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Would I rather live a short, action-packed life like this? Running, laughing, and loving? Feeling every hard yet beautifully flawed inch of existence, rather than spending a lifetime surrounded by comfort and boredom?
Yes.
As long as it’s with them.
No amount of riches could buy what we have. Wherever this takes us, I’m there. I feel it barrelling down on us, the explosion that we are no doubt going to end in, but I couldn’t care less. Not if they are right there, driving the getaway car with me.
They stole more than me that night. They stole my soul and my heart and have had both since. It’s only fair I steal theirs too.
Booker’s warm hand grounds me and brings me back to the present, to the party, and I quicken my steps, suddenly not wanting to be here anymore. I lead them up the winding stairs to the many corridors of this country estate. Turning left, I head confidently down to the very end, to the master bedroom and the vault inside it. Charles showed me once, trying to impress me, right before he tried to stick his hand up my dress, despite knowing I was engaged and didn’t want him.
The bastard.
The doors all look the same, and I hear giggling behind some that makes me grin. I turn the corner, and the two double doors stand ready and waiting. I jerk my head to let them know this is it, and then I push it open.
I freeze, and my heart stops.
Everything comes crashing down around me.
There, sitting at her vanity with her mascara smeared down her cheeks from her tears, is Charles’ wife. She slowly turns to us, unafraid and unworried, as she surveys us. Her eyes are dead and glassy. “Are you here to kill me?” she asks calmly.
Something about her makes me step forward and decide to trust my instincts. “No, we are here to rob your husband,” I tell her, ignoring the men behind me, who are trying to grab me so we can run.
She blinks slowly, and a smile starts to curl up her usually frowning lips. It’s the first true one I’ve seen her possess. With a flourish, she stands and moves to the secret door I know is there and opens it. “Go for it.” She sits back down then, watching me. “Take it all, take everything he has. Make him suffer like he makes me suffer every damn day.”
I know then why I feel for her and why it hurts to see her. This would have been me in a few years. This is where I would have ended up with Chaz if it weren’t for my merry thieves. “You deserve better,” I tell her.
“Our roles are never our own to choose, not really,” she murmurs. “This is where I will always be. It’s better to be secure and safe, even if it’s unhappy.” She meets her eyes in the mirror then, as if she’s unsure of her words. “I was once so beautiful, so full of life, but now I’m empty.” Swallowing, she glances back at me. “Don’t ever let that happen.” She goes back to fixing her face with mechanical movements.
Nodding, I head to the vault, ignoring their urges of uncertainty. They slowly follow me. Gage keeps an eye on her, but I know she won’t betray us. She hates her husband too much and wants him to suffer, and this is an ironic way she can get back at him. Once inside, I help them clear it all into bags, and when we step back into the room, she is as put together as always, cold and empty. Gage steps behind her and presses a gun to her head, but she doesn’t even blink.
“If you tell anyone about us, I will come back.”
She just rolls her eyes. “Go, before he comes to rub his new conquest in my face.” Grabbing him, I nod at her and drag him with me. At the door, I look back to see her staring out the window, lost in her own world, lost in her misery.
She’s unwilling to save herself and find happiness because of the cost of doing so.
Me? I’m willing to pay for it.
Once downstairs, I cannot help but laugh when I see Charles still draped with women, but then my heart freezes when I see Chaz at his side. It’s only a quick glance, but time seems to slow down. It’s enough to see him laughing with a woman at his side. One who looks like I used to. She is put together, perfect, and submissive.
Fury pours through me, but Gage gathers me and drags me outside, away from my anger and my past.
Once inside the car, with an open bag of stolen goods in my lap, I push thoughts of Chaz away, unable to stop laughing as I let the wealth pour through my fingers as we speed into the night. Gage looks over at me and grins, his eyes glittering behind the mask. It’s an open, unguarded expression.
“If I didn’t hate you so much, I’d fuck you right now,” I tease him.
“If I didn’t hate you, I might just let you, baby,” he replies, but he takes my hand and keeps it in his as he drives.
Smiling, I let my head hit the seat as I watch him.
I don’t even realise I’ve fallen asleep until whispers wake me. The bag on my lap is gone, as is Gage. I sit up, realising we are stopped outside of a random building. In the dark, it’s hard to make out what’s happening, but I watch, open-mouthed, as Archer and Gage hand all four bags to a man in a hoodie and joggers, and my eyes go to the sign above his head.
Homeless Respite.
Not Robin Hoods my ass.
