Grace didn’t laugh. “You have zip ties, handcuffs, rope, and some sort of weapon in your leather jacket right now. Don’t lie.” He shivered, and Hunter draped the coat over him before looping his arm over his shoulders.
“I won’t.”
Grace smiled and snuggled into the coat. “I love this,” he said. “I’m so glad you got it cleaned.”
Hunter wondered how long he’d have to wait. “I love seeing you in it,” he said. “So finish your thought. Why aren’t you the same guy anymore?”
“Because I love the people who love me back,” Grace said. “I love you, and vice versa. And that means I can’t just disappear and destroy myself anymore.” He sighed happily. “It means I’m not even tempted.”
“I do love you back,” Hunter whispered, kissing Grace on the temple. Grace accepted the moment before pulling away excitedly.
“Hello!” he said. “What’s this?”
Hunter grinned. “I don’t know, Grace. What is it?”
“It’s your spoon!” Grace crowed. He’d tried to steal it several more times. The last time he’d been at Hunter’s flat, he’d realized it was gone and had been furious until Hunter told him he’d had it taken somewhere to replace a chip in the enamel.
Which had been the only lie Hunter might ever tell him.
“Sort of,” Hunter said dryly.
Grace held what was left of the spoon up to the light. It had been twisted and molded, taking the form of a ring, with the pretty enamel decoration on the back of the ring like a stone. “Is it mine?” he asked, sliding it on and admiring it.
“It is,” Hunter said simply. “You never needed to steal it, Grace. I gave you my heart. You can have my spoon.”
Grace grinned, reached into Hunter’s jacket, and pulled out a pink tactical pen.
Hunter hadn’t packed a pink tactical pen when he’d assembled his jacket’s contents that evening.
“It’s my pen,” he said, looking at the shiny titanium in confusion. He’d known Grace had stolen it—he’d just assumed Grace would keep it forever.
“No,” Grace said. “It’s my pen.” He pulled out his phone and shined the light on an inscription.
“Property of Dylan Li,” Hunter read dutifully, oddly embarrassed. It was damned near roses and an engagement ring from Grace.
Grace grinned happily and slid the pen into the inside pocket of Hunter’s coat. “So it’s close to your heart,” he said.
Hunter laughed softly. “So,” he asked. “Where to now? Back to Glencoe to see how Josh is doing?”
“Josh is tired of people,” Grace announced, which was probably the truth. “And he’s tired of people checking to make sure he’s not dead. He said he should live, and I’m going to trust him. He hasn’t let me down yet.”
“That’s very wise,” Hunter said. Something complicated had happened the night before, something that involved the handsome, sad young police officer and the handsome, handy young Interpol officer. Hunter was pretty sure Josh was too sick to unravel his love life now, but he imagined it was going to come back and bite him eventually. And speaking of love lives, he had no doubt that Lucius Broadstone and Chuck were going to give them a fine show. Torrance Grayson and Soderburgh had stayed the night in the Glencoe mansion, plotting something or other. Hunter figured the Salingers owed them a few big favors, so whatever adventures they brought to the table, those two would be fun to have around.
And Stirling continued being shy and intense and wholly competent. But Hunter would never forget that the night before, after he’d come out of the van, he and Molly hadn’t left each other’s sides, not even when they’d fallen asleep on the couch, curled together like kittens.
His life—his family—would always run like clockwork. But that didn’t mean those tiny gears, moving, retreating, keeping time and stealing it away, weren’t tremendously complicated.
“So.” Grace gave him a pretty sideways look. “You want to go to your flat and have some banging sex? You could tie me up again. Maybe toys? Do you have a tactical dildo? Inquiring minds want to know.”
Hunter burst out laughing. “I do have toys, yes,” he said. “I don’t have a tactical dildo, but we can buy one if you like.”
“And…?” Grace intimated slyly. “You know you want to say it.”
Hunter chuckled. “I do have a heat-seeking meat missile at my disposal,” he flirted back. “You want to ride that until it goes boom?”
“Yes!” Grace crowed. He leaned into Hunter and—per usual—blew Hunter’s mind. “There’s no happily ever after until we hit dead and know if we were happy until we got dead.”
“I know that,” Hunter said softly.
“But we’re happy now, and I think you and me are going to be happy together for a really long time. And if we keep working on it, we might even make it to happy until dead. I’m okay with that.”
Hunter pulled him tight, his mind already on how good Dylan Li felt in his arms, skin to skin, body open and receptive to his own.
“I’d love to see if we can make it to then,” he said gruffly.
“Think you can kill me with good sex? That way we can make sure.”
Hunter laughed. “Maybe not tonight. Maybe tonight we can practice for the big bang that’s going to take us both out.”
“Yeah,” Grace said. “We have adventures we need to go on before then.” With a sigh, he slid his arm around Hunter’s back, and even though Hunter checked, Grace wasn’t trying to steal his wallet.
His wallet would be fine, though. Hunter had other wallets. Grace had already stolen Hunter’s heart, and then, in a stunning act of generosity, had given his own back in its place.
Hunter thought of telling him that this was no way to be a thief, but he decided to keep mum. As long as Dylan Li loved him, Hunter didn’t care if he was a thief, a dancer, or a clockmaker.
Hunter would always love him back.
Orange
Amy’s Dark Contemporary
A Long Con Adventure
Once upon a time in Rome, Felix Salinger got caught picking his first pocket and Danny Mitchell saved his bacon. The two of them were inseparable… until they weren’t.
Twenty years after that first meeting, Danny returns to Chicago, the city he shared with Felix and their perfect, secret family, to save him again. Felix’s news network—the business that broke them apart—is under fire from an unscrupulous employee pointing the finger at Felix. An official investigation could topple their house of cards. The only way to prove Felix is innocent is to pull off their biggest con yet.
But though Felix still has the gift of grift, his reunion with Danny is bittersweet. Their ten-year separation left holes in their hearts that no amount of stolen property can fill. A green crew of young thieves looks to them for guidance as they negotiate old jewels and new threats to pull off the perfect heist—but the hardest job is proving that love is the only thing of value they’ve ever had.