Chapter One
Penny checked over her tools, careful to make sure she had everything she could possibly need. There could be nothing more shameful then getting all the way to Demetrious’ house and realizing she’d forgotten the right size pick. Her sisters would never let her live it down. Damn right, too. Penny was a professional. And professionals always had the tools they needed for the job.
She smiled slightly as she picked up her super slim line black torch and added it to her waist bag—an amazing creation hand sewn by Rachel. Yes, she thought, the right tools for the job were important. Lyra’s tools were her endless legs and her seductive ways. Rachel’s were her innocent eyes and her perfect blonde locks. Penny’s alone did not require her body to get the job done. She moved the torch slightly in the waist bag so that it was lying flat and shook her head slightly. No, that wasn’t true. Though she wouldn’t be using it the way the others would, her tools required just as much work. Nimble hands, flexibility, and above all quick thinking. Sure she wouldn’t be sending her mark scorching looks or spreading honey, but Rachel had been right to worry about Penny’s mission. After all, breaking into the home of one of the wealthiest men in London wasn’t going to be a walk in the park…not that they had any parks in their neighborhood but still….
Sebastian Demetrious. Penny sighed and pictured his image in her mind. An easy feat, she’d looked at his picture so many times it felt like his features were burned into her synapses. In fact, and though she would never admit it to her sisters, she’d done more than look. Late at night, alone in the flat, fingers in her pants, it was his image that constantly came to mind—ever since they’d concocted their plan. And though she tried to shrug it off, searching instead for other shadowy faces to replace his in her fantasies, it never happened.
She fantasized about him. Often. Too often. But then was it really a surprise? The moment she’d seen his picture something had jolted inside of her and though she’d managed to hide it from her sisters it had bothered her. Penny so did not want to be attracted to the man she was planning to thieve from. Not that he’d know. It wasn’t like she was even going to see him, but still it felt weird.
She sighed and tried to banish the image. Her mind refused to comply, locking instead on one shot she had of him leaving his office. His black, slightly curly hair had been tousled by the wind, a phone in his hand, a briefcase in the other…. The fact that he was hot was not in doubt. Everything about him screamed sex. His angular face, his chocolate eyes, not to mention a body that would make even Rachel weep. In all the pictures she had of him—and she had a lot—he wore business suits. They fitted to his lithe, muscular frame, making him looked powerful and imposing. Penny could well imagine what he would look like naked. Scrumptious.
Another sigh and she shook her head. The fact that he was a rich bastard couldn’t be doubted either. And rich men were always one thing above any other. Arrogant. And selfish, her overactive synapses piped up. Because how else could anyone make such huge amounts of cash if they weren’t?
Hot or not, selfish or not, in the end it made no difference to her mission, Penny thought as she placed her electronic lock picks into the bag, for the back door only of course. Demetrious’ safe would be a darn sight more sophisticated. For that she needed her tablet. Penny gently lifted the wondrous device, smiling now as she ran a finger along its black edge. She’d had to break into the local politician’s house to afford not only the device but the software it required to get around Demetrious’ system. Still he was corrupt, stealing money from the local residents who needed it a damn sight more than he did, and the tablet was a magnificent thing. She smiled again as she placed it alongside her more conventional tools in the waist bag.
“Picks, torch, tablet, laser….” She muttered off the list as she zipped the various compartments shut. Rachel had done something to minimize the noise of them being opened and Penny once again sent a silent thank you to the only one of the three of them that even knew how to thread a damn needle.
Once everything was shut up nice and tight Penny rocked back onto her heels, her bare feet digging slightly into her butt cheeks. It was time to get changed. She made her way into their bedroom with her waist bag in hand, hardly a distance; it was right next to the living area-come-kitchen. But then their whole flat could fit into Demetrious lobby, and as that thought burned her resolve increased.
She dropped the bag onto her unmade bed and walked precisely a step and a half to where three garment bags hung off the rickety wardrobe. Only hers held anything now. Lyra and Rachel had emptied theirs earlier in the day. Only she had to wait for night to fall before she could begin her mission. But hers would be over in no time, she thought, and the funds she secured would get the building they needed. After that it was up to her sisters to do the rest.