Sinners' Playground (The Harlequin Crew #1) - Caroline Peckham Page 0,26

brought in a few leads of my own this month.

“JJ’s been buttering up the daughter of an oil tycoon from Texas. They’re going to be in town in a few weeks and word is they’re buying a property on the beachfront. They’ve already put in a few orders for artwork ranging up to ten grand a piece.”

“Nah.” Chase waved a hand at me dismissively and anger rippled through me, but I held it in check. “Too boring.”

“Easy jobs shouldn’t be ignored for the sake of a bit of excitement,” I growled, frowning at him as he leaned over the worktop, looking down at the list and twisting one of the leather bracelets around his wrist. “We could cash in with artwork. I know a guy who can sell that shit within a couple of weeks.”

“Well you said I could pick, Fox, so am I picking or not?” He looked up at me, his blue eyes accusing and I fought back the urge in me to force his hand on this.

“Go ahead,” I said and he smiled broadly, eyeing the list again before tapping on one. “A ferry?” he questioned, fishing for more info on the job.

“There’s a ferry leaving the marina in three weeks which is reportedly transporting a shipment of Cartier watches over to Ballena Island.”

“How much?” he asked eagerly and I smirked.

“Eighty grand.”

“Wooah fuck!” he whooped, climbing up onto the kitchen island and kicking the notes around with his bare feet.

“Chase!” I barked and he dropped down to lie in front of me, smirking.

“I wanna do the ferry.”

“Yeah I can see that,” I said, a grin pulling at my lips as I slapped his cheek lightly. “Problem is, boat jobs are high risk.”

“I like risk,” he purred hungrily.

“Yeah, but risk gets people dead,” I warned, my voice dropping seriously as I looked down at my friend. “And I don’t like taking unnecessary risks.”

He rolled over onto his back, the oil on his skin making some of my notes stick to his body and I shoved him over the edge of the island, making him curse before he landed on the floor on his back with an oomph. I leaned down, peeling my notes off of him and tossing them back onto the counter with a dark smile. They’d end up burned anyway, so I wasn’t precious about them.

“But,” I said tantalisingly, placing my bare foot on his chest to stop him from getting up. “If we plan it right, I’m sure we can reduce the risks.”

“Yes,” he hissed, grinning as he batted my foot away and rolled over to do some celebratory press ups.

The ink on his back was a treasure map, covering almost every inch of his flesh, and it was a place I knew well. Sunset Cove. Our home. Twisted into art was an X that marked the spot located right here. At Harlequin House. The beach kissed the back door and a security perimeter ringed this whole property. It was like a private resort, but the people living on the inside weren’t vacationers looking for their next cocktail, they were three dark princes who ruled this land with an iron fist. I took in a few more of my favourite places on earth as Chase continued his set, from Sinners’ Playground with its Ferris wheel on the pier, to JJ’s club Afterlife in town, and the boardwalk that passed Chase’s gym called Raiders. His ink marked all of our territory up to The Divide. The place where our turf met with The Damned Men’s. I wondered if Chase would tattoo our newly conquered land on his ass when we pushed The Divide another few miles back too.

I walked to the fridge across the room, tugging the door open and tossing my smoothie in there for later. Shit got warm real fast in Sunset Cove. You had to eat food quick if you didn’t want the sun to ruin it.

I closed the refrigerator door and a breath got choked in my lungs, my body turning to stone, my heart nothing but a heavy lump of heated solder in my chest. Because a real life incarnation of my deepest, most desperate desire was standing right there. Right in my house. My fucking breathing space. The girl I had longed for, ached for, hunted for, shattered for, was here. Impossibly. Fucking. Here.

My mouth went slack and no noise escaped me at all as I stood frozen, taking in every inch of her. I didn’t believe it. My mind