1.1 | Tangerine Dreams ✔

9 | P A R I S

"So, what's the plan?" I ask as I enter the Conference room at ROZ&CO. Nick and Jullian looked up at the sound of my voice and mumbling a small 'thank you' when I placed their coffees in front of them. "What do you mean plan?" Jullian asked while taking a sip from his cup.

I gave him a look that said 'duh.' While Jullian still seemed confused about what I was talking about, Nick had caught up and his gaze snapped up to mine. "No. Absolutely no way in hell."

I gave him a pout and opened my mouth to ask again but Nick cut me off by speaking first. "No means no, Ashley."

I sat on one of the conference room chairs closer to Jullian and Nick where they were discussing their next robbery plan. I looked over at Nick, defiant as ever to make him agree to let me come with them to their next mission. "But why can't I go? With the number of times you and Jullian have done this, I doubt that we'll get caught if I come along. Plus, every badass group has a female and I can help with stuff too."

Nick gives me a deadpan stare while Jullian starts coughing to cover up his laugh at my reasoning. Nick clenches his jaw and grips the edge of the conference table, letting out a frustrated sigh. "It's too dangerous."

Glaring at Nick knowing he won't give in, I look over to Jullian for help. Jullian notices my gaze and looks between me and Nick as a child would when being forced to choose a side between his arguing parents. Eventually, Jullian takes a long sip from his coffee cup and slams it on the table. "I'm going to go get a refill."

Jullian gives me a sheepish look before he leaves the conference room while I mouth the word 'traitor' at him. Once I hear the doors to the conference room shut, I look over at Nick who has a smug grin on his face.

Fine Nick I thought if you wanna play dirty, then let's play dirty.

I smirked at the thought as I walked around the table getting closer to where Nick was standing. Nick looked down at me with weary eyes when I wrapped my arms around him. "What are you doing?" He said letting out a chuckle whilst returning my hug.

"I just wanted a hug." I stated shrugging my shoulders nonchalantly as I looked up at him mischievously. I gave Nick an innocent smile before burying my face in his chest, inhaling the cologne his put on this morning. I felt his body heat radiating through his thin white dress shirt as his arms were cocooned around me. As I leaned more into him, he tightened his hold onto me and without thinking I pressed a kiss onto his shirt clad chest. I felt Nick shiver under my touch and I smiled looking up.

I found Nick's gaze trail from my eyes to my lips. He slowly took a step forward with me in his arms so that my back hit the edge of the table. I gasped at the cold wood hitting my lower back. Nick chose that moment to lean down and place his lips against mine. My hands quickly slid up from his arms to his hair running my fingers through it and pulling him close. Nick let out a grunt while his hands traveled down to the back of my thighs, lifting me up. My legs instinctively wrapped around his waist as he hoisted me up on the edge of the conference table.

    He starts to trail kisses down my neck then back up to my lips. "You're so stubborn." He breathes out as he leans in to kiss me again but I pull back and put a finger to his lips. "Can I go now?" I ask hopefully.

Nick gives me a flat look. "Seriously?" He asks in disbelief. "You're seriously going to go there right now while we're in the middle of this?" He points a finger between us, referring to the heated session happening between us not even a minute ago.

I give him a pout and place my hands flat on his chest, pushing him away. Nick gives me an exasperated look at my childish tantrum and lets out a frustrated sigh before giving me the answer I wanted. "Fine, you can go."

"Really." I ask hopping off the conference table, not believing what my ears had just heard. Nick sits down on one of the chairs closer to his laptop. "Don't make me take it back." He mumbles.

I let out a small laugh, finding his words amusing. "So," I ask with excitement and curiosity lacing the tone of my voice, "what's the plan?"

Nick shows me the laptop that was resting on the table, before opening his mouth to explain, "I'm sure you've heard about the award show that's going to be hosted in a month." I nodded. "And I'm sure you've guessed that's where our next heist is going to be taken place." He said tapping his index finger on the tip of my nose playfully, which I pushed away playfully. I gave him a small, goofy smile, waiting patiently for what he was about to say next.

"The plan's simple, really," He begins, "The place where the award show is being hosted at has a huge safe with roughly five million dollars in it, but here's the catch." Nick leans in as if he was revealing the secret to curing cancer, "It's in a fish tank."

I leaned back and looked at him weirdly. "So we're robbing a fish tank?" I ask confused.

    Do we need snorkeling gear now? And who the hell hides money in a fish tank?

    That was when Jullian decided to grace us with his presence.

    "What did I miss?" He asks looking at my confused expression. I'm about to tell him but Nick beats me to it. "I'm telling Ashley our plan."

    Jullian nods in understanding and then opens his mouth to say something but I cut him off. "How are we going to steal money from a fish tank?"

    Nick scoffs before replying, "I was getting to that part before I was interrupted," He glares at Jullian, then clears his throat. Nick then shows me a blueprint of a fish tank on his laptop. He points to a dotted line drawn down the rectangular box. "As you can see here, half of the fish tank is actually a fish tank, the other half is a safe. When we enter the show the fish tank will be in the hall where the after party is hosted, full on display for the people to admire the various fishes. But you can't see the safe on the other side because the fish tank is drilled into the wall. No one is allowed in the room and there are about five security guards standing outside"

    Nick looks over at me to see if I have caught on to what he's been saying. I nod in confirmation but ask him the main question. "How are we going to go get into the room then? And most importantly, how do we unlock the safe without people noticing us from the other side? Aren't people going to notice us behind the fish tank since the only thing hiding us would be water and a few fishes?"

Jullian steps in, answering before Nick does. "Nobody will see us if the water is dirty," Jillian tells me with a smirk. "and if the waters dirty at such a small notice at such an important event, they will need to hire cleaners immediately."

I let out a small 'oh' as I process the information Jullian has just told me. The rest of the plan more clear to me now. "So then the men you guys hired, go to clean it and while it's being cleaned, we take the money."

    "Bingo." Nick replies leaning back in his chair looking smugly at me.

    I smile at Nick hesitantly. I know he and Jullian have been doing this for quite some while now and I trust them fully but there is still a little part of me that is afraid we might get caught. This makes me look up at Nick and ask him one final question.

    "What if we get caught? Then what do we do?"

"It's simple." Nick paused and leaned in closer.

"We won't"

***

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