Chapter 24
Oliver
Isaw her shut down before my very eyes once I had told her what I’d been keeping from her. I followed her from room to room as she panick-dressed.
I tried to explain, but I could tell she wasn’t hearing me. She was lost in her own thoughts. My words weren’t even sinking in. She couldn’t get away from me fast enough.
The thing was, I couldn’t go after her either. That was the whole reason I had to tell her to begin with: to give her a chance to turn around and run away from me as fast as possible. She wanted to start over. She wanted away from the life of crime she’d been forced into.
Then she ran right into me. More trouble.
Being with me wouldn’t have been starting over for her. It would’ve been one problem leading right into another. She deserved better than me, and she finally saw it.
Even though I knew all of that, it didn’t make the situation any easier.
I missed her. She’d been gone for fifteen minutes, and I was still standing in the same place I was when she walked out that door.
I couldn’t go after her, but I couldn’t turn and sit down either because turning away meant that I was giving up.
I wouldn’t give up. Not if I could help it.
I relived every moment we’d spent together in that time. She was gone, but my mind refused to believe it. Instead, it decided to pacify me by replaying the moment our two worlds collided.
I thought about us hiking through the woods together in the rain.
I thought about that damn goat named Kevin.
I actually laughed out loud when I pictured her with goat shit in her hair.
I thought about getting to hold her as we slept in the hay, and how it felt getting to kiss her, how neither of us wanted to stop, and only did because we were nearly caught trespassing.
I remembered the first time we finally had sex, and how I knew instantly that I’d fallen in love with her, how I knew I wanted her for the rest of my life.
I hated that it took me so long to admit it. I hated that I still hadn’t uttered those three words to her. And I thought I’d never get the chance to again.
I don’t know how long I stood there, waiting for her to change her mind and come running back, but when my legs started to hurt, and my toes were numb, I finally turned and walked over to the bed, where I collapsed onto the mattress.
I hated that I was being a little bitch.
It was a fucking breakup, people do it all the time.
It wasn’t even a breakup because we were just fucking around. We didn’t have anything official.
I told myself to stop acting like a bitch. I still had shit to do. Granted, it was going to be a whole lot harder without her distracting the valet drivers so I could swipe the keys, but it was whatever. I’d already made the deal. I had to deliver.
I pushed myself up and headed to the bathroom to get a shower to kill some time.
It was still too early to even think about grand theft auto.
I’d move forward with my plans even though my partner in crime wasn’t with me.
I’d shower, get dressed, and go for breakfast. I’d do a little recon, make sure everything had fallen into place, and then I’d move forward with the actual stealing of the car.
I’d deliver it and hit the bricks. I had a life to get started on, with or without her.
I kept my mind busy with the daily motions, but eventually I ran out of things to do.
I had just arrived at the event center when the burner phone inside my pocket began to buzz.
I knew it could only be one of three callers: my boss, who was making sure shit was happening, Amelia, or a wrong number.
I pulled the phone from my pocket, praying it was Amelia.
“Hello?” I answered, putting the phone to my ear as I stood outside the building where the event was being held.
“Oliver, they—” Amelia yelled, her voice cracking.
My blood ran cold as realization hit me.
“That’s enough,” a man said.
“You touch one hair on her head and I’ll—”
“You’ll what?” Bossman replied.
“What the fuck are you doing with her?”
“She’s just a little insurance policy.”
“Insurance policy? I’m here now. I’ll have your car soon. Let her go.”
“I’ve been doing some thinking, and yeah, that car you’re about to lift would be nice, but I don’t think it’s worth the price.”
“It’s not going to cost you a damn thing,” I spit.
“But it is. It’s going to cost me my best employee. This car would bring in a couple of million, sure, but if I have you, I can bring in a couple of million a day. See where I’m going with this, kid?”
“It’s not fucking happening. I told you, I’m done. I want out.”
“Yeah, nice try, but that’s not how that works. I say when you’re done.”
I tightened my free hand into a fist at my side as I clenched my jaw in anger. The rage in my blood was raising my blood pressure, and my vision was starting to blur.
“So, how’s this going to go then? I bring you this car, promise to do all your dirty work, and you let her go? Is that it?”
“Fuck that car. You have one hour to trade your life for hers. If you aren’t here by noon, you won’t have to worry about her leaving you because you’ll be cleaning her brains off the concrete.
Same location as the drop-off point. Come alone, and don’t sound any alarms. If I even smell a donut, I’ll shoot her and leave her for dead. Tick-tock, Oliver.” The call was ended.
“Fuck,” I cursed under my breath as I slid the phone into my pocket.
It wasn’t a question of whether I was going to go. Of course, I was going to go. I’d gladly trade my life for hers any day of the week, no matter if we were together or not.
The question was: what would I do once I got there?
I wasn’t stupid enough to believe that he’d actually let her go.
Believing that was about as stupid as believing I could trade my freedom for one car.
And then I wondered what he actually planned on doing with me.
He wouldn’t shoot me, not if he wanted me to keep jacking cars for him, but I highly doubted that he trusted me the way he once did.
Fuck, maybe it was all a ploy to get me there just so he could kill me. When bossman was done with you, you were done with life. He very rarely let someone stay alive once business was done. It meant trusting that the person wouldn’t roll over on him, and he didn’t trust easily.
I knew I should have stayed away from the Russian cocksucker.
Then again, I had found myself back in the same spot I was in when Crash’s dad was caught in the crosshairs. I just wanted out. I didn’t care if I achieved that, being dead or alive. I didn’t have much to live for without her anyway. So as long as he let her go, I didn’t care what he did with me.
I took a deep breath and turned away from the building that held the two-million-dollar car, hating myself more than before. If I had just kept my mouth shut, Amelia would’ve been with me, and we would’ve been stealing the car that would take us to our new lives.
Instead, I did exactly as she asked. I grew a fucking conscience, and she left me for it, putting herself right in their clutches. A bitter chuckle fell from my lips: the thief grew a conscience. It was almost comical. More like my own bad karma coming back to bite me in the ass.
It didn’t matter what I thought of the situation. Nothing changed it. I’d already fucked up, chased her away, and was headed straight to people who wanted to hurt us both. I didn’t give it a second thought. I pushed myself forward and started on my way. I was on a time crunch.
I walked down the crowded sidewalk that lined the clubs, hotels, and tourist attractions. Even with it being early in the day, people were out and about. Women pranced in designer clothes, while their rich counterparts wore fancy watches and expensive cell phones.
I felt like I was one of the only normal people in the area, but that helped me out because rich people usually didn’t pay much attention to anything that didn’t concern them or make them richer.
I ducked into an alley and walked to the backside of the businesses where the employees parked.
That’s where I found the cars that were easy to jack, the cars I didn’t have to worry about being tracked.
I thought about the good old days when my biggest problem was a fucking alarm.
That was nothing compared to all the smart cars that were taking over the market.
But for every person working to make things harder on thieves, there were ten thieves creating tools and software to make our jobs easier. It was a never-ending cycle.
I broke in and hotwired a black, two-door Toyota.
I was pulling away from the curb before anyone even knew what happened.
I hoped the person who owned the car hadn’t noticed it was missing for a couple of hours.
I didn’t need to get pulled over on my way to Skyrocket, and I didn’t want any police noticing the car after I parked it at the meeting location.
When I hit the highway, I stepped on the gas a little harder, making up for lost time.
I didn’t see the road in front of me. I didn’t notice the other vehicles on the road.
I didn’t look to my future—that was still up in the air anyway.
All I saw on my drive was my girl. I saw the way her blue eyes would light up when she’d laugh, how they’d darken when I was moving inside her, how they’d twinkle with amusement when she was giving me a hard time.
I could hear her laugh echoing throughout my head.
I could feel the warmth of her body against mine.
As long as she had freedom, that was all that mattered.
But I wasn’t willing to walk into a trap, so when I got close to the location we were set to meet, I ditched the car and finished the distance on foot.
I hid in the shadows across the street, watching the building.
It was quiet. Nobody was coming or going, and there weren’t any windows that I could see through.
I knew that when I walked into that warehouse, I had no idea who or how many were on the other side of that door.
I could’ve walked in to just bossman and Crash, or I could’ve walked into a warehouse full of police, ready to lock me up and throw away the key. It was a risk I had to take.
I was squatted in the shadows with my back against a brick wall.
I rested my elbows on my knees and ran my hands over my head and face, massaging the stress away.
With one last deep breath, I stood and started across the street with heavy steps of determination.
I put one foot in front of the other, not thinking about what could happen.
I kept my eye on the prize: Crash. I took her father’s life.
I owed her, and that’s all there was to it.
I pressed my ear against the wooden door and listened.
I didn’t hear anything from the other side.
I grabbed the handle on the door and pulled it to the right, sliding it across the track until it was open enough to step through.
Directly in front of the door was Crash.
She was sitting in a chair in the middle of the floor.
She wasn’t beaten up or bruised. She wasn’t tied up or gagged.
She was just sitting there, hands in her lap, like she was just patiently waiting for something.
“Crash,” I breathed as I lifted my foot to start in her direction. I lowered my foot and froze when I heard the cocking of a gun. Turning my head to my right, I found myself staring down the barrel of a gun. Looking further, I found the gun in the hand of one of the bossman’s lackeys.
“Not so fast,” he said in his deep baritone voice.
“Right on time. Just like I knew you would be.” Bossman’s voice called out.
I turned to see Bossman come into view. He was walking toward me, but he stopped at Amelia’s side.
“I’m here, so you can let her go,” I said thickly.
He gave a lopsided smirk as he turned to look down at her. He was younger. Probably not much older than me. Russian. A real fucking prick.
He lifted his hand in her direction, and I took a step closer.
“Don’t fucking touch her,” I warned.
I was held in place when I felt the barrel of the gun touch my temple.
Bossman smirked and dragged his knuckles across her cheek. “I see now why she has such a hold on you. She is breathtaking, isn’t she?” He looked over at me.
My hands tightened into fists at my sides, unable to take a step without worrying about being shot.
“Her daddy knew what he was doing by keeping her out of this side of his life.” He pursed his lips and shook his head. “He must have known the power of those blue eyes. Let me guess, you look like your mother?” He looked down at her.
She just glared at him with narrowed eyes, her bottom lip wobbling.
“I can’t help but feel a little protective myself. I mean, I was close with your father, you know.” He glanced at me and back to her. “What are you doing messing around with this loser? You know your dad wouldn’t approve.”
“Go to hell, Hail,” she spat at him.
He snatched her up by her hair, pulling her to her feet. She didn’t make a sound, but I jumped forward only to be hit with the butt of the gun. My brow instantly busted and started to bleed as I fell to my knees from the dizzying hit.
“Luckily for you, I know how to keep my word. I’ve got someone to punish, suka. You’d better get out of here before I change my mind.” He shoved her toward the door.
She stumbled but stayed upright as she walked my way. I grabbed her wrist, stopping her at my side.
When her eyes met mine, I said, “I know I fucked up. I know I should have told you when I put it all together. I’m sorry I didn’t.
I was scared. I didn’t want to lose you.
” I breathed out, my voice trembling. “I love you, Amelia, and if this is the only way I can show it, it’s what I’ll do.
Go, get out of here before he changes his mind. ”
Her brows knitted together as doubt crossed her face, but she didn’t reply. She just pulled her arm free from my grasp and stepped out the door the moment it was pulled open for her.
Like that, she was gone, and it was just me and the mess I’d created for myself.