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He was giving me advice on how to encourage the others to come along. Sacrificing my portion of ten percent of billions of dollars? My body ached at the thought of it. I didn’t even know how much that would be, really. “Do you know what I could do with that much money? I may not need to work ever again.”
“What would you do?” he asked. “Would you buy some house somewhere? Settle down?”
I shuffled in my boots. I hadn’t really gotten that far. Simply knowing I wouldn’t need to struggle seemed like enough. I needed clothes, food... what would I do with my time if I had that much money? Before meeting the boys, I’d needed every penny to pay for a roof over my head and food. I never had enough to even think about saving for the future.
Raven’s lips twitched into almost a smile. “I don’t know either,” he said. “I used to do things for money I thought I needed, and it put me in very bad places.”
“What sort of bad places?” I asked, getting a feeling for what he was talking about but wanting to be clear.
He was quiet for a long moment. His dark gaze moved from my eyes, to my chin, to my hair and back to my eyes. He touched his chest, about where there were three towers in the tattoo underneath his black shirt. “Three years,” he said. “My life was gone for three years.”
I recalled the details Blake had discovered about the boys about their criminal records. While Raven’s history had been obscure, Raven had told me himself a bit about this past. “Money doesn’t mean you go to jail,” I said. “This isn’t the same thing.”
“I made bad decisions based on thinking I needed more money than I did,” he said. “It changes when you do it for so much money.”
“We all work for money,” I said. “It’s how the world goes ‘round.”
He grunted and shook his head. “Not when you’re trying to help someone else. Not like this. Just trust me.”
I wasn’t sure if he was right. What was I supposed to do? Turn it down? My portion would most likely go to Avery and the others. Would the money change them?
I wasn’t totally convinced by Raven’s words. I’d have to ask Corey or one of the others about it. Wouldn’t they like to get out of the apartment? Maybe into a nice big house?
“Consider it,” he said. He leaned in a little, close enough that I could feel the heat from his body. “Little Thief, don’t become blind by money.”
“It’s a lot of money,” I said.
He leaned in further now, his dark eyes penetrating my brain, as if he could see all my desires to gain independence and that would take money. I gulped a little, afraid of what else he might see, including how alluring he could be to me. Russian, strong, and—in spite of the tattoos and piercings—there was a fuzzy corner in his heart. Somewhere.
“The more money, the worse it gets,” he said. He put his palm over his heart, and then breathed in deeply, his chest expanding before he let it out slowly. “See? Fresh air. Freedom.”
“Huh?” Did he mean free from prison?
“Free from money, or wanting lots of money.”
“You need money. For paying for bills. Or they send you to jail for not paying them.”
“Tell me your bills,” he said. “I’ll take care of them.”
I clenched my teeth together, unable to explain to him. Sure, I would probably have an easier time of getting a normal job now, if I let myself use their generosity of living with them and went out and looked for one without being desperate like I had been before I met them. I was more available now and I didn’t have to support a home with my father drinking away most of the money and a brother to feed. Still, there was this job right here, and I could do it.
“Hey!” Marc called to us.
Raven backed up a step, still looking at me but creating a respectable distance between us.
I turned to Marc; he was waving and jogging toward us. I was grateful for the reprieve. I hadn’t been so sure about how to get out of that conversation. I didn’t want to imagine what Raven might ask for in exchange for paying a bill. What kind of work would he make me do? Or worse, would he ask for a commitment? “Are they going to come along?” I asked Marc.
“With you wrapped up in trouble and unable to get out? Of course,” he said, winking.
Was it worth mentioning again that I could walk away at any point? Maybe not; if they were going to need to go into this with some sort of half-truth reason for being there, that was their business. “Okay, so what else can I dig up before they get here to convince them to stay?” I asked.
“Do you still have that photo of the lady?” Marc asked.
“Michelle?” I asked and pulled the picture from my pocket. “Sure.”
“Find Avery and dig up more information. The more details on what we’re looking at, the simpler we can make it, the more likely Axel will agree to this. He’s the one you have to convince.”
“Convince Corey,” Raven said.
Marc blew a raspberry. “Like that’s difficult. Just ask him politely and say please and he’ll come along for anything. It’s Axel who can tell us no.”
“Corey makes Axel say yes,” Raven said. “He does it to me.”
It was actually a brilliant idea. Corey was friendly and open minded. I might be able to talk him into staying, and possibly get him to accept that Blake was on board and ready to help. Maybe he’d convince the others to let him do so. Or at least help me figure out how to explain it to the others.
Marc grinned at Raven. “Just exactly how does Corey make big ole Raven do anything?”
Raven shrugged, unaffected by his mocking, possibly not understanding it even was mocking. “Don’t know.”
Marc waved him off and focused on me. “Do you know where Avery is?”
Probably listening in. “I bet he’s back in that foyer, or close by there.”
We headed that way and Marc held open the door for us to enter in. The brighter lights of the foyer sparkled off all the shiny surfaces and hurt my eyes before they could adjust after being outside in the dark. I was in awe again of the large lobby desk, the marble, the large dome overhead.
As we came in, Avery was coming down the stairs. It was proof to me that they were listening and that Avery could actually be summoned at any point if I were to hint that I needed him. That might actually be useful.
It was how much he might overhear while we were onboard that bothered me. And would he be able to listen in when there were more guests around?
He smiled when he saw us and hurried the rest of the way. “Is everything okay?” he asked. “Can I get you all anything?”
“What are you doing here anyway, Avery?” Marc asked. “Are you the assistant or something?”
Avery shrugged and rubbed a palm over his chest, causing the material of his shirt to slide down a bit, causing the tip of the tattoo on his chest to poke out. “Not sure,” he said. “I guess assistant might be the right word for it. I don’t exactly have a title.”
“And you’re helping Ethan find the missing money?”
He glanced at me, and then nodded slowly. “I’m not sure what I can do, but I’ll do what I can. I’m really relying on Kayli.”
Marc smirked. “On her?”
I put my hands on my hips, narrowing my eyes, daring him to make a joke about a woman being in charge or some other sexist remark. I’d put a boot to his crotch.
“She’s been put in charge of the team,” Avery said. “We don’t make a move without her saying so.”
Marc shifted his gaze between Avery and me and back to Avery. “Are you sure you want to do that?” he asked. “You know she’s a little crazy.”
I karate chopped Marc in the arm. “Shut up,” I said.
He landed a gentle return chop on my shoulder. “Well, you are.”
“We can use all the help we can get,” Avery said. “And she’s pretty well qualified. She utilizes resources, asks opinions of other people. She can see the whole picture out of the details she finds and puts it all together. Plus, she cares. That’s
a big trait Mr. Murdock wanted in someone in charge.”
I grimaced, feeling like Avery was going over the top with trying to convince them. Had they really discussed this? And if it was Blake who’d wanted to bring me in, was it Blake who had said all those things? He’d known me longer than the others, so it was more than likely him.
Marc only nodded quietly at this. No complaints? No arguments?
