Breath of the Future

Chapter 28

"I can't believe we actually got away with that, shit's crazy..." I sighed, laughing to myself.

I still couldn't believe that the jewelry heist went nearly exactly to plan, and everyone seemed to be enjoying their new found wealth.I had to count my blessings, like how Michael and I had entered a kind of strange yet comforting phase in our...situationship. Things were still awkward but it was more often in a cutesy way rather than a sad and sometimes angry way. The weight was lifted after we finally had sex for the first time on the evening of the heist. Being public about it was another challenge, but we ultimately decided not to be exclusive due to his ongoing divorce and the fact that having exclusive and serious relationships while in our line of work was only asking for trouble. We were very close friends at most with some...added benefits.

Trevor was in the best mood I had ever seen him in that night. To get me out of my funk of guilt, we were partying with the girls at Vanilla Unicorn and invited Michael and Franklin to join us. He got a little more obnoxious with the drinking, but that was just a part of who he was. Our friendship was tighter than ever and we mostly joked about the past rather than angrily dwelling on it. The awkward tension was still there between him and Michael of course, but it wasn't as frequent. I knew they still hung out on their own and mostly got along. As far as I knew, Trevor hadn't done much with TPI since coming into a million dollars, but this new job he was orchestrating would continue his work. I got a little over 2mil for my 40% cut since I agreed to join the team last minute, and I was more than pleased with that.

The whole crew minus Lester was hanging out at the Vanilla Unicorn having some drinks and watching trashy reality TV in Trevor's office. I got pretty buzzed again until I couldn't even remember that I was upset and Michael and I were snuggling on the couch laughing while Franklin and Trevor talked about mentoring among other things. Trevor had become a mentor to Franklin like Michael had after the heist was complete and it was kind of nice to see that Trevor had it in him to mentor someone other than me.

"Do you think he's actually gonna teach this kid anything worthwhile?" Michael whispered in my ear.

I giggled and pecked his cheek lightly.

"Oh, don't be so hard on Trevor, he mentored me. Why wouldn't he be able to do the same for Frank?"

Michael shrugged and laughed.

'Well you know both of us...and I'm an angel compared to him."

I laughed and got up off the couch.

"I'm gonna see if Angie has anymore vodka cran, then we can really have a party back here, yeah?"

"Yeah!" Trevor shouted.

"Then we can get Sapphire to get each of you a private dance, huh?"

I shook my head.

"You can do whatever you want, Trevor. I'm staying here, haha."

I walked out into the lounge and headed for the bar where Angie was stationed. She had her dark red hair in a ponytail and was pushing out tequila shots like her life depended on it.

As I headed for the bar, I saw the front door open and stopped dead in my tracks.

Christian Reynolds was being led inside by the new bouncer.

Christian. Fucking. Reynolds.

He stopped at the ATM briefly to take out some cash but I didn't have time to focus on that. I was completely shell shocked to see him just...out and about for the first time in years. It was almost like the world was moving in slow motion. The beer bottle that was in my hand slipped through my fingers and dropped onto the floor, spilling all over the carpet. Everyone's heads seemed to turn in unison to find the source of the noise, but I didn't move.