FG1

Unlike most of her marks, Lukas Damian was a good man. He employed many people generally considered unemployable-- for instance, giving convicts released from prison a chance at turning around their lives. He donated to numerous charities, as well as giving millions to orphanages. He was the exemplary philanthropist businessman.

He was also a patron of the arts and science. This was what drew her attention.

At a recent auction of pieces by a renowned, recently deceased artist, he had purchased a very valuable, previously-unreleased painting. She had been in attendance, both scoping out the buyers and, more passively, seeing if any would be likely to fall for her act.

While she did admire art and artists herself, she was not there to make a purchase. She did pay enough attention to decide which piece she wanted to get her hands on first, but her main targets were the buyers. Lukas Damian had been the one to really catch her eye. Maybe it was his age, surprisingly close to her own-- late twenties at the oldest. Maybe it was his looks-- he was quite attractive by almost any standards. Maybe it was how much he was willing to spend on one piece of art. Whatever it was, she knew she had her mark. A younger man might be a touch more challenging, less likely to fall for a young woman flirting with him than his older counterparts. Still, what fun would be in it if it were too easy?

At the auction, she had been unable to get close enough to interact with him directly. The next day, she had taken to the internet to research the man she intended to steal from next. That was when she learned of his philanthropy; that he was single and had been for quite some time; that he was the national head of his family's banking empire, coming from a long line of old-money Italians. She had to shake herself frequently, often finding herself slow to pass over photos of him. If she was not careful, she would end up too distracted from her goal to succeed.

With her connections, finding a buyer for the painting would be simple. She could probably get even more for it than he had paid at the auction. All she needed was an opportunity to approach him.

A gossip news article mentioned he was expected to attend a local charity event that coming weekend. It was time to find herself an invitation. For that, her heiress identity would likely be the best choice. However, would that be the best for him?

She shifted to the other computer, the one that had ridiculous security thanks to an old hacker friend of hers who was well aware of her occupation of choice. As he had taught her, she set to task creating someone new, arranging all of the necessary evidence for her existence, every necessary record and appropriate social media accounts to support Skye Wray's real life.

Skye was raised by a single mother, no real father-figures in her life. She was intelligent, though beaten out for valedictorian in high school. A cheerleader in both high school and college, she had always spent time focusing not on her figure so much as her health-- the positives to her appearance were just a pleasant side effect. Work had been harder to come by, a recession and her lack of experience causing most employers to turn her away. She was not the type to give up, however, looking for opportunities wherever she could.

At this point, she paused. Was this one too true? Most would think having as many similarities to her real life as possible would make the role easier to play. In reality, it only made it easier to slip up-- easier to use the wrong name or mention the wrong location.

The biggest difference was the opportunity she took.

Her hacker friend was someone she had known since high school. Alec had always been a troublemaker, hacking the school internet filter yearly, messing with the school website; he even tried hacking into the police database just to see if he could. That was the first time he got arrested. He later told her about the thrill of the risk, admitting that, since he got released from juvie, he had pulled a few more illegal feats, though he never kept anything valuable to himself, frequently returning it soon after. He also had a few ideas of things he wanted to try that he would need help doing. It was all too easy to convince her to use her well-known acting prowess to help him out. For his part, he always took good care of her, making sure nothing would ever be traced back to her and keeping her records clean. She never did anything illegal in his plans, mostly just causing a distraction or letting him get a recording of some information he could use. He ended up moving with her to her college town, the two sharing an apartment while she went to school. He had decided to drop out before finishing high school, eventually finding his way to a group of other thieves with different specialties.

She first joined them for one job when she was **** for rent money during college. She had been so good at the job, at acting like she was someone else in the real world, at manipulating someone's trust so thoroughly that they thought nothing of the questions she asked, and at disappearing into the mist after the job was done that she ended up dropping out of college (another difference with this new persona) and taking on the profession "full time." She still did odd jobs here and there with Alec's group, though they needed her less frequently now that they had their own grifter on board.

She shook herself of her reverie. This role would require quite a bit of practice over the next few days. The last thing she did on her computer was get herself an invitation to the event.