The Con

Part 6/9

Rule #6: Do not let emotion get in the way. Never feel sorry for your mark.

Killian took a deep breath as he stood outside his apartment. He was trying to gain the courage to tell Robin the operation was over and he wanted out of this life. He finally pulled out his key and entered the apartment.

He found Robin sitting at the kitchen table with his laptop, looking through the pictures of the files on Emma's clients Killian had snapped with his phone. Killian walked over to him and closed his laptop.

"Why the devil did you do that?" Robin asked, looking up at his partner.

"I'm done," Killian said.

"Done with what?" he asked, his brow knitted together in confusion.

"Done with this operation, done with this life," Killian said firmly.

Robin shook his head sharply. "Bloody hell, I knew this would happen. I knew it was a mistake to choose Emma as our mark."

"You're right. It was a mistake. She didn't deserve this. But it's hard to regret it because it led to me meeting her. I never would have met her otherwise. She's so far out of my league, but she's the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"You're in love with her," Robin stated, his voice dripping with disdain.

"Aye, I love her," he said. "She's given me a reason to change. She's made me believe I can be more, have a better life. And now we need to stop this before we do anymore damage."

"And what about me? I've invested time and effort in this too. This is my life too, Killian."

"It doesn't have to be, mate. You can be more too."

"Perhaps I don't want to be." He paused, sighing in frustration. "Let's just finish what we started with Emma. We've already come this far. And then we can part ways."

Killian shook his head. "No, this ends now. We can't hurt her anymore than we already have."

"What do you think is going to happen exactly? You're going to just leave this life and be with her? You're just going to pretend like you haven't been lying to her from the start? Betraying her with every word that you said to her?"

"It wasn't like that with us. Yes, I've lied, but we've shared many genuine moments together. My feelings for her are true. What we have is real."

"Do you think she'd see it that way if she knew the truth?"

"I'm going to tell her the truth."

Robin laughed caustically. "You're going to tell her the truth? You'll lose her!"

Killian swallowed hard. "I refuse to build a relationship on a lie. I want to start fresh with Emma and that means she needs to know the truth. It's a risk I must take."

"You're a bloody fool. You're going to end up alone and with nothing."

Killian knew there was an extremely good chance Robin was right.

"I'm going to tell her I love her and I want a life with her. I'm going to tell her I'm going straight for her."

"You're going to lose her," he repeated.

"And what if she learned the truth on her own a week from now, a month from now, a year from now? What then? She would never forgive me then. My only chance is to be honest with her now and hope that she will be able to forgive me."

Robin sighed heavily. "I sure hope you know what you're doing. There's more at stake than just your love life, Killian. She could send us both to jail."