Page 31 of Steal Me (Rebel Hearts Heists 1)
Chapter 13
Wanted
Sloane
Our taxi leaves us in front of our hotel and I follow River into the elevator without uttering a word. It’s not because of my fear of elevators, I’m deep in thought and I want to weigh my words carefully before I speak next. River has opened up to me and if anyone can understand how much that cost him, that’s definitely me. All his promises that he cared earlier on left me skeptical and quite cold, sure that he was trying to bullshit me into believing him. Then I saw him with Josie and I understood. Or at least I think I understand. We find our suite still empty: the others haven’t returned from all their errands and I’m relieved because I doubt that River would talk in front of them.
“This is why you’re doing it, isn’t it?”
His stare is blank and his voice is just above a whisper.
“Why I’m doing what?” I take a step closer to him but I don’t touch him, not yet. I get how vulnerable he feels right now because I’ve been there with him and with the others a lot more than I care to admit since this whole mess began.
“This is why you’re in pre-med and this is why you’re robbing banks.” He sits down at the wrought iron and glass table in the living room area, swiping an inked hand over his face.
“So what if it is? It doesn’t make it better. It sure as hell doesn’t make me a saint, Sloane. Do you know why the others don’t trust me to go in with them but I’m relegated to driving? Because when I joined them for the first time and I did go in, I almost shot a security guard. They are right that I’m a ticking time bomb, kitten. When I stumbled upon the money in Kaden’s room, I thought about stealing it. But I needed half a million, it’s not like I could just stuff it in my pocket, right? Plus, it takes a poor guy to know one and there was no way that there was a legit reason why Kaden had all that cash in his room. I’m at UCLA on a football scholarship, Kaden is using his G.I. bill. So I just watched him until he eventually led me to Royce and Blaine. I don’t know why they do it and I don’t fucking care. I paid Keira’s medical bills, I’m paying for all the next surgeries and I should have enough to start a college fund for my niece. That is why I am doing this.”
I take his hand, standing in front of him, looking into his gorgeous hazel eyes and he holds my gaze head on, almost defiantly. “Kitten, I need you to keep this between us. They already think I’m crazy, I don’t want them to think that I’m also weak.”
I trace the spider web tattoo on his neck. “Loving someone doesn’t make you weak, River.”
He shakes his blond head. “It doesn’t even make me a knight in shining armor or someone my sister and niece could ever be proud of. Keira thinks I’ve been drafted into the NHL and got an advance or something.”
“Ok, so maybe she wouldn’t understand but do you think the others wouldn’t either?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know and it doesn’t really matter. The less we know about why each of us is doing this, the easier it will be to walk away from it when this is all over. Let them think that I love the thrill and I want to buy fast cars and blow and hookers. It’s easier this way. After all, the brothers come from money, it’s clear from how they dress, talk, conduct themselves. Kaden might be an even crazier motherfucker than me. Maybe he was tired of risking his ass in some war ridden country for a government paycheck. Who knows? What matters is that Josie is taken care of.”
I look at him again, his strong body still clad in the dark blue scrubs. He looks hot and dangerous at the same time. I want to touch him but I know how I want to keep my distance when I feel vulnerable and after last night, I couldn’t take it if he rejected me.
“River.”
“Yes, kitten?”
“I believe you. When you say that you care. After all this? I believe you.”
And he pulls me down on his lap but to my surprise, he doesn’t kiss me. He surrounds me with his arms and flicks on the flat screen TV facing the table and chairs.
“Let’s watch a movie, huh? Something funny. Maybe order room service?” I nod, content to just be with him right now. We begin watching Jeopardy, competing for who gives the most right answers and eating the burgers delivered by room service. We’re head to head, tied and with one last question to determine who wins between us, when the game show is interrupted by one of those police alerts.
There’s one headshot on a split screen: it’s me on the top part of the screen, all the photos look like the same photos of our college IDs. A red banner above it says: WANTED for armed robbery, grand theft auto and assault on a federal agent. At the bottom of the screen, I see River, Kaden, Royce and Blaine and they’re wanted for armed robbery.
River and I look at each other. “Fuck!” We say it in unison, trying to process the enormity of what that means. Pierce must’ve finally reported us.
“You were right, River. You should’ve killed me. They had no idea who was robbing those banks until you took me and that put Pierce on your case.” River’s gaze is fixed on the TV and his arm tightens around my waist.
He whispers against my ear, his warm breath makes me shiver against his muscled chest. “We need to do something, or we’ll never make it to Washington.” With that strong arm still tightly banded around my waist, he leans down, lifts the leg of his scrubs pants and extracts a long, sharp blade from inside his boot. He lifts it and I instinctively close my eyes, expecting to feel that cold blade somewhere on my body.
But the contact never comes, instead I hear a swishing noise and open my eyes just in time to see River take the knife to his head and after letting go of me, grabbing the bun on top of his head and cutting it with one single swipe of the blade. He lets his hair fall on the floor, his eyes still fixed on the screen.
“River, what the fuck!” I gasp.
“We need to change the way we look. Maybe change our hair color, we need to look different than those photos.”
My heart is still thundering in my chest and my pupils must look dilated in horror because River understands immediately what I thought. “Kitten, did you think I was gonna hurt you?”
I don’t say anything, I don’t know what I thought. My mind didn’t catch up fast enough after the shock of what he just did, but yeah, my physical reaction was consistent with feeling in danger. “I—”
He stands up abruptly, making the chair capsize onto the floor and pulling me up on my feet. “Damn it, kitten. No.”
