(No) Honor Among Thieves || Bang Chan

Chapter Nine

Novah rushes through her shower, while thoughts of panic and confusion rush through her head.
Wolf smelled like her perfume.
That means he must have been in her room.
Why?
What was he looking for in there?

Novah isn't stupid.
She left her most prized possessions at home in her apartment, wary of the fact that the men in this house are strangers to her, where no one can take or find them.
So all that Wolf could have found in the room were clothes, books, figurines, hygiene items and make-up.
But why would he go in there in the first place?
What did he think she'd have up there?

What does he know?

Before joining the group in the study, Novah goes to find Seamstress.
Seamstress, leafing through a book about cutting patterns, sits on the front porch with a drink on the floor next to her.
There are ice cubes in the glass, and condensation pulls drops of water over the outside of it.
When Seamstress picks it up to take a sip, there's a wet ring left on the dusty wooden floor.

Novah bends down and slaps the wooden floor three times before stepping up to Seamstress, so that the girl wouldn't be startled by her appearance. She raises her hands when Seamstress looks at her.
Are you okay?
Seamstress looks relaxed. Almost calm.
She answers, Yes. Are you okay?
Yes.
Novah sits down before Seamstress on the floor and takes a sip from the other girl's glass.
Then she signs hurriedly.
Wolf was in our room. I don't know why. I don't trust him.

Seamstress considers this for a moment.
You don't have to trust him, she signs then, you are just a means to an end to each other. You don't owe him anything.
Novah nods.
He's so annoying. Always brooding.
Seamstress grins at Novah's words and rolls her eyes.
He's so good-looking, though.
Seamstress fans her hands in front of her face and let's her body fall back as if she's fainting.
Such a hottie.

Novah laughs and playfully slaps Seamstress leg from her seat on the floor.
Can you do me a favor?
Seamstress smiles gently and nods.
Always.
Novah looks around to check if anyone is watching, before finally signing.
Can you keep an eye on them for me? I feel like they're hiding something from me.

Seamstress winks.
Absolutely. I'll be your spy.
Novah gets up off the floor and places a hand on Seamstress' skinny shoulder.
Thank you, she signs. Then she leaves.

When she gets to the study room, the door is open.
Wolf is already inside, standing over a blueprint on the table, surrounded by Os and Poet.
Ducasse stands next to Poet, eating yoghurt out of a small bowl.
On the other side of the room, Mercury sits in an arm chair with his legs pulled up criss-cross, and a set of headphones on his head.
He's typing away on a laptop.
For a moment, Novah hovers by the door, unsure of what to do, but then someone steps up behind her.

"Stepping into the actual room could be helpful if you want in on the plan, you know," Sydney says from beside Novah.
Novah glares at him.
He stands beside her, Monet and Kid in tow. Their hands are wrapped around different bags of chips and packets of chocolate,

"Hungry?" Novah raises an eyebrow at their snack assembly.

Sydney chuckles again. "For the ambience, actually. Planning all day makes us hungry."

"Right," Novah rolls her eyes and finally steps into the room. She takes position by the back wall, sitting down in a chair. Wolf turns towards her and crosses his arms as he leans against the table.

"Alright, how nice of you to finally join us," he says. Novah wonders if he'd still smell like her perfume if she went up to him to press her face to the soft spot over his collarbone, when he continues, "We should start right away. Let us know if you have troubles understanding."

Novah huffs a laugh but motions for him to start.
Ducasse hands her a magazine clipping. The plastic paper shows the face of a man with a shiny toothpaste smile and gelled back black hair. He looks confident and to be in his late twenties.
Alexander Liu, son of Senator Liu. Rich, cocky, and actually quite handsome. High cheekbones, strong eyebrows, full lips.

"Tomorrow, the Senator will host his annual charity gala," Wolf explains, "The entire upper class is invited and set to attend. It's a big thing, extremely fancy. About two hundred people, not including the press and staff, of course."
Novah places the magazine onto her lap as she listens to Wolf.
He continues, "Alexander will attend on his own according to various reports, to honor his father's event. That's good, it'll make it easier for us to intercept him."

Wolf turns back to the table and pulls forth a blueprint of a building that he hands Novah.
"We'll enter the building through the back, disguised as the servants," he says and points to a few lines in the plan, "Once inside, you'll change into the evening gown Seamstress is making you and attend the gala as a guest. You can decide on a cover name yourself, it doesn't much matter, since they won't check your name and identity inside the event."

He points at another few corners of the blue paper.
"You will not be alone at any point of the evening. Os, Poet, Monet, and I will be with you on the floor. Sydney and Mercury are doing IT, Ducasse and Kid will be stationed outside with them. So don't even think of pulling something on your own," he glints at Novah, who narrows her eyes at him in return.

"You have until midnight to steal Liu's watch."
Novah snorts.
"What is this? Cinderella?"
"The silent auction starts at midnight," Ducasse chimes in, "The festivities will stop after that, so you won't have another chance to get close enough to him to steal the watch."
"How do you know he'll be wearing the watch at all?"
Os pulls forth a few printed photographs and places them in Novah's lap.
"He's been wearing it to every single event since he acquired it." Wolf nods towards the pictures as Novah looks through them. "We don't know for sure, but the chances are pretty high."

Novah clears her throat but she stays quiet.
This doesn't sound like a bulletproof plan, but she's been successful with less than that.
"Once you have the watch, you give the sign and all of us will fall back. Then we exit through the servant doors and get out behind the building where Kid and Ducasse will be waiting for us."
"What's the sign?"
"You just press this button twice."
Mercury holds up a tiny black button with a cable at the back.
He says, "We'll place this on you somewhere. Like in your jewelry, where no one can see it. It sends a signal to the earpieces we all will be wearing."

"How do I get this guy's attention?"
Wolf and Os exchange a glance.
Poet shrugs and says, "You're pretty. I'm sure you'll think of a way. He's pretty deceptive to stuff like that."
Novah leans back.
Of course that's up to her.
Of course the actual hard part of the plan would be up to her, who had only two days to prepare for this at all.

She takes another look at Alexander Liu. He doesn't look like someone who'd be hard to convince of her physical talents.
And those have never disappointed her before.

"Great," she says and gets off the chair to walk out of the room, "If that's all there is to it. What's the rest?"
"The rest?"
"I'm guessing stealing the watch is only part of what will get us to the Queen's Crown. So what is the rest of the plan?"
Poet and Wolf exchange a look with each other before Wolf says, "All in due time. We'll tell you the rest if you get us the watch. Which should be easy for you, right? Since you're the best."

There's a hint of bitterness in his voice, almost a touch of mocking or ridicule.
But Novah doesn't hear it.
She crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow cockily.
When she smirks up at Wolf, she can nearly feel his fury and how much she annoys him with her non-chalance.
"Right," she says and shrugs leisurely, "Piece of cake. I'll get you that watch, no problem at all. You'll see."
Then she finally turns and exits the room to get herself a glass of cold water.

Chan can't help it. He follows the way her body moves closely, lingering with his eyes at her lips as she smirked at them, hovering over her hands fluttering through the air as she turns to leave.
He stares after Bandit, cursing every decision that ever led to him having to be near her. Cursing every single moment that had him end up here, with her.