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Grace let out an airy laughter. “I most certainly have.”

Another dumbfounded pause. Grace took that moment to study the thief-taker in depth. His wet, dark hair was slicked away from his face. His frown was more pronounced than usual, his lips were set in a grim line. Nothing was pleasant about the expression on his face, but below the neck—even the strong column of his neck itself—was a magnificent wonder.

His shoulders were wide, powerful, and corded in muscles. His skin glistened in the candlelight that covered him in a golden glow. Scars marred his perfect skin but somehow made him look more appealing. The dusting of hair on his arms and chest, and the line below the navel made her mouth dry.

Grace felt a familiar tingle low in her belly. She hadn’t felt it often. She couldn’t even remember when she’d felt it last while looking at an actual male. More often than not it was her thoughts, her fantasies that kept her excited.

“What in the devil are you doing here?” The thief-taker let out another low growl.

What was she doing there? For a moment, Grace had lost every coherent thought.

Ah, right! She came here to confront the thief. “I think you know.” Grace crossed her arms over her chest. “I believe you stole something of mine.”

Gunning shuffled in his bath, the water sloshing around his muscled thighs. “How did you even get in here?”

Grace raised her gaze from the part of his body that beckoned her and shrugged. “Unlatched your downstairs window. It was very easy. You should invest in an extra lock.”

“Usually, criminals are not brazen enough to break into my house.” He gritted his teeth. “Believe it or not, usually, their goal is usually to break out.” Then he looked away for a moment before shrugging his enormous shoulders. “Although I cannot say this is the first time this has happened.”

Grace kept her eyes fixed on his. It was exhausting the amount of power it took her to keep her eyes from wandering as they were wont to do. She could not fault him for confidently sitting there without a bit of modesty, completely naked.

She was a harlot. It was rare that men felt modesty in front of her.

Most of all, this man had nothing to be ashamed about.

She’d indeed seen a few beautifully built bodies in her lifetime. Usually attached to the worst of men. That was why it was surprising that the sight of the thief-taker’s body didn’t repulse her. On the contrary.

She hadn’t felt the tingling like that in a long while. Or perhaps not ever. That was the reason she was so good at her job. She could act flirtatious and seductive without feeling a single thing.

What was it about the thief-taker that kept her so intrigued? She didn’t quite know the answer to this question.

“I just need you to give me the paper you stole,” she said. “And then you can go to Hades for all I care… And just to be sure, I do not mean your brother-in-law.”

He let out a chuckle. “I do not doubt it. However… I do not have the paper with me anymore.”

“You didn’t…” Grace took a warning step forward, all her fluster turning to anger.

“I did. I went to my aristocratic friend, and I left the paper with him. Before you kill me—” he said hastily with a sort of arrogant smile as if he was placating a spoiled child “—I did what I had to in order to find the murderer—something that will help you get your brothel back into good graces with society.”

Grace’s fingers curled into fists. “You stole from me. You lied to me. Why would I ever believe that anything you do is for my benefit?”

He cleared his throat. “I wouldn’t. At least, not directly. But you can believe that we have a common goal.”

Grace bit her lip and looked away, leashing her temper. In her periphery, the thief-taker shifted uncomfortably in his bath. Taking a deep breath, Grace faced him again. “So? What did your friend tell you about it? And most importantly, when will I get it back?”

Gunning’s eyes were oddly hooded, but he blinked and shook the haze away. “You will get it back when he is done comparing the penmanship of your suspicious patron to his aristocratic friends.”

She couldn’t hold the bitter laughter that left her lips. “That’s all? And you gave him my paper that contains a confidential list of names of our patrons to some aristocrat over that paltry promise?”

“I trust him,” he gritted out.

“And I don’t even know him!”

“What’s done is done,” the infuriating man said calmly, which just fanned the flame of her anger even more.

“What you mean is, what you’ve done is done, and I should not complain about it!”

“I did what I had to!” the thief-taker barked and stood in his bath, towering over her and baring his entire naked self to her eyes. If she wasn’t so angry, she’d take full advantage of this opportunity. As it was, she blinked and kept her eyes above his chest, which was rising and falling frantically with his labored breath. “And I found a solution that can help us both! I didn’t use your preferred method, but this is not about you. And you must just put your ego aside and stop being so difficult.”