“In Ohio?” Max’s smile hardened. “Yeah. We have a lot to talk about.” He flicked a glance around us, but everyone was too busy battling for the bartender’s attention to pay us much mind. Nevertheless, he angled his head toward a dark corner of the club. “Over there.”
I followed him to a quiet hallway near the back exit. It was only steps away from the main club, but it was so dark and hushed it might as well be another world.
I tucked my phone back into my purse, Josh temporarily forgotten, and wiped my palms against my dress.
If I were smart, I would run and never look back, but Max had already tracked me down. Running would only delay the inevitable.
“I’m hurt you didn’t answer my texts,” Max said, never losing his affable expression. “With our history, I expected at least a reply.”
“I have nothing to say to you.” I kept my voice as even as possible despite the shake in my hand. “How did you even find me? How did you get my number?”
He tsked. “Those aren’t the right questions. Ask me why I haven’t reached out until now. Ask where I’ve been the past seven years.” When I didn’t, his face darkened. “Ask me.”
A sick feeling rose in my stomach. “Where have you been the past seven years?”
“Jail, Jules.” His smile didn’t reach the cold, flat plains of his eyes. “I was in jail for what you did. I only got out a few months ago.”
“That’s not possible.” Disbelief constricted my throat. “We got away.”
“You got away. You ran off to Maryland and created a perfect little life for yourself with the money we stole.” A shadow of a snarl rose on Max’s mouth before his expression smoothed again. “You left with no warning and left me to deal with the mess you made.”
I bit back a stinging retort. I didn’t want to provoke him until I figured out what he wanted, but while it was true I’d run off without leaving him so much as a note, we’d hatched the idea to steal from Alastair together. Max was the one who got greedy and deviated from the plan.
“They’ll be back soon.” I glanced around my stepfather’s office, my anxiety a tight knot in my chest. “We have to go now.”
We already had what we came for. Fifty thousand dollars in cash, which Alastair kept in his “secret” safe. He thought no one knew about it, but I’d made a point of exploring every nook and cranny of the mansion when I lived here. That included any places where Alastair may have stashed his secrets. I even figured out his safe combination—0495, the month and year he founded his textile company.
Cracking his safe wasn’t rocket science, and fifty grand wasn’t a secret, but it was a helluva lot of money, even after Max and I split it in half.
That was, if we stayed out of jail. We’d yet to get caught after seven months of pulling jobs in Columbus, but lingering here was just asking for trouble.
“Hold on. I…almost…got it.” Max grunted as he pried open the custom-made lock of the small metal box attached to the safe’s interior. It served as a second layer of security for Alastair’s most prized item: an antique diamond necklace he’d won at an auction several years ago after bidding over a hundred thousand dollars for it.
I already regretted telling Max about the necklace. I should’ve known fifty grand wouldn’t be enough for him. Nothing was enough for him. He always wanted more money, more clout. More, more, more, even if it got him into trouble.
“Leave it,” I hissed. “We can’t even pawn it without leading the authorities right to us. We have to—”
The bright beam of headlights filled the windows and threw a spotlight on our frozen forms. It was followed by the slam of a car door and Alastair’s deep, distinctive voice.
He and my mom went to dinner in the city every Friday, but they usually didn’t return home until ten. It was only nine-thirty.
“Shit!” Panic climbed up my throat. “Leave the fucking necklace, Max. We need to go!”
“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!”