it all started with a Heist

Chapter 1

There's a battle between good and evil that runs in the heart of all people, and they can never stop that fight, but they have the power to choose which side to win and control over the other.
Sometimes, there are a lot of people who chose the wrong side and walked down the wrong path, then suddenly their conscience awakens, and they regret every mistake they have ever done so they keep waiting for the perfect chance that will help them to start over and lead them to the other side of the equation to make things right because it's never too late to change.
Well, I have been walking down the wrong path since I was born, and now I was looking for my second chance that would help me get on the right side of that equation. I have been raised on breaking and not obeying rules and that was exactly what I continued to do through my whole life.
My parents met in Europe while trying to steal the same ruby. They fell in love and became the best partners in crime. After a while, they were gifted with me and my brother, but that didn't make them change their way of living. Eventually, my brother and I got involved in this life too. I'm a professional thief and con artist.
A while ago, I was deeply thinking of starting over and quitting the life of crime. I didn't want to live in paranoia and fear for the rest of my life, the fear of losing everything, the fear of getting close to anyone, and of course, the fear of getting caught at any time and spending the rest of my life behind bars.
I wanted to start everything over, to build a new life of my own. A life where I wouldn't be obligated to watch my back and live in fear all the time. I also wanted to have a real career and do something with my art history major. Art has always been my passion and I figured out that working in the art industry would be way better than stealing famous artworks.
I just wanted to throw everything that happened in the past behind my back and to start fresh, but I wasn't sure if things would go the way I wanted them to.
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My parents were always on the move and we never stayed in one place for too long, we always forgot where home was. My brother and I were staying in New York for a while. I loved New York, it was the place where I was born and it was always the closest I can get to home.
My brother and I have been always a team, we didn't have many friends while growing up so we were each other's best friend and we grew up to be the perfect partners in crime, in a very literal way. We were always mistaken to be twins as we have the same deep icy blue eyes and the same dark blonde hair. But Eric was two years older than me, I was more mature, though.
I have shared my plans of quitting the life of crime with him. He wasn't very enthusiastic about it at first because he didn't want to lose his long-term partner but he gave up to the fact that it was my life and my choice after all.
But he wanted me to have a closure by joining him in one last heist...
"Come on, join me one last time," Eric demanded. "Consider it your resignation mission."
"That sounds very tempting," I said in a sarcastic tone.
"It is. Believe me," Eric smirked.
I narrowed my eyes at him and gave him a mischievous smile before saying, "Show me our target and the plan and I will see if it's worth it."
His smirk grew as he grabbed some blueprints. "This is the blueprint of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They're going to have a Van Gogh artwork exhibit this week," He said, the smirk not leaving his face. "Well, I know how much you love Van Gogh so I thought you would be interested."
It was really tempting, I looked at the blueprints in interest before asking, "What's our target?"
Eric grabbed his laptop and typed something before showing it to me, it was a picture of the Corridor in the Asylum painting by Van Gogh.
"Well, that's one hell of a painting," I said, looking at the painting in awe.
"Yeah, it's also worth four million dollars at least," Eric said, looking at the painting in a kind of interest very different from mine. "It's very desired around the black market."
"Okay, you have peaked my interest," I said as I crossed my hands and looked at him.
"I have already hacked into their security system so we won't have any troubles with the surveillance cameras or the security alarms," Eric said with pride. "But the exhibit is going to be located in a very secured room. The room is like a huge safe so you have to crack the combination in order to get in."
Well, I really did love Van Gogh and it was so hard to resist. "I'm in," I smirked. "Maybe it will be my perfect last score."
Eric smirked at me and we shared a knowing look...