The shift is subtle, but it changes the air entirely.
“You impress me, girl. You have lady balls. I’d like to have you on my team, but you already have a job, and you’re damn good at it. So, I know I won’t be able to bring you into the fold. But I do have another proposition for you.”
My stomach twists. Compliments from men like him aren’t praise, they’re leverage.
Furrowing my brows, I force myself to breathe through the metallic taste coating my tongue. “What, youNeganwannabe?”
Shit! It slips out before I can stop it.Thinking this and saying it out loud are two different things because if I let him control the rhythm of this conversation, we’re done.
He looks down at his baseball bat, almost thoughtfully, running his hand along the smooth wood like he’s considering it properly. “Mmm… maybe barbed wire could be a good addition, and instead ofLucille, the baseball bat inThe Walking Dead,I could call mineEffa.” His crew erupts in laughter, but I don’t move. I won’t give them the satisfaction. The asshole chuckles with them for a moment, soaking it up, but then it drains fromhis face like someone pulled a switch. The humor evaporates, and his eyes sharpen. “Okay, back to serious business. It’s simple, really. All I want from Mercs is his debt… with a little interest, of course.You understand… it’s business.”
Business.
My gaze flicks past him, down the alley to where Mercs is still on the ground and not moving. Every second he stays still, carves something out of me.
“How much?” I ask because if this is about money, then it’s solvable. Money can be paid. Money doesn’t bleed. And I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure Kaden never ends up in an alley like this again.
Sighing, I lick my lips and fold my arms over my chest. “You want me to pay his debt, right?”
Vex shrugs lazily, like we’re discussing a parking fine instead of someone’s life. “You could? It’s up to you. I mean, I don’t know how he’s going to get the twenty thousand he originally owed me, which has since doubled, plus the interest in a week. But if he doesn’t… well then, I told him I’d come after you and his baby sister.Shit!I’m a reasonable man, though. I like you, Effa. As I said, I’d gladly take you to work with me, but I know you’d decline. So, I wouldn’t come after you… just his little sister… the darling little thing in Ligonier. She’s so fragile—”
“If you hurt her, I swear to God!” Raoul lunges forward, and I grab hold of him, yanking him back with all my strength. It catches him off guard as I push him against the car and stand in front of him while he pants heavily for breath through his nose. “Raoul, stop! You’re gonna get yourself killed,” I yell at him, my voice shaking with fury and fear all tangled together. He looks at me, anger and hurt evident in his eyes, the helplessness almost worse than the rage. His tense posture softens a little as I turn back to face Vex, planting my feet like I’m bracing against a storm.
My pulse pounds in my ears.
Kiera.Sweet, fragile Kiera. She hasnothingto do with this.
“Okay, so here’s how we play it. I give you 45K… you walk away, you forget Mercs, you forget Kiera, you forget me and you never,ever, come near any of us ever again. If you contact Mercs, if he’s still alive, then I will call the cops. Understand me?” I demand, every word deliberate, every syllable sharp.
He grins wide, tilting his head and cocking his brow as though I’ve entertained him. “I said interest, Effa. This is a gambling debt. We deal in big money here.”
“I gave you an extra five thousand…”
He nods slowly. “Mmm… you did. But the price is eighty thousand, and we all walk away. Mercs’ debt is cleared, we never met, and everyone’s safe to play happy families.”
Fucking hell! Eighty thousand.
The number slams into me, but I don’t let it show because money is replaceable, but Mercs isn’t.
I smirk. “Seventy,” I retort, lifting my chin like I’m negotiating a venue contract instead of someone’s life.
He grins, picking up his baseball bat and pointing it at me with a giant smile. “Shit, I like you! Urgh… if only you weren’t a famous rock star.Fine, Seventy. Fuck!I’ve never had to work so hard to bribe people for money before in my life. No wonder he loves you. Pretty sure I love you too. Shame, if you ever want to get laid by an expert, look me up, Effa. Give me a call.”
The disgust that rolls through me is immediate and visceral, but I refuse to flinch. I shake my head and curl up my lip. “Sorry, Vex, I think I just lost your number. I threw it out with last week’s dog shit.”
“Oh Jesus,fuck me,you’re sassy. If I were the marrying kind, you’d be top of my list, baby doll.”
I laugh, sharp and hollow and entirely fake. “Oh shit! I think I just became a nun.”
For a heartbeat, the alley almost feels normal, then the faint sound of sirens wailing cuts through the air. All of us turn at once to look down the street. The sound grows louder, closer, bouncing off brick walls and echoing down the narrow space like a warning bell.
Vex chuckles, placing his bat on his shoulder, and dips his head to me. “I’ll be in touch for the transfer, Effa. Don’t leave town. I’d also suggest telling the cops it was a random gang attack if I were you… just to be on the safe side. Wouldn’t want anything happening to Kiera now,would we?”Vex jabs before he turns and heads off down the road with his four lackeys in tow.
Memorizing the way they walk, the shape of their shoulders, the sound of their boots on asphalt, I watch them go. Then I turn to Raoul, who lets out a long puff of air, and we both slump our shoulders as we watch them turn the corner and disappear.
The moment they’re gone, the adrenaline drains out of me so fast my knees almost buckle. My stomach churns violently, and suddenly, my feet move faster than I feel like I’m physically able to move. Raoul is behind me as we run down the alley toward Mercs, where the world narrows to the shape of him on the ground.
He’s not moving.
