Page 46 of Stag

“I what?”

On the upside, I’d found a cure for my agonising boner. Bennetts. They should just fucking market themselves as mood-killers.

“We keep an eye on our people, bruv. They move, it means something’s up. You’re in the posh guy’s house now.”

“Jesus, is there anything you don’t know? I might have agreed to work for you, but you don’t get to know everything in my fucking life.”

“Ooooh someone’s feeling pissy. Why the move, bruv? Is something happening that we need to know about?”

I groaned, heading downstairs to the sofa, because even though I couldn’t disturb her with this conversation, I had to sit the hell down. My legs were a little shaky, and not because of this bellend.

“A friend needed help, I’m staying here with her for a bit.”

The guy laughed. “Oh wow, you lost your v-card at last, bruv. How was it? You feel like a big boy now?”

I lost my shit, because you know what? Everything’s fucking going wrong, and I don’t care anymore.

“What the fuck is your problem? Why do you keep going on like I’m a fucking virgin?! I’ve been with women, okay? I’ve… what’s your beef?”

He chuckled again. “Ah, I see. Turned you down, did she? Don’t worry, bruv, you’ll pop your cherry sometime. So I’ll ask again, why the move to his place? Why not a hotel?”

What the hell was it to this fucker? They were so intrusive, butting into every aspect of my fucking life.

“You think I’m made of money? I can’t afford a fucking hotel! I can’t afford anything, I’m losing the job I’ve had for years, and I’m fucking broke!”

Low murmuring was my only response for a moment, and then his voice was aimed at me again.

“Are we not paying you enough, bruv? I think we’re pretty generous.”

The fuck? I set the phone on speaker and leaned my head back against the headrest. This entire fucking conversation was draining the last of my energy. Why wouldn’t he just fuck off? I needed to speak to Claudia. I needed her to know I wasn’t rejecting her, dammit.

“I’m sure, when you pay me, I’ll have some cash, but until then, I’m fucked.”

“Guess you haven’t checked your bank account, bruv. We’re straight. You did the job, and we fucking paid you. If that’s not enough, you can come and meet with us to discuss it.”

My head shot up. “Wait, what? You paid me? How the fuck did you pay me? You don’t have my details. I was thinking you’d pay in cash or something.”

The bastard laughed again. “Yeah, because we keep stacks of cash around for paying people. Bruv, we don’t need you to tell us your details, yeah? Nige gets that info pretty fucking easily, and you’ve been paid. So why don’t you say, thank you, boss, and get back to trying to shag your bird. I can give you some pointers if you like. I’d say kidnapping them works, but you already did that.”

FUCKING HELL!

“Why won’t you fuck off and leave me alone? I appreciate whatever you paid, but I don’t think this is the time for this shit.”

“Maybe rub one out, bruv. You’re really on edge. We’ll have work for you again next week, so expect a message. Oh, and don’t put us on speaker again, this is business. We don’t want extra ears on our shit.”

I sighed heavily, because this at least was easy.

“She can’t hear you. She’s deaf.”

“I know, bruv.” The call ended, and I tossed the phone onto the sofa, resting my head back with a sigh, but a second later, I was sitting up again, the phone in my hand as I checked my bank account. What the actual fuck.

They’d paid me two and a half grand for one job. I mean, sure, they made me kill and dismember a guy, but this money was a game changer. Fuck. The account name they paid me from even looked legit. Bennett Financial Services. Wow. Like they’re bankers, rather than wankers. The fact that I was an accountant even leaned well into working for a business named like that.

I guess I work for them now, and for this kind of money, I could build a real future. I could build a life for me and maybe for the woman upstairs that I just pushed away because I’m a pussy. I had no idea why the Bennetts could sense what nobody else could, but it was time to be honest with her. Hey, maybe she’d find it cute or something. There was only one way to find out. I shoved the phone in my pocket and headed up the stairs.

It was only then that the chilling last words of that fucker hit me again. ‘I know’ he’d said. He knew she was deaf, which meant he knew who she was, which meant he knew fucking everything. Maybe that big money wasn’t worth it after all. What if I’d just put her at risk because of my stupid decisions? Hell. Maybe the whole honesty thing should cover that too. I was about to bare my soul for her, and give her everything I was hiding. What were the chances she’d still want to be anywhere near me after this though?

Claudia