AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So it drove him to addiction, and now he owes some bad people money. If he’d come to me, I could have helped him out. But he didn’t.” I put my hands out in a fake placating gesture, an unkind smile tugging at my lips.
“Is-is he okay?” she asks, looking between us.
“He could be, it all depends on your choice, Sandra. I can bail him out, but of course that money would go on top of what you already owe us, or I can leave him in their hands. Now, they won’t kill him for the first offence, no, just break his kneecaps. But, unfortunately, as a builder, they seem rather important, don’t they?” I laugh, but it’s not a nice sound, and she shivers from it.
“You fucking evil snakes,” she hisses, as tears fall from her eyes, which she tries to swipe away, only smearing her makeup instead.
“No, darling, not evil, just businessmen. We gave you money, a job, we got you off the streets. We kept an eye on your husband, who would be dead now without us. Yes, we like money and we profit from our business deals…but everything is not black and white. It’s filled with greys, and we just happen to run the grey area.”
She turns around and slams open her drawer, scribbling a check before throwing it at Ryder. He pockets it. It’s not about the money, after all, but the fucking cheek of her not repaying us after everything we did for her. The bank would have taken her spa by now. “Thanks, madame.” I wink, reminding her exactly where we found her. Working in one of the Triad’s clubs years ago.
She averts her gaze, sniffling hard. “I just wanted a different life,” she whispers quietly, so low we aren’t meant to hear.
“We know, that’s why we helped you in exchange for all that information. Your debt is almost paid, Sandra, so keep your head down, and this place will be all yours before long,” I offer nicely. Ryder rolls his eyes at me before getting to his feet.
“Do not make us come back, Sandra.”
“And Mike?” she whispers, staring at us with huge tear tracks down her face.
I drop a quick text to the men holding him. “I paid his debt just now, he’s free, but maybe keep your eye on his spending and get him some help.” I play the role of the nice brother easily enough, and with a friendly wink, I turn to leave, but my eyes catch on the shelves of products.
“Oh, we need some girlie shit,” I tell Sandra. She nods, tears still streaming down her face, and black mascara flowing in its wake. She’s a mess.
“Take whatever you want,” she whispers, looking away quickly.
“Thanks, is this face…mask good?” I question, and Ryder snorts.
“Just take everything. I’m sure Sandra here can get more stock with the money she will be getting back from the Triad. Isn’t that right, Sandra?” he challenges nastily, and she hastily nods.
Grabbing a bag from the side, I dump all the stuff into it, hoping Rox likes it before throwing it over my shoulder and opening the door. Sam instantly takes the bag, his eyes still sharp, scanning our surroundings. Whistling again, I head to the door and Tony opens it but goes out first, checking everything before nodding at us.
We head back to the car, and when we’re inside, I look at Ryder. “We should get her some other stuff to make her feel at home. She is staying, isn’t she?”
He grips the wheel. “I don’t know.”
“Oh, come on, Ry, she’s nothing like that bitch. She doesn’t even want our money.” I laugh.
“No, she wants something worse. Her freedom.” He glares at me then. “She will never be happy being kept in our penthouse, she’s not a kept woman. She likes to work, it’s how she got by.”
I nod and look away. “Then we give her a job, something, anything. Because she’s not leaving us.”
“We couldn’t give her freedom, even if we wanted to. It would be a sign of weakness, and they have all seen her with us now. She would be dead the moment she stepped from the building.” Ryder sighs and rubs his head. We both know that’s the truth. By being ours, she has a target on her back, but I can’t bring myself to regret that when it means I get her. “Fine, let’s get her some stuff, the other bits can wait.”
Firing up the Aston, he pulls into traffic with Tony and Sam behind us, and does a U-turn to take us downtown to the shopping district. “I fucking hate shopping,” he growls.
Flicking on the radio, I dance along to the music. “I love it.”
“How are we brothers?” he mutters.
“‘Cause all the anger and madness went to you.” I laugh.
He swears, and I ignore him and ring Garrett. “Hey, we’re nipping to the store, need anything?”
“To be allowed to kill this fucking brat,” he snaps, then yells louder, “Then don’t fucking try that shit again,” before coming back to the phone. “She’s so annoying, you sure I can’t kill her?”
“I heard that, asshole!” Roxy screams in the background. “I might not have my bat, but I’ll still take you down, motherfucker.”
I raise my eyebrows at that. “I thought you two had started to get along?”
