The DeMarko Brothers (Richie DeMarko)

Chapter 5 Part 1

By the time Ali had the guts to emerge from the bedroom, they were all just minutes away from the location they would shop at. Richie was driving and Ricky and Ronnie were in a heated discussion about some topic Allison didn't care to chime in about.

"Do you guys know what we're supposed to be doing?" Allison asked the younger brothers.

"We're a few minutes away from the outlet mall, we're all looking for attire to wear to the fundraiser." Ronnie replied in monotone. 

"Am I going to be followed around the outlets?"

"Well, I think so. I'm sorry but, it's just precautions." Ricky answered instead of Ronnie.

"Mhm." Allison rolled her eyes, breathed out heavily and then plopped herself down on the couch waiting for their destination. "So do you guys have some sort of plan that you wanna let me in on," she said aloud, inviting Richie to answer.

"Yes, I'll explain it all when we reach the outlets. How long do you think it will take you to pick out a dress."

"Not too long, I'm not very picky." 

"I hope not."

Allison frowned.

*        *       *

When they reached at the outlets, Richie parked the RV and escorted Allison out. Ronnie and Ricky went as a pair to look around the outlets for their own suits, which made it clear to Allison that Richie was going to be her babysitter.

"I'm honestly not so sure about letting you be in public." Richie confessed as he wrapped his hand around her upper arm and walked in slow pace towards the clothing stores with her in tow.

"Why not?" she asked him suspiciously.

"The last time I let you speak to someone, you ratted me out."

"I didn't rat you out, I just tried to help myself. I didn't tell him about you or what you did. Just that I was being held against my will. I wanted to go home."

Richie didn't respond right away, instead he seemed to be taking in her words and letting them set in slowly. She wanted to go home. He used to want to have a home.

"I won't apologize for trying to get away from you, but at least I didn't say anything about the robbery. They wouldn't have known it was you anyways, don't you guys always wear masks?"

"There are a lot of other aspects to a robbery than just facial recognition. They would have found the van, possibly finger printed us. Gone through our history, our bank records, they would have figured something out." His hold on her upper arm tightened subconsciously. 

But Allison barely noticed. She hadn't thought it through, as fucked up as it seemed, she didn't want to see Ricky behind bars. In fact she didn't want to see none of them taken in. For some reason that bothered her, and she hadn't stopped to think when she gave the note to the pizza delivery boy. But of course she couldn't, she was terrified, and was justified in being so.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want that, I just wanted to get away. I wasn't sure if I was even safe with you guys. I'm still not but, I wouldn't want to see any of you behind bars. Although you actually do deserve to be." Allison admitted.

"We deserve to be, but never will be."

"What was your plan anyway, taking the money and then what?"

"It's a bit of a long story. I just want the best for my brothers, and well myself as well. This money is going to be how we start our new lives. Maybe I'll tell you about it one day,"

"You know what, I think the less I know the better. Wouldn't wanna deter you from letting me go back home in thinking that I know too much."

Those words bothered Richie, her disinterest in his plans, because little did she know, they included her.

"You know what though, this would be a great time to let me in on your plan on the fundraiser. I am a little interested and curious about it to be completely honest."

Richie's heart picked up. She was interested in what he did?

"The fundraiser or the robbery we'll be committing."

"The robbery. I mean yes it's wrong and I do have morals but, it's like, exciting to me for some reason. It just hit me now actually."

Richie raised his eyebrows at her subconsciously in amusement. 

"What!" she chuckled a bit, "I've never done anything risky like this before, and if you really do guarantee that we're not gonna get caught, I'm just-"

"Interested, curious." he finished for her. 

She looked down and smiled, he smiled at her as he released her upper arm, taking her hand in his instead. There were a lot of things this girl was curious about he realized, and he'd be happy to be the one to show her all of them.

"We have morals too Allison. We just don't follow them, or rather we're putting them aside for a bit. We know what we're doing is wrong. Most robbers think it's okay, that's when it's dangerous. That's when it becomes a problem because it's also a gateway to other crimes,"

Allison eyes widened a little.

"Which is why, we keep ourselves in check. We pace ourselves and we have an endgame." Richie assured her. 

He had a way of speaking, his words and his tone paired with the way he was holding her hand actually made Allison believe for a second that their crimes weren't that bad. She laughed at herself mentally for being easily convinced.

"Speaking of, let's hear this plan of yours." 

As they walked into the first store, Richie explained it all.

Richie's plan was simple, they would show up the first day of the auction, reserving rooms at the hotel for the night They'd all get dressed and ready in their rooms and show up to the auction all together. Allison would claim she heard about the auction from a friend and asked her fiancé, Richie, to take her. The fundraiser started at 2pm and ended at 7pm. After that it was was a benefit ball until 1am.

Ricky and Ronnie, who were in town visiting the newly engaged couple, decided to accompany them to visit their old friend Marco and to get little something for their girlfriends. Richie would make sure he's seen with his beautiful fiancé all around and the boys would spend their time reading about all the jewels as if they wanted to know every detail about what they would bid on.

Finally, Richie would bid on a pair of earrings before the day is up to ensure that he was there entirely for his finances benefit. Ronnie and Ricky would seek out their old friend Marco, make it known that they came to visit him, Richie would introduce Allison and propose a dinner for the three of them.

They'd spend the night at the hotel and the next day they'd carry out the robbery. The auction would start the next day at 7pm and carry out until 11pm. Richie would purchase the earrings in front of a large crowd, and then, show time.