Diamonds (Den of Thieves Book 1) (16 page)

“Wait what?”

Daria stumbled backwards away from the woman and ran into Peter’s chest. He wrapped and arm around her and pulled her behind him.

“You aren’t getting near her Bonnie,” he growled.

“What do you think is going to stop me? You? Please don’t make me laugh. You are nothing more than a pretty face.” She pulled a gun out from behind her back and aimed it at them.

Daria screamed, “Peter! Look out!”

Peter lunged towards the woman as he pushed Daria back towards the shelter of the car. The gun fired into the night sky as Peter and Bonnie fought for the gun.

“I will not let you stop me!” She cursed as he pulled the gun out of her hand and she stumbled back.

Daria watched it all unfold before her in horror. The two were both on the edge of the cliff now, both heaving. Neither taking their eyes off the other.

Peter pulled his arm back to throw the gun off the edge at the same moment that the woman lunged at him again. Peter sidestepped as he released the gun into the air, to avoid being tackled.

For a moment time stood still and then Bonnie disappeared over the edge, her screams echoing in the night before they stopped suddenly.

Daria rushed to the edge of the cliff but Sebastian grabbed her and hauled her back. She didn’t need to see what lay at the bottom.

Daria started to sob as she leaned into him. He held her as the sobs washed over her.

“Why was she saying those things about you Peter?” She looked up at him once she had regained some composure. Her tears glistened in the light from the headlights.

Sebastian didn’t answer. He didn’t want to speak the words he knew she would not want to hear.

“Is it true Peter?” Her eyes wide, pleading with him to tell her that it wasn’t true.

He didn’t want to tell her now, not like this. At the same time he was tired of the lies and the pretenses. He wanted her to know the truth.

“Daria, I--” He started but the words wouldn’t come out.

“It’s true!” She squirmed out of his arms and pushed him away.

“Daria-- Please!” He reached out for her but she pulled back her face full of anger.

Sebastian heart sank; he couldn’t blame her for being angry.

“Why?” She screamed.

“I had to! I didn’t have a choice!”

“But I loved you Peter! If that even is your name.” She collapsed into sobs on the ground.
 

Sebastian took a deep breath and started towards her.

“Daria, please give me a chance to explain-”

“Why? Why should I? You lied to me!” She looked up at him, tears streaming down her face

“I know, and I am sorry. I--”

“What is your name? Let’s start with that. It’s not Peter, so what is it?”

“Sebastian.”

“Sebastian.” She thought about it for a moment, “So do you know the truth about who that woman is?”

Sebastian nodded.

“Can you tell me please? Or is that against the rules?”  Anger again.

“She was speaking the truth to some degree, Daria. She is your mother from what we can gather.”

“We? What? There is more than one of you people?” Daria looked around but nothing moved in the barren landscape.

Sebastian nodded, not trusting his words as there was a lump rising in his throat. He’d never had to face the initial reaction to his deceptions. In the past he had wished he could have seen the look on his marks’ faces as the realization dawned on them. This was one he never wanted to see.

“So who are you people?”

“We are a company the government hires to find missing items for them when they can’t use legal channels. On occasion a member of the public may have the money to hire us to retrieve stolen items if they do not want to go through the police or if the police can’t do what needs to be done.” He sighed, his job sounded so wrong when he pared it down to the basics. “That was the case with your mother, she hired us to retrieve your necklace.”

“So what were you going to do then? Once you got my necklace?”

“That is the thing Daria. We don’t just do whatever it is that people pay us to do. We dig and make sure that we are on the right side of the law before we do anything. We had just found out the truth about your mother’s plans this evening, well my team did, and that was why I came to you tonight. To warn you about your mother.”

“Warn me? You were the one who brought me to her in the first place!”

“No Daria, I didn’t. If it had been anyone else, they would not have stopped trying to get at that necklace. You have to believe me. I came back to make sure you were protected.”

“I don’t know what to believe anymore Peter-Sebastian. Whatever your name is. All I know is that my mother, who for years I thought was dead, just tried to kill me and the man I was falling in love with isn’t who I thought he was.”

Sebastian said nothing but reached for her. He wanted so desperately to hold her again. To go back to the way things had been earlier in the evening.

“So what? Are you going to try and put the moves on me again? And then what?”

“Daria, I didn’t put any moves on you. I mean I did in the beginning, but then something changed and it wasn’t part of the job anymore. Everything I said to you tonight, I meant it. Every word of it.”

“I don’t know what to believe anymore, Sebastian. I honestly don’t.”

Sebastian was about to speak when a black SUV pulled up and Jake, Paul and Bo stepped out.

“Peter you alright?” Jake asked, “We came as quickly as we could.”

“It’s alright Jake, she knows.” Sebastian’s heart was heavy.

“What the hell happened here?” Bo said walking around the two cars.

“She came after us when I picked Daria up.”

“Where is the lovely Mrs. Blakeman now?” Paul asked looking around.

Sebastian motioned towards the cliff edge and Jake walked over to it.

“I am going to give Stan a call and see if he can’t help with this situation.” Jake pulled out his phone and started dialing, just as a couple of highway patrol cars pulled up.

Sebastian watched helplessly as Daria turned and walked up to the approaching cars without saying another word.

Sebastian dropped into his chair and put his head down on the desk. It had been hours since they had gotten off the highway. He and the rest of the team had spent the time answering questions for the police and helping to tie up any loose ends they had. Stan and Jane had taken over the investigation and were going to keep them in the loop as to the outcome.

He hadn’t had a chance to speak to Daria as he barely saw her once the police had arrived.

All he could think about was the crushed look on her face when she realized the reality of the situation had hit her. He had lied to her.

“Sebastian, you did the best that you could given the circumstances.” Cat came up beside him and put a hand on his shoulder.

He didn’t know what to say to her so he just nodded.

I know you didn’t want her to find out this way and I know she meant something to you.” Cat sat down on the edge of his desk. “And I know we all gave you trouble for it, but to be honest even Bo said he was happy you had found someone who made you so happy. Gracie said she hadn’t seen you that happy in such a long time.”

“I know.” He rubbed his face. He didn’t want to think about it anymore - thinking hurt just too much.

“Seb, she will come back to you if she felt the same way you did.”

“But I lied to her. I told her I was someone else. I was all ready to weasel out of her life--”

“That was in the beginning Sebastian! You didn’t feel that way at the end! Believe me I could see it written all over your face, you would never have followed through. No way in hell.”

“Yeah but she doesn’t know that. All she knows is that I’m not who she thought I was at all.” Sebastian looked down at his desk again.

“She knows that in her heart Sebastian. Once the shock and horror at what has happened wear off she will realize that you were only doing the best that you could under the circumstances and that your feelings for her were genuine.”

“No she won’t. You don’t understand Cat; she is never going to want to speak to me ever again. And not to mention what her father is going to do to me when he finds out that I broke his little girl’s heart.”

“Are you seriously telling me that you are afraid of the father of a mark? When has that ever been an issue for you?” Bo asked walking out of the next room to join them.

“Bo, he really doesn’t need to hear that right now,” Cat said springing to his defense and pushing Bo away.

“Easy, girl. I was just trying to lighten the mood, make the poor man smile.” Bo threw his hands up in self-defense.

“By kicking a man when he is clearly down and out? That’s low dude.” She glared at him

“Guys! Stop. It’s alright. I screwed up. I never should have let my emotions get the better of me. I should have put the wall up and left it there and not allowed her to break through it.”

Cat laughed.

“What? Now you get to laugh at him but I don’t?” Bo crossed his arms.

“No I am not laughing at him but rather the idea that he actually thinks that he is in control of what his heart wants.”

“Obviously I am Cat, I have been doing this same thing over and over again for as long as I care to remember and this has never happened to me before. Clearly it is something to do with my conduct.”

“Yeah okay Romeo, you keep thinking that as you lick your wounds and try to figure out where you went wrong.” Cat shook her head and left his desk. “Listen when you go do your thing an examine everything you have done in the last 48 hours and you realize that there was nothing you could have done to prevent yourself from falling for the girl you let me know and I’ll try and help you win her back, ok?”