beautiful thieves | ✓

fifteen

I'm given the next few days to relax and I take the opportunity with open arms. I spend quite a bit of time by myself while everyone else trains in the basement, or with Posie when there's no one else to take care of her. The two of us have spent many hours in one of the many living rooms, watching Disney movies or walking around the mansion as I try to get her to sleep.

I've also been to the water spa we have on one of the top floors, which I've found to be a gorgeous place to spend time with the many water features, such as the jacuzzi or the jets in the pools that give all kinds of massages, with the beautiful soundtrack of sitting in the forest listening to guitar music playing in the background. 

It's been a good few days, laughing and hanging out with the others, and I've quickly been recovering from the week of hell. Well, there's still a few prominent bruises, along with the freshly gifted purple hand print wrapped around my neck, but I'm feeling better. I'm grateful to Danielle who realised I needed these days to get my head straight again.

I've also been given my first 'pay check' from Danielle, which is basically a large wad of cash in my hand after I stole that phone. It's nearly four-hundred pounds which I thought was decent, but according to Enoch, the pay checks rise the longer I'm here and the more raids I take part in. For example, Blake has been a thief for six years and is earning thousands each week, which Maeve told me with a scowl.

I've been avoiding Blake like a pandemic. After 'saving' me from that asshole at the nightclub, it's like he can barely stand the sight of me, and I can't look at him without remembering that sensation of being strangled and feeling like a fly caught in a web. Admittedly, I've noticed it's caused quite a bit of tension within the group, and Danielle has tried reasoning with me, but I've decided to be stubborn. Until he apologises for what he said to me, I won't apologise for... whatever I've done.

I go shopping with Jayden and Chelsea this morning while everyone else is out on a small raid. While they steal the odd thing here and then, Chelsea coming out of the jewellery shop with four bracelets for the price of one, I decide not to, using a large chunk of the money from the pay check to buy myself a pile of nice, new clothes to swap with the clothes currently in my wardrobe. I'm not liking how my old ones still smell like my old home, so I've been planning to do this for a while.

We get back to the mansion after we've had lunch. I'm sorting through my clothes, new and old, when there's a knock at the door. Calling out a 'come in', I watch as Zavier steps through, giving me a small smile.

"Aurora," he greets. "How are you doing?"

"Better," I smile, hanging up a new jacket on the railing.

"Glad to hear it," he says. "Danielle has asked me to come and get you. There's someone she wants you to meet."

I'm taken back a bit, wondering who they could be, but I quickly throw an old top into the bin bag I've been filling before following Zavier out of the room. We talk as we cross the corridors and climb a flight of stairs, our friendship having grown since I've been here. I think that me stealing that phone has proven something to everyone here, even if it almost led to me being choked to death. We're laughing when we get to what I recognise as Danielle's office, but we're quiet as we step through the door.

I stop short when I see Danielle stood on the balcony with a man I don't recognise, the two of them looking over the incredible view that this room has. Zavier and I give them a moment, watching as the two of them turn to one another, Danielle looking happier than I've ever seen her, before they wrap their arms around one another and kiss. I look away out of respect, giving a knowing look to Zavier, before Danielle suddenly realises we're here, letting out a beautiful laugh. She grabs the hand of the man and they both turn around and... I was wrong. I do recognise him.