The Two-Horse Job
"You didn't back my plan."
Sophie almost rolled her eyes at the sound of betrayal in his voice. Her hand had only just touched the doorknob and that was the moment he spoke. It said too much about what kind of person he really was. He waited until the last minute to let something that was nawing away at his nerves all day come out and fester into the open air. It spoke volumes.
"I didn't back you, you mean."
She turned her head and had to fight rolling her eyes yet again. He was so predictable. The great Nathan Ford was sitting at the head of the conference room table, his designated spot from the very beginning as a symbol of his status within the group. The bastard acted like it was the most important thing in the world, to have control over the leash of four of the world's greatest thieves.
"You backed Eliot instead," Nate said, gently inkling his head forward just enough to admit to the hidden meaning. It had always been like that for them. There was never a day where they both didn't have at least three conversations in one. The numbers only seemed to climb since they began working together… with a team as well as each other.
She really shouldn't have been surprised by the hurt in his eyes. It had been there since he came for her back in Chicago. Really, it had been his driving force behind every con he even bothered to perform. The alcohol usually dulled its florescent glow, the excuse he used for his drinking. Still, she never thought she would be so struck by the intensity of hurt and betrayal shimmering in his eyes right then and there at that table… their table.
"Nate-" she began but her thoughts stopped at that. It wasn't like she really needed to finish them anyway. He read her mind perfectly.
"You always backed my plan," he growled, showing some of that anger he'd been holding since his son's tragic death. "But this time you sided with Eliot."
I could always count on you to be there for me. That's what he meant. She knew it. She could feel those words on the tip of his tongue. When she had earned such trust from him she never knew, but it somehow happened. A grifter of her caliber should have been quite proud of such an achievement. Instead it only made her fearful. He needed to learn when to properly put his faith in someone. A thief was the absolute worst mistake.
"Eliot was in the right and you know it." She couldn't help the quick chiding remarks. A fire was burning under her skin that she couldn't control around him. It had slowly started building since the day she discovered what kind of a drunk he was. The same day she began to discover how much of the old Nathan Ford had truly died with his son.
His blue eyes shifted away from her and to the empty glass in his hand. His fingers wiggled loosely as if they were itching for another drink. That was his physical cue that the conversation got too close to being personal. He was going to change the subject, something more in his comfort zone. He was going to turn it back to her and her personal life. Then his eyes connected with hers and the verbal conversation changed to cheery and cunning.
"You said something about proving yourself." I know what you're hiding but I'm giving you the benefit of coming clean.
This time she did roll her eyes, a very obvious sign of you are annoying me with your lack of emotional depth, you annoying son of a bitch.
She had enough time to turn around before he gave into temptation and stood to his feet. He poured himself a giant helping of whiskey and had too much enjoyment in the taste of the stuff. He still kept his back to her though, a sure sign of guilt if she ever saw it.
"What do you have to prove?" He asked, turning to her only when it was convenient for him. Another sign of, I'm keeping you at a distance because I know what's happening and refuse to believe it. You won't make me admit or become anything so quit psycho analyzing me and answer my question.
Two could play at that game.
"I already told you," she replied. I'm afraid you're going to have to do better than that to catch me. Besides, psycho analyzing you is what I do.
"No," he smiled and actually stepped towards her, "You told me you had to prove something to yourself. I just want to know what."
He was testing her and they both knew it. She even had a cunning reply for him and knew he was ready for the thrust back into his personal life. But lines had to be crossed and the only way to do that was to softly admit that pride was an issue on both sides.
"If I can do it," she replied enigmatically.
She watched him process the hidden meaning and almost smiled at the shock on his face. Nathan Ford completely baffled by the idea that a thief actually wants to stop being a thief, never thought I'd see the day.
"The good guy thing, of course," she explained further to help him along.
The look he gave her then was completely unexpected and baffling. It took her breath away.
He looked at her with the brightest blue eyes she had ever seen. His lips were set in a firm line and his jaw softened. He almost looked like an innocent young boy the way he was staring at her then.
"You have always been an angel, Soph." He said it with such honest conviction that she was willing to forgive him for every bad thing he'd done since this little crew came together. But something inside her sensed a trap and wouldn't stand it if she didn't immediately address it.
"An angel of sin, I suppose."
She was about to step away and play it off like a joke, but his hand latched onto her arm. His blue eyes fell on her with such fear that her head began to spin. His face was inches away from hers and his breath was on hot on her lips. He'd never gotten so close so quickly before.
"You have no idea what kind of savior you really are," he said in such a tone that left no question what was going on between them.
She was about to call it on him when the guilt flashed before his eyes. He suddenly looked at her arm as if it were on fire. Then he released it and raced to the safety of his drink and the courage he apparently found at the bottom of the bottle.
She wanted to yell at him for that. She wanted to throw her coat and purse and punish him for being so cruel. But one look at how disheveled he'd become stayed her tongue. Her breath grew slow and her blood felt cold. He was shaking because he admitted he liked her in a way he hadn't liked anyone but his ex-wife before. He wasn't ready for that and he knew it. But he still admitted it because it was something she needed to know.
Yet the road they were heading towards was slowly starting to meet a dead end. They were both doomed for the fork in the road.
At least if they stayed like this.
"You should go," his voice was rough and rude, exactly as they started. "We've got another job in the morning and you'll need to be at your best."
You betrayed me.
That read loud and clear and all she did was support another teammate over him.
"You're acting childish," she replied, "You would have done the same thing if our positions were reversed."
"You only did it because of Amy."
That slap hurt worse than was probably intended. He knew she only did it because Eliot's love for Amy was very similar to whatever it was between them. But the way he looked when he turned towards her made that fire zing back to life.
Thank God our positions weren't reversed was what he meant. And Eliot and Amy are nothing like us is what his tone said. His face admitted what he never could. I'd always come back for you.
"You need to learn that I am the mastermind and what I say goes," he growled to her, drinking as he spoke, "or you will no longer be a part of my team."
She wanted to yell at him for that but she recognized something. That gnawing in the pit of her stomach, the ache that refused to go away since the beginning of their conversation; it was guilt. He brought guilt back into her life like he had a right to do that. And why did she feel guilty. Backing Eliot was the right thing to do and they both knew it. She had no reason to feel responsible.
But the words behind his last statement were running through her mind as she left him alone to nurse his pride in the office that day.
You're supposed to back me no matter what.
And yet, she wasn't sure if she could.