Page 5 of Mafia King

“You know, this month’s bean is Antiguan fusion,” the barista says as he hovers near his table.

“Oh, that’s great,” Theo replies dryly. “The fusion makes all the difference.”

Theo lets out a little chuckle, but the barista evidently isn’t impressed with his lack of reverence and abruptly turns and heads back to the service counter.

Left to his own devices, Theo sips on the coffee and takes big, greedy bites out of his donuts. With a clear view of the city streets, Theo feels himself move away from being hungover and into something slightly more amenable.

“Okay… let’s have a little look at my work emails,” Theo grins.

But instead of taking his phone out of his jean pocket, Theo reaches inside his small backpack and takes out a compact laptop. After passing through several layers of security, Theo sees the basic messages screen pop up.

“Right,” Theo smiles, the buzz from the coffee combining with the donut sugar is coursing through his veins at a rate of knots. “Huh. That’s weird.”

There is a sole message in his inbox. That’s not unusual in itself but the email address is hidden. Somehow, someone has gotten hold of his address and managed to send him a message without revealing their own.

“That’s really not how this works,” Theo grumbles, perplexed.

The truth of the matter is that Theo doesn’t work a normal job.

Not even close.

Theo might only be in his mid-twenties but for the last three years he has taken his military training and applied it to something altogether different. It’s funny what a dishonorable discharge can do for a boy’s ambitions…

After making a few contacts, Theo found himself in the highly lucrative world of corporate espionage. Sometimes this would mean hacking into a company account. Other times it would mean trailing a sleazy manager for a couple of weeks until he reveals his vices, at which point Theo would take the necessary photographs and return them to the given client.

For many, a life doing this kind of work would be unthinkable. But for Theo, it just made sense. Even early on in his military training, he was identified as someone who might have the potential to move into darker, black ops kind of work. His diminutive appearance and angelic face only made him less of an obvious spy. The truth was that people could look at Theo and see whatever he presented himself as…

Shy librarian. Yup.

Sassy party boy. Oh yes.

Business-first lawyer? He could wear that mask to.

But when Theo was caught crossing a line in the military, there was no way back. Exiled and with no real qualifications, Theo fell in with the kind of people who don’t care so much about law degrees as they do about how to break the law and get away with it.

Theo made a lot of money in his line of work. It allowed him to live in a fancy apartment with astronomical rent. It meant that he didn’t need to worry about working regular hours and sucking up to managers like most of his friends did.

And it was all going to smoothly too…

“Who… the fuck… is this?” Theo asks himself as he opens up the message.

TRACKER: You come highly recommended. And trust me, I know this world better than most. I have a job for you. It will pay tenfold compared to any of your previous jobs. And, yes, I know exactly how much you have been paid. I know everything about you… Theo. I’ll be in touch.

Theo instinctively shuts the laptop screen and does his best to wipe the look of horror from his face. Whoever Tracker is, they know his real name…

That’s not good.

That’s really, really not good at all.

For a split second, Theo thinks about ditching his laptop, accessing his emergency storage unit and getting the hell out of town. Having his identity compromised is dangerous. For all he knows, it could be a disgruntled former ‘victim’ of his spying.

“Another coffee please,” Theo says, his voice wavering as he turns and waves at the coffee snob barista.

“You got it,” the barista replies, more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice. “I’ll have that Antiguan bean brewed on point, I know you love it.”

Theo is too wrapped up in his panic to even hear what the barista says though.

He has been doing this work all off his own bat since day one. Theo doesn’t have anyone he can talk to or confide in…