Complete Me (The Stark Trilogy)

But, apparently, not as surreptitiously as I’d thought.
    “Aren’t you the stumbling amateur?” she’d whispered, as she steered me toward women’s shoes. “If you’re going to risk getting arrested, shouldn’t you at least make it worth the trouble?”
    “It’s not about the earrings,” I’d snapped, then immediately cringed. The words had been a knee-jerk response, but they were also true. It
wasn’t
the earrings. Hell, the things were gaudy and way too big for my elven face. But I’d had a seriously shitty day, and I’d wanted the rush—though I had to admit that the rush of stealing had been nothing compared to the surge of adrenaline that shot through me once Kat had nailed my ass.
    “Looking for a thrill?” Kat had asked with the knowing smirk I’m now so familiar with. “Don’t worry. I get it.”
    My racing heart slowed. “Yeah? Have you ever …” I twirled my hand. “You know?”
    “Shoplifted?” She bit back a laugh as I cringed. “Don’t worry. I think you got away with it, but let’s get out of here anyway. And no,” she said, as she led me out of the store. “Petty theft’s not my thing.”
    She drove me home in a cherry red Mustang convertible that accelerated to more or less the speed of light. Speed, I decided, was Katrina’s thing. Speed, and the thrill that went with it. It was that shared need for a little extra zing that ultimately sealed our friendship.
    “Are you going to tell my uncle?”
    “Fuck, no.” She peered at me. “Wanna go clubbing on Friday? I know all the best happy hours. You’ll love it, I swear. And neither one of us will have to commit a felony. At least not this week.”
    She’d been right, and that Friday had led to another and then another until we’d pretty much shifted to the BFF side of the equation. I’d always loved her company. Now, with Jahn’s death sending my universe reeling, I realized that I not only loved Kat—I relied on her.
    “I’m really glad you’re here,” I said.
    “Where else would I be?” she asked. “So where’s mumsy and daddy-kins?”
    I cocked my head and lifted an eyebrow.
    “Sorry,” she said swiftly. “They’re coming, though. Right?”
    “No.” I heard the sharpness in my voice and shook my head in apology. “Sorry. It’s not you. It’s them.”
    “Bailed?”
    “His own brother and he can’t even be bothered to show up for the funeral? I mean, I get that he’s got a government to help run, but I think California can survive without him for a day or two, you know?” Honestly, if it weren’t for the fact that Jahn deserved better, this wouldn’t even be an issue for me. I’d long ago learned not to expect anything from my dad. That way, I was rarely disappointed.
    “Your mom?”
    “Seriously?”
    Kat just nodded. I’d confided in her one night in a margarita-induced haze, and now Kat qualified as one of only two people in the world—myself included—who suspected that my mom and Jahn once had a thing. Whether it was before or after she married my father, though … about that, I wasn’t prepared to speculate. But if my dad wasn’t coming, then my mom certainly wasn’t, either.
    “Like I said, the whole thing sucks. It’s so unfair. Your uncle was too damn cool to die.”
    “I agree. Too bad we’re both wrong.”
    “I’m really sorry I didn’t get here earlier. But you haven’t been all alone, have you?” She craned her head and scoped out the crowd, most of whom I’d never actually met. “Kevin’s here somewhere, right?”
    “He had to go take a call. Technically, he’s working today.” Then again, as an FBI Agent, Kevin was pretty much always working.
    “That was sweet of him to come.” Her pale blue eyes scanned my face as she spoke, and I tried not to squirm under the inspection.
    “Absolutely,” I said earnestly, and I knew that I should mean it. No, I
did
mean it. Empirically, it was sweet. But how horrible was it of me that I really didn’t want my boyfriend around today? Shouldn’t a woman want a shoulder to cry on and a pair of strong arms around her to give comfort? What was wrong with me that I didn’t?
    Or, more honestly, what was wrong with me that I didn’t want Kevin, who hit all the major points on the Enviable Boyfriend Checklist?
    I had yet to confess my ennui to Kat, so I was grateful to realize that something across the room had caught her attention. She stood slightly straighter and the corners of her mouth tilted just slightly,