[Name]'s POV
"Did you say fifty million dollars?!" Nate asks incredulously, and I give him the biggest 'what the fuck' look.
"That can be dealt with later. Right now we should focus on why Sam is here- and ALIVE!" I make sure to emphasize the last word.
"Actually, he has yet to tell us why he's here. We were just talking about the journeys we've taken," Nate chuckles, and I walk over to the railing of the pier and lean on it while my eye twitches in annoyance.
"So the first thing you do when you find out your brother- who you thought has been dead for fifteen years now- is alive, is you talk about your journeys."
"Calm down, love. I'm sure there's an explanation," Harry reassures me, and I sigh.
"There better be dammit," I pinch the bridge of my nose with a sigh.
"Hey, am I going to get a hug from my favorite girl now, or what?" Sam asks while standing up and facing me.
"You're lucky I don't kill you myself for not contacting any of us," I seethe with a deep frown, "but of course you get a hug."
Sam smirks and opens his arms, and I walk into them, wrapping mine around his neck and laying my head on his chest. His heart beat speeds up and he holds me close to him, resting his head on top of my head. I glance up to see him smirking at Nate and Harry, and I don't even need to look to take a guess as to why.
"I missed you," Sam whispers in my ear.
"I missed you too, Samuel Drake, but you have a lot of explaining to do," I murmur, and we continue to embrace each other for a few more seconds, before pulling away from each other.
The bird necklace I've had for years dangles in front of my shirt, and Sam's eyes widen as he grabs the pendant. "You still have it," he whispers and looks into my eyes with shock and happiness.
"I rarely ever take it off," I tell him, and he grins and gives me another hug.
I chuckle and hug him back, when Harry coughs and catches our attention, "Darling, are you going to tell us about this fifty million dollars you have now added to your already surplus amount of money?"
I nod and Sam lets me go. "There's not much to it. Chloe and I found Napoleon Bonaparte's Grande Armée's missing loot. Sold it and we each got fifty million," I explain and the guys' jaws drop.
"Seems you could take a few lessons from [Name], little brother," Sam chuckles while lighting a cigarette, "but now it's my turn to tell you why I came here."
We look at Sam as he walks over to the railing of the pier and places his hands on it, letting out a small sigh, "I'm in a lot of trouble here."
I join him, and Nate stands up and walks over to us. "What are you talking about?" Nate asks and I narrow my eyes.
"What kind of trouble?" I ask Sam.
"Does the name Hector Alcázar ring a bell to you?" Sam asks quietly and I frown.
"Yeah, hes the drug lord. 'Butcher of Panamá' if I recall right. Sam..." I trail off, and he tilts his head and looks at me.
"It's a funny story, but... for the last year he was my cell mate," he says, and Nate holds up a hand, stopping him before he continues to talk.
"Hold on, you never told us how you survived," Nate tells his older brother.
"The 'doctors' patched me up and I was thrown right back into the cell since we did kill a guard," Sam reminds us and I scoff.
"Technically Rafe killed a guard, but I get what you mean," I say, before looking at him, "so, what happened?"
"Listen carefully, because this is the story of how I got out of prison..." Sam trails off and explains the jail break and the deal with Alcázar.
"This is bad," Nate murmurs, and I nod.
"No, we just pick up the trail where we left off and-" Sam says, and his younger brother cuts him off.
"Trail? Sam, there is no trail. After Rafe, [Name], and I escaped, he took his parents' fortune and bought all the land around the Saint Dismas cathedral. We combed that place for weeks. Avery's treasure isn't there," Nate says, and I sigh.
"That never stopped Rafe though. I left a couple months after Nate did because Rafe... he- he was so obsessed with the treasure. He even pushed me away," I whisper the last part, but the guys still hear it.
"Surprises me he pushed you away. Nate and I thought he treasured you, no pun intended," Sam says, and I laugh dryly and snatch the cigarette from his lips, taking a drag of it.
"Then I guess I just lost my worth," I mutter and toss the cancer stick onto the dock, stomping it out and looking at the older Drake. "That shit's disgusting, you really should quit before it kills you."
"You're going to start scolding me now about smoking? Father Duffy rubbed off on you."
I sigh and shake my head. "Just tell us how you plan on finding Avery's treasure."
"That's the interesting part. Do you want to what's amazing?" Sam asks and Harry walks over and joins us.
"What, mate?" Flynn questions.
"What you can find on the internet these days," Sam chuckles, and pulls out a piece of paper, unfolding it and looking down at it before showing it to us, "I bet you Rafe doesn't have this."
The paper has an image of an intact Saint Dismas cross on it- an exact replica of the one we found fifteen years ago. "It's just the Saint Dismas cross," Nate shrugs, and I shake my head with a small grin.
"No. Look closely and you'll see this one's still intact. If Avery made a replica of the cross we found which was hollow..." I trail off and laugh slightly.
"Then this one is bound to have whatever was inside the other cross you three found," Harry says, and Nate's eyes widen.
"Well, all right. Where is this?" Nate asks his brother.
Sam chuckles slightly and points at the cross, "Oh, this exquisite piece is going up for auction in three days at the Rossi Estate."
"The Rossi Estate?" Nate gives his brother a knowing look.
"Oh, you know it?" Sam asks, and his brother nods.
"Uh, yeah. How do you plan on securing an invite to an exclusive, heavily guarded black market auction?"
A small smirk dawns on Sam's face, one I know all to well. "Sam, sneaking in is a terrible idea," I say while face-palming.
"Plus- that can't be cheap, Sam. Where are you getting all the bloody money for it?" Harry asks the older Drake brother.
"Harry and I could combine all our money in our bank accounts and it still wouldn't be enough to..." Nate trails off, realizing a few seconds later what his brother plans to do.
"You're going to try steal it, huh?" I ask Sam.
He shakes his head while lighting another cigarette and taking a drag from it. "No. We are," he says, breathing out the smoke and pointing at himself, Nate, Harry, and I.
"Oh no. No, man, listen, I can't. I'm out," Nate backs up, and Sam looks at him astounded.
"What?!"
"No, I just don't do that kind of thing anymore. Besides, there are plenty of other guys that are much more equipped to handle this kind of thing."
Sam snorts and shakes his head, looking beside him at his brother. "Like who? You and [Name] have been on this search since the beginning. And I trust Flynn here because him and I did a run a year before we were arrested in Panamá."
"I saved your arse from plummeting to your death," Harry chuckles, and Sam sighs.
"We're off topic. The point is, I don't trust anyone but you three with my life. Okay? I need you three on this one,"
"What if I pay off your debt. I have the money Sam, it's no big deal," I say and he shakes his head.
"Absolutely not. I'm not taking money from you, [Name]."
"Well, there's gotta be another way, Sam" Nate says, and I shake my head.
"This is Alcázar we're talking about, Nate. There is no other way. Sam is going to need the money," I tell him, and he goes silent.
"Please," Sam whispers with a pleading look.
"Seems we have a trip to Italy to make," Nate says, and I pull out my phone and call Elena.
"Hey [Name], what's up?" she asks me with a laugh.
A frown comes to my face and I look at Nate, Harry, and Sam. "Nate, Harry, and I are taking a journey..."
~three days later~
A crisp [F/C] short-sleeve blouse adorns my torso and is tucked in nicely with my black dress pants, pairing up with my sparkly ankle boots. "Learned your lesson from the last time you wore a dress for a job," Harry chuckles and I roll my eyes, remembering what happened in London.
"And you're not in stilettos," Nate says, and Sam glances down at us from the binoculars.
"Do I want to ask what happened?" he questions, and I continue to look at a map of the layout of the Rossi Estate.
"A story for another time, mate, but it also involves her slamming pool balls into the faces of a few pricks," Harry laughs and looks at me with a smile.
Sam, who's perched on top of a rock looking through his binoculars at the estate, turns his head and looks down at me with a smirk. "We're talking later," he chuckles and I nod, before he goes back to looking through the binoculars.
"See anything yet?" Nate asks his brother who sighs.
"Just a bunch of high-class, low-life criminals, all cleaned up for prom..." Sam says and chuckles warily at the end, "and no sign from Sullivan yet."
"There's still plenty of time," Nate points out, and I narrow my eyes at the layout in my hands.
"So, it looks like the storage room is in the building behind the manor. Can you see it from up there?" I ask the older Drake who stands up slightly.
"Just the very top of it," Sam responds and purses his lips, "Ooh, I wonder what they got tucked away in there?"
"How about we focus on Avery's cross, Sam?" Harry tells him.
"Fine, fine. We'll keep it simple." Sam smirks while jumping off the rock and landing beside me. "Are you sure Sullivan will show up? What if he got caught?"
"Sam... he knows the people running the auction. He's gonna schmooze his way right through that party, get upstairs, unlock the window, and we're in," Nate explains, and Sam sighs, before looking down at me.
"[Name], don't you also know the people running the auction. Why couldn't you have got in and opened a window for us?"
"Because I need to be here as backup in case you idiots are caught trying to sneak in," I explain to Sam.
"But-"
"Samuel," I state and he looks at me, "enough. I know that you don't necessarily trust Sully, but I can assure you he didn't take the cross for himself. He may have crossed people in the past, but he's never done it to us."
"Fine. Fine, but at least consider the possi-" Sam starts, when Harry points towards the window we've been keeping an eye on.
"Unless that's for Batman, that's our signal," Flynn smirks, and I throw an old jumpsuit on so I don't get my nice clothes dirty.
"Let's go," I grin and drop down off a ledge. The other three follow me down, and we start to jog down a grassy path.
"Hey [Name], you're the slyest of us all, so you'll be the one to steal the cross," Sam tells me, and I nod while we make it into some high grass that looks up to the bridge leading to the estate.
"There's no way up to that bridge," Sam says and I smirk, seeing an exposed beam under it.
"Are you so sure?" I question and pull a grappling hook out from my jumpsuit that I was keeping it in.
"Let's see if you guys can still do it," I chuckle and throw the hook towards the beam. It loops around the wood on my first try, and I smirk and grab the rope, before jumping off the cliff. I giggle while swinging through the air, missing the soft smiles the guys send me from above.
I maneuver my body so I'm swinging to my left and once I'm close enough, I jump to the stone cliff the estate is on top of. "Come on guys! Show me what you're made of!" I shout while climbing down and to the left.
I find an exposed beam under part of the building and Sam -who was the last to grapple over- climbs over us and tosses the hook onto the beam. He grabs the rope and uses it to wall-run over to another ledge on the cliff. I go next and join Sam on the next part of the cliffside. We start to climb across the ledges, and we swing across the branch of a tree, over to a stone wall.
Sam and I grab the top of the wall and stay low when we hear the voices of some guards. Nate and Harry join us and we shush them while watching the guards with assault rifles open a door and walk inside a building. The door shuts behind them and I sigh. "Okay. We're good," I whisper, and we pull ourselves up into the grass.
"Jesus. Did you see them? Those rent-a-thugs was packing some serious heat. Shoulda brought guns," Sam says, and I nod in agreement.
"Guys, we're gonna pull this off so smoothly, we won't need 'em," Nate tells us while we walk through the yard.
"[Name] and I can attest that every journey we do with you tends to end up in a firefight. We should've brought guns," Harry clicks his tongue.
"You want a gun because you like to carry, Flynn," Nate retorts and Harry scowls.
"Both of you stop arguing," I state, and Nate sighs.
We run past some lemon trees and Sam takes a deep breath, inhaling the scent in the air. "All those years... it's the little things you miss the most."
"Like what?" Nate asks his brother as he places his hands on a stone railing with vines covering the top.
"Fresh smell of citrus. Ah, riding a motorcycle. It's little things, but... they add up," Sam says, before walking into the building on our right.
We follow him inside and down the creaky wooden stairs to an archway that leads outside to a mini balcony. Harry grabs the grappling hook and tosses the hook end onto an exposed beam. "That should hold... hopefully," he smirks and hands me the rope, my face falling slightly.
I jog forward and jump over the railing, dropping down slightly and placing my feet on the wall. I slide down the rope more, before using it to run across the wall and jump over to the walkway over an arch on my left.
"Come on over!" I call out to Harry, Nate, and Sam.
They come over one at a time and land on the ground below me. "So tell me. Your other finds you guys did without me. Did you at least take pictures?" Sam asks, and I join them on the ground, before making our way down a dirt path.
"Not really. Elena, a good friend of ours and my housemate, filmed most of our journey for the treasure of El Dorado, but other than that we don't have many pictures," I respond and Sam clicks his tongue.
"That's too bad."
"We have some drawings, though. We can show you them sometime," Nate tells his brother who smirks.
"You have drawings? What are you two? Five? Do you have them hanging on the fridge or something?"
"The drawings aren't some childish mess, these two are actually pretty good at sketching," Harry says and wraps an arm around me while fist-bumping Nate.
"Hey, uh, not that I don't like talking with you guys, but are we going to get into the estate?" I ask, and the guys look at me.
"She's got a point," Sam says, and Harry and Nate nod in agreement.
We climb up a wall onto the walkway over an arch and I jump off first, grabbing a metal bar coming out of the stone wall, and jumping to a brick ledge. I climb to my left and pull myself onto the ground above, before helping Nate, Harry, and Sam up. We slide across a narrow ledge and climb up some bricks up to some metal bars coming out of the brick wall.
I climb across the bars and swing over to the top of a cliff, pulling myself onto the dirt/rocky ground. I climb onto a boulder that's flat at the top, and the three guys join me, Sam tossing the hook part of the grappling hook up around a spotlight.
We all use the rope to climb up the wall onto the flat roof where the window we need to go through is on. Nate goes to step inside, but Sam clears his throat, "Nathan."
"What?" Nate asks and Sam gives him a 'remember' look, before unzipping his jumpsuit, revealing his tuxedo.
Harry and Nate do the same and I bite my lip slightly. 'I do have attractive friends who just so happen to be sweethearts... for the most part' I smirk and unzip my own jumpsuit, letting it fall to the ground.
I step out of it and adjust my hair so it looks nicer. "We are surely dressed up to the nines," I wink at the guys who seem to undress me with their eyes.
"Let's go inside." Sam smirks his signature smirk, and I don't fail to notice that his eyes are a shade darker than usual.
The guys walk past me, letting me catch a whiff of their cologne and I chuckle, before following them in through the open window. We look around the dark room when Nate points at the shadow of a figure, smoking on a cough. "Sully?" Nate questions as we approach the figure.
"Know what I love about partying with a bunch of crooks?" the figure asks, and turns on the lamp beside him.
"What's that?" I chuckle, already knowing his answer.
"Nobody cares if you smoke indoors." Sully grins, making Nate, Harry, and I laugh.
"It's been a while," Nate says, and Sully stands up and hugs the three of us, before looking at Sam.
"Victor," Sam nods his head in acknowledgment.
"I'll be Goddamned. Fifteen years..." Sully trails off, and Sam gives a curt nod.
"Yep."
"Good to see you alive, Sam," Sully says, and they shake hands.
"Now, let's try not getting him killed by retrieving this bloody cross," Harry rubs his hands together with a smirk.
"Yeah, about that..." Sully trails off, and I narrow my eyes at the tone of his voice.
"What? What about that?" Sam asks, and Sully gestures for us to follow him. He leads us out to a balcony and we join him by the railing where he nods his head towards the center stage.
"Take a look."
We look down at the stage and our eyes widen at what's up on the auction table already. "That's Avery's cross," Nate says, and Sully nods.
"They brought it out of storage just before you guys got here."
"They changed the lot order," Sam murmurs while slamming his fist down on the railing.
"Certainly takes someone with enough cash and power to do that," Flynn mutters, and I look around the ballroom the auction is taking place in.
I eye the myriad of people below me, when my eyes catch a glimpse of a familiar figure donning a white and black tuxedo below. I grip the railing as I watch him stop and talk to a few people. 'It can't be him... not after all these years' I try to convince myself.
"[Name]!" Nate whisper-yells, and I look at him.
"What?" I ask, and the guys furrow their eyebrows.
"What did you see, love? You were completely zoned out," Harry says, and I fake smile.
"Just the alcohol tray go by, I could really use a drink."
"Well, anyway- since you were so focused on getting a drink, we'll tell you the new plan. Flynn is going to head down and get our getaway car ready, Nate is going to find the electrical panel, instead of you being the one to steal the cross- I will, and you will be the one doing the 'bidding'," Sam explains and I nod with a smirk.
"I take it we're killing the lights if Nate's going to the electrical panel, always how you get something done dirty. The plan's fine by me though."
"Remember Sam, there's an emergency backup generator so when those lights go off, you need to steal the cross and be out of there before the lights come back on," Sully reminds him.
"Understood, I'll be in my waiter outfit by the cross," Sam says, and we all head down to the main floor.
Harry, Nate, and Sam make their way over to the cellar door so they can get where they need to be, but when they try to open the door the handle only jiggles. "It needs a keycard," I state, noticing the electronic lock on the door.
The guys look at me and I nod slightly before walking up to a waiter and swiftly grabbing the card out of his back pocket while walking past. I push through the crowd and head over to my three friends flashing them the keycard between two of my fingers.
"Here you guys go," I say while handing the card over to Nate, "be careful you guys. Keep us updated."
"We will. See you soon, [Name]," Nate says and he flashes the key card on the lock, unlocking the door. Nate hands it back to me before him and the other two leave the room through the cellar door.
I join Sully on the main floor, acting like we're apart of the crowd. "How have you been, kiddo?" Sully asks me as I grab a glass of champagne off a tray that a waitress offers me.
"I'm doing pretty well. Chloe and I ended up finding the Grande Armée's lost treasures," I state while taking a sip of my drink, making Sully chuckle.
"Well, at least one of my two protégés gets what their after."
"I think it also has to do with luck." I state, before scanning the room again.
Sully takes my glass from me and I send him a weird look while he sighs, "You're looking around here for someone. What were you really looking at up on the balcony?"
"Sully..." I trail off and he raises an eyebrow as I frown, "I think Rafe's here."
"What?!"
"It might have been my eyes playing tricks on me, but I wouldn't be shocked if it was him," I shrug while taking my glass back from him, "now, if you excuse me, I'm going to go raid the buffet."
I politely push past people while making my way over to the buffet, looking at all the different types of Italian cuisine. I grab a plate and take some food, when I spot Sully talking to a woman. 'Nadine Ross. What's she doing here' I frown while taking a bite of my bruschetta.
They seem to be getting along quite well, when Nadine sends him finger guns while walking over until she's only a few feet away from me. "Hey guys... Nadine Ross is here," Sully says into his earpiece, and I hear him in my own.
"I know. She's right beside me," I murmur into my earpiece, before taking another sip of my champagne.
"Pardon my rudeness, but do I know you? You look vaguely familiar for some reason." Nadine says to me.
"I don't believe you know me," I respond, and she narrows her eyes as I smirk, "but I know you, Nadine Ross."
"Who are you?"
"[Name] [L/Name]."
Nadine's eyes widen a fraction and she takes a plate and a biscotti from the buffet table. "You must be [F/Name]'s daughter. My father knew him," she states and raises an eyebrow, "how's he doing by the way?"
I freeze up and she narrows her eyes as I place my plate down. "He's dead. He died when I was eight."
"Oh... I'm sorry for your loss. I met him a few times and he always spoke so highly of you, and how you'd go on to do great things."
"Yeah? Well, it's all in the past now," I tell her with a faint chuckle.
"Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, [L/Name]," Nadine says, before throwing her plate away and getting two drinks from the bar, walking back over to Sully and handing one of the glasses to him.
I watch as Sam walks by in a waiter's uniform, carrying a tray of empty champagne glasses. He meets my gaze and I chuckle as he sends me a wink and a smirk. Sam disappears into the crowd, and I turn my attention back to Sully who's now not only speaking to Nadine, but Rafe as well.
"Guys... we have a problem," I say into my earpiece.
"What is it, love?" Harry responds, and I stare at the back of Rafe's head.
"Rafe is here."
"What?!" Sam's voice comes through my earpiece.
"I'm staring at the back of his head right now."
"Nate, are you there?" Sam asks and his brother doesn't answer, making him sigh, "he must have no reception.
"Just get to your positions. I'm going to go talk to my old friend."
"I'm by the car so just give me the word when you're ready," Flynn says, and we all stop talking.
I walk through the crowd of people towards Sully, and when I'm close I see him gesture to Rafe, "I surely wouldn't want to bid against this guy."
"But I would," I say and Rafe's head snaps in my direction, "long time no see, Rafe. Fifteen years has treated you nicely."
I join Sully's side, turning to look at Rafe who snaps out of his shock. "[Name]?" he murmurs almost as if he can't believe it's me.
"You two know each other?" Nadine asks, and I lick my bottom lip and nod.
"I'm an old friend and partner of his. We have quite a history with each other," I say and she looks at Rafe then at me, amusement suddenly gleaming in her eye as she sends Rafe a small smirk, making him scoff.
"Well, I'm working with him for a job," Nadine says and eyes me again, "so what do you plan on bidding on tonight, [L/Name]?"
"Whatever I feel like. I just got finished with a pretty big job, so I have some money to toss away," I say, and Rafe's eyebrows furrow as he continues to stare me down.
"What job?" he asks, and I chuckle.
"A few days ago, I got back from Russia after finding Napoleon Bonaparte's Grande Armée's lost riches."
"Well, that's good for you," Rafe responds shortly and I meet his gaze, initiating a tense staring contest.
"It certainly is. Then again- my other finds had already brought be a rich lifestyle," I chuckle while keeping my gaze trained on his.
My surroundings seem to fade away so it's only Rafe and I in the room. Our eyes burn holes into each other while the atmosphere around us becomes tense.
"Hey, kid... you okay?" Sully asks me.
I sigh and snap out of the gaze, before grabbing Rafe's hand and pulling him off to somewhere quieter, missing the surprise and small blush that comes to his face.
I push open the door to a vacant library, pulling Rafe inside with me. The door shuts behind us, and I turn around and glare at my old friend who moved to stand in the middle of the room, "I'm not fucking stupid Rafe, I know why you're here, and I'm sure as hell you know why I'm here as well."
"I thought you gave up looking for Avery's treasure when you left me," he growls, and I storm up to him.
"I left because you ignored me and wouldn't listen to anything I had to say! It had nothing to do with me giving up!"
"I did not ignore you. Maybe you were just to incompetent to even be of use to me!"
A loud slap fills the air and Rafe's left cheek turns red. I can see the look of regret in his turquoise eyes and I snarl, "I was the incompetent one?! Last time I checked if it wasn't for me or the Drake brothers, you wouldn't even know about the fucking treasure. And yes- you did ignore me! You fucking kept pushing me away like I was some sort of nuisance to you, and I guess I was," I push him away this time and turn on my heel.
I walk over to the door and go to open it, when I'm spun around and pressed up against it. Rafe pins my arms above my head and presses up against me, looking down at me with a fierce gaze and locking the door. "Dammit, [Name]. I didn't say you were a nuisance to me," he growls lowly and I bare my teeth at him.
"Then why? Why push me away like you did? I thought we were friends, Rafe. Are you still doing this so people will see you for more than your parents wealth and business?"
He drags a hand down his face, backing away from me with a sigh, "You don't understand, [Name]."
"What don't I understand, Rafe? That want to prove your worth? Or what it's like to lose both of your parents, because newsflash, that actually happened!" I shout, my eyes widening when I realized what I said.
"What?" Rafe narrows his eyes, and I run a hand through my hair, moving to take a seat on the love seat in the room.
"I never liked talking about it. Only a few people know what really happened and how they died," I whisper while looking down at my feet.
The couch dips down beside me and I look over to see Rafe staring at me with concern. "[Name]. What happened? Goddammit, tell me!"
"Long story short- my father was a CIA agent and was killed while undercover. My mother met a guy a few months later and he manipulated her into dating him. He was abusive from the start, but a year later he forced her to marry him and the abuse took a spin for the worse. She was killed a few weeks after she remarried the abusive piece of shit known as my step-father and he attempted to kill me as well," I whisper, and Rafe's eyes narrow.
"Did he-" Rafe starts and I stop him.
"Abuse me? Yes, and I'll leave you to guess what he did."
"You should have told me. Why the fuck didn't you?"
I look back into Rafe's eyes to see them filled with anger, but I can tell it's not towards me. "Well, sorry for not wanting to talk about my past," I mutter, wiping the tears from my eyes that pricked the corners of them.
Rafe sighs, a contemplative look crossing his face, before he scoffs and pulls me against his side, allowing me to rest my head on his shoulder. We sit in silence for a few minutes and I sigh in content at the feeling of him rubbing my arm for comfort. 'This is the Rafe I once knew' I smile faintly, before turning my head to look at him.
"You know, Rafe- behind that tough and slightly psychotic persona. You're not as much of an asshole," I say, and he cracks a grin.
"Is that your attempt of a compliment, because if so you suck at them," Rafe smirks and I sit up and lean against the armrest of the loveseat, propping my legs up on his lap.
"It's the truth. You're actually kind of a softy," I giggle, and he sends me a halfhearted glare.
"I am not a softy."
"Mhmm. Keep telling yourself that, Rafe. Just remember that I've known you since I was eighteen and I know you better than anyone else."
"So?"
"So, I know you have a soft side," I laugh and lightly punch his bicep. Rafe chuckles darkly and within a second I'm pinned down on the couch with him hovering over me. My eyes widen as his eyes narrow dangerously, a devilish look crossing his face, making me nervous, "R-Rafe..."
"So, you think I'm a softy. Then maybe I'll have to change your mind. It's only us occupying this room, and that door is locked, so no one can disturb us. Plus- the ballroom is loud, so you don't have to worry about people hearing you as I..." he trails off and leans down so his lips are by my ear, "show you just how rough I can be."
My breath catches in my throat and my cheeks flare up with warmth from his risqué comment. Rafe pulls back and rolls his bottom lip between his teeth, before smirking and moving off of me to stand up. He adjusts the blazer of his tuxedo, before looking at the time on his Rolex. "The auction is about to start."
"Then I think it's about time we left this room," I state while getting off the love seat, trying to keep my breathing steady.
"So, it seems we're on different sides now..."
"Yeah... I wish it didn't have to be that way, Rafe. I don't want to be opposing a friend."
He frowns and runs a hand through his slicked back hair. "I just want you to know that I have always cared about you, [Name], and I still do. Even if it doesn't seem like I do."
"Care? That's one hell of a casual way of putting it."
"I may still have feelings for you, but I'll warn you here and now, [Name]. Don't bid against me. I don't want you getting hurt because you got in my way," Rafe orders, and I move so we're chest to chest.
"Watch me." I smirk and spin on my heel, unlocking and opening the door. I strut out of the room, feeling Rafe's burning gaze on me, more specifically my ass, but that just makes my smirk wider.
"What was that about? And I got ahold of Nate, he knows Rafe's here now," Sully states when I join him.
"Just catching up with an old friend, and thanks for telling Nate," I chuckle, and the auctioneer steps up to the podium. "Seems the auction is about to start."
I spot Sam standing by the cross, and he meets my gaze. I wink at him this time, and he smirks and playfully rolls he's eyes. "Well Sam's in position," I whisper to Sully while grabbing my bidding card.
"Let's just hope this works," Sully says while taking a puff of his cigar.
"In a few moments we'll begin bidding on our next item... an inlaid wooden crucifix from the Trott Estate," the auctioneer says and I look around the room. I find Rafe in the crowd and he glances back at me, sending me a small glare when I show him my bidding card.
"What the hell went on between you two in that room? You were gone for quite a bit of time..." Sully trails off, and I glance at him.
"Are you implying that I just had a quick fuck with Rafe?" I ask him with a laugh.
"Well- you two do have quite the past with each other."
"I also have a past with Harry, Nate, and Sam. Rafe and I were never anything more than friends, and all we did was catch up with each other."
"Why do I have a hard time believing that one?"
"I don't know, Sully."
"Well, it doesn't take much to realize he still likes you after all these years."
"Like is downplaying it," I chuckle, and the auctioneer starts the auction.
Rafe and some of the other people in the room start bidding on the cross and I wait until it seems Rafe is going to be the winner. "Since we have no other bids," the auctioneer starts, and I hold up my card.
"One-hundred thousand." I smirk, and Rafe looks at me with a frown. 'I told you so' I mouth to him and his jaw clenches up.
"Apparently we have one-hundred thousand euros in the room," the auctioneer says and she looks around the room, "do we have any other bids?"
Rafe raises up his card and everyone looks at him. "We now have one-hundred ten-thousand euros in the room," the woman says, and I chuckle and hold up my card.
"That brings the bid up to one-hundred twenty-thousand euros," she states and Rafe scowls while I continue to smirk.
Rafe and I continue to bid back and forth, and I raise my card up again. "One million euros. Come on Rafe, step up your game I'm starting to get bored." I fake a yawn, and the crowd gasps at my challenge. 'Now it's getting personal' I mentally chuckle as Rafe sends me a deadly glare, and the auctioneer looks between him and I.
"Kid, what are you doing?" Sully whispers, and I glance at him.
"Bidding against a friend."
"But a million euros?!"
"We're stealing the cross remember?" I chuckle while facing the front stage again, "plus- it's not like I can't afford it, and pushing Rafe's buttons always makes for a great time."
"One million euros, going once," the auctioneer says and Rafe raises his card.
"Two million," he states while smirking at me.
"Hey guys, I'm in position. Just tell me when to turn the lights out," Nate says through my earpiece.
"Would the lady like to bid again?" the auctioneer asks and I chuckle, acting like I'm going to make another bid, before shaking my head.
"Ah, let him have it," I say and Rafe smirks at me.
"Giving up so easily, [Name]?" he sneers at me. I shrug with a lopsided smile, making him narrow his eyes as I drop my bidding card.
"Ruin his night," I say into my earpiece, and the power goes out right after.
Sully and I walk over to the cellar door and I use the keycard I stole. We walk through the door and it starts to close behind us when the backup generator kicks on. "It's gone!" one of the people at the auction shouts.
I look over my shoulder just before the door closes and wink at Rafe, his eyes clouding over with anger when he realizes what happened. He starts to run over to the door, but it closes behind before he reaches us. "Let's get out of here, kiddo," Sully says and we go into stealth mode.
"Please Sam, for the sake of your life, say you have the cross," I say into my earpiece.
"I have Saint Dismas right here," Sam chuckles into his earpiece.
"We've really kicked the hornet's nest down here. Ballroom's locked down, security's scrambling. Flynn, the car?" Sully asks while we make our way through our escape route.
"I'm ready for you guys," Harry says, and Sully and I make it outside and into our getaway limo.
"Hey." I smile at Flynn who smirks at me.
"Hey, Flynn. Is our getaway car ready?" Sam asks into our earpiece as I go onto the internet and start reading up more on Saint Dismas.
"Come to the driveway out front... just follow the spotlights," Harry responds into his earpiece.
"Bring the car around for us. There's a lot of guards," Nate says, catching my attention.
"Will do," Harry states while I grab a nice looking briefcase from the floor. I undo the latches and open the case, revealing all the parts for my sniper rifle. I quickly assemble the gun, adding a suppressor at the end.
"[Name]," Sully says as I open the car door.
"Nate just said that the security is tight, I'm going to try and take out as many guards as I can. Harry get the car into position, we'll need a quick getaway," I tell him, before getting out of the car and running towards the manor, climbing up a wall.
I spot many guards on balconies and roofs and I get into position in a dark corner. "Nate, Sam, I have you guys covered," I say into my earpiece while sniping certain spotlights and then taking out the guards.
"[Name]! Did you bring a sniper rifle?!" Sam asks, and I chuckle nervously.
"Maybe..."
"Well... good thing you did."
I continue to take out more guards, when I can't find anymore in my line of view. "I'm heading back to the car. I cleared enough guards for you guys to make it safely," I say while making it to the garden where Harry and Sully wait with the car.
"We'll be out in a few. There's a lot of guards inside the ballroom," Nate says and I frown.
"Do you need me?" I ask, hearing the gunfire from their side.
"No, we'll be fine," Sam replies and the line goes silent.
Harry, Sully, and I wait in the limo for what feels like hours when the gates to the garden open up. I open the car door, and Nate and Sam jump into the car, slamming the door behind them as it's pelted with bullets.
"Drive!" Nate exclaims, and Harry immediately speeds away from the estate, taking us to our hotel.
~
"So, do we just... smash it?" Harry asks while looking at the Saint Dismas Cross we stole.
"I guess," I shrug, and Sam takes a swig of scotch from his glass.
"Okay," he states, and Nate hands him a hammer.
"Stop!" I shout suddenly and the guys look at me as I smirk, "hammer time."
Their faces fall, and I grin. "Why are you like this?" Sam chuckles and I pout, making him ruffle my hair, "good thing we love you."
"I already know you, Nate, and Harry love me," I grin and their faces heat up as I chuckle, "now, let's see what's inside that cross."
Sam raises the hammer and inhales. "I hope I don't go to hell for this," he says with a smirk, before bringing the hammer down on the cross.
The bottom breaks off and his smirk quickly falls to a frown. "Oh shit..." Sam trails off, and I raise an eyebrow as he looks up at us, "it's empty."
"What?!" Nate exclaims while leaning forward in his seat.
Sam shakes his head and shakes a rolled up piece of paper out of the cross while laughing. "You're such an arsehole, mate," Harry groans, smacking Sam on the back of the head while Nate leans back in his seat with an eye roll.
"He is a Drake," Sully points out, and I laugh at the offended looks on both brothers faces, before we all look at the rolled up piece of paper.
"Look at the sign on the seal. Skull and crossbones," Harry points to the seal on the paper.
"Avery's insignia," Sam grins and unravels the piece of paper to show a sketch of a tombstone on it.
"What is that?" Nate asks and I look at the date on the drawing. '1659-1699... Avery's birth and supposed death date. And 'hodie mecum eris in Paradiso', means 'today you will join me in Paradise'. This is Avery's gravestone' I mentally say, when I realize where we need to go.
"Guys, it's the Saint Dismas Cathedral," I say and they look at me. "The dates on the tombstone is the year Avery was born and the year he reportedly died. The quote is what Jesus said to Dismas on the cross. This sketch is what Avery's tombstone looks like."
"But hasn't Rafe been scouring that place for years?" Sully asks me.
"Nate, hand me my bag," I say, and he grabs it and tosses it to me.
I pull out my journal and flip through a few pages, pulling out a piece of paper with the layout of the area Rafe purchased. "The layout of the place has always been weird. Rafe's focus was always centered here, around the cathedral, but the graveyard is all the way over here," I point at the locations on the paper.
"Rafe's been searching in the wrong area," Nate chuckles with a faint grin.
Sam smirks and folds his hands together, "Guys. We're going to Scotland."
"Wait. You guys do realize Rafe knows you're coming?" Sully asks and Nate waves him off.
"We can deal with that when we get there," he responds, and Sam, Harry, and I nod in agreement.
"That psycho would like nothing better than for you to show up. Plus, he's got Nadine and her whole army to back him up!"
"Yeah, but he doesn't have this," Nate waves the paper, that was in the cross, in the air. "The biggest pirate treasure of all time is within our grasp."
I frown and lean back in my chair, not liking how Nate worded his statement. "I thought we were doing this to save Sam," I narrow my eyes at the younger Drake.
"We are. But, it's both, right? We need the treasure so we can save Sam!" Nate exclaims with a grin.
'Is that really it, Nate? Something tells me you're doing this for more than just Sam' I frown and lean back in my chair, grabbing my glass of scotch off the table.
"Well, I'm heading to my hotel room. Goodnight," I down my glass, placing it back on the table and standing up.
"Sweet dreams, love," Harry smiles and I nod.
"See you in the morning, [Name]," both Drake brothers say and I wave, before walking out of Nate's room and unlocking my hotel room.
I step inside and place my bag on the table, before heading out to the balcony. I lean against the railing, pulling out my phone and staring at the contacts on the screen. My thumb hovers over one of the names and I close my eyes and take a deep breath, before pressing it and reopening my eyes.
The screen on my phone goes dark except for in the corner where I can see my reflection. The person I was calling answers, and I smirk at his pissed off expression. "What's with the sour look, Rafe? Something didn't go your way for once?" I ask while grabbing a beer bottle from the outdoor fridge.
"You know exactly what I'm pissed off about. That was MY cross, [Name]. I should've known you'd pull a fucking stunt like that," he seethes as I casually open my beer and take a sip.
"Yeah, you really should've seen it coming. You know damn well I could've made a higher bid, Rafe. Hell, I could have outbidded you easily," I grin while glancing out at the ocean.
Rafe sighs and rubs his face, raising an eyebrow, "Why did you call me?"
"Am I not allowed to speak to an old friend?"
"You're drunk, aren't you? We spoke earlier," he states, and I chuckle and take another sip of my beer.
"I'm drinking currently, but I'm nowhere near drunk," I tell him before taking a seat on a balcony chair. "So, what's going on between you and Nadine. She seems to like you."
A smirk comes to his face and he takes a sip of his whiskey. "She's my business partner and nothing else. Do I sense jealousy coming from you?"
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. Guess that's all up to your interpretation."
"What about you? Are you with one of the Drake's?"
"Hmm, no. But they are rather attractive, along with Harry Flynn. Gotta love an English accent."
Rafe's eyes sharpen and a scowl breaks out onto his face, his hand gripping his whiskey glass tighter. "Oh ho ho, now who's the jealous one," I chuckle while taking another sip of my beer.
"Ha. Ha. Now tell me the truth, why did you really call, because I know it wasn't to have a chat," Rafe growls and I frown.
"Rafe... just let us have the treasure. It's the only thing that can save Sam."
His eyebrows furrow, and he sends me a confused look, "What do you mean, 'save Sam'?"
"Sam survived his gunshot wounds he received in Panamá. Some 'doctors' patched him up and he spent another fifteen years there. The only reason he's out now is because he struck a deal with Hector Alcázar and they broke out of prison together, but now Sam owes him half of the Gunsway Heist."
"[Name], he's l-" Rafe starts, when someone knocks on my hotel door.
"I got to go, Rafe. It was nice talking with you," I smirk, sending him a wink, before ending the call.
I grab my beer bottle and walk inside and over to the hotel door. I peep through the peephole, before opening the door partially to see Harry outside. "I'm rooming with you," he says, and I raise an eyebrow.
"How did Sam and Nate not argue that?" I ask, and he chuckles.
"We played a game of cards. Winner gets to stay in your room," he grins, and I chuckle before opening the door fully.
"Well then, welcome to my hotel suite."
~two days later~
"Well, Rafe's really going all in, isn't he?" Sam asks while we look out into the distance at the cathedral being torn apart.
"It still seems that they're all concentrated around the cathedral, so that's good... because we are going to have that graveyard all to ourselves," Nate sighs, and I zip up my traveling jacket, along with putting on my three-fourth finger climbing gloves, and a scarf and beanie.
"Sullivan," Harry says into his radio.
"Yeah?" Sully responds, and Harry looks out at the graveyard.
"We're good to go up here, mate," Flynn says, and I look down at Sully's plane sitting on the water.
"Okay, kids. Happy hunting," Sully tells us and I wave down to the plane when Sully's voice comes through my earpiece, "Hey, [Name], Nate..."
"Yeah?" Nate responds into his radio.
"Just- bring me back something shiny," Sully responds, though I can tell he wanted to say something else.
"Will do," I say into my earpiece, and Sully starts up his plane and flies off.
"Let's go pay our respects to Captain Avery, huh?" Sam asks, and we drop off a ledge into some dry grass, "A Scottish cathedral. Strange place to bury your treasure, no?"
"Not really. By the time Avery would have sailed here, the place was already abandoned," I explain, and we start jogging through the field.
"Plus, he had a massive bounty on his head, so it would have been a good place to hide," Nate points out and my boots crunch in the snow.
"What actually happened between you two and Rafe?" Sam asks his brother and I.
"I couldn't deal with him... and I'm pretty sure he'd had enough of me. I was still coming to grips with your 'death', and with his frustration from not finding the treasure... well, I'm pretty sure he was ready to kill me by the time I bailed," Nate says with a sigh.
Sam chuckles and looks at me. "And what about you [Name], you were vague when I asked you before."
"Well as you know, Rafe and I were close," I start and Nate chuckles.
"Close? You were the only living thing he cared about. He loved you and I bet he still does," he says and I sigh.
"That's beside the point- I tried helping him. I really did. But he kept pushing me away. It got to the point where if we weren't shouting at each other he was ignoring me. I lost my friend to a stupid treasure and his own fucking ego. And you three know me, you know I don't turn my backs on my friends rarely ever. Rafe was the exception. He wasn't even Rafe anymore at that point. He became some stranger whose entire goal in life was to make a name for himself no matter what cost, the sad thing is- he's still like that today."
"Think there's any room for him to change?" Harry asks, and I sigh when we reach a gravelly slope.
"I hope. Even though I said I turned my back on him, I only turned it on him when it came to the treasure. I'll do anything to help him, because this Rafe- this isn't the guy I know, and definitely not the guy who I was once close with..." I trail off, before sliding down to the grass below along with the three guys.
"That's a long drop," Sam murmurs while looking over the edge of the cliff.
"We need to find another way around," Nate says, and we climb onto a ledge and walk through the grass to another gravelly slope.
"If we slide down this towards the edge of the grass on our right, we can find our way down from there," I explain, before sliding down the gravel.
I grab onto the edge of the ground on the other side and pull myself into the grass. Nate, Harry, and Sam slide across the gravel and join me in the tan-colored grass, and we walk through some snow to what's left of a tree. "Right down here."
I take the grappling hook I have attached to my hip and I wrap it around a sturdy branch, before using the rope to slide down to the ground below, bring my grappling hook with me. Once my feet hit the ground, I look around while the other three make their way down.
"What the hell is this?" Nate asks, looking around at the excavation equipment.
"Seems Rafe decided to expand his search after all these years," I mutter and Harry sighs.
"They're over here!" someone shouts and we take cover behind some boxes when gunfire goes off.
"Why? Why is it always when I'm with you that we get shot at," I grumble, sending a sharp look to Nate.
"He's bad luck, love. We've gone over this," Harry responds, and we shoot at the mercenaries that shoot at us.
I take out the last one, and we come out from behind our cover. "Okay, we're good," Sam pants, and Nate frowns while looking down at the bodies of some of the mercenaries.
"Yeah, nice to meet you too, Shoreline. Seems like they were expecting us," Nate says, and we walk through the dead grass, heading towards the graveyard.
"And that they're moving away from the cathedral," Sam points out and I frown.
"Which means we need to get to that graveyard, and fast," I tell them while picking up my pace to a jog.
"Why didn't you ever search beyond the cathedral anyway?" Harry asks Nate and I.
I take a deep breath and grin, sending a dark look to Nate. "Care to explain, Nathan?"
"Well, we did... a little. By this place is so big, without knowing where to look... it's like shooting in the dark," Nate starts and I stop on top of a wooden platform, when an explosion goes off near the cathedral.
"Or like blowing shit up in the dark," Sam states, and we drop down off the platform.
Nate nods and we approach some Shoreline containers. "Yeah, but we mainly focused on the cathedral, though [Name] always wanted to thoroughly search the graveyard which is probably why she just glared at me a few seconds ago."
"What is this place?" Harry asks, and we look around the destroyed living quarters.
"The monks had several living quarters... the main one being by the graveyard, but this was one of the smaller ones," Nate says and I nod.
"Yeah, well we should get going. I don't want to be here when those Shoreliners return for their equipment," I state while grabbing some dynamite sticks and attaching them to my belts.
"I agree," Sam chuckles and walks up from behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders and massaging them.
I relax at his touch, noticing Harry and Nate frowning at him. "For how much I love massages, I think we should get moving," I pat Sam's hands, and he releases my shoulders with a cocky smirk.
"Now what do you say we blow a door open," I smirk while lighting the dynamite stick and throwing it at a wooden door in the side of a cliff. The stick explodes and the door breaks apart, falling to pieces all over the ground.
"That was..." Sam trails off.
"Very quiet, love. I doubt they heard that," Harry sarcastically tells me, and I smile sheepishly.
"But at least we got the door open. Let's just hope we blend in with the other explosions," Nate points out, and we walk in through the opening where the door used to be.
"Look, there's a way in through the opening in the roof," I point out and glance up to see some rocks that can be grabbed at the top. I take a few steps back and run forward, running a few feet up the wall and jumping up, grabbing a stone at the top.
It becomes loose and I jump and grab the edge of the ground, pulling myself up. "You guys are probably going to need to find something to climb on," I tell them and they deadpan.
"I'll cover you in case any Shoreliners show up," I smirk while laying down in some high grass and pulling out my sniper rifle with a suppressor on it.
Explosions go off near the cathedral, and I watch as Nate grabs a dynamite stick and blows up a door in the small, old living quarters. Harry starts moving a yellow cart through the now blown open door when I spot some mercenaries moving towards them.
"Shit," I whisper and shoot one of the men in the head. My three friends look ahead and take cover, pulling out their guns. I continue to take out the men below me one by one, and Nate, Harry, and Sam take out the ones around them.
"Maybe you shouldn't have exploded that door!" Sam calls up to me, and I stand up and shrug.
"I didn't see any other way of getting up!" I shout back, and they move the yellow cart into the building and climb up through the hole. "At least I covered your asses," I point out, and they chuckle and shake their head.
"Come on, let's go," Nate says, and I run towards the edge of a cliff.
I toss the rope of my grappling hook around a sturdy branch off the side of a higher cliff. "Be careful," Harry says and I grapple over to some ridges on the cliffside across from me.
I climb up the ridges and toss my hook up to a branch above me. I use my rope to wall run over to a flat landing on my left, jumping and landing on it. "Catch me if you can!" I giggle and the boys laugh.
"Oh, you're on [L/Name]!" they shout and I attach my hook to another branch before leaping off the flat part of the cliff to my right. I swing forward and turn my body, swinging towards the part of the cliff on my left I need to climb.
I jump and grab a stone ledge, climbing across some stone handlings on my right to a narrow cliff ledge that I can stand on. "There's a ladder above me, I need someone to boost me up!" I shout down to the guys who nod.
Sam joins me first and I move over to the very edge of the ledge while Sam stands under the ladder. He turns to me and I step onto his hand, allowing him to boost me up to the ladder. "Still have a nice ass, [Name]," Sam says and I look down over my shoulder to see him, Harry, and Nate staring up at me.
"They'll never change," I mutter while climbing onto the top of the cliff.
Sam boosts Nate and Harry up, and the two guys drop down to another flat part of the cliff. Sam jumps up and they grab his arms, pulling him up to join us at the top.
"Look, there it is," I point to where the monks stayed.
"Just a hop, skip, and jump away," Nate says and rests his hands on his hips.
"Ah, don't jinx us," Sam says, and Harry chuckles.
"Too late for that one. We're probably going to have a lot of bloody problems now," he tells the older Drake brother.
"I'm really enjoying the faith you three have in me. Now, let's get going," Nate says with a roll of his eyes.
I smirk and nod my head. "We shall."