The Louvre job had gone off without a hitch—until now. The diamond sat heavy in my jacket, its worth enough to buy me a lifetime of freedom if I played my cards right. The alarms? Silenced. The guards? None the wiser. I had slipped through the museum like a ghost, my escape route planned down to the second. Paris had always been kind to thieves with talent, and I was damn good at what I did. But just as I stepped into the cool night air, a voice cut through the silence like a gunshot. “Hands where I can see them, criminal.” I turned slowly, my heart kicking up a notch. Carmelita Fox stood at the mouth of the alley, her shock pistol steady, her amber eyes burning with the kind of fury reserved for career criminals like me. She wasn’t just here on a hunch—no, she had been hunting me, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. A smirk tugged at the corner of my lips. She had no idea how close she was to losing me already. My escape wasn’t just planned—it was inevitable. The only question was, did I want to make this chase interesting?