? Everyone carries some kind of burden, but usually people don’t notice. I’m sure you have plenty of sadness, too.”
If by sadness she meant a fucked-up past with a monster of a father who’d been intent on using his kids for his own criminal gain then, yes, sure. Remy had plenty of that. But Remy didn’t talk about his past. Ever. And he wasn’t gonna overshare now just because he was staring into the most amazing eyes he’d ever seen. He pulled his hand away from her. “What was in the safe? Wait, let me guess. Diamonds? Cash? Drugs?” All of the above?
“Nothing.”
Not what he’d expected. “Come again?”
“I think it was just a test. He wanted to see if I could do it. Of course, I didn’t realize it at the time, I was all apologetic because I thought he was disappointed his dad hadn’t actually left him anything, but then Preston told me not to worry. There was another safe. He was surethiswas the right one.”
“Oh, sweetness, tell me you didn’t open it.”
“He took me to what I thought was his estate. Showed me the safe behind the painting in his study.”
Remy’s eyes squeezed shut. “Not his estate. Not his painting. He took you on a B&E test run.”
“Not like I knew, okay? It was my first crime!”
“Too trusting. Too naive. Your grandfather was a damn criminal, you should have known better!” His eyes flashed open just in time to see the pain sweep over her face.Shit.“I didn’t mean that.”
“Preston had a key to the estate’s front door.” A stark whisper. “He knew the code to the security system. I didn’t realize what was happening.”
Because she’d trusted the wrong bastard.
“He had a key to everything,” she murmured.
“What in the hell does that mean?”
“Preston was given the key to the city. Literally. The key! He led one of the Mardi Gras parades last year and everyone cheered for him. He’s a local hero. Why would I think he was lying to me? Why would I possibly think he was getting me to do something illegal?”
Because some people were just too good at lying.
“He watched me open the safe. Later, I learned he timed me.”
“How fast did you open the safe?” Idle curiosity. He should probably be focusing on something—
“I did it in under two minutes.”
Damn. His spine straightened. She had skills.
“This safedidhave a diamond necklace inside. Lots of big, glittering diamonds. Cash was in there, too. He didn’t touch any of that. He took what looked like a journal out, and he also tooka ring. One with a circle of emeralds on it, and big ruby in the middle.”
He stiffened at that description as a memory stirred.And now we are getting somewhere.
“He shut the safe, and Preston told me we had to get out before we were caught. Caught,” Jacqueline repeated with a wince. “See, that was the big tip-off that he wasn’t who he pretended to be.”
“Not Prince Charming.”
“I freaked out. Said he had to put everything back, but he just laughed. He told me not to worry, that he’d disabled the security cameras, so we were good.” A shake of her head. “When I tried to take the ring from him, he pulled out a gun.”
What. The. Fuck.
“He said we were leaving. Right then. I’d never had a gun pulled on me.” A hollow note entered her voice. “I was scared to death.”
“How did you end up in the wedding dress?” He was trying to connect all the dots, but big chunks still seemed to be missing from her story.