Because I’d pay.
I’d pay over and over just to sit across from her, night after night, pretending she was mine.
No, it ain’t the money I doubt.
It’s my ability to sit back and watch her do it.
‘I don’t like it,’ Theo repeats.
Thank fuck for the voice of reason.
‘That’s because you’re risk averse when it comes to anything but money,’ she says, turning those eyes on him, voice sharp with that drive of hers. ‘But what is life without a little risk? And these people who can afford to pay, the circles they move in, the contacts we’d glean, the insider info…’
We both say nothing and she leans forward, elbows on her knees, face ever more determined. ‘Come on guys, see the bigger picture. Quit thinking about it as dates and think about it as leverage. About turning scraps into something bigger. About building a future for us all. No more scraping by, living like this, earning just to hand every penny over.’
I know what she’s saying. I do. And she works harder than me and Theo put together, holding down three jobs because her father is a waste of space and she has her kid sister to look after. But…
‘This way, I get to give Sadie a proper childhood, a real home, a decent chance at an education…’ She points the bottle at her chest. ‘All things I never got the chance to have.’ Then she points the bottle at me. ‘You quit risking your life each night and put all that muscle to good use.’
Her eyes flick over me, heating every inch, before they land on Theo, the bottle pointing his way too. ‘And you get the cash injection you need to truly put your trading model to work, for all of us. It’s a win-win.’
A win-win?
That’s if I don’t go down for taking out one of her handsy punters in the process…
‘And what about Sadie?’ Theo says. ‘Who’s going to look after her while you’re off on these dates?’
She gives Theo the widest of smiles.
‘Oh no-no, Tay.’
‘You want me to leave her with my father?’
‘Hell, no,’ he says, ‘but my place is hardly kid friendly.’
‘You think she’ll care? She adores her Uncle Theo.’
‘There’s no accounting for taste,’ I say into my beer, unable to contain my smirk.
‘Fine.’ Though Theo’s expression doesn’t ease. ‘You sure you want to do this?’
‘Yes,’ she says, no hesitation, just sheer ambition. ‘We’re going to turn dinner dates into capital, capital into growth. And who knows?’ She lifts her beer like a toast. ‘One day, we won’t just be surviving. We’ll be running the kind of empire people write headlines about. The good kind.’
I huff and chug my beer. ‘What’s the saying about learning to walk before you can run?’
Though I can’t deny I admire her balls…
‘Why walk when you can already run?’ she quips.
The room falls quiet. Even the trains outside seem to fade.
‘Okay,’ Theo says eventually.
‘Attaboy! Axel?’ Tay presses, eyes bright as they stare me down. ‘You in?’
Even if I said no, she’d do it anyway. And I’d rather she did it with me watching over her than hearing about it on the side.
‘We run checks on every guy. Know all there is to know before you come within ten feet of them.’
