A Thief for the CEO

Chapter 2: For You

Riley's POV

“Hannah. Come here."

My voice is sweet when I call my sister. My gesture changes. She obediently comes to me. I look at her, making her turn her back to Jinx so I don't have to see his expression of victory. Hannah is trembling, but she remains calm.

My fingers slide down her face. Hannah is the only thing I have in this world, the only thing that matters to me. I will not let anything bad happen to her. Under no circumstances will this man lay a single finger on her.

“Riley, what's wrong?"

She tries to turn to look at Jinx, but I stop her. I grab her by the chin and make her look at me.

“You're going to have to come to work with me today, baby. I'm sorry, could you go to your room and change your clothes? We'll be out in a minute," I tell her. “Get your things and we'll leave as soon as you're ready."

She sighs in relief and nods. Hannah is a good girl. An obedient girl. She does everything I tell her without complaint. That's why she was locked in her room, because she knows that if I'm not home and daddy starts drinking, she must lock the door and not open it until I get home.

She leaves, avoiding the men's gaze. I instead look at them without hesitation. I'm shaking inside, but I won't let him see it.

“Tell me what you want."

Jinx smiles. He knows well what I'm capable of. Ever since I was, little my father taught me to be something no one should be: a thief. And although I don't usually use the things dad taught me in my everyday life, it's true that to get him out of trouble, I've had to use my father's teachings more than once to take what's not mine.

It was the only way to get us all out of trouble.

And of course, Jinx knows that. He's been asking me for years to join his gang. He's always wanted me to be a part of them, but I refused it every time.

“What do you want for this, Jinx?"

I look at him. He smiles. He takes his time going to the fridge and getting another beer. Leaning against the counter, he looks at me with mischief in his eyes.

“I want something valuable, of course," he says.

“Of course," I answer sarcastically.

He takes a sip of beer. He savors it before saying.

“Do you happen to know the name Theodore Maddox?"

I immediately grimace. Of course I do. Maddox is an anonymous entity, in theory, but in a nutshell he's the richest man in all of New York, or so they say.

“What does Maddox have to do with this?" I ask.

Jinx's smile grows wider.

“On Saturday night, Maddox is hosting a private event at his mansion. This event is the talk of the whole city," he says.

“And you want to go?" I answer, raising an eyebrow and crossing my arms. “I can lend you a dress, if you want..."

Jinx laughs. I see the tension in his gang members because of my words, but they don't act against me.

“Funny. But no. What I want is for you to sneak into that party."

Jinx takes a step towards me and looks at me seriously. There's nothing joking about his statement.

“You're going to get into that party. You're going to sneak into Maddox's study and get from his safe the sum your father owes me. Fifteen thousand dollars."

I swallow slowly and try to stay calm.

“Why does it have to be Maddox I'm stealing from? I can get that money for you another way," I say, trying to buy time.

But Jinx shakes his head. One of his long fingers with short, dirty nails twitches in front of me, reinforcing his denial.

“No. The deal is as I ask. Either you crash that party and get me the money, or I take your sister tonight." The smile creeps back on his lips. “You know I can disappear with her. You'll never see her again if I walk out that door with her."

My breathing is slow. My chest puffs out and I straighten my back."

“If I do this for you, you'll have to do something for me in return," I tell him.

Jinx laughs.

“You have guts, kid, don't you?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. “But I'm curious, what do you want in return?"

“If I steal the money for you, you'll have to promise not to let my dad follow me and Hannah when we leave here. We'll leave the following week and neither you, nor your men, or my father, will be able to follow us or look for us."

Silence takes over the room for a moment. My father raises his face to look at me, but is unable to speak.

Hannah comes out of the room then. She comes straight towards me, takes my hand avoiding looking my father in the eye.

Jinx's black eyes linger on Hannah for a moment, but looking at her is all he will be able to do. As soon as I pay my debt to him, I'll get my sister out of here and this shaven-headed, tattooed man will never be able to find us again.

“Will you do what I ask?" I say then.

Jinx clicks his tongue.

“I am a man of my word," he affirms. “Get the money and I will comply with what you ask."

I nod. I squeeze Hannah's hand and without looking back, I pick up my backpack from the floor. The two of us leave the house in the middle of the night.

Silence envelops us. The streets are empty. The night is cold and, in the distance, a dog barks loudly. His barking is the only sound that accompanies our footsteps.

Hannah takes a while before she says.

“What was that, Riley? What happened at home?"

I can't tell her the truth, that my father bet her and lost. My sister is a sensitive child. To confess something similar would traumatize her for life.

I try to smile instead, and I shake my head.

“You know what dad is like," I affirm, not wanting to say anything else.

“He didn't keep his promise," Hannah says, and I notice the slight reproach in her tone.

I nod. What he has done goes beyond breaking a promise. It's unforgivable, but I can't confess that to my sister.

Instead, I say, “We'll get out of here," I promise, and lower my face to look at hers. “The two of us together. Would you like that?"

Hannah looks down at her feet. She is silent for a moment.

“He'll have a hard time without you," she says in a whisper. And I understand perfectly what she means. Without me to get him out of trouble, dad will be in danger as soon as we leave.

We stop. I crouch down in front of Hannah and look at her, placing my hands on her shoulders.

I try to smile, but it's only a grimace. Still, my voice is firm.

“It's time to think about us. Mom would have wanted it that way... That we take care of each other. That we're safe. And at home with Dad, we are not."

She nods. Her eyes fill with tears, but she doesn't shed them. I kiss her on the cheek and give her a quick hug before letting her go and setting off again.

“Everything will be fine," I promise. “But I need you to think about where we could go. It has to be somewhere sunny. Somewhere where we can be happy."

She thinks about it for a moment and then says, “Texas?"

Dad is from Texas. His sisters are still there, but I don't get along with any of my aunts. They are, to put it lightly, religious bitches who would raise Hannah like a nun, abstaining her from even watching some TV, and drown me in holy water at the very moment I swear.

“Try another destination," I say with a frown.

“Canada!" she answers immediately. Mom was from Canada. Our grandparents are supposed to still be there, but we don't know. We've never had contact with them.

“Canada sounds good, although for now, we don't have the money to get there."

She looks down. I bump my shoulder against hers to encourage her.

“We'll think of something, okay?"

I smile and she nods. I wrap an arm around my sister as she tells me her theories and plans.

There's no way I'll let her know that our father has sold her, as if she's worthless. I will get her out of here and together we will start a new life.

I just have to steal from the richest man in town if I want to do it. Just that and then we can leave.

It may not be the easiest task to accomplish. But for my sister's sake, it's worth a try.