rested in her lap. While the manager stood in front of her, talking to his employee, Keira went through the motions of looking through the other stones. She picked up a few and set them back down without making an attempt to swap them. When Finn started up his noise again, the saleswoman hurried back to try to appease him, the manager watching the scene. Keira made one last swap, holding the real diamonds in the palm of her left hand while she prodded at the ones remaining on the tray with her right index finger.
“Do you see one that will work for what you want?” the manager asked.
She pointed to one of the fake ones she’d just deposited on the tray. “This one, perhaps.” She looked up at the manager and pushed at him with her empathic abilities. She filled him with a sense of goodwill and well-being, and anticipation of making a big sale. She stood, dropping the real diamonds into her clutch purse while she fastened the clasp. Between the glamour and her adroitness at sleight of hand, the man never saw it.
“I won’t be shopping here again,” Finn exclaimed and stomped out of the store.
“Thank God,” the manager muttered. Then his face turned pink and he apologized. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“It’s quite all right,” Keira responded. “It does take all sorts to make the world go ’round, doesn’t it?”
“It certainly does,” he agreed.
Keira glanced at the tray again and then lifted her gaze to the manager’s face. “Thank you for your time. I hope to be back soon.”
“It was my pleasure, miss. Shall I set this aside for you?” he asked, the hopes for a fat commission swimming in his eyes.
She pretended to think it over. “Ah, no, I don’t think so,” she finally said. “I’d hate for someone else to lose out on a great stone while I try to make up my mind. If we’re meant to be together, it will be available when I come back.” What a load of claptrap, but he seemed to buy it.
“Well, now, you come back anytime.”
“Thank you, I will.” When Keira went outside to her car, she saw Finn leaning against the side of the building, a big smirk on his face.
“Was I shifty enough?” he asked.
She shook her head and then shot him a grin. “You were bloody perfect, actually.”
His answering smile tightened her belly. “Good,” he said. He sobered. “I guess you should get those to Stefan.”
She gave a nod and got into her car. With the lift of a hand she waved farewell and drove away. She only hoped that Stefan would be satisfied and it would be the last time she had to do something like this.
Finn pulled out into traffic and marveled at how adept Keira was at grifting. Man, she must have been something to see back in the day when she was doing it for a living. Her sweet face looked so sincere, so innocent, so lovely that any man with a heartbeat would have a hard time believing she could be as devious as she was.
He still had a hard time with the fact that she was doing this. He knew it was irrational, but he felt personally betrayed by her actions. Like if he couldn’t look up to her, use her as a role model for striving to be more than he was, then what was the point in any of it?
He knew she remained upset with him for being in the rogue group. Which, now that he thought about it, made him pause. He knew at one point she had wanted him to be more than an enforcer. But if they were both on the same side in this new fight, what did it matter? He would have thought she’d be happy to have him as an ally.
And yet, as much as he’d like to tell her what was going on he couldn’t confide in Keira only to have her betray him. He knew he had to completely win over the delusional Liuz’s trust in enough time to find the rift machine and destroy it. If he didn’t, not only would it mean the mission would fail, but it would most likely cost him his life. And maybe even hers, because Liuz might not believe Finn had acted alone.
He knew not calling her after they’d made love had caused her to draw back, to put emotional distance between them. She’d seemed genuinely concerned about him, and