Another Saturday, another soccer game. Bee’s ex was out of town, so she actually got to enjoy their son’s final soccer game alone. Well, enjoy was pushing it, as his team was losing, and the kids were all covered in dirt and grass and sweat and as luck would have it, today was her day to carpool.

“Mom,” Oliver groused, a heap in cleats at her feet. “I’m so hungry.”

“Anastasia?” Bee called to her Mom Friend. “The kids need a snack.”

The leggy blonde rose from her folding seat with all the dignity of the Russian Princess she was named for. She unzipped her designer fanny pack and pulled out a wad of cash. “Who wants twenty dollars?”

Bee covered her eyes with her hand. “How are they going to eat twenty dollars?”

“They use it to buy food, yes?”

Bee’s other Mom Friend, Liliana, shook her head. “Babe, you were supposed to bring oranges and bottles of water. Maybe some juice.”

Anastasia blinked doeishly. “There is a concession stand? The children may buy whatever they wish. I will give them forty dollars.”

Oliver punched the air. “I’m rich! Finally!”

“Can we leave?” Liliana’s son asked, spread eagle on the sidelines. “I hate soccer.”

“I hate losing at soccer,” Oliver agreed. “I wish I could score a goal. Just once.”

He hadn’t scored all season, and his team hadn’t won all season, but Bee hadn’t realized he’d cared. He seemed to like getting ice cream with his friends after the game more than the game itself.

The referee was a young man who kept the whistle in his mouth at all times. Gross. Rolling back her shoulders, she knew what she had to do. “I’ll be right back.”

Sauntering as best she could on the soft grass, Bee approached the ref with a sly smile. “Hi,” she said.

He looked her up and down, silver whistle between coffee-stained teeth. “Hi.”

“I like your whistle,” Bee lied, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger. She was good at lying. She was even better at figuring out exactly what a man wanted. And this man wanted to be noticed by literally anything female. She hadn’t used those skills in a while, but it fell to her to ensure her son got a shot at a goal this season. And there was nothing she wouldn’t do for Oliver.

A few minutes later, Bee returned to sidelines as the referee called the start of the final half.

“Oliver,” she said. “Do whatever it takes to get tripped by another player.” She winked for good measure.

He looked at her like she had grown three eyes, but said, “Fine, whatever,” and ran out onto the field.

Oliver failed at tripping. Instead, he tripped another player, and then threw himself down like a swooning lady in a Jane Austen novel.

Bee pressed her lips tight. They were going to have to work on his acting.

The referee blew his whistle and, with a look in Bee’s direction, called for Oliver to take a penalty kick.

Liliana patted Bee on the back after her son scored his only goal of the season. “Took one for the team literally, eh?”

“I just had to flirt with him. He’s not so bad.”

“He looks like if a plastic spork grew arms.”

Bee studied the ref. “Oh, God, he does look like if a spork grew arms!”

“Yeah. We’re getting you on a dating app today, my friend, and not a second later.”

Grimacing, Bee couldn’t help but nod. “Yeah. That’s probably for the best.”

Stolen Pieces
Genre: Heist Crime Mystery
Release: May 2024
Format: Print, Digital, Audio
Purchase Link

OCEAN’S 8 meets Janet Evanovich, this fast-paced crime caper features one badass mother, with a certain set of skills who is forced to come out of retirement to protect her son, and teach a few men a few lessons!

Ex-con artist Bee Cardello is going legit. Divorced from her mafia boss husband, she is determined to stay on the straight and narrow. So, when ex-hubby Charlie steals $37.5 million from a dangerous kingpin, who puts out a hit on Bee and her ten-year-old son Oliver, she finds herself pulled back into the life she’s worked so hard to escape.

Part of that old life being one Adam Gage – an old flame and all-round sexy badass who Charlie’s now employed to keep her and Oliver safe . . . well, that’s what he tells her. Bee has been in this game long enough to know that everyone is in it for themselves, and she’d be stupid to trust Adam . . . again.

When Oliver is snatched from right under their noses, rather than risk losing him forever, Bee gathers her old team, dusts off all her old grifting tricks, and comes out of retirement to get her son back!

About the author
S.K. Golden was born and raised in the Florida Keys where she married a commercial fisherman. The two of them still live on the islands with their five kids (one boy, four girls — including identical twins!), two cats, and a corgi named Goku. She graduated from Saint Leo University with a bachelor’s degree in Human Services and Administration and has put it to good use approximately zero times. She’s worked as a bank teller, a pharmacy technician, and an executive assistant at her father’s church. Sarah is delighted to be doing none of those things now.