BABY FOR A PRICE

by Kathryn Thomas

  Maybe… maybe he did that kind of stuff for a living? I dismissed the thought as quickly as it popped into my head. I was being ridiculous. What, was he some kind of assassin, stalking the street at night and taking people out for cash? Guys like that weren’t exactly known for their compassion and dedication to saving random women they bumped into on the street now, were they? Or perhaps he was a vigilante. Maybe he’d decided to Batman it up and clean up the streets. I wasn’t sure which concept was more outrageous.

  Still, it was something to think on. He’d clearly done it before - I mean, he had the mask and everything. Was he taking justice into his own hands to make the city better? I scoffed to myself - yeah. Because guys like that existed outside of comics. I didn’t really want to linger on why he was so good at what he had done, but it explained why he had been out of there so quickly after we hooked up. No doubt he thought I was going to hand him over and he’d be screwed - well, not just in the sexy way. I let out a sigh. Had I scared him off? Fuck it, even if half of what I had come up with tonight had been true, then it was probably for the best that I didn’t see him again.

  I mean, I had always been attracted to bad boys. That was a total thing, wasn’t it? Women finding themselves “into” men who probably weren’t the most wholesome guys in the world? It wasn’t that I didn’t like gentlemen, just that they weren’t a pre-requisite for people who wanted to get in my pants. I didn’t want to fix them or turn them into some docile little house-husband. I guess I liked them more because they expected less of a commitment from me and I didn’t have to turn myself into somebody’s girlfriend. I hadn’t been a romantic partner to anyone in a long time, and I had no intention of becoming one. All I knew was that when I thought of Anthony, I wanted more. He was bad news, there was no arguing with that, but I wasn’t sure what kind of bad news he was, and whether or not I wanted to have him printed all over my pages.

  I smiled to myself. Way to labor the metaphor. Despite the fact my brain was overflowing, I found myself drifting off to sleep… until I was suddenly roused by the buzzing of my phone on the dresser. Who could be texting me at this time of night? One of the chefs looking for time off in anticipation of a hangover he was going to have? I blearily reached across the bed and grabbed my cell, holding it at arm’s length so the light didn’t sear my eyes.

  The text was from an unknown number, one I didn’t recognize. I cocked my eyebrow - that wasn’t good. The only people who had my number were the people I gave it to. It had to be some kind of marketing scam, or one of the guys from the restaurant getting a new phone and not bothering to tell me. I clicked to open the message, and my heart dropped to my stomach when I saw what it said.

  “It’s going to happen again. And this time, there won’t be anyone around to save you.”

  I threw my phone across the room and pulled the covers over my head. My blood pulsed through my veins as the words carved themselves onto my brain, and it felt as though I would never be able to focus on anything but them ever again.

  Chapter Ten

  As soon as I walked up the steps to the nondescript building, I felt a wash of panic come over me. This wasn’t how I wanted things to go. I had promised myself I would never come back here, and yet here I was. But why? What did I have to gain by being here?

  Well, I could protect Sabrina. That was what I was doing here. If I was being honest, that was what this was about. I wasn’t interested in cleaning up the streets and turning the city into a place we could all be proud of as a community. I wanted to keep her safe, and that was pretty much it. Selfish? Yes. But at least I wasn’t just back here because I had to be.

  I had always told myself that if I needed cash again, I would get a legitimate job. Yeah, my skills weren’t much, and I couldn’t exactly use my old employer as a job reference, but I was smart and well-spoken, and I would have no trouble finding something if I wanted to. Yes, the thought of getting a real job - something I’d never had to consider getting before - was a little rattling, but I told myself I would do it if I had to. Who cared if I knew somewhere at the back of my brain that I would probably just wind up backsliding into what I knew best? As long as I wasn’t actually working for Leo, I could tell myself that I was a changed man.

  I buzzed myself in using the code that Leo had given me before I came down. It changed every day, had done for years, and it was always a pain making sure that I was in on that shit before I schlepped all the way across town to get to the office. Inside, I found Dean waiting outside Leo’s office.

  Dean was a bodyguard of Leo’s I’d worked with for a while - he was a bit of dim guy, but he had the strength to make up for it. When we’d worked together, he’d been the big, scary, untrained fucker who needed someone to take him in hand, like a dog off a leash. He must have gotten a promotion since last time I came by, as his suit was cut a little closer and his haircut was a little more expensive. Not to mention the fact that he was now protecting Leo directly. I nodded at him in greeting, and he did a visible double take when he figured out who I was.

  “Ant?” He cocked his head at me, his expression suspicious. “Leo didn’t say anything about you coming back down here.”

  “I’m not sure Leo believes it himself,” I admitted, trying to lighten the mood. “Is he in? I need to speak to him.”

  Without taking his eyes off me, Dean pulled a microphone to his lips and pressed a button. Wow, the tech in here since I’d left had gotten better. Before it was just a matter of yelling through to the boss that someone new had arrived. I didn’t want to think how much money the new set-up had cost, but all it told me was that Leo was doing a hell of a lot better than last time I saw him.

  “Leo? Anthony’s here to see you?”

  Dean cocked his head as he listened to his earpiece, then shrugged and stepped aside to make space for me.

  “He says you should go straight in.” Dean shook his head in surprise. He almost looked apologetic at his mistake. “Be my guest.”

  I brushed by him and pushed the door open, and found Leo sitting behind his desk waiting for me. He looked just as I’d remembered him, maybe a little older - the intervening years had aged him worse than they had me, and I could see a few gray hairs flecked along his dark hairline. His eyes crinkled up into a smile when he saw me, and he rolled up the sleeves of his no-doubt expensive shirt as I approached. He was still wearing the leather gloves that he always insisted on having on. I thought it was a little odd, but he had often explained to me the danger of leaving fingerprints and his commitment to leaving everywhere he went into trace-free. I had always considered it a bit pretentious, but it wasn’t like I was ever going to call him out for it.

  “You know, that’s one of the things I always really appreciated about you,” he commented as he cocked an eyebrow at me. “You’re always on time. Never a minute late.”

  I shrugged. “Yeah, well, good manners, isn’t it?”

  “Quite.” He nodded at the chair opposite him. “Take a seat, take a seat. I think we have a whole lot to talk about.”

  “Do we?”

  “Well, firstly, I want to know what got you back into the game.” He arched his fingers on the desk in front of him. His gaze was intense, penetrating. “Not that I’m not glad to have you, of course, but I have to wonder.”

  “You know.” I slid my eyes away from his. “I was bored. Really bored. And you can never have too much money, can you? I don’t have many applicable life skills that I could take to a job in the office.”

  “You make a good point,” he conceded, tilting his head to the side. “Is that all this is about?”

  “What else would it have to do with?” I demanded, feeling a flush move up my neck. I knew Leo would notice it, so I had to get myself calmed down again. “I just need the money, that’s all. I don’t know what I was thinking, retiring so young.”

  “As I remember it, you just wanted to get out of the game,” he reminded me. “Didn’t want to spend your whole life killing people for cash.”


  “Jesus, Leo,” I glanced around. “What if this place is bugged?”

  “Trust me, it’s not,” he replied coolly. “We’ve got all the tech you could imagine now. Nothing and no one gets through these doors without me knowing about it.”

  “Sorry, old habits,” I mumbled. “If you’ve got all that stuff, then why are you worried about why I’m coming back?”

  I knew I was playing with fire, making Leo explain himself, but then I’d hardly been the type to back down from an argument. If I were suddenly all humbled and quiet and agreeable, Leo would be certain to figure out that something was up.

  “Well, as this place gets bigger, I got more and more people trying to bring me down and get in under my skin,” he explained, his voice still cool and calm. “So you can see why I’d want to be careful.”

  “Of course,” I mumbled, looking away. I had to keep my cool. Where had the poker-face that I used to nail vanished to?

  “And I want to know that I can trust the people I work with.” He scanned my face carefully. “Trust them with everything and anything.”

  “Leo, you know you can trust me.” I leaned in emphatically across the table. “You’ve got as much shit on me as I have on you. Come on, you know that I’m not trying to fuck you around. I’m just a guy looking for a job, that’s all.”

  He stared at me for a moment longer, and I thought for a second that he was going to figure out my game and throw me out of this place and back onto the streets, unharmed if I was lucky. Leo didn’t exactly take well to people trying to mess him around. But instead, he leaned back in his chair and held his hands up.

  “You know, you’re right.” He nodded. “To be honest, I like the idea of not having to vet someone before they come join me. I know you’re reliable, I know you’re not going to pussy out when you have to do what you have to do.”

  I felt myself relax and hoped it wasn’t visible in my body language - I didn’t want him catching on. I tried to clear my face of any expression and regarded him for a moment.

  “So, what do you want done?” I asked. I remembered these conversations almost too well - the ones where he would hand me a picture and a name and a couple of scant details about someone’s life, and I would have to go snuff it out without asking any further questions. Sometimes, I found myself wondering about them - just once in a while, when I spotted some little artifact that gave me some insight into who they were. A library card, a piece of jewelry. But no matter how curious I got, I always fought the urge to find out anything more about them. There was no point tormenting myself. It was a job, and whatever they had done, they must have known an encounter with a man like me was a possibility.

  Leo pulled out a folder from his desk drawer and slapped it down on the table between us, breaking my reverie. I reached for it, but he put his hand down over the manila before I could get to it. He wasn’t finished.

  “I’ve got a few people who need taking out,” he replied simply. “The business is expanding, and they’re… in the way. Put it like that.”

  He began leafing through the pages of the folder so fast I could barely take in the pictures inside. But one jumped out at me. My heart bounced up into my throat, and my stomach constricted, but I tried my best to keep a straight face. It was a candid shot, of a woman crossing the street, glancing to the right as her hair was whipped over her face.

  It was Sabrina.

  So I was right. I felt a jolt of vindication followed by a stab of panic to my chest. They really were after her- I hadn’t been imagining it. I lifted my chin up and tried to seem nonchalant as Leo flipped by the page with her information on it. When had they gotten that picture? It looked recent - there were roadworks visible in the background, and I knew they’d only started up in the previous month or so. This must have been taken at some point in the last few weeks, which suggested that their hit on Sabrina was a recent addition to their roster.

  “Who’s that?” I asked, and he glanced up at me. He cocked an eyebrow but obligingly opened the folder on her page once again.

  “It’s Sabrina Silveria,” he replied, turning the picture around so he could take a look at her. “Pretty, isn’t she?”

  “Doesn’t seem like your usual type,” I commented, my heart rattling against my ribcage in a panic. “Why are you after her?”

  “Her restaurant’s in the way of our expansion, and we need the space she’s got,” he said with a shrug. I squinted at him - that seemed like overkill, even for a guy like Leo.

  “Why not try buying her out?” I suggested, and Leo shot me a look. It was one that I recognized - a warning that I was edging dangerously close to overstepping my mark. I quickly pulled back, glancing down at my hands and trying to act indifferent.

  “Because I have a point to make to anyone else who takes up space we want,” he replied simply, slamming the folder shut. “She just got unlucky.”

  “I’ll take her, I think the restaurant isn’t far from my apartment.” I looked up at him carefully, trying not to seem too keen.

  “What, you want to fuck this girl or something?” He rolled his eyes at me, and I could hear a hint of suspicion in his voice. “We’ve already got someone on her. She’s taken care of.”

  “Right, okay.” I nodded, keeping my face carefully blank. But inside, fear and panic were lancing through my system. How was I meant to keep her safe if there was already somebody after her? Fuck, maybe they had gotten to her already. Maybe she was already dead. I fought the urge to jump to my feet and sprint out of the building to make she was okay, and instead let Leo continue to leaf through his folder, staring at the wall behind him and wondering how the hell I was going to help Sabrina out of this one.

  Chapter Eleven

  I felt jumpy as I made my way down the street. No, jumpy was what I felt when I woke up after a bad dream or a rough night’s sleep. I was downright fucking terrified. My skin felt as though it was on fire, every muscle in my body tensed and uncomfortable. I tucked my hair behind my ear and wondered if someone was watching me. If they had my number, who was to say that they didn’t know where I lived? The route I took to work? I looked around, but I couldn’t see anyone - not that it made me feel any better.

  And, for once, I knew I wasn’t being ridiculous. That threat… was the worst thing they could possibly have sent me. I thought what had happened was a freak encounter, my bad luck after walking back from the restaurant too late. After what happened to my sister, I had a habit of being a little bit over-cautious. But this time, I was completely justified. After that text the night before, I had lain awake all night, staring up the ceiling and wondering what I was meant to do with the knowledge that someone was after me.

  I think the most frightening part of it all was the knowledge that what had happened on that dark night home from work wasn’t some kind of one-off fluke. It wasn’t just a pair of assholes on the street, not knowing where their boundaries lay. No, they had probably been sent to kill me and were just taking their own twisted pleasure in it first. I shuddered at the thought, a cold wave hitting my body despite the sun gleaming down through the trees. Who knew what they might have pulled if they thought they could get away with it?

  Another question was pulsing through my head too… why? Why was someone out to get me? As soon as I could figure that part out, I would have a better chance of stopping whoever it was who was after me. But right now, I was straining to think of anything I might have done that would have led someone to want me dead. The best I could come up with were all absurd theories about rival restaurateurs, but this city didn’t have a crazy-competitive culinary scene. Or, if it did, I certainly wasn’t aware of it.

  As soon as I got to the restaurant, I hurried in and locked the door behind me. Lily was already inside, and her head snapped up. Of course, she could tell something was wrong just from looking at me. I offered her a tired smile, and she scanned my face as she made her way towards me.

  “What’s up with you?” she demanded, catching me by the
shoulders as I tried to make my way past her. “You look like shit.”

  “Oh, stop with your compliments,” I teased her, and she let me go, taking a step back. She was always good at knowing when I needed space, and she could tell that time was now.

  “Everything alright?” she asked quietly. “We don’t open for another hour if you want to head home and get some sleep or just take the day off-”

  “No, I’d really rather be here,” I cut across her. “If that’s okay.”

  “Your restaurant,” she reminded me. “As long as you’re sure. I can handle this place if you’re not feeling up to it, you know.”