Chapter 115
Marcus’s POV
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“You’re insane, Dante,” Marcus said, shaking his head slowly like he was trying to physically dislodge the ridiculous idea his best friend had just planted in his brain.
“I’m practical,” Dante corrected.
“No, practical would be hiring better lawyers and finding legal loopholes in my grandfather’s will. Practical would be doing literally anything other than breaking into my stepmother’s penthouse to steal documents.”
“Recover documents,” Dante said, holding up one finger. “There’s a very important difference between the
two.”
“Oh, I’m sure that distinction will hold up great in court when we inevitably get arrested and I have to explain to a judge why the CEO of Thorne Dynamics was caught breaking and entering.”
“Marcus….”
“No, seriously. I can see the headlines now. ‘Billionaire Arrested for Burglary. That’ll do wonders for the company’s stock price.”
Dante stood up from the couch and walked over to where Marcus was standing. “We’re not going to get arrested because we’re not going to get caught. And we’re not going to get caught because we’re going to be smart about this.”
“Smart would be not doing it at all,” Marcus shot back.
“Marcus, listen to yourself right now. You’ve spent the last week moping around, avoiding your wife, working yourself to death at the office, all because you feel powerless. Well, here’s your chance to actually do something. To take back control of the situation instead of just waiting for Penelope to destroy you.”
Marcus opened his mouth to argue, then closed it again. He hated admitting it, but Dante had a point. He’d felt completely helpless since Elara told him about the contract, like he was just sitting around waiting for the axe to fall.
“This is still a terrible idea,” Marcus said, but his voice had lost most of its conviction.
“Noted and acknowledged. Are we doing it or not?”
Marcus looked at Dante for a long moment, studying his best friend’s face. The most by-the-book person he knew, his lawyer who quoted legal statutes for fun, was standing there in his living room seriously suggesting they commit what was technically breaking and entering.
“I can’t believe I’m even considering this,” Marcus muttered.
“Is that a yes?”
“That’s a maybe. A very reluctant, I’m-probably-going-to-regret-this-for-the-rest-of-my-life maybe.”
16:49 Mon, May 11
Chapter 115
Dante’s face broke into a wide grin. “Good enough for me. Let’s go.”
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“Right now?” Marcus’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You want to do this right now? Like, immediately?”
“Why not? Strike while the iron is hot, as they say. Like I told you, I saw Penelope leaving when I got here earlier with Elara. She was dressed to the nines, full makeup, and jewelry. She’s clearly going somewhere important and she’s not coming back anytime soon.”
“You don’t actually know that for sure.”
“So we’ll be quick about it. In and out, remember? Five minutes maximum.”
Marcus dragged both hands down his face, pulling at his skin. “This is insane. This is absolutely completely insane and I’m going to regret this.”
“You already said that multiple times.”
“Because it bears repeating! Frequently!”
But even as the protests left his mouth, Marcus was already walking toward the front door of his penthouse. Dante followed close behind, a small satisfied smile playing at the corners of his lips.
They took the elevator up to the top floor where Penelope’s penthouse took up the entire level. The doors opened directly into a private hallway with only one door at the end.
“See?” Dante whispered, gesturing around the empty hallway. “No security cameras up here. She’s too arrogant to think she needs them in her own private space. Probably thinks nobody would dare come up here uninvited.”
“Or she has them hidden somewhere we can’t see and we’re already being recorded,” Marcus countered.
“Always so optimistic, aren’t you?”
Marcus walked up to Penelope’s door and just stared at it. “Okay, genius,” he said, turning to Dante. Now what? The door’s locked. Or did you forget that part of your brilliant plan?”
Dante reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He opened it and extracted a thin piece of metal. . “You really think I came unprepared?”
Marcus’s eyebrows shot up. “Is that a lock pick? Since when do you carry lock picks around in your wallet?”
“Since I started dating someone who thinks teaching me random skills is romantic,” Dante said with a shrug.
“Mimi taught you how to pick locks?”
“Among other things. Remind me to tell you about the car-hotwiring lesson sometime. Now shut up and let me concentrate.”
Dante knelt down and inserted the pick into the lock, his tongue sticking out slightly in concentration. After a few seconds of wiggling and adjusting, there was a soft click.
16:49 Mon, May 11
Chapter 115
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The door swung open a few inches.
Marcus stared at the open door, then down at Dante who was standing up and brushing off his knees. “I’m genuinely friends with a criminal. This is my life now.”
“You’re friends with someone who’s actively saving your ass from complete destruction,” Dante corrected. “There’s a significant difference. Now come on, we’re burning time standing here talking.”
They stepped inside Penelope’s penthouse and Marcus immediately felt like he’d just walked into enemy territory. Everything was decorated in stark whites and golds, expensive and elegant and completely soulless. Just like Penelope herself.
“Okay, where would she keep something like that?” Dante asked, looking around the expansive space.
“How the hell should I know? I’ve never been in here before in my entire life and I’d really like to keep it that way after tonight.”
“Think logically. Start with the obvious places. Home office, bedroom, personal safe if she has one.”
They split up and started moving quickly through the rooms. Marcus checked the living room first, opening drawers in the sideboard and looking behind picture frames like he’d seen people do in movies. He found nothing but boring household items and some old photographs.
He moved to what looked like a home office, a smaller room with a mahogany desk and tall filing cabinets lining one wall. He started rifling through papers and folders, looking for anything that even remotely resembled the marriage contract.
Still nothing.
“Marcus!” Dante’s voice called urgently from another room. “I think I found something!”
Marcus abandoned the office and rushed to where Dante was standing in what appeared to be Penelope’s master bedroom. Dante was holding a manila folder in his hands, his eyes rapidly scanning the contents.
“Is that it?” Marcus asked, his heart pounding.
“I don’t know yet, there’s a whole bunch of different documents in here. Medical records, bank statements, some legal paperwork about your father’s will and estate distribution, but I don’t see the-wait. Wait, hold on.”
Dante pulled out a stapled set of papers from the middle of the folder and his eyes went wide.
“This is it,” he breathed. “Marcus, this is the contract.”
Marcus practically lunged forward and grabbed the papers from Dante’s hands. His eyes scanned the header at the top of the first page.
CONTRACT MARRIAGE AGREEMENT BETWEEN MR. MARCUS THORNE AND ELARA VANCE.
“We got it,” Marcus said, his voice barely above a whisper. “We actually got it. I can’t believe this actually worked.”
16:49 Mon, May 11
Chapter 115
“Told you the plan would work,” Dante said smugly. “Now let’s get the hell out of here before…”
(6
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A sound from outside made them both freeze instantly. Car doors slamming. Voices carrying up from the driveway.
Marcus ran to the bedroom window and looked down at the entrance below.
His stomach dropped straight through the floor.
Penelope’s car was driving in.
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