Bandit Bound: A Bad Boy Romance Novel (4 page)

"Yeah, no, seriously just forgot about it," she admitted. "That's kind of embarrassing since I wasted all of that time with him, but at least it's over now."

Lily laughed again.

"How can you just forget? I mean, it sounds like work was hectic, but that's not enough to make me forget breaking up with someone, even if they were a loser--no offense," she said.

"I mean there was this guy that came in, and he was so weird and so hot," she said, her attraction to him showing through unambiguously through her voice.

"You just said that like a little girl who got her picture signed by some movie star," Lily said surprised.

"What? No, I didn't," Savannah replied defensively. The loud engine of a motorcycle zoomed by Savannah's house as she spoke, making her repeat herself: "No, I didn't!"

"Did so," Lily teased. "So, this guy was so hot that he made you forget, huh?" she taunted.

Savannah almost wanted to say yes but thought that made her look a little too pathetic, even to her best friend.

"No, like, he was weird too because he had a fucking briefcase with a hundred thousand dollars and he wanted to donate it to some charity," Savannah said, irritated that her friend was suggesting she was some boy-crazy fool that forgot her life when a sexy man showed up.

"What?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, he had this briefcase and I thought he just had regular briefcase stuff in it, you know, papers, business whatever, but it turns out he had a hundred thousand dollars in it and he wanted to open up an account and put it all in there," Savannah explained.

"Doesn't that raise alarms and stuff?" Lily asked. You could practically hear her coming to the edge of her seat to listen to the story.

"Yeah, I have to put it through my manager and it's actually a big deal and it gets flagged and a bunch of authorities have to know about it. You know, it could be theft or laundering or some other kind of illegal business. I mean, hell, it was in cash after all," Savannah said.

"So what did your manager say?" Lily asked.

Savannah cringed, realizing that she was just about ready to let him open up the account without notifying her manager. She wasn't sure if it was because he was donating to a charity that was close to her in many ways or if she was just so instantly infatuated with him that she would have done anything he said.

"Well, nothing," she replied.

"What do you mean, nothing?" Lily asked.

"Well, I mean, I was going to just let him open it but--"

"Ha! I knew it! You had the hots for him! Savannah going wild for Mr. Dreamboat!" Lily taunted.

"Shut up!" Savannah said, laughing at how ridiculous the conversation was. "No, I was going to let him because he said it was going to a charity and it's just a really important charity to me and I didn't want to risk it," she explained further. She wasn't sure if she was trying to convince Lily or herself.

"So, he got the account?!" Lily asked with shock in her voice.

"No, he didn't," Savannah said sadly.

"Why not?"

"I didn't know it was cash at the time, I can't just let him bring a suitcase full of money into the bank and let him just deposit it in the account, you actually have to alert the police of that because it's, like, officially suspicious," Savannah said.

"You sound like you're annoyed at the police for not letting Mr. Dreamboat hand his fat stack of cash over to you," Lily teased.

"Not funny. It was a really good charity, I just, I don't know, whatever, I'm done talking about it," Savannah said. She sighed loudly in annoyance.

"Sorry, I wish more people donated to charity, too, Savvy. I'm just making fun," Lily said softly.

"It's fine, I know you're just joking, but ugh," Savannah said.

"What charity was it, anyways?"

"It was Save The Orphans," Savannah answered.

"Like, Save The Whales?"

"What?" Savannah asked. She rolled her eyes at the comment, which Lily could fortunately not see over the phone.

"Orphans? Why are orphans so important to you?" Lily asked. Savannah never told her about her past before she met her. There was an air of change in her soul, though, and she decided that now was the time to tell her best friend her deepest secret.

"I'm an orphan," Savannah said. When she said the words it felt like a big weight was lifted off of her shoulders. An airy feeling flowed through her. The oscillating fan felt more exhilarating and fresh than ever.

"Whoa, what?" Lily asked. Savannah didn't answer. "I'm sorry, that was rude, I mean, how did I not know this before?" Lily added.

"I just never wanted to tell, I don't know," Savannah said.

"That's crazy, Sav. You've always had the same mom and dad, though, ever since we met," Lily said, the gears spinning in her head trying to put the story together.

"Yeah, they were my last foster parents, but I was born without parents and they passed me from family to family until we met, basically."

"Why didn't you ever say anything before?" Lily asked.

"I had finally gotten a decent set of foster parents and was working part-time at the local diner. I didn't want to reveal anything about my past because I wanted to leave it all behind me, and I did," Savannah explained. There was a long pause as Lily processed everything she'd just heard.

"That makes sense," she concluded. "So much shit makes sense now," she added breathlessly.

"Yeah," Savannah said. She felt particularly self-conscious.

"Like, Peter and Anne both have blonde hair and you're a brunette, and I always thought that was weird but I didn't say anything because that'd be rude, and now it makes sense and oh my God," Lily poured out over the phone.

"Yep," Savannah said.
I'm starting to regret saying this,
she thought.

"And that's still rude and I'm sorry," Lily said and then laughed out loud over the phone. Savannah laughed as well, infected by Lily's light mood over her serious reveal.

"I wish I could have just snatched that hundred thousand from him," Savannah said, shifting the tone of the conversation.

"Yeah girl, split it with me," Lily said amused.

"Seriously. I could go explore the world," Savannah said, beginning faraway fantasies in her head.

"You deserve it," Lily affirmed.

"I just want to go somewhere new. Do something new," Savannah lamented. "I'm so bored here, I don't know how much longer I can take it."

"Well, I hope if you manage to commit theft of that magnitude that you bring your old pal along," Lily joked.

"Of course," Savannah said. "Listen, Lily, thanks so much for listening to me complain all day, and I'm sorry I didn't ask you anything at all about yourself," she added.

"No problem, I'll probably do the same to you in a few days anyways," Lily said.

"I'm going to go grab a little bit to eat and then I'm going to bed," Savannah said after yawning.

"Nice, what's for dinner?" Lily asked.

"I'm trying a new pulled pork recipe I found on some blog," Savannah said. She licked her lips in anticipation for it and her mouth started salivating.

"Savvy, you've got to slow it down on the pulled pork. I swear you have that stuff every day," Lily teased.

"It's my favorite, I can't get enough of it," Savannah said excitedly. Just the thought of the pulled pork made her feel like a kid in a candy shop.

"Well, we've all got our vices, I suppose," Lily said sagely.

"Goodnight Lil, thanks again, make sure to come over soon!" Savannah said.

"Goodnight Savvy, if you wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night don't be afraid to wake me up!" Lily said with a little laugh afterward.

"Will do, Lil," Savannah said. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Savannah's last thoughts before falling into a deep sleep were of Vincent.

4

Savannah entered the building with dread once more.
It's like showing up for my own funeral,
she thought.

"If this is how you treat your employees, I may have to take my business elsewhere," a familiar voice said sternly and loudly.

Savannah looked around trying to figure out what was going on. There was some sort of small commotion going near the seating area with all of the magazines. She saw Chad. His face was red.
He's in another one of his rages
, Savannah thought. Then she saw a familiar figure and face in a grey suit.

"Oh my God," Savannah said very quietly as she entered the building.
Vincent,
she thought.

"Yeah, well, you know, this is company business," Chad said. He always stumbled over his words when he was nervous or angry. It looked like he was both at a moment.

Lucy, the branch manager came out of her office with a scared look on her face.

"Mr. Starlingveil," she said with urgency as she rushed over to him. Her pace was too fast, though, and her ankles buckled in her high heels as she dashed over. It was quite a sight.

"Do you know what kind of bozos you have working here?" Vincent asked fiercely.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Starlingveil, I really am. Would you like to come into my office and discuss what the problem is?" Lucy asked. She looked all around her, wallowing in the embarrassment. This place is a circus, Savannah thought.

"This one, right here," Vincent said as he pointed in Chad's face, "was being extremely abusive to the janitor that works here." Lucy looked at Chad, waiting for an answer.

"It was Stan, trying to get, trying to, to get back in here," Chad explained poorly.

"Please, let's go to my office where we can discuss this privately," Lucy said in an attempt to control the damage before more could be done in front of all of the onlooking customers.

"No, thank you," Vincent said. He turned around and looked Savannah in the eyes. He looked surprised to see her there, but not as surprised Savannah looked to see
him
there.

"Please," Lucy asked again.

"I've decided I should take my business elsewhere," Vincent said. He looked at Savannah again and gave her the slightest grin.
Is this all part of some kind of plot?
Savannah thought to herself.

"Come, Mr. Starlingveil, I'm sure I can explain," Lucy said, the desperation in her voice growing by the second.

"Savannah," he said as he stared her down with his electric blue eyes. Those eyes had a mischievous energy in them.

Savannah's eyes widened and her breath left her.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"You don't seem like the sort of girl that would work at such a soulless place where they stamp down the small, like how they treated that poor janitor," he said.
It's true, I'm not,
she thought.

"Sorry?" Savannah said nervously and looked at her feet.

"You heard me, but I understand why you're too afraid to say anything about it. Maybe that'll change one day," Vincent said as he started to walk out of the building. As he passed her, he looked deeply into her eyes once more. Savannah looked back at him. It felt, to Savannah, like a whole conversation had been exchanged just through that look. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but in this case, it was just some eye contact.

"Mr. Starlingveil!" Lucy said as her ankles buckled in an attempt to chase him down outside of the bank doors. She glared at Savannah with utter contempt as she passed her as if the whole ordeal were her fault.

"The hell was that about," Chad said. "The guy was fired anyways," he added in a low mutter. Savannah looked around at all of the staring faces. She knew something had to be done.

"I'm so sorry everybody, there's been a big misunderstanding with the staff, please don't pay any mind, go ahead with your business. The tellers will be happy to help you, the drama is over," Savannah said with a big smile on her face. Some of the customers chuckled and shook their head and went back to their business while, again, some continued to linger and stare.