I wanted to be a better person for her.
Lying in bed, I felt like I almost was.
I wanted that to last forever.
Chapter Twenty-One: Rebecca
The sun was already starting to dip in the sky as I climbed out of the car and made my way into the Blue. My work clothes felt a little scratchy, almost like they were wool, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that they didn’t fit me right. It was probably just nerves, but I felt hot and uncomfortable.
I pushed into the back door and nodded at a girl I met last week. I began to put my stuff in a little locker, moving slowly.
I had gotten in early with the intention of stealing a key. I couldn’t believe I had agreed to it, but the dinner rush was the busiest time, and my shift was supposed to start just a few minutes into it.
Which meant that the best time to sneak into the office to grab a key was right away.
I had never done anything remotely like this in my entire life. I lived the straight and narrow. I was a good girl.
But Reid needed my help. And I knew that our parents needed my help, too, even if they didn’t know it themselves.
It was crazy. What was I doing? I felt like I was risking my life.
Blue wasn’t a twenty-four hour diner, which I was really glad about. It closed around midnight every night and opened again at four-thirty, just barely enough time for people to get some sleep if they had a double shift. But that meant there would be a window for Reid to break in and rob the place.
I sighed, leaning up against the bank of lockers. Nobody was back in the employee area, probably because they were too busy taking orders and bussing tables. I knew the manager, Marla, would be up front for the next three hours at least.
How sure was he that the mob owned the Blue? I couldn’t imagine that Reid would just rob the place for no reason. Everything I learned about him proved over and over that he wasn’t motived by money alone, but that he was trying his best for his family. Still, what if he was wrong?
Shit, Becca, it’s now or never,
I thought to myself, imagining Reid’s cocky grin.
The past few days had been such a whirlwind of conflicting emotions, and I still wasn’t sure how I felt as I moved across the room, heading toward the office. I wanted Reid, wanted him in a deep way, and was clearly willing to help him out, even if that meant robbing some mobsters.
But what did that really mean? How far was I really willing to go for him?
As I put my hand on the doorknob of the office, it dawned on me. I already knew how far he was willing to take things. He was willing to sacrifice everything, to put himself in dangerous and even deadly positions just to make sure his family was taken care of.
And I had to do the same thing for him. He had to get away from those mobsters if he was ever going to open up and live his own life.
Even Cora knew he needed it.
And I could help him. All I needed to do was open the door and grab the key. I knew exactly where it was hanging. Nobody would notice if the spare went missing for a few hours.
After all he had done for me, all he had done for everyone, I knew what the right answer was.
I turned the knob. The door pushed open with a soft click.
The office was a cramped, air-conditioned little cubicle, mostly dominated by a safe and a desk. I hardly had space to shut the door behind me and turn back around without bumping into anything.
Which was why it was so shocking when I heard her voice.
“Becca?”
I froze.
I was caught.
They knew what I was doing.
They knew I was Reid’s stepsister and that he was their enemy.
I looked down toward the voice.
My heart was hammering in my chest.
I was fucked.
I was terrified that they were going to kill me. Worse, I was terrified they were going to kill Reid and my dad and Cora, all because I was too stupid to knock first.
Crouching down on the floor in front of the safe was Lindsey.
“What are you doing?” she asked me.
I cocked my head to one side. What the hell was she
doing? It took me half a second to notice that the safe was open and her hands were shoved inside of it.
“Uh,” I stuttered, shocked. “I was looking for next week’s schedule.”
“It’s not posted yet,” she said, frowning.
“Oh. What are you doing?”
Quickly, she did something in the safe that I couldn’t see and then slammed it shut, turning the little dial a few times. She stood up, her face a cool, calm mask.
“Marla asked me to check on something.”
“In the safe?”
She shrugged. “Yeah, in the safe. Got a problem?” She seemed angry that I was asking questions.
Her sudden aggression surprised me. “No, I mean, that’s fine.”
She pushed past me, throwing open the door. “You should knock next time you barge in somewhere.”