Con Man: Complete Series Box Set: A Bad Boy Romance by M. S. Parker Page A

have a room for rent in an apartment downtown, but there isn’t really a place I can put my canvas and easel to paint. I can’t afford a studio, so–” Dammit, I hadn’t come up with a name for my fake boyfriend. One of the first rules of grifting was to have a complete backstory entirely memorized. How had I made such a rookie mistake? “–Claude lets me use his spare bedroom. Well...used to let me.”
    She clicked her tongue in disapproval. “That’s terrible. But you know what? I don’t believe in coincidence, I never have. I just so happen to have a spare studio open at my art instillation.”
    Thanks to my hacker acquaintance, I'd been able to make sure it was no coincidence at all.
    She fished around in her purse before producing a lilac-colored – and lilac-scented – card that she handed to me with a flourish.
    “Come see me after the weekend. I’ll have someplace safe you can store your paintings, and work on new things whenever the muse strikes you.”
    Gotcha.
    For me, the opening hook was always the part I worried about. Once I did, I never lost them.
    “Oh my god, really? But you don’t even know me!”
    She shrugged. “That doesn’t matter. I just know that you’re an artist in need, and I’ve always been interested in art. Don’t think of it as charity, think of it as kismet.”
    Or a tax write-off for donating a studio space to an underprivileged muse.
    “Now, I assume your boyfriend...I mean, your ex had planned to pay for this?” She gestured to the table.
    I nodded, forcing a blush to my cheeks. “Yes. This is so embarrassing. I can’t even afford the appetizer, let alone the drinks. Claude was the one with...” I looked away for a moment.
    She waved her hand. “Don’t worry about it, dear. I’ll take care of it.”
    “Thank you, thank you so much!”
    “Don’t worry about it. Just come to the address on the card on Monday. Now you get home, wash your face, and watch some of your favorite movies. I think you’ve earned some de-stressing.”
    “I just don’t know what to say,” I stammered as I stood, ever the perfect image of the humble artist who had just seen a light at the end of the tunnel. “Just thank you, thank you so much! I’ll see you on Monday! I can’t thank you enough.”
    She gave me a patronizing smile. “Stop thanking me and get on your way now. And don’t let that bully keep you from getting your works back.”
    “Yes, ma’am! I promise.” And with that, I was out the door of the restaurant, but right into where I wanted to be in regards to Leticia. Why couldn’t everything in life be this easy?
    And I hadn't thought of Karis the entire time.
    Just what the doctor ordered.

Chapter Nine

Karis
    L ying was not my strong suit. It never had been. That was largely the most influential reason I’d decided to pursue an investigational agent position rather than a detective or CIA operative that might need to go undercover.
    So I found it incredibly stressful and ironic to be lying now. Granted, not directly. Neither my partner nor my boss asked if my childhood best friend was involved in the theft, but they did ask if I had a good lead, or if I'd noticed anything they missed in the security footage.
    And I said no. Every time.
    All week, I felt like a giant neon sign was going to drop down from the ceiling at any moment with the word LIAR! in radioactive pink lighting. Benita chalked it up to nerves due to this being my first big case. Technically, she was the lead agent, but I was doing more on this one than I'd done on any others in the past.
    I wasn’t really sleeping, even when I finally gave in and took some cold medicine. I wasn’t eating like I knew I should. My coffee addiction felt like it was completely out of control, the excess caffeine making me beyond jittery. I was on edge, and a total mess. I spent every moment torn between worrying that someone was going to find out about Bron and arrest him, and being anxious over what would happen