My Fair Thief

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Copyrighted 2023 by Delta James ____________________________ Acknowledgments As Always to My Team: Editor: Lori White, Creative Editing Services Cover Design: Dar Albert, Wicked Smart Designs Proofreader: Melinda Kaye Brandt Created with Vellum MY FAIR THIEF AN ENEMIES TO LOVERS STEAMY ROMANTIC SUSPENSE RELENTLESS PURSUIT DELTA JAMES The continuation of Claire and Fletch’s story… I want to thank each and every one of you who is reading this book—whether it is your first or hundredth—from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to live my best life and make my dreams come true. Your support has, does and will continue to mean the world to me Always, Delta This book, as all the rest, is dedicated to My Two Best Friends: Renee and Chris, without whom none of what I do would be possible and to the Girls, who bring joy to my life every single day. CONTENTS Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Also by Delta James About the Author Acknowledgments PROLOGUE Time is mercurial—it can bestow upon you the greatest gifts, or it can, like a thief in the night, rob you of everything you hold most dear. Claire Mitchell CHAPTER 1 CLAIRE Humberto Delgado Airport Lisbon, Portugal Claire Mitchell breathed a sigh of relief as she stowed away her carry-on in first class and sat down in the window seat. It had been a long layover, and she was anxious to be on her way to Naples, where she and Mia had purchased a safehouse a number of years ago. Naples had always been their fallback location, and they’d made the conscious decision to avoid plying their craft there. People were boarding the plane. The flight attendant had let her know the plane was full. Even first class had a waiting list. Claire stared out the window before closing her eyes and willing the grief to go away. Her only hope was that one day Fletch would understand what it had cost her to walk away. Even thinking of him made her heart seize in her chest and question why she had done so. The answer was always the same: she’d made a vow to her grandfather to continue his work of restoring the jewelry stolen by the Nazis to their rightful owners. She heard someone stowing something in the overhead bin, but Claire didn’t want to look at the person; didn’t want to engage. She’d pull out her Kindle and make it clear she didn’t want to be chatty. The person plopped down in the seat next to her in a way that was hard to ignore. She turned to say something scathing that would ensure the person didn’t encroach on her space—physical or otherwise. Mia. “You didn’t really think I was going to let you run off and be all noble by yourself, did you?” Claire’s eyes threatened to leak the tears she’d been holding back since she left London and she bit her lip to keep them back. People tended to remember someone who was sobbing their heart out. Her plan when she got to Naples was to buy a huge loaf of bread, some butter, cheese and enough pasta that she could cry herself a river in the privacy of her own space and eat herself into a food coma. “You didn’t have to…” “Didn’t I? Seriously, what was I supposed to do, let you have all the fun? You do remember I got into this because you are my sister by another mister, and I had such a fear of missing out on all the fun. FOMO is real, my friend.” Claire smiled. “I love you, but what about you and Carter?” “Carter is on Team Fletch, who is pissed, in case you didn’t know. Did you see the open letter he left you in the chatroom?” “You let him into the chatroom?” “I don’t think it was a case of letting him in. He’d have had Carter all over the sucker. Knowing Carter’s strengths and how he thinks will help me better safeguard our information in the future.” As the pilot had yet to ask people to turn off their electronic devices, Mia pulled up the chatroom on her tablet and handed it to Claire. She laughed. The message was pure Fletch. Claire, I love you. I will find you and bring you home. Fletch And his big dick “He needs to move on,” said Claire, handing it back to Mia. “I did take them out to your place—in fact, that’s where I slipped away from—I take it you have the necklace?” “Not anymore. There was such a long layover in Lisbon, I was able to get it to one of our couriers and it’s now on its way back to the family from whom it was taken.” “As to Fletch moving on? That’s not happening, and I could have told you that even if Carter hadn’t already told me so. He’s decided you are a damsel in distress, and he’s going to save you from yourself. When I snuck out, he was ranting, raving, and making sure all their other cases were covered. He is dedicating himself to finding you.” She leaned in close and whispered. “I wiped all of our old info and sent Fletch on a wild