Page 15 of House Rules
Although, the more I think about it, the more I realize that believing they wouldjustkill me is willfully naïve, and a girl like me can’t afford to be naïve.
The Titans would want to make an example of me, just like the men who came to my trailer last night want to do. Con has no affection for me anymore. I killed that when I broke up with him. He would rejoice in my downfall.
I look around the resort floor. People walk past, not even seeing me as they pass, dressed in their designer clothes with diamonds practically dripping from their ears and their necks. I’m guessing the watches on their wrists are worth truly ridiculous amounts of money.
Maybe there’s a third option.
Stealing the money is the only way to get as much as I need as quickly as I need it.
I don’t have the experience, knowledge, or desire to rob a bank, and I don’t possess the nerve or the stupidity to rob a Titan, but maybe it doesn’t have to be a single theft?
Maybe today, as I work on cleaning the rooms of these pampered, privileged people, I’ll steal little things—some jewelry, a single earring here, an extra watch there—things they’ll think they dropped somewhere or they didn’t pack for this trip.
If I’m smart, I should be able to steal enough to pay off the mob and start my life somewhere new.
Hope begins to burn, a tiny flame flickering deep in my gut as I look at the resort’s clientele with neweyes. It won’t be as much as I’d get from Con’s watch, but maybe…just maybe…it will be enough.
The first three rooms I clean have nothing of value. I don’t know if it’s because I’m cleaning rooms for people who actually use the safe, or if it’s just luck of the draw.
On the fourth room, I have my first score.
Ironically enough, it’s another watch. This one is a woman’s watch, gold with small diamonds set into the watch face and the name Tiffany’s scrolled at the bottom.
I don’t know shit about watches, but even I know what that Tiffany’s logo signifies.
More money than sense.
I stare at it for several minutes. It’s so beautiful, the gold gleaming in the light, tempting me to take it. Just tuck it in my bra and just continue about my day like nothing is happening. Like I didn’t just become a thief.
Hand shaking, I pick it up from where it rests next to a pile of clothing on top of the dresser. The watch feels hot against my palm, and try as I may to tuck it away, I just can’t make my hand move.
Is this really who I am? How low I’ve sunk?
It’s not stealing if they don’t even notice. Not really. Not when the people staying here think ten thousand dollars is pocket change. This watch—this single watch—might be worth more than my entire life has ever added up to.
My father would have taken it without hesitation. He also would have been fired for stealing within a week of getting the job, assuming he ever showed up in the first place.
But I’m not my father. And although I’ve lived my scant years poor and wanting, I’ve never been a thief. Or a liar. Is this truly who I am now?
I think back to those two men and their sneering faces as Baldy groped my body. I shudder, remembering the greedy squeeze of his hands.
Funny how the memory of them wrote right over the remembrance of the pleasure I received at Con’s hands, replacing it with something vile and dirty.
Yeah, this is who I am now.
My fingers clench around the watch, and I close my eyes briefly. Then, resolved, I move to slide it intomy bra. It’s halfway there when the door opens, making me jump, and the watch falls to the floor.
“Hey.” Sarah, another maid, offers me a bright smile. Her eyes flicker to the watch, but she doesn’t comment on it. “The big boss wants to see you.”
“Alice?” I ask, frowning. I just saw my shift manager…like…five minutes ago. Did she somehow know what I was planning? Some of the maids joke about her having eyes in the back of her head, but this is ridiculous.
“No, Mr. Masterson. The big boss.” Her eyes widen in emphasis as she says the word big. “I don’t know why, but he wants you up in his office.”
“Okay, I’ll head up there as soon as I’m done with this room.” I give her a smile that strains the corners of my mouth.
“I wouldn’t keep him waiting if I were you.” She leaves with a shrug of her shoulders.
As soon as the door closes behind her, I bend and pick up the watch, then place it back where I found it. I make the bed with quick, practiced movements and push the cart out into the hallway.
