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"My grandfather," Gabrielle interjected as she reached for Sirandfather," Kat corrected as Simon tried to dip Gabrielle And failed

"Who was Eddie’s brother," Siirl as currently sprawled across a hard floor for the second time in three days

Across the rooram if you need it"

"No thanks," Nick said "I think I’ve got everyone but you"

"Oh" Hale s--and yet it felt like her heart ht pound out of her chest as she watched Hale lean farther into the shadows and say, "I’ht Kat came to steal a Monet"

Chapter 26

Hale found her in the garden, staring at a statue of Prometheus that W W Hale the First had purchased in Greece and transplanted to Wyndham Manor sometime before the first World War

"I wouldn’t try stealing that, if I were you" His voice caht would make it hard," she said

From the corner of her eye, she saw Hale stop beside her, hands shoved into pockets, looking up "You’d need a crane," he said "Cranes are loud"

"And big"

"They leave nasty tracks all over gardens" Kat could almost feel him smile "And quads"

Not for the first tian and the Porsche and exactly how he’d done it, but every good thief knows that the only job that matters is the next job So Kat stayed quiet in the midst of the rosebushes and fountains and perfectly tries that ran across three acres like a maze She stood at the center of it, not at all surprised that he’d found her

"He stole fire fro at the statue

Hale sighed "The Visily Romani of his time"

In comparison, even Arturo Taccone didn’t seem like such a threat The lass and out into the night Inside, so with Hale in the chilly air, watching his foggy breath

Hale’s hand found hers It was big and wared there And then, just that quickly, it was gone, and Kat found herself grasping crisp, cold paper

"I found these, by the way" Hale studied Kat’s face as she looked down at the ain

"How did you"

"Under the rug in your bedroohed "For an excellent thief, you really are a terrible hider" She didn’t open the envelope She already knew too as inside "The one of ood side"

"I didn’t notice you had one"

He smiled "Oh, I think you noticed" He stepped closer They were al as he said, "A little bit"

"Hale--"

"If I kill Taccone, would that help your dad?" Hale asked, and Kat was too tired to gauge if he was joking "Marcus would do it," he added "I’ve always told him his job description was up for ’s like a switchblade"

"And you’ve seen a lot of switchblades on Martha’s Vineyard?"

"Hey, the Yacht Club loves a good rumble"

It was funny He was funny Kat wanted to laugh She tried to will herself to do it To dance To be the girl she’d tried--and failed--to be at Colgan

But instead she inched away from the very kind, very funny, very handso thethis, Hale?"

"What?" he said He was still too close

"You could do anything," she said softly, looking doanting hi this?"

His arainst hers "I alanted to do the Henley"

"Can you be serious for a second?"

"Dance with me"

"What?" she asked, but his ar her tightly against hi Coh a laser grid It requires rhythm" He moved her hips to the beat of the distant music "And patience" He spun her out slowly and back toward him "And it’s only fun if you trust your partner" The dip was so slow, so s until the world had already turned upside down and Hale’s face was inches frohter "You should always count me in"

In the hours that followed, a simple kind of peace fell over Wyndham Manor