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Chapter 10

The best-kept secret in London had to be City Airport, Kat had always thought Smaller than Heathrow andinto a s Ben and the Tower of London below It was as good a place as any for a teenage thief to go through customs and descend into the very place where she’d pulled off the biggest job of her career only a few months before

But that didn’t h the airport’s sliding doors and out into the dreary London day, Kat sensed a nagging doubt in the back of her head, a tiny voice that kept telling her soht Or maybe it was just Gabrielle

"Commercial, Kitty?" Gabrielle asked, annoyed "Really? We just had to fly commercial…" Gabrielle shifted on the tall boots that descended from beneath a very short skirt printed with the Union Jack, andher neck--the universal gesture for long flight "For the girlfriend of a gazillionaire, you really don’t kno to travel"

"We weren’t exactly traveling on official gazillionaire business"

"We could have been," Gabrielle said, "if we’d told Hale where ere going And why"

"Don’t start, Gabs," Kat said

"What?" Her cousin gave an innocent shrug, slid her dark glasses on, and walked toward a waiting cab "Come on This is our ride" Gabrielle opened the door and crawled into the black car Kat followed She sat her bag at her feet and spoke to the driver

"Hi, we’re going to--"

But before she could finish, the car zooainst the seat back Her suitcase toppled over, sainst her foot

"Ouch!"

"Sorry about that, Kitty," the driver said

"Hamish?" Kat cried

"Should have warned you to… Hold on!" said Angus, Haer seat as Ha into traffic

Kat sat breathless while the car swerved around big red double-decker buses and in front ofbicycles with briefcases tied to handlebars Outside, it started to rain, and Kat heard the water pelting against the car as Hamish turned down a narrow cobblestone alley--entirely too fast, in Kat’s opinion

"So, guys," she said, leery and glaring at Gabrielle, "I wasn’t expecting to see you on this trip"

"What?" Gabrielle asked "I can’tis better with Bagshaws"

Kat was beginning to seriously question her cousin’s definition of "better" when Angus looked over the front seat "So, between you and me…"

"And me," Haus finished

"Guys" Kat gave an exasperated sigh "He’s Hale Hale is just the same as he was before, just--"

"Richer," Gabrielle said "About a ave a long sigh "I always did like that boy"

"So true," his brother said "So, so true"

Then Halow of neon through the foggy s, and Kat knew immediately where they were She couldn’t help herself: she thought about the last ti ride in the back of a inning to question why she’d thought it was so i, Kitty?" Angus asked

Kat reached out to touch the"London makes me nervous"

"Don’t worry, Kat," Hamish said "You’re about to feel ht next to the Tha the tallest building in Europe, but Kat wasn’t really in the mood to care She just stood quietly in the elevator, and when they finally reached the penthouse apartment, Kat was more than a little relieved to see that Gabrielle had a key

"Who owns this apartment?" Kat asked

"Carlos," her cousin said, pushing open the door and stepping inside A staircase ascended into a second story A ht side of the space It was all steel and chroh Kat was back in London, it felt like a different hemisphere--different century--fro the Henley job

"And Carlos is…"

"About to be step-daddy number five," Gabrielle told her She cocked a hip "He’s Cuban"

"How nice for hiid roolass s, and the flaht the chill Suddenly, Kat craved soup and a war way fros and spun on the Bagshaws "What exactly is wrong?"

"There’s a bathroom down there," Gabrielle said "If you want to try to do sonored her

"Guys, what’s going--"

"Oh good, you’re here"