Damian nods as Noah and Rivers grunt their confirmation. “Good. We meet back at the top of the driveway at 2:45. Don’t be late.”
We all nod and as we go to run toward the house, Rivers calls out, his eyes staring into mine. “Hey, don’t try to be a hero, okay? That’s how people get hurt.”
“Got it,” I tell him just seconds before Slade tugs on my hand, pulling me along.
Rivers and Noah break off to the south, aiming for the back staff entrance while we head to the north which will give us access by the pool.
We run and to be honest, most of it is spent with Slade and Damian having to pull me along. The property is huge and it takes nearly the whole seven minutes to get to the house. I’ve never noticed how long it would actually take to run this before. Growing up, if I needed to get around the property, I would take the golf cart. There’s only ever been twice where I’ve run out of here and both times there was too much desperation coursing through my veins to notice how long it took. This time, my head is screwed on straight and I have my boys with me.
We reach the back entrance with a minute to spare and I lean up against the side of the house, trying to catch my breath. Once we’re in there, we’re going to have to be quiet. I don’t want to get sprung before we get a shot at ending this.
I watch the clock and the second it hits 2:30 am, I hash in the alarm code, making it possible for us all to get in. The little red dot beeps three times and I hold my breath, hoping to God that the code hasn’t changed. It finally turns green and relief sails through me.
“We’re good,” I say, grabbing the handle and pushing the door open.
We sneak in and I try to ignore the way Damian looks around the house as though he’s in some kind of fairytale, absolutely mesmerized by the sheer size of it. These guys wouldn’t have seen anything like this in Aston Creek, only ever in movies, and that’s if they were ever watching the movie. I’m assuming guys like Slade and Damian are more inclined to use a movie as an excuse to get their freak on.
We make our way through the main part of the house and I lead them to the stairs, having complete trust that Rivers and Noah are doing their part. Shit is going to go down and while this is all going to be on me, I don’t want any innocents getting hurt during this.
We walk through the great hall when Damian stops and stares up at the statue of Maria. “The fuck is this?” he whispers. “What kind of rich bitch has a statue of herself inside their home?”
I roll my eyes. “You’d be surprised.”
Damian shakes his head then steps up to the statue, roaming his eyes over every inch. “Is this thing to scale?” he questions, looking over the statue’s tits.
I nod. “Uh-huh. The nose isn’t though. Maria wanted it smaller but she’s already had three surgeries on it and the doctors wouldn’t operate on it anymore. So, she admires this nose every day rather than looking in the mirror at her own.”
“Welcome to the sad, sad lives of the rich and famous,” Damian murmurs, stepping into the statue and having a good feel of its titties. “Damn. These have got to be fake.”
“They are.”
“Can we get a move on?” Slade demands. ‘We’re going to run out of time if you insist on feeling up every statue in the house. I’m sure there’s probably one of Lucien’s cock if you want to find that.”
“It’s in the master bathroom,” I confirm.
Damian gawks, looking back at me. “For real?”
“Unfortunately.”
His eye catches something over my shoulder and he grins wide as Slade and I turn around to see what he’s found. Damian cuts through between us until he’s standing at the side of the room, staring down at a bowl of the most expensive jewelry he’s ever seen.
His eyes light up like Christmas morning and I let out a low groan. Maria likes to meet with her jewelers in the great hall as it has the best lighting in the house and from the looks of it, she must have met with them today and the staff has neglected to put her priceless things away. I’m sure someone’s going to lose their job over that, but it’s not my problem to think about.
I see the devilish plan inside of Damian’s mind as he picks up a diamond necklace and dangles it between his fingers. “Nessa would really like this,” he says, glancing back at me and Slade, knowing that what he’s thinking is bad and waiting for one of us to tell him that we’re not going to hold it against him.