Page 1 of Steal Me (Rebel Hearts Heists 1)
Chapter 1
One Last Job
Kaden
I put my grey Bentley into the park position and barely take a step toward the front door of our off-campus apartment, when I’m almost mowed down by a white Lamborghini Gallardo that comes roaring from literally nowhere and stops barely short of hitting the edge of the curb.
Obviously whoever drives the obnoxiously loud douche-mobile isn’t used to a car that’s so low to the ground because they nearly scrape the bottom of what appears to be their brand new vehicle against the raised edge that marks one of the designated parking spots in front of our door.
The windows of the Lambo are tinted so dark that I only see who it belongs to when River steps out of it and opens the trunk to extract a brown paper bag that he balances precariously between the crook of his elbow and his chest, using his other hand to slam the trunk shut. The paper bag clunks as if there are bottles inside of it and I see the edge of something shiny peeking out:a fucking Iron Man mask.
I’m about to cuss him out for being so careless, when two hundred dollar bills float out of the back pocket of his jeans and sway in the wind like two dead leaves in the crisp fall evening. Is this a fucking joke? I swear the kid is batshit crazy. I look around, suddenly nervous and I’m relieved to find that there’s no one else around, no one who could notice and possibly remember seeing something out of the ordinary. You know … like two hundred dollars casually falling out of some asshole’s back pocket.
“Get the fuck inside! Have you lost your damn mind?” I hiss grabbing his free elbow after snatching the dollar bills from the pavement. His hazel eyes look kinda unfocused, his pupils as huge as two saucers, so I’d know that he was high even without the constant twitch of his nose.
I drag him inside the apartment, through to the living room and as soon as I let him go, he stumbles unsteadily until his ass hits one of the chairs at the dining table. The smell of chili wafts through the open space kitchen and I don’t even have to look to know that Blaine is making his famous chili.Shit!Blaine only cooks when he’s stressed and him being stressed is a big fucking issue to me, it might mean that he’s having second thoughts on tomorrow’s job. I shake it off. We’ll cross that bridge in due time because right now there’s a giant pain in my ass the size of River.
I stand in front of him and throw the two bills on the table, right under his nose. I know the guys had no choice but to let him join us when he found the guns and three duffel bags full of cash butmark my words, if we ever get caught, it’ll be because of River’s crazy ass.
“Dude! What the actual fuck?” His gaze appears empty when he asks me essentially,, what’s up my ass. “What have I done this time, huh Kaden?” He fidgets with the elastic band tying his dark blond man bun and his chin length hair rains over his face, covering his hazy and dull almond shaped hazel eyes. How the hell does this guy get so much pussy? Don’t get me wrong, I understand it … sort of. He has that ‘bad boy’ look that women like to say they hate but I know deep down they fucking love. Hell, the cheerleaders call him Riggins because he vaguely resembles the running back fromFriday Night Lights.If you ask me, I thought he was a douche the minute I saw the fucking man bun but the loser kept hanging around us all the time and now we’re stuck with him.
“Please tell me that the Lambo I just saw you almost crashing against the curb is a rental?” He shakes his head in response to my words and smiles at me, obviously not getting why I’m so pissed off.
“Fuck no! I just bought that baby.” He takes a bottle of bourbon out of the bag and after two failed attempts to open the corked cap, he finally succeeds, takes a swig of the dark amber liquid and offers it to me. I ignore his attempt to distract me and press on.
“What part of ‘lay low’ you don’t get, Rivs? Please tell me you didn’t pay cash for that monstrosity that will draw attention to all of us.” He smirks, probably thinking that he’s about to outsmart me.
“I’m not a fucking idiot, Kaden. I paid cash for the deposit, and before you get in my face again, I only gave them 9k because I know that at ten, they get all suspicious.”
“Really? Because a college student buying a fucking Lambo and taking out wads of hundred dollar bills is totally normal? When we said ‘lay low’ we meant no crazy expenditures, no flashy cars, no cash flying out of your fucking pockets, no driving high and drunk …” I dip my hand into the paper bag and take out the Iron Man mask. “Care to explain what the fuck is this?”
That’s when Blaine walks out of the kitchen and after seeing the mask, yells his brother’s name. “Yo, Royce! Get your ass here. Dinner’s ready and we have a problem.” Royce comes out of his room and thankfully I don’t have to explain why I’m freaking out.
“Rivs, what the fuck?” I fill him in about the supercar parked outside and Royce lowers himself into the chair next to River.
“I thought we talked about not drawing attention?” River rolls his eyes, exasperated at Royce’s tone.
“Then you tell me what’s the fucking point of having six duffel bags full of Benjamins in your room if you can’t spend any of it?”
Royce is about to say something but I beat him to it. “Did you just say that you have nine million bucks in your room? Dude, when we started this, I opened you a bank account at an offshore bank? I thought I explained to always go to a different branch and deposit about a hundred grand. But you’ve kept all the cash in your motherfucking room?”
Blaine snaps at me, “Dude, lower your voice! The neighbors might hear you.” Then he turns back to River. “Why did you keep all that cash, Rivs?”
“I don’t trust banks.”
I sigh and reask my last question, showing the Iron Man mask to the others. “Why the mask?”
“I’m sick of being the only one who doesn’t get to wear one.”
Blaine, always the voice of reason, explains, “Sitting in a Range Rover a block away from a bank during an armed robbery is already risky enough without being even more noticeable than you already are.”
River whines like a three year old, “But we’re the dreaded Avengers gang. Why am I the only one who doesn’t get to wear a mask?”
“Because you’re our driver. Your job is to wait for us without being noticed.” I exchange a look with Royce: there’s no point trying to reason with River when he’s high. He confirms my assumption by proposing to ‘switch places’ next time.
Over my dead body.
I think but all I say out loud is that our agreement is that he drives and we always stick to our agreement. “Sticking to the plan doesn’t get us caught, dude!” This is the thing that annoys the fuck out of me when it comes to River. I don’t trust him to not break rank when he’s under the influence and fuck shit up.
