“See,” Marianne told Eddie. “Vigor!”
“Yes, Edward,” Marcus agreed. “Do you think you can capture that?”
But Kat didn’t listen for the answer. She was too entranced by the woman on the screen. “She was beautiful.”
Hale tilted his head. “She was lonely.”
Kat knew that he was right. She was also certain that he knew the feeling. The Hale name was his birthright and legacy, but like his grandmother, he had never truly belonged.
Kat watched Hale’s face change and knew that the sadness he had carried since the funeral was back. He wasn’t okay. She saw it in him, lingering just under the surface, waiting to break free.
There were flash cards with photos of distant relatives, a quiz about the family pets. Kat had been by Hale’s side almost constantly for over two years, but she learned more about his family in those four hours than she had ever even suspected before. And through it all, Eddie never wavered or complained, soaking up the facts and figures like a sponge.
“And when they ask for a DNA test?” Marianne asked at last. Kat could tell the question had been weighing on her for hours, and finally she couldn’t hold it back anymore. “What will we do then?”
Kat thought about her uncle’s words, his warnings. He was right, of course. The Anastasia was a dead con, but they didn’t have to steal the company. She smiled. They only had to steal time.
“Simple, Marianne. We stall,” Kat said.
“I know Garrett, child,” Marianne said. “I’ve known him since he was no older than you. And, believe me, if that man wants something, it will be quite hard to stop him.”
Hale took her hand. “Marianne, can you trust me?”
“Of course,” she said. Then a strange look crossed her face.
“What is it?” Hale asked.
“I just keep thinking that if your grandmother were here now…”
“She’d be pretty disappointed, huh?” Hale asked, head down.
“No.” Marianne took his face in her hands. “She’d be having a fabulous time.”
For the first time in days, Hale smiled, and a sharp feeling shot through Kat, the possibility that maybe he might come back to her. That maybe, just maybe, Hale might not be entirely gone.
“Okay, we have work to do,” Eddie said, shuffling toward them. He turned to Kat. “Shouldn’t you be casing a bank?”
“I have my best people on it.”
“I wouldn’t call Angus and Hamish your best,” Eddie said. “But they’ll do. And you.” He pointed at Hale. “Isn’t it time you went home?”
Home. It was easy for Kat to forget that Hale had one when, in fact, he had several.
“Oh,” Hale said. “Right. See you at the gala?” he asked.
“I wouldn’t miss it,” Kat said. She watched Hale move into the shadows of the building, nothing but footsteps retreating, beating out a pulse somewhere deep inside of Kat, telling her it was too late to stop now.
Chapter 29
Katarina Bishop didn’t like dresses. It wasn’t a feminist statement. She would never judge anyone who felt the call of a twirly skirt or toile-covered confections. But once a girl gets a bow caught in a security gate at Buckingham Palace, it stands to reason that she would be a no-fuss, no-muss, jeans-and-T-shirt type of female. Unfortunately, it was not a jeans-and T-shirt type of night.
“Stand still,” Gabrielle told her. She squeezed the smaller girl by the shoulders and tugged on a string.
“Ouch,” Kat said.
“You’ve got a little waist,” Gabrielle said. “That’s good. At least something’s smaller than your boobs.”
“Well,” Kat said, “that’s a relief.”