Aura Finley

From the very beginning, I had this hunch that Rian herself may bring some sort of hindrance to our plan. Her standing before us, anxious and trembling–just a day before the D-Day– lived up to my expectations.

I eyed her suspiciously. "What problem?" I questioned, making sure to maintain my calm and not to show the apprehension inside me out on my face.

Her hands reached for her hair to brush it back as she anxiously rocked back and forth on her feet. Alarmed by her movements, my gaze switched to Kian who stood beside me, only to find him staring at me in bewilderment. I shrugged, narrowing my eyes at him, silently rebuking him again for taking up the task.

He turned his gaze back to Rian and stepped forward. "Would you stop rocking and tell us what's the matter?"

She stopped. "I—my dad," She huffed. "Apparently, my dad had been sniffing after me and he...he suspected my intentions of running away. He has my cards blocked." 

Kian spoke, "We will help you flee anyhow. Don't worry about that."

She groaned, throwing her hands up in the air like an infant. "Oh, c'mon guys, this is much fucked up than it appears to be."

"Explain to me what it has to do with the escape?" I inquired. She must have cashed the money she required by now?

She hesitated a bit but anyhow opened her mouth. "I have no money on me. I'm left with nothing!"

"What?" Kian and I shouted in unison, shocked.

"Yes, I have no single penny—"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait," I raised my hand to stop her from speaking any further as I pushed Kian back and stood closer to her.

"You mean to say...that you were going to escape the very next day and hadn't cashed out money yet?"

When she didn't reply, I growled at her. "Are you for real?! When were you going to cash out? After you had escaped? Have you lost your mind or have you been planning to be traced? Were you trying to have us caught?"

I felt someone grab my upper arm from behind. "Calm down, Aura," Kian mumbled as he pulled me away from Rian.

I swiftly turned to face him and yelled. "Calm down?! How can I when I have an idiot to deal with? Can you believe she—" I shut my eyes. My anger was taking over me.

I couldn't believe her. How could she have been so damn stupid?

"Listen, Aura, I accept that I committed a mistake but you don't have to be so harsh on me." I heard her state firmly.

I was furious and was about to set her straight when Kian held me firmly, shaking his head, gesturing me not to say anything. Still, I faced her but did not utter a word. Only if looks could kill, she would be lying in the casket by now.

She took a few deep breaths, her gaze became gentle. However, her composure remained uneasy. "Guys, I can't go back in time and fix it but I want your help because I don't have money to even pay you your remaining amount."

My eyes turned wide and Kian groaned. "Fuck!"

"Listen, I can still pay you and have money for myself as well but I am going to need your help in it." Rian quickly added.

"How do you think we can help you get the money?" Kian questioned her. I could feel disappointment in his voice. It was good actually; he needed to see the real face of her since he trusted her every word.

Rian nervously stroked her fingers through her hair, her confidence slowly seemed to waver, and her body appeared to tremble. The only question that resonated in my head was...what. What could she have in mind that made her tremble before us?

"You have got to help me steal from my dad's locker."

An unexpected gasp left my throat upon hearing what she had uttered. She did not. She did not just ask us to help her steal!

"We what?" I stuttered as I met my gaze with her. Kian was equally stunned.

"You heard me the first time." She sighed.

Scoffing, I licked my lips in exasperation,  pressed my hand on my forehead, and turned my back to her to take a deep, calming breath.

I remained standing with my back on her as she spoke to Kian. "Kian, understand this, you two have to help me if you want your money because either way, with money or without it, you are to make me flee from here."

I sharply turned to her. "NO! THE ANSWER IS NO! Who do you think we are? We are not criminals!"

She had the audacity to laugh in this intense situation. "Well, Aura, what delusional world are you living in? You are a criminal. You do assist people to escape. Illegally."

I had had enough of her damn egotistical behavior and was about to charge on her but was stopped by Kian. "Hey, hey, hey, girls, wait."

He came and stood in between us. "This is no time to argue. This is the time to act." He then faced her. "And Rian I am going to have to warn you not to insult our job. 'cause our this illegal job, as you put it, is the only thing that's going to help you out. So mind your words."

Her gaze turned soft towards him and I swear I stopped myself from beating the hell out of her. How dare she misbehave with me and very next moment act innocent with Kian.

"Kian, I'm sorry, I really am. I am just stressed and I don't have any clue what I'm speaking. Trust me." She then moved closer to me. "Sorry, Aura. Please help me out? I request you. Please."

I averted my gaze from her. I would not stoop so low to commit a certified offense. 

"I wouldn't steal," I stated firmly.

She quickly added. "You won't have to. That's on me, I swear. All you have to do is just guard me while I do so."

Jesus, was she even listening to herself?

When I refused to answer, she pleaded with Kian and his response had me whip my head in his direction in utter surprise mixed with disappointment.

"We'll do it."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, Kian. I knew you wouldn't say no."

I did not pay mind to Rian's thank you song. My gaze, my ears, and my mind were stuck on Kian, who said something unbelievably unexpected.

"Kian—" I was about to say something when he spoke, holding me by my arm.

"Rian if you don't mind, I'll like to have a word with Aura... in private. Excuse us."

With that, he dragged me aside, at a notable distance from Rian where she couldn't hear us, but of course, she could watch us with her hawk eyes.

"What's wrong with you, Kian!" I snapped, yanking my arm from his hold. "Why did you agree to be a part of a crime. She asked us to steal the money from her dad, for crying out loud!"

He groaned while rubbing his face with his palms. "Aura, Aura, Aura, she did not ask us to steal. She wants us to guard her while she does so."

My mouth agape, I stared at him in disbelief. "You don't find anything wrong in it? She'll have us caught, Kian! We work by staying low, not by flashing ourselves to the world!"

"I know. I know." He gently held my shoulders. "But Aura, it's the money we are talking about. We work for money and we definitely can't let that money slip out of our hands."

Huffing, I averted my eyes. Yes, I needed the money. We needed the money, but it didn't just feel right.

I felt Kian cupping my face, making me look at him. "We have come this far, we certainly wouldn't leave without the money. Besides, if she's saying she'll steal the money, she must know the risk involved. She wouldn't want to get caught, and neither do we."

"Fine," I exclaimed as I swatted his hands away from my face and took a step back, making him look at me in confusion.

I flicked my gaze to Rian, who intently watched us. At that moment, I had the urge to give a tight slap on her face for casting a magical spell on Kian, which didn't allow him to decline any task given by her. I couldn't completely blame her, she was desperate to escape, however, it was Kian to be blamed. He must know to differentiate between right and wrong.

"Do whatever you feel is right. But keep me out of it."

With that said, I stormed away and silently entered my room, not wanting to disturb Vinnie in her sleep. However, after five minutes in bed, I tossed and turned God knows how many times. The thought of Kian being alone with her terrified me.

What if her imprudent behavior pushed Kian into some danger? What if they got caught? What if she framed him for stealing from her father?

No, no, no, no! I couldn't let Kian be pushed into the danger alone. I had got to save him.

I hastily stood from my bed and stealthily made my way out. Once out of the house, I took every step with caution, surveying the area for the presence of guards. I could make it to the safe side of the manor but the problem in front of me was to enter the manor. How could have I done it?

All I knew was Rian's father's room was in the farthest corner of the second floor. The walls of the manor didn't have any support to help me climb on it from outside. Therefore, I was left with no choice but to enter from the front doors. But guards were standing there. How the hell did Rian manage to sneak him inside in their presence? For all I knew, she wouldn't risk sneaking Kian in openly.

I stood with my back against the wall of the manor for good two minutes to come up with an excuse to give to the guards but couldn't think of any. And I couldn't just keep standing out there!

"Fuck it!" I grunted and took a deep breath before making my way to the entrance. I was not giving up until I had made my way inside.

I just had taken a few steps ahead when I saw the absence of guards from the doors, or so I thought since huge pillars were blocking my view. To be on the safer side, I stepped back, glued myself to the wall, and crawled slowly by the wall in order not to get captured by the cameras.

Just when near the doors, I looked to the other side if I was being watched; luckily, I wasn't. However, when I moved a bit ahead, I yelped when I found a guard sitting on the chair next to the pillar. He was sprawled on the chair and had his eyes trained the other way.

I stood there, stunned. My chest heaved heavily and my pulse rate spiked as I watched him sitting over there. However, looking at him for a few seconds, I found him not making any movement, and then I focused on his even breathing and realized he was asleep. So much for being a guard.

"Goddamn it! He wasted my precious time." I grumbled and quickly, without draining another second, I snuck inside, only to get the shock of my life.

Goddamn people were having an alcohol party in there. The living room was crowded with guests chatting and laughing away, lost in their own world. They did not appear to retire to their rooms anytime soon. And yes, I saw Rian's parents drowning in alcohol as well.

Not wanting to gain undesirable attention, I quickly yet calmly hopped on the stairs, keeping my head low. I had only reached the first floor and yelped in horror when I caught the sight of Jonathan and Rob, the bodyguards who had been keeping an eye on me. Fuck!

They were at the far end of the floor leisurely scrutinizing the area whilst chatting away randomly. Ducking while taking a step back on the stairs, I quietly surveyed the area. Thanks to the railing drape for helping me hide from their vision.

Right in front of me, I could see an open room that could help me hide and save myself, but at the moment, my concern was Kian. What if I hid in the room to keep myself on the safer end and the guards climbed up and caught him? I couldn't be that selfish.

I couldn't do that. My hyperactive instincts told me to take the risk and that's what I did. I calculated the number of steps I had to take to ascend the stairs and waited for the guards to look in another direction before sprinting to the stairs. I jumped two steps at a time to climb quickly, my heart pounding a million beats per minute.

My eyes were focused behind me to make sure no one followed me and I was safe when all of a sudden I bumped into someone, hard, making my heart stop. The blood drained down my body, leaving me white and frosty as a ghost.

A gut-wrenching yelp left my throat, however before it could drill the blood out of anybody's ears, a hand clamped my mouth shut and another hand of that particular person circled my waist; all this while, my eyes were closed, I was scared shit-less for getting caught red-handed.

"What the fuck are you doing here?!"

A familiar harsh yet low voice filtered through my ears, making me snap open my eyes. Kian.

____________________________________________

Kian Turner

I held one of the most precious women in my life closer to me, startled to find her there when she clearly stated she wouldn't want to be part of this.

Grunting, she slapped my hand away from her mouth and harshly pushed me back, and shot daggers at me. "You scared the daylights out of  me!"

Her fingers skimmed through her hair as she tugged it in a fist before letting out a sharp breath. "Has she taken out the money she wanted?" She inquired reluctantly.

I nodded my head in response. She glanced over my shoulder probably to look for Rian before switching her gaze back to me. "Where's she?"

Her eyes blazed with fire and her jaw tightened at the mention of Rian. It was an obvious reaction coming from Aura after what Rian did. Admittedly, I was furious with Rian too but I had to drink my anger because my money was at stake.

"She ran back to her room which is across the hallway," I replied casually.

Her forehead creased what it seemed to be in disappointment. "She left you to deal with the people out here alone?! How selfish of her." She whisper-yelled at me.

I quickly grasped her shoulders. "Cheesesteak, I'm fine. The question is, what are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?!" She shrieked lowly, swatting my hands from her shoulders. "I came here to save to royally foolish ass. God knows how worried I was for you."

It was an intense situation we were in since we had to run away before being caught, but a small yet notable smile tugged my lips after listening to what she had just confessed.
She was so worried about me that she risked everything to come and keep me safe.

God, how lucky I was to have her in my life.

She frowned, "What are you smiling for? You—" Before she could complete we heard distinct noises getting louder second after second.

Aura frantically glanced down the stairs, then quickly grabbed my wrist. "John and Rob are coming up here, we gotta run."

She dragged towards her right while I had planned to run to the left from where I had entered the manor. "Aura, not from there—"

She abruptly stopped to sharply face me. "Shut it, Kian. We are gonna do it my way, you getting me?"

She scolded me as though I were a toddler and damn boy was that hot as hell. Goosebumps prickled my skin and heat rushed to a certain active part of my body.

"Alright, I'll follow you. You can leave my hand." I muttered.

"I am not leaving you." She snapped.

I swear my heart skipped several beats because never had I ever heard something sexier than that.

"I am not leaving your hand until I've taken you to a safer place."

With that said, she sprinted forward, making me sprint with her blindly since my mind refused to stop thinking about what she had said just a while ago.

Aura had no clue that she didn't have to take such a huge risk for me and that I could have taken both of us out in the blink of an eye without giving anyone a whiff of us, but I gave her the upper hand. I wanted her to know that I trusted her decisions.

I remained quiet when she dragged me inside an empty dark room, shut the door, and waited for the guards to leave the floor. When she thought it was good enough to leave the room, she again dragged me in the hallway, then to the stairs from where she came up. And I followed her like a lost puppy tied with a leash who had no other way to go.

Cautiously, while mumbling silent profanities, she pulled me down to the hall where all the guests and family members were partying. Finding no way to head out since the guards had glued themselves to the entry doors and other places, she pulled me to the basement and then to the storeroom in which all the decorative stuff was kept.

Once inside, she locked the door from inside, released my hand, and then faced me.

"I think we gotta hide here until the guards vacate the area." 

________________________________________

I am sorry.
I know. I know I have updated this chapter after two months. You may lash out at me, but before you do that, you have got to understand that it's not easy to write multiple books at the same time whilst dealing with day-to-day stressful stuff.

I'll try to be consistent from now on...I'll honestly try...