When I saw someone harassing Arielle, I couldn’t help growing angry, enough to want to do something really bad to him.

Considering the line of work I was in, I’d been in contact with weapons before. I was a pretty good shot and I knew my way around most firearms, not that I always carried one on me. They were dangerous to have, more for the implications they would draw if I was ever caught with one, so I rarely used them. Still, I was also trained in martial arts, and I’d had plenty of opportunity in my thieving days to test out my skills. I’d say I was pretty good. I’d never killed anyone, but right then, I could have considered it.

But I was doing my best not to draw too much attention to myself, so even though it galled me, I’d been prepared to let the guy get off. I couldn’t help myself when he insulted Arielle, though, especially when I saw her flinch, because of course she’d heard him. I restrained myself to only punching him once. It was well aimed, and he was already drunk, so he went down pretty easily.

I glanced around quickly before making a decision.

We need to leave.

Sticking around would be risky. The place was full of people, and I was after Arielle so I could steal something famous and expensive from her father. I didn’t need a club’s worth of people remembering my face, in case the police started investigating after I carried out the big heist.

They’d be after my ass, anyway, but there was no need to give them more ammunition.

When I turned back to Arielle, I had to bite back a grimace. It had been stupid of me to leave her alone in this room, just to check in with my brother. I could have waited until after the date, but he had been waiting as much as I had for me to have the opportunity to get close to Arielle, even though he was more comfortable at our apartment than I was staking out her house in my car late at night.

Being approached so aggressively by a drunk must have scared her.

Damn that bastard, I growled to myself. I’d worked hard to gain her trust and get her to open up. This would probably set me back, and I’d have to repeat the whole night’s effort again. Would she even give me a chance? I didn’t think she resented me…

If anything, she looked at me with an admiration I didn’t understand, one I wasn’t sure I deserved. Playing the knight in shining armor again would only work to my advantage, but it wouldn’t have happened at all if I hadn’t left her.

Think about it later, leave first.

I held my hand out to Arielle and waited to see if she would take it. After dealing with the drunk, I would have thought she’d want the night to be over, but all she did was take my hand and let me pull her out of the club.

She didn’t make any demands to be taken home. In fact, she held on so tightly to my hand, I thought she’d refuse to let go if I tried. As glad as I felt, though, I was a little confused.

I waited until we were outside and turned back to her.

“Are you okay?” I asked, genuinely worried.

“I’m feeling perfectly fine,” she said, trying to reassure me. “Thanks for getting me out of that. I told him to get lost and he wouldn’t listen…”

Her voice trailed off as she chewed on her bottom lip. She shuffled closer, subtly but undeniably, and the look in her eyes was making my body grow a little warm.

Had she liked me defending her? If that was it, then I was going to take full advantage of it. Hopefully, the night wouldn’t be a bust after all.

“How would you like to take a walk?” I offered. “I’d hate for you to go home with such a shitty ending to our date, after all.”

Her eyebrows arched, the look in her eyes turning playful. “Oh? Is this a date, then?”

I shrugged my shoulders, carefully wrapping an arm around her waist. She didn’t move away. If anything, she pushed closer, and I could feel satisfaction curl in my chest.

“I’d like to think so,” I said slowly. “Unless it’s been terrible so far.”

“Not terrible,” she said with a wrinkle of her nose. “But it definitely could have been better.”

I hummed. With my arm around her, I turned her down the sidewalk and led her forward.

“How about a romantic Riviera walk? It’ll cool us both down and hopefully relax you a bit. The night is warm enough, and still quite young…”

“Let’s go, then! I’ve always wanted to do that.”

I let myself smile a little sympathetically. She probably wasn’t used to walking anywhere at all, whether or not she was surrounded by family and guards.

The walk turned out to be one of my better ideas. Instead of closing herself off, Arielle opened herself up further, and I couldn’t help being glad of this fact.

I was looking forward to completing my seduction of Arielle. It wasn’t such an odd thing, though the intensity of it did surprise me a bit, but I was very strongly attracted to this sheltered girl. I was used to spoiled teenagers—she was technically still that, being only nineteen—but besides whining for freedom, something I found completely understandable, she was actually someone wonderful to hang around.

I learned more about her as we walked, Arielle filling the silence between us with endless chatter, while I told her as much about myself as I could without revealing any sensitive information. I was proud of myself when I didn’t tell a single lie, like I usually did with my targets.

Not that it was a problem. She seemed more interested in stories of the different places I’d been, my tamer adventures, than details about my life, who I was, where I came from and what I did for a living. Her enthusiasm was actually kind of endearing.

Unexpectedly, I started to feel a twinge of guilt about seducing her so that my brother and I could rob her father. She was too gentle to be introduced to that kind of world. She didn’t even seem to realize that her father’s worries, and part of the reason he kept her under such tight lock, were actually pretty valid. After all, I was a dangerous predator, and she was prey I was hoping to catch in my trap. Exactly what she should be protected from.

You have no choice, I reminded myself. You have to do this.

Thanks to Gamble, my brother and I had to either complete this heist or face decades in prison. I wasn’t ready for that yet, and no way in hell was I letting my brother get that treatment, either, over some pretty trinket some rich bastard wouldn’t let go of.

“Hey,” I said gently, tugging on Arielle’s hand when she went to bound ahead.

She stopped at my gentle tugging, and I could almost see her body vibrate with her eagerness to move.

“What is it?” she asked innocently.

I held back a growl as I tugged her even closer. Sheltered lamb that she was, she moved with it instead of fighting me.

“Arielle,” I said her name a little roughly. “Do you know what people do on dates?”

There was confusion on her face, before her eyes lit up in understanding. I watched, fascinated, as her expression turned to something like awe and a small blush spread across her cheeks. She blinked a couple times, and leaned closer.

“I don’t know, Alan,” she said, an edge of teasing to her voice. “Why don’t you show me?”

I wanted to. Because of my attraction, and because I wanted to distract myself from my guilty thoughts, I leaned down to kiss her for the first time. It was slow and soft, and Arielle whimpered as she sidled her body closer, her arms wrapping around my waist. She pressed against me, and I bit back a groan. She was so soft, and so warm, and I was tempted in that moment to wrap her in my arms and take her with me somewhere we could have some privacy for something a little less tame.

But that would be moving too fast. So I forced myself to step back. She blinked up at me in adorable confusion, and I smiled.

“I think that’s more than enough for our first date,” I said. “I should see you home now, before it gets too late.”

She bit her bottom lip, and my eyes involuntarily followed the movement. I wanted to kiss her more deeply, but I knew if I didn’t pull away right then, I wouldn’t be letting her go tonight. We didn’t need her to fail to sneak back home, and have her father getting suspicious. It would be bad for the plan.

“Would you meet me later?” I asked. Almost ashamed to realize it wasn’t all for a ploy. “Meet me at this spot tomorrow night, and we can continue where we left off, all right?”

She inhaled sharply, eyes widening. I could guess where her mind had wandered to. “All right,” she said. “I promise I’ll meet you here tomorrow night. I’ll have to text you when, though. I don’t know when I’ll be able to get out.”

It was good enough for me. I gave her one last peck on the cheek before pulling away from her and taking her hand to lead her home.