Griffin
“Griffin, is this what I think it is?” Kalista looks down at me with eyes widened in surprise.
“I know it’s not as big as that giant Canary of yours, but—”
“I don’t care.”
She grabs the Harry Winston-made diamond ring and slips it onto her finger with a beaming smile.
“So I take it that’s a ‘yes’ then, love?”
She hits me in the shoulder and nods frantically
I stand from my bended knee, and she throws her arms around my neck. Our lips meet in a fiery, passionate kiss.
When she pulls her scarlet lips from mine, I meet her gaze and feel myself get swept up in her piercing blue eyes.
“I love you, Mr. Abernathy.”
“And I love you, soon-to-be Mrs. Abernathy. For real this time—not forged.”
We share a laugh and a quick, tender kiss.
“And about fucking time, too. Took you long enough to ask.”
“Well, I had to wait for the right moment. I figured your twenty-second birthday would be great. Would give us the chance to think about how we first met.”
“When you appeared in my room and kicked the ass of two men trying to kidnap me before kidnapping me yourself? You mean that?”
“Well, when you put it like that…” I roll my eyes to give my sarcasm some extra bite.
“Well, I do put it like that, because it’s the truth.”
“Can we tell it my way when we tell this story at bedtime to our grandchildren, at least?”
Our lips meet again, and it brings another smile to my face.
I always thought that I was meant to live the bachelor life and work alone, but Kalista has proven otherwise.
My hand moves up to the side of her face, and she leans into my palm with a content smile.
Our moment is interrupted by the ring of Kalista’s phone.
She grabs the phone from the table mid-ring and puts it up to her ear.
“Is it done?”
I can hear the sound of a muffled voice coming from the other end that sounds like Leviathan.
She looks up at me with a smile before turning away from me.
I take a seat in my beach chair and wiggle my toes through the white beach sand. My eyes linger on Kalista’s perfectly shaped arse with a smirk.
All in all, she’s only on the phone for about thirty seconds before she ends the call.
She sits down in her beach chair beside me—robbing me of my delicious view—and slides the back off the phone. She removes the battery and SIM card, and then she snaps the flip phone in half.
“That’s my girl.”
“Well, I did learn from the best.”
“Indeed.”
“Speaking of, hear from Jackal lately?”
My lips part for a moment before curling up into a grin.
Kalista grabs her sunglasses from the table and slides them on with a playful smirk on her lips.
But all jokes aside, Kalista has been learning the tricks of the trade at an impressive rate.
Over the past year, she has more than earned her position as the Phoenix at our Round Table of Thieves, as Leviathan puts it.
I couldn’t be prouder of her.
“First, you’re not as funny as you think, love. And second, I have. The last we talked he was heading to Hong Kong for a job. He didn’t give me any real details as to what it was, but it sounded a bit personal.”
“Personal? That never sounds good.” There’s concern in her voice for our friend.
It’s unsurprising given how close she has gotten to the others.
Before Kalista came into our lives, we were all friends—a brotherhood, really—but since then, we’ve become more of a family.
As crazy as it is, it’s been beneficial for all of us.
“Jackal is a big boy; he can handle himself adequately enough,” I reassure her. “But speaking of personal, what was the call with Leviathan about?”
“Well, I had him clean out all the joint accounts that my parents shared and moved all of the money into a private account for my mom.”
“I can imagine daddy isn’t going to like that.”
“Well, he’s in prison. So the asshole can’t say shit.”
“I’ll admit that I’d like to be the fly on the wall when he discovers that he’s lost his fortune.”
“Oh, don’t worry. You can see it. Leviathan’s hacked the prison security camera feeds so that I can see the look on his face when his lawyers show up and tell him that he’s penniless.”
“I’ll make sure to have a bottle of champagne prepared for the viewing.”
Kalista puts her feet up and leans against the chair.
My eyes look over her sun-kissed body, and I don’t even realize I’m biting my lip until Kalista turns her head to the side and looks at me.
“Enjoying the view, love?”
“Am I really that obvious?”
“Baby, you are a lot of things. All of which I love, but you’re horrible at being subtle. It’s not your strong suit.”
“Well, maybe that’s because I have no reason to be subtle about my love and desire for you.” Her cheeks begin to flush a light shade of crimson at my words. “So, what else did Leviathan do for you?”
“How do you know he did more?” she asks with an arched eyebrow.
“Because you were on the call with him too long.”
“Well, seeing as you’re going to be my husband and all, I guess I could tell you,” she quips. “I had him take my trust and move it into a handful of offshore accounts that my father also can’t touch.”
“Another smart move, love.”
“I also found out my trust was much larger than my father told me.”
Her statement has me arch an eyebrow of my own with piqued interest. I can’t help but lean forward as I wait for her to elaborate more.
“My grandfather didn’t put aside a couple hundred million for me. He set aside two billion.”
My jaw drops in surprise.
Two billion dollars.
Wow.
“You’re grandfather must have really loved you.”
“Obviously. Have you met me? I’m a fucking delight,” she declares deadpan.
I hang my head and laugh.
“So, Gryphon, have you decided on our next heist?”
“Indeed I have, love. How would you like to steal the Mona Lisa?”
“Ooh, Paris. I love Paris.”
Another laugh slips through my lips as I turn and lean back against my beach chair. “Oh, no, love. The Mona Lisa isn’t in Paris. That’s a fake that they have the Louvre.”
From the corner of my eye, I watch Kalista bolt up from her chair like a jolt of lightning just struck her in the arse.
“Wait, what? If the Mona Lisa isn’t in Paris, then were the fuck is it?”
I reach over and grab my sunglasses from the table.
Kalista has already peeled hers from her face, and her eyes dance with wonder, excitement, and anxiousness.
My tongue slides out and licks my lips as I slip my sunglasses on over my eyes.
“That’s privileged information, love.”
Kalista jumps to her feet and in my lap in the time it takes me to blink.
The palms of her hands press down against my bare chest, and she flashes me a suggestive grin.
“You know, Mr. Gryphon, I have ways of making you talk.”
The corners of my lips quirk up into a suggestive grin of my own.
“By all means, Miss Phoenix, let the interrogation begin.”