He had his suspicions about the alluring woman that sat across from him. Her soft feminine features her long ebony silken hair, her beautiful piercing blue eyes, those perfect plush red lips. He would sometimes find himself lost in her warmth and love but her signature perfume, roses, and sweet magnolia, enveloped him when they were together. The sweet scent was rare, unique and was only suited for her. Despite the scent being rare, it wasn't the first time he encountered it.

No.

He had encountered it several times before.

A thief, a damn good thief that had been plaguing the Los Angeles Police Department for months, despite the tight security, despite the fact that were officers at the scene of the crime she still managed to run off with her goal. Diamonds, data, valuable papers and more, there was nothing that she couldn't take. The LAPD asked for support to bring down this thief, Gabriel was assigned to the case to capture the thief.

Out of all of the criminals that Gabriel had been assigned to track down and capture, she was the most enigmatic. It was as if she was a phantom, so technologically advanced that she in a way surpassed the LAPD Intelligence division and damn near the FBI. With all of her targets, she left no trace and always made away with her goal was.

He couldn't wrap his head around the woman and how she managed to slip away. She was gaudy, overly confident, fast, cunning and more. After she had gotten her mark she always left what seemed to be a calling card. It was a simple white card with an engraved rose on one side, and a silhouette of a Cheshire like cat on the back, a large grin on its face.

No fingerprints, she wasn't sloppy, but a faint trace of rose and sweet magnolia was always left on the card.

At first, he paid it no mind to the unique scent but now.

Now, the perfume, the woman, his lover across from him was becoming more and more of a suspect as he started to connect evidence and instances he gathered. He hadn't been on the investigation for long, he was the best of the best, his past experience in special ops gave him that edge above everyone else. He was able to close cases when others weren't, he was called in when the situation had become too big and needed to be taken care of quickly.

But now...

"Gabriel? Are you with me?" she said as she gently took his fingers between hers.

"I'm here...what is it hm?" Gabriel asked.

"You look dead tired. Staying up late? Overworking yourself?" she asked.

"You know...the same old thing but it's going to be over soon. So hopefully I'll be able to pick up my old sleeping schedule," Gabriel replied.

"And more time with me, right?" she teased.

"As long as you want, mi reina," Gabriel smirked.

"Oh Gabe, stop. Flattery will get you nowhere," she let out a feminine laugh.

"You'll see. How about tomorrow?" Gabriel suggested.

"Will your case be over that quickly?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Gabriel replied.

"Wow...I'm impressed Mr. Reyes," she replied with a smirk.

"Well, I am pretty impressive," Gabriel smirked, she shook her head and laughed slightly.

"Don't let it get to your head big guy. Although, I will hold you to your promise," she said

"Of course, I wouldn't expect nothing less," Gabriel replied with a smile as he gently lifted her hand to his lips and pressed kisses on each one of her knuckles.

Tonight was the fated night of when he would capture the elusive thief. He had propositioned her; if he captured her she would have to return everything she had stolen and serve time. If he didn't capture her, he wouldn't pursue her until after the FBI had sorted out what she had stirred up. It would be a shame if he didn't manage to capture her, he wanted to pick the woman's brain to see what made her tick. He did have to admit that connecting all of the pieces together and watched them unravel was similar to that of a blossoming rose.

But tonight would be the end of their little game.

Kallista sat quietly on the patio of her downtown Los Angeles loft lost in thought, tonight would be her last heist for her own personal gain. She laid out her plans and was elated when the dashing FBI Special Investigator issued a challenge to her. She knew that the man, Gabriel, had already figured out her disguise and now everything was just a game.

He didn't have to say a word. The look in his eyes and the conversation itself had told her all that she needed to know, but it didn't deter her from continuing towards her goal. She had effectively dismantled and gutted several corrupt corporations that took advantage of the weakening government and the city people.

A modern-day Robin Hood so to speak, and yet she did this for her own personal gain. One more and it will be all over. She was a woman of her word just as she knew that the Special Investigator was a man of his word as well. He was her lover after all. A chime on her cell phone sounded and pulled her attention from her thoughts. It was time to move.

-9 PM-

Gabriel stood in the room where he knew that crime would take place and waited. He needed to catch the thief, he needed to be the one to do it. He knew this was a now a low-level priority case enough to even have it swept under a rug or buried. What she had uncovered had become more important but he couldn't let it go, not when he was so close.

Gabriel glanced at his cell phone for the time and also waited for a sign, a phone call. As if on cue his cell phone began to buzz, he answered it without hesitation.

"Miss Bastet," Gabriel began.

[Mr. Reyes]

"It seems you're not here how I am I supposed to take you in?" Gabriel said jokingly.

[I never said I was going to make it easy for you. Where is the fun in that?]

Gabriel scoffed at the woman's playful response, the woman's voice was clearly altered but he knew it was her.

"You're supposed to honor your word Bastet and it doesn't seem like you're doing that. What a shame," Gabriel said as he looked towards the camera in the corner of the room.

It didn't take long for doubt to plague his mind, he knew she was in the building and was watching him. She had already taken control of the security cameras of the building.

[Oh don't get me wrong...I would never stand up a man like yourself...so determined, headstrong, passionate about your work and for justice...very admirable]

"Kind words coming from someone so deceitful as yourself" Gabriel replied as he continued to stare at the camera.

He mentally kicked himself thinking that the LAPD Intel division could handle her skills. They couldn't and he should have expected that. But it was a risk that he was willing to take in order to capture her.

[I'm hurt, Mr. Reyes…]

"Are you? Let me make it up to you in handcuffs," Gabriel replied, a smirk on his lips,

[Oh? That sounds pretty kinky...how about you come find me? ]

"If you resist Miss Bastet, it'll look bad against you," Gabriel commented.

[I thought you liked your women a little feisty Mr. Reyes ]

Gabriel licked his bottom lip and chuckled a bit as he grinned at the camera. She knew that he was going to find her even if it took all night.

"You seem to know a lot about me Miss Bastet...when I find you I'm going to take you in," Gabriel stated, his a playful determination behind his words.

[I expect nothing less...Gabriel]

The phone call ended and Gabriel was out of the room and on his way to the security room on the third floor of the building. Within minutes he was standing in front of a wall of security monitors. Seven screens for the seven floors of the building, each screen flicked between four different cameras on the floors. There was no sign of her on any of the cameras and slightly annoyed Gabriel began to flick through the cameras for any sign of the woman. Each camera glitched as he changed the view, each time it pulled his attention away from the floor he wanted to watch.

Ten minutes passed as he begrudgingly searched for the woman, ignoring the tricks she played with the elevator, dark stairwells, glitches she caused. Gabriel continued until he saw a figure approaching the camera by the seventh-floor elevator, it was her. The camera footage was always the same, her eyes were always concealed behind a censor bar except for her lips.

Her specialty.

He watched as she stopped in front of the camera, a smirk on her lips all before she turned and walked away from the camera.

"Found you gatita," Gabriel said as he made note of the floor he had seen her before he quickly headed for the stairs.

As soon as he reached the seventh floor of the building he caught a faint whiff of that unique scent of roses and sweet magnolias. She was definitely on this floor and with the frosted privacy glass of the offices, the silhouettes of the furniture played tricks on the eye. Gabriel relied on his honed senses to track her down, her scent. He followed the intoxicating aroma to the corner office, the CEO's office of the firm, he hesitated to open the door at first but grasped the doorknob and opened it.

"And here I thought you'd never find me,"

"Seven floors, you in control of the security of this building made things a little harder, but once I caught wind of you, there was no way I was going to stop until I had you in my hands, Kallista," Gabriel replied.

"You're such a bloodhound, Gabriel," Kallista smirked as she sat on the edge of the desk, the city lights and moon filled the room with white and orange colored glow.

The woman was seated on the top of the large wooden desk in the middle of the room, the office was clearly the CEO of Axiumn Company, one of the backers of the corruption that plagued the government.

Her last target.

"I will say that you caught on a lot quicker than the entire LAPD It took you two months whereas it took them six months to even get as close as you did," Kallista commented.

"I didn't want to believe that my fiance was behind all of this," Gabriel replied.

"Awh...does it hurt?" Kallista asked.

"Surprisingly no. It just makes me want to use these handcuffs on you more," Gabriel chuckled.

"Flirting on the job? My, my, my Gabriel you're lucky," Kallista giggled.

"You act coy, but I know that you fried all electronics in the building with an EMP pulse before you arrived and that's why the LAPD intel is having a difficult time re-establishing a connection with the servers. Also, you only left power to the security cams just so that I could follow you here," Gabriel commented.

"You know me so so well," Kallista replied as she watched the man approached her.

At this moment he was a man of the law, not her future husband. If she let her guard down he would go in for the capture.

"Answers Kallista," Gabriel began as he stood a few inches from her.

"I don't have a sob story, and there's nothing else really to it. I saw injustice and moved," Kallista replied.

"Bullshit," Gabriel replied.

"They stole something of mine, I was in a way taking it back while giving the naughty children a timeout as I got my tech back," Kallista sighed.

"They stole from you?" Gabriel asked.

"Let's just say that it was personal," Kallista replied.

Kallista-" Gabriel sighed. Kallista shifted on the desk as she watched the man. Kallista shrugged, and he sighed.

"But, I will admit you did do the LAPD and FBI some service by exposing the corruption within the city and government but your methods of doing it are questionable," He continued.

"But it got your attention did it not?" Kallista asked.

"Kallista... I'd rather not have my fiance behind bars," Gabriel started again.

"Me either. Orange isn't my color," Kallista commented.

"This can end in two ways...you walking out of here in handcuffs or you overpowering me and escaping. I don't see the latter happening," Gabriel said.

"You underestimate your little gatita too much Gabriel," Kallista smirked.

"We'll see about that, give me your hand," Gabriel said as he held out his hand for her to take. Kallista crossed her legs as she looked at the man, she knew what he was going to do and with her mind already set she was going to apologize to him later on.

Kallista sighed heavily and took the man's hand feign in her defeat. He placed a handcuff around her slim wrist and pulled her to him. Their eyes met in a silent conversation as the moved closer towards each other, their lips mere inches from each other.

"Kallista...I'm sorry…" Gabriel whispered against her lips.

"It's ok. I'm glad that it was you and not someone else," Kallista replied softly as she pressed their lips together in a hungry kiss. She pulled back and looked up at the man, her hands gently cupped the man's face.

"I'm sorry," Kallista whispered as she moved in with a concealed taser in her hand, she jabbed the man in the abdomen and delivered an electric shock to the man that brought him to his knees.

It was temporary but it was enough for her to make her escape, Kallista darted out of the office and into the shadows.

"Fuck," Gabriel winced in pain as he reached for his cell phone

"She's on the run, cover all exits," Gabriel gave an order the cops that had the building surrounded. He knew that all of this wasn't going to go as planned and that he walked right into it.

Angry was an understatement, he was furious at how things turned out. After being grilled for hours by the Director of the FBI, and with the residual pain in his abdomen, Gabriel returned to his penthouse. He failed to capture Bastet but wasn't fully reprimanded for it, the woman had stirred up more pressing problems within the government that needed to take priority. With a frown on his face, Gabriel saw the woman lounging on the black leather sofa dressed in one of his t-shirts.

"Kallista," Gabriel began, slightly miffed at the way the woman was casually stretched out on the sofa.

"You're not too hurt are you?" Kallista questioned.

"No, but that was unnecessary," Gabriel frowned as he looked at the woman. Kallista sighed, she didn't want to hurt the man, but there was no way she was going to let herself be captured. She opted for disappearing for a while instead of behind bars.

"I said I was sorry," Kallista replied.

"Sorry isn't enough," Gabriel said as he crossed his arms and looked down at her.

"Look, I understand that you wanted to take me in but when I accepted your challenge I meant what I said. I'm done, I'm retired, I did what I needed to do," Kallista began, the man shifted his weight to his other leg as he continued to look down at her, not convinced.

"And besides you are here to keep me in line," Kallista said as she took her hand from behind her back, the handcuff still around her wrist. The frown that the man once wore seemed to slowly melt away as he eyed the handcuff, and then to the curve of the woman's hips

"I'm going to be married to the one thief I couldn't catch and yet she was under my nose the entire time...fitting," Gabriel commented and sat next to her. Kallista reached up to run a hand through his hair, Gabriel groaned deeply and leaned down and sealed their lips in a hot kiss. Hot, needy, hungry, their kiss deepened and soon clothes began were haphazardly tossed to the floor. A soft click broke the kiss between the two and that's when Kallista realized what had happened.

"You sly dog," Kallista murmured as she realized he had handcuffed her other hand. Gabriel smirked as he gripped the chain between the cuffs and pushed her arms above her head.

"Mrs. Reyes you are hereby under arrest," Gabriel said as he moved to the crook of the woman's neck and placed open-mouthed kisses in between his filthy words he whispered. A moan flowed from her lips as his hands roamed over her.

"Anything you say will be used against you unless it's you screaming my name and I expect nothing less," Gabriel whispered