“I’m almost done. This baby will have us set for years.” Max wrenched the lock off with a triumphant smile and snatched the diamonds out. “Got it!”
I didn’t bother responding. I was already halfway out the door, adrenaline propelling me down the hall and toward the back exit. The duffel bag of cash banged against my hip with each step.
However, I skidded to a stop when I heard the front door open, causing Max to nearly crash into me.
“That was a terrible restaurant, Alastair.” My mom sniffed. “The duck was cold, and the wine was awful. We need to choose a better option next week.”
My fingers tightened around my bag strap at the sound of Adeline’s voice.
I hadn’t spoken to her since she kicked me out a year ago, right after my seventeenth birthday. Despite the awful way we’d parted, her familiar dulcet tones caused tears to sting my eyes.
My stepfather murmured something I couldn’t hear.
They were close. Too close. Just a wall separated the foyer from the hallway, and Max and I had to pass through the open arch connecting the two spaces to reach the exit. If my mom or Alastair turned into the hall instead of walking straight toward the living room, we were screwed.
My mom continued complaining about the restaurant, but her voice gradually faded.
They’d gone to the living room.
Instead of relief, old hurt crowded my chest. I was her only daughter, yet she’d chosen her new husband over me and never looked for me once after she threw me out for something he did.
Adeline had never been the warmest or most empathetic mother, but the callousness of her actions stung harder than I thought possible. No matter how harsh her words, it was supposed to be me and her at the end of the day.
Turned out, it was her and money. Or her and her ego. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was, I wasn’t and had never been first in her eyes.
“What are you doing?” Max passed me. “Let’s go!”
I shook myself out of my trance and followed him. Now wasn’t the time to engage in self-pity. It was only a matter of time before Alastair discovered his money and prized jewels were missing, and we wanted to be long gone by then.
My stomach flipped when the exit came into sight. We were going to make it. Just a few more steps—
Crash!
My eyes widened in horror when Max bumped into a side table in his haste. The porcelain vase sitting on it toppled to the floor and shattered with enough force to wake the dead.
He stumbled and landed on the broken pieces with a curse.
“What was that?” Alastair shouted, his voice carrying through the house. “Who’s there?”
“Fuck!” I grabbed Max’s hand and dragged him up and down the hall. “We have to get out of here!”
He resisted. “The necklace!”
I glanced over my shoulder and spotted the glittering diamonds lying amongst the jagged white shards.
“We don’t have time. Alastair’s almost here,” I hissed.
My stepfather’s angry footsteps grew louder. In less than a minute, he would catch us, and we could kiss our freedom goodbye unless he was in a forgiving mood.
Bile rose in my throat at the prospect of being at that creep’s mercy.
Max was greedy, but he wasn’t an idiot. He took my advice and abandoned his quest for the necklace.
I spotted a glimpse of Alastair’s thinning blond hair and furious face right as we flew through the back door, but I didn’t stop running until Max and I passed through the forest bordering the property and reached the side road where we’d parked our getaway car.
It was only then that I noticed the blood staining Max’s sleeve.
“They tracked me down using the blood I left behind from nicking myself on that stupid vase.” Bitterness crept into Max’s voice. “A few fucking bloodstains, and I lost years of my life. The judge happened to be a good friend of Alastair’s, so he handed down a heavy fucking sentence. Of course, you were long gone by the time the police came. There was no evidence you were involved—they couldn’t catch your face on the security cameras—and Alastair didn’t want to drag the case out when he already had me as the fall guy. Bad publicity, you see. So you got away scot-free.”
I hated the twinge of guilt in my gut. We’d both been in the wrong, and he was the only one who paid for it.
I understood why he was angry, but I also didn’t regret running when I had the chance.
I’d only fallen into the con life because of Max. I’d needed money, and it’d been impossible for me to get a job in town after people found out my own mother kicked me out. She never told anyone why she did so, and the rumors ran wild—everything from me selling drugs to me getting knocked up and losing the baby because of my supposed coke habit. Either way, no one wanted to touch me with a ten-foot pole.
Luckily, I had enough cash saved up to tide me over until I met Max two weeks after being kicked out. I’d been sucked in by his looks, charm, and flashy car, and it hadn’t been long before he roped me into running cons with him in Columbus.
But our ski weekend had shattered his spell, and I’d only stayed with him until I had the resources to leave Ohio for good. My acceptance to Thayer and Alastair’s cash gave me what I needed, and I snuck away the night after we broke into my stepfather’s mansion.
I hopped on a midnight bus to Columbus, bought the next flight to D.C., and never looked back.
“You might think I’m upset.” Present Max smoothed a hand over his hair. “I’m not. I’ve had a lot of time to reflect over the years. Become a better person. I’ve learned how to let bygones be bygones. That being said…”
Here it was.
I curled my hands into fists and braced myself for what he had to say next.