Confidence Tricks Read Online Free Page A

meant, before those legs and that smile finally registered in his brain. He only got one step back before Natalie did some strange sort of tuck-and-roll maneuver to get behind him, and she had his bad arm in her clutches before he was able to do much more than draw a breath.
    The familiar feeling of fire and ice, alternating in a kind of primitive torture, shot up his arm. She didn’t pull hard enough to pop his shoulder back out of the socket, but his poor muscles had already had their fill that morning trying to eat breakfast. And that was just Cocoa Puffs.
    “Okay, okay, okay,” Asprey cried, bending awkwardly to try to reduce the amount of pressure. “Spork! I cry spork!”
    She released some of the tension on his arm but didn’t back away. “You cry spork?”
    “It’s my safe word,” he managed. “You know—functional yet innovative? I hate to brag, but I’ve been told I’m a little of both.”
    Her laughter was warm on his neck. “For a miserable thief, you’re kind of funny.”
    The compliment meant far more than it should have, given the circumstances. “And for a killer ninja-spy, you’re incredibly attractive.”
    “Flattery will get you nowhere.” She turned them so they faced the door to the hangar. “All sporks aside, are you going to invite me in, or am I going to have to storm the castle?”
    “It’s Natalie, right?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Our home is yours. Please, come in. We might even be able to offer you tea.”
    “That’s better,” she said but didn’t let go. “You guys packing in there?”
    “A little,” he lied. Do the katanas count?
    “How many of you?”
    “Counting me? Three.” He wished there was some way he could warn Tiffany to get out. Graff could handle himself, but neither one of them had ever wanted their younger sister to get involved in all this. Unfortunately, Tiffany made her own rules—she always had. If Tiffany had a bad first day of high school, she went ahead and tested out of the whole thing. If Tiffany wanted access to her trust fund a few years before she turned twenty-four, she starved herself until a cashier’s check was placed in her hand. And if Tiffany wanted to hack into computer databases to help them plan the perfect crimes, there was nothing he and Graff could do to stop her.
    They’d tried. And she’d somehow gotten the power company to shut down all their electricity until they caved.
    “Okay, then.” Natalie pulled closer, her breasts firm against his back as she whirled them both to face the door. He’d become little more than a human shield—and found it strangely erotic. Physical force and boobs had that kind of effect on him. “Let’s go say hello to your friends.”
    “By the way,” he couldn’t help adding, “I like your hair better this way. It suits you.”
    She paused but didn’t speak.
    “And I would have eventually known you were the woman from the other night. You smelled like strawberries then too.”
    “How cute. Is this where you tell me you love strawberries?”
    “No,” he said truthfully. “I’m deathly allergic.”
    Her body shook with laughter. “Thanks for the tip. But I’m not kidding—I will snap your arm if you try anything funny.”
    “I’ll try not to.” He groaned as she reached around to pull open the door. “But I feel I should warn you, I’m naturally hilarious.”
    “I can tell,” she murmured, her lips against his ear. He suppressed a shiver—of fear or excitement, he couldn’t quite say. With this woman, he suspected the two emotions were inexorably combined.
    They moved through the door as carefully as individuals in a hostage-like situation could, with plenty of noise and Asprey swearing twice. The first time was because he caught his foot on the doorframe, sending a jolt of pain down his arm. The second was because Natalie noticed the shotguns by the door and picked one up.
    Since Graff had turned his chair the other way and Tiffany was plugged into a pair