Felicity slammed a plastic knife into one boot, leaning over to do so. Her creamy breasts almost spilled out from her top, and he fought a growl.
“Since Simone appears to own the safe-deposit box, I’ll go in as her and try to reach the inner vault,” she said, her throaty voice strong and assured. “While there, I’ll set the charges on the other security boxes, and the second they blow, you all come in.”
Daire straightened his Armani suit. They’d gone over the schematics and plan several times, and the woman certainly had accounted for everything. He was to accompany her as a bodyguard, and even he had to admit, the fake beard and the gray sprinkled in his hair appeared authentic. Brown contacts masked his green eyes, and putty changed the shape of his face, especially his nose.
Felicity wore a long, brown wig, dark glasses, and several layers of clothing to create the illusion of Simone’s natural curves. The boots had four-inch heels, but even so, she didn’t come close to Simone’s height. But there wasn’t a better way to create height, so they were going with what they had. At some point, when the video was studied, it’d become apparent that the woman who’d robbed the bank was not Simone Brightston, which eased one of his many concerns.
He rolled his shoulders back and tried to calm his racing heart. The shifters guarding the place would recognize him as a witch just from his natural vibrations, and hopefully they’d assume Felicity was, too.
Her people were all demons, so it made sense for him to go in with the Simone decoy.
Felicity turned, all business, her eyes sparkling.
The damn woman was having a ball.
Energy poured off her in straight anticipation, and she nearly hopped when she neared him. “You ready?” she asked.
He wanted to tuck her in the getaway vehicle and tie her up safely, but for the plan to work, she had to impersonate Simone. “No.”
She smiled, all excitement. “Good. Let’s go.” Shoving the dark glasses back up her nose, she stepped out of the storage van and walked crisply down the sidewalk toward the bank.
“I think I should be inside for backup,” Adam complained once again from his position in the getaway car.
Daire tapped his earbud as island heat assaulted him. “I need you outside ready to get us out of here.” If they ran into trouble, Adam had the biggest brain around and would figure out an escape route. “I can’t believe we’re about to do this.” If he had his druthers, he’d just take out half the bank with a missile and steal what he wanted. Felicity had finesse, though.
He stalked behind her, rolling his shoulders forward and trying to appear shorter than he was. He followed her, noting how her ass swung with every step. Damn it. Now wasn’t the time to admire her ass.
He swung his gaze around, trying to look like a hired bodyguard and not an enforcer. All he needed was the shifter nation to know a Coven Nine enforcer had tried to rob them. Either there’d be instant war, or his people would have to give up something big to avoid bloodshed. Tourists in loud flowered shirts milled around, and several people licked rapidly melting ice cream cones. Tourist shops with sparkling jewels and oil paintings lined the way.
The heels of Felicity’s boots clicked as she sauntered into the air-conditioned bank.
He breathed out as the cool air smoothed over his skin.
A wide counter to the left held five tellers, all handling customers. Three desks with bank executives lined the windows on the right, and they all had patrons before them.
The place felt like money and smelled like the ocean.
Felicity moved instantly toward a desk at the back as if she had every right to do so, her heels clomping on the silver tiles. The woman had some serious style.
A guy dressed in pure silk sat behind the desk. Tall, broad, and in fighting shape, he had eyes that sparkled with intelligence. Wolf shifter. He smiled. “Can I help you?”
“I’m Simone Brightston,” Felicity said, her voice higher than normal. “I called earlier.”
“Of course, Miss Brightston. Do you have identification?” the shifter asked, standing.
Felicity handed over the identification she’d stolen from Simone’s apartment the first night. It had been altered a bit.
Daire stood with his arms crossed, discreetly scoping out the cameras. There were a lot of them. He could make out seven guards within yelling distance.
Finally, the guy led them through a long hallway lined with pretty oil paintings to a massive steel vault flanked by two fully armed guards. “I am Anton, and I’m here to assist you in any way you need.” He turned and apologized. “I’m so sorry, but we must follow formalities first.”
Felicity nodded and held out her arms to be frisked.
Possessiveness rose in Daire so quickly his chest heated.
When the guard had finished with her, he turned and patted Daire down with much less finesse.
Anton smiled and yanked out a palm reader. “Very good. Hand, please.”
Daire held his breath. Felicity had somehow obtained a full hand print from Simone’s apartment and then had some pretty dicey vampires create a fleshlike print to coat her fingertips. She clicked over and flattened her palm over the scanner. It quickly scanned, and a green light flickered.
Daire breathed out. God, she was amazing. If they survived the robbery, she should plan another one. By the delight all but wafting from her, she’d be just fine with that. What in the hell had he gotten involved with?
A retina scan was next, and by this time, he was confident Felicity had it all figured out. Yep. The scan went off without a hitch.
The vault opened, and Anton swung open another steel door before preceding them inside to box 1287. Felicity shoved in Simone’s key, and Anton did the same before pulling out a long box to place on the center table. “Let me know if you need anything else,” he said, moving toward the steel door and discreetly shutting it.
Hopefully he wouldn’t close the outside door and lock them in the vault.
Felicity smiled and flipped open the box to reveal several manila files.
Daire shrugged out of his jacket and reshaped it into a pack by drawing out hidden ties. He fought the urge to read the files and instead shoved them inside the pack.
Felicity was already moving toward the other boxes. She leaned down and kicked off the wedge part of both boots. Small discs fell out.
Daire winced. “Be careful.”
She laughed then—low and throaty.
His mouth gaped open. Even in disguise, her beauty shone through as she exuded such delight.
Grabbing the discs, she quickly placed them on several of the boxes. Daire overturned the table and grabbed her, covering her completely. “Sure you want to do this?” he asked.
She snuggled under him and reached for a detonator disguised as a shirt button. “Hell yeah.” She took a deep breath and pressed hard.
Chapter 19
The explosions rocked the room. Shards of metal flew hard and fast, embedding themselves in the floor and twanging an odd tune. Felicity shoved against Daire, her body vibrating with the air. Wow. She’d never set off a bomb in person before.
He lifted his head and glanced around. “Holy fuck.” Stretching to his feet, he pulled her with him, his hold firm.
Smoke filtered through the room, and outside, an alarm blared. Gunfire pinged as if a world away, and the grunts of men fighting hand-to-hand broke the patter of gunfire.
“Go,” Daire ordered, nudging her to the south wall. “If your tech guy is good, really good, he’ll be able to keep the vault open for less than a minute.”
If Eli wasn’t good, then they were screwed. Felicity gaped at the huge holes in the wall. Scorch marks scored down the steel to the floor, and smoke swirled through the air. “Only take from the boxes we discussed.” She had no intention of harming anybody other than Ivan and his crew.