Chapter 116
Marcus’s POV
“Shit!” Marcus hissed, jumping back from the window like it had burned him. “Shit, shit, shit!”
“What?” Dante was already moving toward him. “What is it?”
“Penelope! She’s back! Her car just pulled into the driveway!”
“Already? She’s been gone less than an hour!”
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Marcus shoved the contract papers into Dante’s hands and started looking around the bedroom frantically. “I don’t know and I don’t care! We need to get out of here right now!”
They both rushed toward the bedroom door and into the hallway, heading for the penthouse exit. But just as they reached the living room, they heard it. The unmistakable sound of a key sliding into the lock from the outside.
Marcus and Dante froze, staring at each other with identical expressions of pure panic.
“Back, back, back!” Dante whispered urgently, grabbing Marcus’s arm and pulling him backward.
They retreated into the hallway just as the front door started to open. Marcus’s mind was racing, his heart pounding so hard he was sure Penelope would be able to hear it from across the penthouse.
“Where do we go?” Marcus whispered.
Dante was already moving, pulling Marcus along with him. They ducked into the first room they found, which turned out to be a guest bathroom. Dante quietly closed the door until it was just barely cracked open, leaving enough space to hear what was happening outside but not enough to be obvious.
They pressed themselves against the wall, both trying to control their breathing.
From outside, they could hear Penelope’s voice, sharp and irritated. “I don’t care what excuse she gave you, the reservation was for eight o’clock, not seven thirty. Do you know how embarrassing it is to show up and have them tell you your table isn’t ready?”
She was on the phone. Marcus could hear her heels clicking across the marble floor as she paced.
“No, don’t apologize to me,” Penelope continued. “Apologize to Aurora. She’s the one I invited and she’s the one who had to stand around in the lobby like some common-oh, forget it. I’ll handle it myself tomorrow.”
Marcus’s eyes widened and he mouthed to Dante: Aurora?
Dante’s expression mirrored his shock.
“Yes, she’s waiting in the car,” Penelope said into the phone. “I just came up to grab my other purse because apparently the one I brought doesn’t match the dress well enough. Give me two minutes.”
16:49 Mon, May 11
Chapter 116
Two minutes. They had two minutes before she left again.
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Marcus felt like he might actually have a heart attack. They were trapped in Penelope’s bathroom while she walked around her penthouse mere feet away from them, and if she decided she needed to use this particular bathroom for any reason, they were completely screwed.
He could hear her moving around, opening and closing things. A closet door. Drawers. She was muttering to herself about restaurant reservations and incompetent assistants.
Dante still had the contract papers clutched in his hand. Marcus pointed at them and then made a shoving motion, indicating Dante should hide them somewhere. Dante looked around the small bathroom frantically and finally stuffed the papers into the back of his pants, pulling his shirt over them.
The footsteps were getting closer.
Marcus held his breath. Beside him, Dante had gone completely still.
Penelope walked past the bathroom door. They could see her shadow through the crack. She was so close Marcus could smell her perfume, that expensive floral scent she always wore.
“Where the hell did I put it?” Penelope muttered to herself.
More footsteps. More opening and closing of doors and drawers.
Then suddenly, her phone rang. The ringtone was loud and classical, something pretentious that suited her perfectly.
“What now?” Penelope answered, her voice sharp with annoyance. “We’re already late, Aurora, I’m looking for the purse right now… Yes, I know it’s cold, I’ll be down in one minute… Well, turn the heat on in the car… I don’t care if the driver says it wastes gas, tell him to turn it on!”
She hung up and Marcus heard her heels clicking away rapidly. A closet door opened and closed. Then her footsteps headed back toward the front door.
“Finally,” Penelope said to herself.
The front door opened and closed. The sound of her heels faded as she walked down the hallway to the elevator.
Marcus and Dante stayed frozen in the bathroom for another full minute, neither of them daring to move or breathe too loudly.
Finally, Dante slowly pushed the bathroom door open and peeked out. “Coast is clear.”
They both emerged from their hiding spot, and Marcus immediately felt his legs go weak. He leaned against the wall, his hand over his chest.
“I think I just aged ten years,” Marcus said.
“That was way too close,” Dante agreed. His face was pale and he was still breathing hard. “Way, way too close.”
16:49 Mon, May 11
Chapter 116
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“You think she’s actually gone this time?”
“Let me check.” Dante walked over to the living room window and looked down carefully. After a moment, he nodded. “Yeah, her car is pulling out of the driveway now. She’s leaving.”
Marcus let out a long, shaky breath. “Okay. Okay, we need to get out of here right now before she comes back again for a third purse or her lucky earrings or whatever else she suddenly decides she needs.”
“Agreed. Let’s move.”
They practically ran to the front door. Dante made sure the hallway outside was empty before they slipped out. Marcus pulled the door closed behind them, making sure it locked automatically.
They walked quickly to the elevator, trying to look casual even though there was nobody around to see them. When the elevator doors closed and they started descending, Marcus finally allowed himself to slump against the wall.
“Never again,” he said. “Never, ever again.”
“That was insane,” Dante said, but there was a hint of excitement in his voice underneath the fear. “That was absolutely insane.”
“You’re enjoying this! You’re actually enjoying this!”
“I’m not enjoying it, I’m just… the adrenaline is really something, you know?”
“You’re insane. You’ve actually lost your mind.”
The elevator reached Marcus’s floor and they both got out. Marcus unlocked his penthouse door and they stumbled inside, both of them immediately collapsing onto the couches in the living room.
For a moment, neither of them spoke. They just sat there, breathing hard, processing what had just happened.
Then Dante started laughing. Quietly at first, then louder, until he was nearly doubled over.
“It’s not funny,” Marcus said, but he could feel his own lips twitching.
“We just broke into your stepmother’s penthouse, almost got caught, hid in her bathroom while she walked around five feet away from us, and escaped with the contract that could’ve destroyed your entire life,” Dante said between laughs. “How is that not funny?”
Marcus felt the tension break and suddenly he was laughing too, the kind of hysterical laughter that comes after extreme stress.
“Oh my God,” Marcus said, wiping his eyes. “Oh my God, we actually did it. We actually pulled it off.”
Dante pulled the contract papers out from the back of his pants and held them up triumphantly. “We got it. We actually got it.”
Marcus took the papers from him and stared down at them. The evidence that could have destroyed everything. Right here in his hands.
16:49 Mon, May 11
Chapter 116
“What do we do with it now?” Dante asked.
Marcus stood up and walked over to the fireplace. He grabbed a lighter from the mantle, flicked it on, and held the flame to the corner of the contract.
The paper caught fire immediately, the edges curling and blackening. Marcus dropped it into the fireplace and they both watched as the entire contract burned, the words disappearing into ash.
“Problem solved,” Marcus said quietly.
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