The Billionaire Professor 2 (2015)

Chapter 10

Max

“About 10 years ago, I was a notorious, international art thief.”

Jazmin laughed. Loud and long. “No cut the shit, Max, tell me the truth,” she said.

“That is the truth,” I insisted. “How do you think I could afford all of this? I stole my first painting, a Renoir, on a dare. Once I realized I not only could get away with it and sell it and in the process make enough money to sustain me for several years, I thought I hit upon the perfect profession.”

Jazmin sat, completely silent. From the look on her face, I’d say she was stunned. Perhaps even in shock.

“At that point, if I had invested well, I probably could have lived quite well off of the proceeds of that one painting. But when the full implications hit me that I pulled off this incredible art heist and not a single person suspected me, my adrenaline wouldn’t let me stop.

“I spent several years of my life running around the world, planning daring art thefts.”

Jazmin tilted her head to the side and smiled slightly. If she hated my guts at this moment, she had a strange way of showing it. I still hesitated to continue. But I knew I had no choice.

I explained to her I finally hung up my thieving equipment for good and settled down into teaching. The rush I got from it wasn’t worth the risk. Sooner or later, I told her the odds would catch up with me and I would be sent to prison for a long, long time.

Well, I had to admit that reason was only really part of the reason I quit.

“Don’t tell me,” Jazmin said smugly, “you woke up one day and found your conscience? You discovered what you had been doing all along was wrong.”

“You aren’t going to believe this, but you’re exactly right. And it was my little brother in there that helped me to see that. At first I thought he was just being a prude about my hobby, as I would call it. But then one day I saw something in his eyes when he looked at me. He really did care for me - and my welfare. And he was worried about where my continued avocation would lead me.

Without saying a word to anyone, Jazmin walked out of the penthouse. Was she walking out of my life together?