Thief of Mine (13 page)

“This one’s fake but this one’s real.” Bloody hell. They had
swapped the wrong one. Stella looked into Kit’s eyes in alarm. He didn’t look
alarmed. If anything he looked uneasy as if waiting for an explosion. It was
then she knew. “You never meant to replace the original, did you?” How dumb had
she been? She was usually quicker on the uptake than this.

“No.” There was no other answer Kit could give. He was an
expert at making up lies. It was his living to have a silver tongue and a quick
hand. However, with Stella Rowallan it was different. He didn’t want to lie to
her. He loved her. And he could see by the shock and hurt in her face she felt
betrayed.

“You lied.” And the fact that he had, cut deep. What else
could he lie so easily about?

“Yes I lied.” There was no excuse. He was what he was.

“Why?” Stella knew the reason had to be money. That much was
obvious but she needed to hear it from Kit. Why on earth had she trusted and
expected the best from an acknowledged thief? It, of course, came down to one
thing. She had been so caught up with the sexual thrill of being with Kit that
she had almost started to believe that he had fallen in love with her. Almost.
She didn’t know a whole lot about the love stuff but she did know people in
love weren’t supposed to lie to each other.

Kit sighed. How did he make someone like Stella understand
without losing her from his life forever?

“It’s my living, princess. I can’t change what I do or how I
am.”

“I’m not asking you to change.” Stella wouldn’t ask that of
anyone. People changed because that chose to, not because they were forced to. “I
had expected you to honor your promise and return the idol.”

“It’s wasn’t that simple.”

“But it was. This idol is living history, Kit.” Stella
placed the idols back in the duffel bag. “The people of Beldarq own it, not
just one greedy individual. Can’t you see that?”

“That’s a romantic ideal, Stella. The people of that country
wouldn’t know the difference between the real and the fake idol. Their lives
remain the same regardless.” Kit did understand how Stella felt. History was
important but just who owned what part of it had never intervened in Kit’s
money making plans before. A pang of guilt ran through him. It felt foreign and
uncomfortable. Stella Rowallan was his conscience. He had never owned one before.
She could make him a better man, if he chose to follow her lead. But it was
hard to change a way of life that you were used to.

Stella threw her hands up into the air in irritation. She didn’t
have a romantic bone in her body, and Kit accusing her of such feelings seemed
patronizing to her. She could not help it if she knew right from wrong.

“Oh I see, you basically returned a fake to sit alongside
the museum’s replacement fake so they would think they had the original and
then you, the museum and the government would all be happy with the outcome.”
And in some ways, that was not necessarily a bad plan. It just was not the
right thing to do. As far as Stella was concerned, you did not mess around with
history.

“I’m not hurting anyone.”

“Only me,” Stella felt like yelling at Kit. Why she had let
someone she had known for such a short time get under her skin was beyond her.
She wanted to believe it was just sex. She knew the truth of it and dressing it
up as some nice fairytale about falling in love was ludicrous.

“So this all works out nicely for you then. You get your mad
witch mate off your back as she would think you no longer had the real idol and
then you sell it for a huge price.” Stella shook her head sadly. She was not a saint
but she had some morals. He had none. “You’re a piece of work, Kit Kincaid.”

“Princess…”

“Do not princess me,” Stella snapped at him. She had almost
come to like that nickname and the husky way he said it. “You are full of
bullshit.”

“Let me explain…”

“What? That you are a liar and a cheat and your word means
nothing?” Stella did not want to hear half-assed explanations. She was sure he
could roll them out at the drop of a hat. “You promised me you would return the
idol. But then how stupid am I to believe the word of a man I’ve known for
barely a day?

“You can believe me.”

“Oh please, like I could do that now. If your word cannot be
trusted then neither can you.” Stella gave people only one chance to stuff up.
Once it was blown, that was it. It was probably not rational or reasonable, but
life had taught her to be that way.

Kit grabbed Stella’s hands in his. He had to make her
believe him and trust him. For the first time in his life he was willing to do
anything other than cheat and steal and lie to get what he wanted.

“I love you.”

Stella arched her eyebrows cynically. She wondered if he
practiced that sincere look or if it just came naturally to him. That sincere
look would be an excellent weapon to have in his thief repertoire.
No really
officer, I didn’t steal it, it jumped into my hand.

“And yeah Kit, I really believe that—not.” She tried to pull
her hands from his but Kit held fast as if afraid to let her go.

“You cannot deny what is between us.”

“We have nothing but sex between us.” To acknowledge any
more than that would cause her pain later on. It was better to stop this now
before she got into real trouble by being hurt by him. Kit was just the sort of
man who she would be dumb enough to fall in love with and she refused to let
that happen. She managed to pull her hands from the strong, warmth of his.

“It’s more than sex and you know it.” Kit ran a frustrated
hand in his hair. “Tell me, have you ever felt the same passion for me as you
have for other man?”

“That’s irrelevant.” She had only had a few lovers in her
life and none could hold a candle to Kit Kincaid.

“No that’s real. I didn’t make you have sex with me.”

“No you didn’t and I take responsibility for all my actions.”
Stella closed her eyes as she thought about the wanton way she behaved at the
museum. She didn’t regret it. It was more that she knew that would haunt her
for the rest of her days. Some moments in your life you never forgot. She
opened her eyes to see Kit’s eyes soft on hers. She refused to get sucked into
him again. “You must have thought you hit the jackpot with me dropping my
knickers so easily. I acted like a total slut with you.”

Kit shook his head. He knew what Stella was doing. She was
trying to push him away as fast as she could. Stella knew as well as he did
what they had together was no flash in the pan. It was real and it was true and
couldn’t be hidden from.

“No you just did what you felt. You shouldn’t feel ashamed.
You wanted me and I wanted you. We both know there’s more than just sex between
us.” Kit knew it and acknowledged it. Stella was choosing not to know.

“I’ve barely known you a day and I’ve had sex with you more
times than I’ve probably had it in my entire life.” Actually she could not
really remember having sex until Kit came along. The previous encounters had
been pale imitations of the real thing.

“Stella…” Kit reached out to her.

Stella backed off. If he touched her now she knew she would
give in and forget that he had lied to her. She wanted more than that in her
life. If he had to remain true to himself then so did she.

“Just leave, Kit. I don’t want you or your idol. You’re a
thief. You lie and steal for a living. I want more from a man.” She wanted him
but she wasn’t going to accept him on the terms he offered.

“What about what we have?” Kit could not leave it like this.
He wanted this woman.

“What, sex?” Stella was not about to allow herself to
believe it was anything more.

“It’s more than that and you know it.”

“It was a moment of weakness on my part.” A glorious, knee
shaking moment with a man who made her feel both powerful and weak at the same
time.

“Who’s lying now?”

It was a case of one liar calling another liar out.

“I don’t need you or this is my life right now.”

“You don’t know what you need.” But then Kit knew this wasn’t
her fault. She had grown up in a loveless state-funded atmosphere. How could
someone like Stella easily accept love and acknowledge need when she had no
experience of either? This wasn’t just about him lying about the idol.

Stella knew Kit was right. She didn’t have a clue but she
wasn’t going to settle for anything less than the best for her, whatever that
may be.

“A night with me does not make you an expert.” Stella was
hardly an expert on herself either. That was clear in some of crazy things she
had done with this man. Things she could never have imagined herself doing
before.

Kit sighed tiredly. He was getting nowhere fast with Stella.

“So you’re back to being stroppy?”

“Yes, so piss off.”

Kit knew it was pointless to explain his reasoning to Stella
in the mood she was in. Her mind was closed off to all reasoning. He couldn’t
change who he was. Yet for one split second at the museum he had nearly swapped
back the real idol. But he didn’t. He made a decision and kept the real one. Of
course Kit had hoped she wouldn’t find out, but he also knew there was every
chance she would, as Stella Rowallan was intelligent enough to spot and
remember differences.

“I’ll go but there is no way this is over.”

Stella shrugged as nonchalantly as she could manage. There
was no way his leaving was going to look like it affected her.

“Whatever. Just go.” Stella watched as Kit scooped up the
duffel bag and left, shutting her front her door softly. She stood for a long
moment staring at the closed door determined not to give in to what she felt at
that moment. She was not going to cry over a man she had barely known for less
than twenty four hours. Besides that she hadn’t cried in years and she was too
damn tough to start now. Experience had taught her tears got you nowhere.

“I need ice cream.” Stella went to the refrigerator and
ripped open the top of the vanilla ice cream she had set aside for emergencies
such as this. “You big dummy,” she sniffed as she cried into the ice cream
carton. She wasn’t so tough.

* * * * *

“My lady wants a meeting with you.”

Stella had been outside pruning the small tress and shrubs
that dotted her garden when this rent-a-henchman turned up. What was it with
the sidekicks of the evil and the insane? They all looked the same. Big, dumb
and ugly and undoubtedly looking like they should be named “Igor”.

“Tell her to sit and spin, Igor.” Stella was not about to go
and meet this crazy witch woman. As far as she was concerned, the whole idol-Kit-Kincaid
-t
hing
was over. She wanted no more of it. She had shrubs to prune, or—in this case—torture.
She looked at some of her handiwork. She wasn’t proud of it. Maybe pruning in
her current emotional state had been a bad thing to do. Stella had cut a few of
them close to the bone. She told herself that these Australian natives were
hardy and that an intense, vicious pruning would see them full off foliage and
flowers next year. That or she would have a yard full of upstanding sticks and
she would have to re-plant. Stella decided she would worry about that tomorrow.
She turned and looked at the man. “Are you still here?” Did he need bus fare? A
note signed by her saying that said threat had been given?

“My lady is very powerful. You should not cross her.” He
looked down menacingly at her.

He could be as menacing as he liked. Stella wasn’t in the
mood for attitude from him. She had her own attitude to deal with and she could
out-attitude him any day of the week.

“Well I’m powerful too, so I suggested you back off, ugly
boy.” Stella may have been a foot and a half shorter than he was but she was
not going to allow this bully to frighten her.

“She told me to tell you that Kincaid’s life is in your
hands.”

Stella arched her eyebrows cynically. Really, who were these
people? Sexy thieves and whacked out witches. What next, trolls and pixies
demanding her attention?

“Well, that’s very dramatic sounding, Igor,” Like Kit could
not look after himself. The man was a born survivor.

“My lady said she knows what he means to you and that she
knows you will come to her.”

“Well, it seems she’s just a font of knowledge, isn’t she.”
No one ordered Stella to go anywhere. “Tell her thanks but no thanks and please
leave me alone.”

“She will meet you at the kiosk on Marchant Park.”

“You tell your lady friend to buy a long cold drink as she
waits because I won’t be turning up.”

“You will do as my lady requests,”

Stella picked up her pruning shears in both hands and glared
menacingly at the man.

“I’d run away from me now, Igor, as I am excessively
hormonal and I know how to use these.” Stella slashed the blades together just
for effect. It was enough. Igor left. He was not as dumb as he seemed. The
power of a woman’s hormones could bring any man to his knees.

Stella took a deep breath and contemplated the low hanging
branches of a coconut ice grevillea. There was no way she was going to any
meeting with this Camille woman. What for? How could she possibly have Kit’s
life in her hands when she didn’t have that liar scoundrel in her life?

“I’m not going,” Stella muttered to herself. “No bloody way.”

Chapter Ten

“Okay, what do you want, Camille?” Against her best
intentions and the fortification of a bowl of ice cream, Stella had given in
and turned up at Marchant Park to meet with the twisted sister. The woman was
dressed in her weird medieval clothing. That she was beautiful was
unquestionable, along with the fact she was greedy and very possibly nuts.

“I want the idol.” Camille knew the woman would come despite
her earlier refusal. If was clear to Camille that Stella Rowallan loved Kit
Kincaid, even if it wasn’t clear to the woman in question. That made her
useable.