“That won’t happen,” he growled.
He would never let that happen.
Chapter Twenty-One
Josie
Josie, my girl, you need to get a grip.
She repeated the words, or a variation of them, over and over again in her mind, trying to ease the mounting anxiety inside of her. It didn’t work.
You’ve swum with sharks.
This is different.
You’ve jumped out of airplanes.
This is more dangerous.
You’ve stolen from the rich, never getting caught.
This is more complicated.
And it was.
Two weeks ago, if you would have told Josie that her last heist would be to stop Milo Steiner from blackmailing her? Josie would have laughed right in your face. If you would have added that it would be done with her boyfriend? She might have peed her pants from the giggles. She never would have thought her last heist would be so complicated.
But really, this was going to be her last heist. Never again would she steal a jewel to support her family. She was going to walk the straight and narrow now and focus on her family’s store. And her relationship with York.
And what a relationship it was. A real whirlwind. Josie had always been a little wild, but she had always been very careful about her birth control. The day before, when Johanna had brought up kids, Josie had realized she and York had a lot of sex. All of it unprotected. She was on the pill, but would that even be effective against York’s super shifter sperm?
Did it even matter?
Josie wanted kids. York was her mate, and she knew that they were bound to mate and marry eventually. So what if things were a little out of order? It was 2020, for fuck’s sake.
It was also not the time to be thinking about the future. She had to focus.
With a shake of her head, Josie brought herself back to the moment. This was it—the big day.
At the very least, the first part of the plan was easy enough. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Steiner was having her followed. The pictures had proved that he had eyes on her. Not just on her, but on her family, too. That meant Steiner had numerous people on his payroll.
It made sense.
The man was a crazy billionaire, who liked to break all kinds of rules. He knew it was a dangerous lifestyle, and he didn’t care. Josie didn’t know him personally, but she knew the type. No amount of wealth would ever satisfy him. He would always crave more, want more, need more. The world would be a much safer place without him playing games in it. She shivered as she remembered what York had told her. Steiner was blackmailing all kinds of people. She shouldn’t feel too bad that he had done the same to her.
Not when it had led her straight to the dragon of her dreams.
Though she was anxious to get through the day, to get back to the brownstone and fuck York silly, she had to play it cool. This was just any other day, going to the vaults of the bank to catalog some stuff for Johanna.
If Josie had been a cartoon, she would have whistled nervously. Nothing to see here, folks. All the while, large globs of sweat would have dripped down her forehead.
As it was, she had worn pants, flats, and a sensible top. Just in case things went sideways, Josie wanted to be comfortable. No one wanted to Parkour around New York City in a mini-skirt and heels. She had even coiled some vines around her wrists using her magic. They looked like very strange, eclectic jewelry pieces, but she could control the plants to help her out of a jam if she needed them to. York had appreciated the cautious move, but he had been adamant that things wouldn’t go wrong. That they couldn’t go wrong.
At least the sun was shining, and all of New York City seemed to be cooperating with their plan, on the beautiful summer’s day. Her flat shoes clapped innocently against the marble floor of the bank as she made her way to the security desk.
“Hey, Vern,” she greeted the lead security guard before turning her attention to Jordyn. “Morning,” she said brightly. “Break time?” she asked.
“Yes,” Jordyn pointed to the cup of coffee on Vern’s desk. “It was my turn to get the coffees.”
“Vanilla latte?” Josie asked.
“You know it,” Vern said before taking a sip.
“Well, enjoy. I won’t bother you much longer. I’m just here to leave my purse and grab the keycard, so I can head on down to the safes.” Josie could only hope that she appeared as chill as she thought she was.
“Oh, sure thing, Miss Essa.” Vern made a big show of grabbing her large handbag, waiting for the next part of the plan.
“Vern,” Jordyn shook her head just on cue. “Mrs. Warwick gave her this bag as a present. This bag costs more than what we both make in a month. Let the girl bring it with her. Really. She’s Mr. Warwick’s lady. She would hardly steal anything from the safes. After all, it might all be hers one day.” Jordyn winked at her, and Josie blushed.
She hadn’t thought of it that way.
Vern put his hands on his hips, shaking his head. “I don’t know, Jordyn. It’s protocol.”
“Screw the protocol,” Jordyn threw her hands up. She looked around, bending her head so that only Vern would hear. If there were shifters around, they would still have heard the whispers. “Do you want to be the guard who once told the boss’s wife to keep her purse behind the desk?”
Vern could have won acting awards for the way he blanched. He shook his head. “No. No, I don’t.” He turned toward Josie. “I’m so sorry, Miss. I didn’t realize you were so close to the family. Go on ahead.” He handed her the security keycard and waved her on.
As Josie walked away, she heard Vern turn to the other security guards handling the desk. “If that kind of situation ever happens again, it has to go through me.” He wiped his brow. “It’s all our asses if the bosses know we’re breaking the rules. Even with the significant others. I’ll have to check with Mr. Warwick about this.”
Josie could have kissed the old man, he had done so well. Jordyn walked with her to the elevators, cooing over the bag.
“I’ll let Mr. Warwick know that you’re in the building. He has a very important meeting, but I will try to give him an in to leave early, so he can check on you.” Jordyn winked as if she were helping the young couple shirk their duties to hook-up.
Not steal something from the bank York owned.
Jordyn knew York wasn’t in his office at all. He was halfway to the Hamptons, getting ready for the final part of the plan.
“You’re the sweetest, Jordyn. Thanks so much.”
Josie boarded the elevator, scanning the keycard before pushing down on the button that would lead her to the subterranean floors. She avoided looking up to the security camera that was installed in the corner. She tried to be as nonchalant as possible, but it was hard. She knew that if Steiner had some fellows on the payroll, they would be watching the security screens closely now that she had managed to sneak a bag into the safes.
It was with shaky legs and trembling hands that Josie started doing her work. Or at least, pretending to. She dropped her purse in the dead zone, the one York had shown her when they had been passionately making out. Josie tried not to stare at the clock, but it was hard. She’d been on so many heists, but this was different. The stakes were that much higher, and she didn’t want to fuck things up.