Beautiful Heist

19. Dear Karma, About That List Of People You Missed...

Nineteen

Dear Karma, About That List Of People You Missed...

It was almost midnight in Florence. Few people were in the streets, walking and laughing with each other. Even fewer places were still open.

Me and John? We were a happy young couple to anyone looking our way. They would be a little confused with what we had on, seeing as we were wearing our hooded leather jackets and jeans in the warm night when most of the people still were wearing sleeveless shirts and shorts.

This break-in was certainly going faster than the other two had. The Galleria degli Uffizi was one John had broken into before and they didn't update their security system as often as they should have. Even sitting in our hotel room, he was able to link to it and freeze almost everything, making it look fully functional from the inside just like he did at the Landon family's house.

"So, same as before?" I asked, looking up at him as we walked the few blocks toward the museum. "Me doing my thing and you doing yours?"

"Sounds about right," John nodded, keeping his gaze forward. "Let's try not to get anyone else involved in this one, okay? An in-and-out is all we need to accomplish. This is taking longer than we'd originally thought, so we're pretty much pressed for time with these next two pieces."

"Oh, really now." I hadn't heard we were pressed for time from anyone else but him.

"Really."

"And what happens once we find the last two?"

He looked over at me from the corner of his eye before swallowing hard. "I go back to London. You'll be 'found' and go back to your family in New York. After that, you get to lead a normal life with none of this Brotherhood stuff interfering. You'll never have to see or hear from us again...and it'll be like none of this ever happened."

My eyes were glued to him. How could I not when his statement made me more upset than I was leading on? Even though it had only been a few weeks, I felt like I was...a part of something bigger.

Back home, it was just me, Drake, and Jason, hanging out, at the Met with Dad, or even out somewhere with Mom. I was a part of my family, yeah, but the Brotherhood...it was like being a part of a totally different world. One of secrets kept for thousands of years, one that held the past in its hands, one that could – and had­ – made a difference. I didn't want to give that up, not matter what happened after all this was over.

Because I knew I wouldn't be able to.

And why did John want it to be over sooner than it had to be? I thought we had time, no limit to how long it took us. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe they just forgot to mention it when they first told me I was going on this assignment with John. Maybe there was another reason he wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. I was going to go with the latter, knowing it more than likely had something to do with me.

"You know, you could do a little better job in hiding it," I told him.

When his eyes met mine, he seemed confused...and suspicious. "What are you talking about?"

I shrugged, trying not to wear my heart on my sleeve. "Your obvious hatred of me being here with you. Like I've said on multiple occasions, it's not my fault."

Sighing, John rolled his eyes before looked forward again. "And like I've said, I don't hate you, Emmy. I hate...the situations...this has gotten you in, though the first one back in Paris was your fault."