Touched by a Thief by Jana Mercy Read Free Book Online Page A

eh?”
    His words cut to the quick, reminded her that mere hours ago she’d been tangled with Gerard, rutting in pleasure. Fury filled her. Why had she let Ian get to her? Why had she always let him get to her?
    She stood, glared at him, standing on tip-toes to reach eye-to-eye. “I hate you.”
    He snorted, whether in amusement, disbelief, or I-don’t-give-a-fuck, she wasn’t sure. In that moment she wanted Ian to hurt, wanted him to hurt every bit as much as she did, more. She wanted him to writhe in pain.
    “If it’s the last thing I do I’ll make you pay for what you did to me,” she warned.
    His gaze still locked with hers, he arched a brow. “Just what did I do, Monty? Is what bothers you the most that I got away and you didn’t? Or is it that you fancied yourself in love with me whilst I only saw our relationship for what it was? Purely physical, pleasant while it lasted, but never anything more.”
    She’d gone back for him, gotten caught because he’d been careless and she’d refused to leave him. He’d practically gift-wrapped her for the cops while he high-tailed it to freedom.
    She’d never trust again.
    “Get dressed. Gerard’s gone.”
    Gerard. Ian had said Gerard sent him.
    Dawning hit her with the force of a lightening bolt. “You work for Gerard.”
    Oh God no. Please don’t be true.
    Ian flashed a lethal smile. “Give the lady a prize.”
    Monty took a step back, the back of her thighs brushing against the bed. “Did you work for him when we met?”
    Ian hesitated just long enough Monty was positive he wasn’t telling her the whole story and that his hesitation was intentional, that he wanted her to squirm with the truth. “I work for Gerard.”
    She grabbed his shirt, bunching the soft black material in her fist. “Did you work for Gerard when we met?”
    Black onyx glittered. “Yes.”
    “Oh hell.”
    Another grin.
    She let go of his shirt and fell back to the bed, sitting naked on the edge, a sinking feeling low in her gut. “Gerard hired you to set me up, didn’t he?”
    That’s how he’d known she was in prison, perhaps even why she’d received such a harsh sentence. Who’d ever heard of a case being tried so rush-rush. After playing it smart for so long, she’d been had. In a big way. By more than one man. Was there even a fucking Degassi Diamond? Just what role, if any, did the government play in all this?
    She kicked Ian in the shin. He didn’t flinch, didn’t act as if the blow even fazed him. However, her bare toes contacting with the hard lines of his body in a powerful crunch watered her eyes and she fought grabbing them and dancing around in pain. Damn.
    Damn. Damn. Damn.
    “I’m leaving.” Lifting her chin high and avoiding looking at the smug bastard in front of her, she stood and sauntered toward where the multitude of clothes Gerard had bought her were stored in a closet bigger than most people’s bedroom. She’d take everything he bought her and pawn it at the first shop she came to, use the money to get her out of the country.
    Strong fingers closed around her upper arm, stopping her. “You can’t go.”
    Electricity zinged through her at his touch and she cursed her traitorous body. “No? Watch me.”
    “I won’t let you go, Monty,” he whispered low.
    For a moment her heart stalled in anticipation that he wanted her to stay, that he’d keep her with him, but then she remembered he was only working for Gerard and probably had orders to keep her there. She was as imprisoned here as she’d been in the penitentiary.
    Fire lit within her. “Oh really? What are you going to do, Ian? Tie me to the bed?”
    Perhaps it was the wrong analogy to use, because his gaze dropped to the king-sized bed she’d just left. His hold on her arm loosened ever-so-perceptibly. She jerked free, elbowed him hard in the gut and bee-lined toward the closet. Not even she was going to break free from her new prison naked.
    As expected he closed in on her almost