Page 2 of Sparrow

“Yes,” Stella, who was just opening her mouth to say something else, snaps. “Because it’s less suspicious if we’re not the only ones in here. Which you’d know if you were paying attention.”

She turns her eyes on Taryn, furious, and I watch the two of them, my own eyes big and my lips pressed together with repressed laughter. Stella hates being questioned, especially when she thinks she has a plan, and the result is always... dramatic.

Also hilarious, as long as it’s not pointed at me.

I watch Taryn take in Stella’s look and then press her own lips together as she realizes what she’s just done, and this just makes me want to laugh even more.

Which is stupid. We’re out way past our curfews on a stupid mission to do mischief Stella thought up. The last thing I should be doing is laughing hysterically at Taryn upsetting Stella’s sensibilities about her plan-making.

But something about the moment has me almost fizzing with laughter.

“I know,” Taryn whispers quickly, all contrition. “I’m sorry. I’ll pay attention, I swear.”

Oh my God I’m going to die trying to keep my laughter in.

Stella lets Taryn sit for a moment before she nods, accepting the mea culpa, and turns back to the paper that’s somehow materialized on the table. I look down at it, wondering where the fuck it came from, and find it covered in scribbles and notes. They don’t like anything more than gibberish to me–certainly not a real plan–but Stella looks at them like they outline the most genius heist ever known to man.

“The store is right down the street,” she whispers, her voice full of conspiracy and secrets. “And I happen to know that there’s only one guard there right now.”

“Yeah, one guard with a gun and a walkie for backup,” I point out. “I still say this is a bad idea. We’re bound to get caught.”

Taryn turns big eyes to me like she’s questioning my intelligence, and I shrug. What does she want? This plan is barely planned and I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t point that out. My mind works along straight lines, and it drives me crazy when Stella wants to drive the car in the most circuitous way possible.

Particularly in the middle of the night on a Tuesday when it’s freezing cold outside and we’re about to attempt our first–and probably only–jewel heist. Stella, she of the bad ideas, took one look at two weeks of Christmas vacation and immediately decided that she was bored and wanted to do something ‘fun.’

The fun part being highly questionable.

Which is completely on brand for her, if I’m being honest. She’s grown up spoiled and coddled, rich enough to do anything she wanted and smart enough to push the limits as far as they would go. She’s never seen anything she didn’t think she could pull off, and a lot of times I think she makes things more difficult just to challenge herself.

Honestly, Stella could probably run the entire mafia herself, if she wanted to.

Unfortunately, she’s the wrong gender for that. So she settles on making as much mischief for her father as possible. Tonight, that mischief includes getting to the jewelry store down the block, L’angerie,’ breaking in, and stripping it of its prize diamond tiara. The one they keep in the window to lure the passing shoppers into the place, where the salespeople will fleece them of as much money as possible. I’ve always thought that particular store is probably a cover for something else, and under normal circumstances I’d be down to cause them a little bit of trouble.

But this particular store belongs to Stella’s dad. And that makes this slightly more complicated.

Though I suspect that’s the entire reason for the prank itself.

Stella hates her dad, and isn’t shy about showing him.

“How are we supposed to get by the guy with the guns, Stella?” Taryn asks, repeating the question I’ve already brought up. “I don’t know about you, but I didn’t bring a gun. If he starts shooting at us–”

She chuckles and tosses her black curls over her shoulder. “He won’t. I’ve already made arrangements with him.”

Oh no.

“Arrangements?” I ask sharply. “What the fuck does that mean?”

Stella directs a low, very sexy chuckle my way.

“I mean I made arrangements,” she says, her tone leaving very little to the imagination. “He’s not going to bother us.”

“You slept with him?” Taryn gasps. “In return for letting us into the store? So this whole plan, this whole scheme, is just to walk down there so he can open the door for us?”

Stella’s smile gets wider. “Is that a problem?”

And now that laughter is back, trying desperately to claw its way out of my throat, because it’s just so Stella. Set up a prank. Make it as big and ridiculous as possible, act like this is some grand international jewel heist and like we’re doing something highly illegal, and then stack the deck so that the game is already won.

Of course she’s already slept with the guy.