Nowhere to Run ✓

six | ❝everyone loves me.❞

❝Take no shit, give no fucks, cause infinite damage.❞

☀︎

OSTRARIA WAS THE BIGGEST metropolis in America, the economic capital. Nearly every road, every street was lined with swanky jewelry stores and luxurious Chanel and Gucci stores. The place bled money, the people lived and breathed it.

There was no place for slackers and the hustle of the city would put Michael Jordan to shame. But the money, the power, and the status weren't the main attraction. Ostraria had what no place did: Genesis Financial Corp. The richest, largest bank in the world.

It was everything Manhattan could only aspire to be.

Harry knew this. He knew trying to get into that bank would be near to impossible. He also knew word about Florian Strebor resurfacing had gone around. He had to get out of here. He couldn't trust anyone, not anymore. He'd given up on that shit years ago. But not being able to trust meant only one thing: a constant change of plans.

Now, he had sent Mark out to recruit members for a new team. People who had no idea about him, his business, his past, his secrets. People who would help him, no questions asked. After all, every human has a price. He rolled his eyes, exasperated, looking down to go through the blueprint once again.

He had a great photographic memory. Once he saw something, it would stay imprinted in his mind forever. It was his strength and his weakness, he thought. He ran the pencil lightly over the plan, thinking about the various exits and guards he would have to knock out.

He pushed the pencil through his hair next, searching for unwanted flaws. He heard the tinkling of the bell, announcing the arrival of someone at the ice cream shop. He was about to turn and put on his most dazzling smile all while pushing the papers away, but the gentle thump of a booted shoe told him all he wanted to know.

Mark.

"No luck?" Harry asked, knowing he didn't want to hear the answer. He kept the charts aside and pulled out his laptop.

"No- I- Word's gone all around, Harry. We need to-"

"-move. Yeah, I know. I've already packed our bags. They're in the backroom. We leave first thing tomorrow," he said, sure and steady.

"We don't even have any members. You sure you want to leave right away?" Mark asked, his eyebrows creasing together.

"Tell me, what's better than looking for people who don't know you in a city full of people who don't know you?" Harry questioned.

Mark sighed. "Fine, I'll give you that. Did you call Tony?"

"An hour ago. Let's just say he sounded like a fat bear on a manhunt," Harry moved to push a chair towards Mark, gesturing at him to sit down.

"Well, we can't really recruit members from him anymore," Mark said as he hung his grey coat, as blank as ash, on the back of the chair. He walked across the room, towards the counters, and reached down. He pulled out a bottle of wine and grabbed two glasses on his way back.

"We can't. But we can get in on Ostraria's crime circle," Harry smiled, his fingers clicking away at the keyboard.

"You- what?" Disbelief coloured Mark's face in hues of surprise and shock. Harry nodded, enjoying the satisfaction of having caught Mark by surprise.

"That's really impressive," Mark said  and poured the drinks. He slid the glass towards Harry and sat back in his chair.

"What's next?" Mark asked, knowing that Ostraria's bosses could not be left hanging. Simply put, a minute late and their heads would be served to the demon gods on spears. He exhaled noisily and looked at Harry expectantly, taking a sip from his drink.

"We have a meeting, first thing tomorrow morning. We land at 5 a.m. I have arranged a car to wait for us and then we have a closed-door appointment with Moschino Marvoni. They insisted on being discreet. We need to maintain a low profile while we are outside to limit the chances of being ratted out."

He took a huge gulp of wine and shook his head with the strong and bittersweet impact, "And I know Ostraria is cold. I have packed your hoodies, shut up."

"I really want to express my gratitude but you are an asshole and I don't love you that much," Mark tilted his glass and threw his head back.

"Everyone loves me. Have you ever looked at me?" Harry asked, incredulously.

Mark rolled his eyes and was about to go to the back room to take a quick nap when Harry called out to him. "You never asked what we'll be stealing-"

He broke off as Mark hit him on the back of his head. "Have you ever in your life kept one single penny- you know what? Never mind. This is just another job, just another heist."

"Mark. Millions. You hear me? Millions. And you know what's going to give us that?" Harry turned his laptop towards Mark, who looked down at the screen. Surprise, then amusement, and finally hope.

Mark looked up at Harry now, a slow smile spreading across his full lips. His blue eyes sparkled as they met Harry's dangerously dark ones. "You son of a bitch, I am in."

"Great. Now, fire up your laptop. We have codes to crack."

━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━