Their Thief: Redemption

Chapter 17 (Part 3)

My eyes returned from another familiar stack of dust-covered books I had placed on a nearby shelf to find Alicia emerging from the back room. Her arm stilled in the air along with the rest of her while shifting the curtain aside.

The first thing that drew my eye was her clothes. My brows furrowed at the button-up blouse she wore with a fitted pencil skirt. There was nothing strange about the outfit in and of itself. No, the strange part was that she was wearing it. It was too corporate office from the way I remembered her. It wasn't anything big, but along with the untouched state of the store, it had me raising a brow. When my eyes rose to meet hers, I found them looking at me wide in surprise.

My lips twitched awkwardly as I spread them into a forced smile, trying to mimic the one that had started to come naturally when I used to greet her in the mornings. I wasn't very successful. The state of the shop only added to my discomfort at seeing the woman I barely knew again. She wasn't the one I came for, but, seeing as the ones I did want to see weren't here and I had no other way of reaching them, she was my only way of contacting Jane and Magnus. Even if I couldn't see them in person, I couldn't just vanish on them without trying to thank them for everything they had done for me over the last two years. Even if it was through a message from their niece.

I was sure she would have caught the hesitant waver in my smile or the way it didn't reach my eyes, but nothing about the beaming smile she answered it with gave the impression. Instead, she looked as happy to see me as I wanted to portray.

"Holy shit," she breathed out, her voice holding a hint of pleasant disbelief. "What are you doing here?" She asked as she set a clipboard down to cover the coffee ring I was responsible for days ago. The question wasn't accusatory as I had partially expected. Instead, it just sounded filled with curiosity. "I was so surprised when I found your resignation letter the morning after you disappeared. It made it sound like you were saying your last goodbye and that I'd never see you again," she joked, not knowing that's exactly what was supposed to occur.

I was sure the two men who had set me on the path to land in Alec's lap weren't the ones that had left the note I had just learned the existence of. Tyrone and his men weren't courteous enough.

Guess Alec didn't like leaving loose ends.

I had a feeling I wasn't supposed to learn of its existence given this was the first mention I was hearing of it. I probably wouldn't have heard about it at all if the events of last night didn't land me in Luca's apartment. Maybe it was another thing Alec had been keeping from him as well, seeing as he hadn't bothered to mention it at any point. Luca seemed the kind that would have said something while I was expressing my worry about having suddenly vanished without a trace. He seemed to actually back his words with actions that didn't contradict them.

Much.

Kiara couldn't help but come to mind.

"Why didn't you say something? I came back out after changing and you were just gone!"

"Sorry about that," I sheepishly apologized, raising my hand to fidget with the hair behind my ear. I hadn't exactly had any choice in the matter. "Something unexpected but urgent came up," I vaguely replied, but it was enough to appease the anger I wasn't witnessing.

Shaking her head, she waved the halfhearted apology off. "I was just relieved to learn you weren't dead in a ditch somewhere," she said as made her way around the counter separating us, her arms reaching for a hug.

She didn't know how close her words were to what could have happened. Though it appeared Alec had planned for me to be abducted and brought to him, he may have forgotten to specify alive. My hands began to faintly shake as I recalled the attack that had taken place that night. I was lucky to be here given how hard my head had hit the ground-