AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She nods. “I know, I do it a lot, but it’s making me crazy, so we should just . . . yah know, not do this.” She swirls her hands between us, and I frown. “I’ll see you around.”
“Most likely, seeing as you work for me,” I say, smirking.
“I don’t . . . technically, I’m self-employed. And I’m semi-retired. Archer works for you now . . . right?”
“So, that’s what this is about? We talked already, Red—” I begin, but she cuts me off.
“I know but hear me out. I’ll spend some real time with him, make sure he’s clear on the rules. If he fucks up again, I’ll fully back you. And I’m saving you having to find someone else.”
“I wouldn’t have to. I have you.”
“Semi-retired still,” she says, shrugging. “See yah.” And then she bounces out the door like an energised puppy dog, and my head is reeling.
Chapter Five
ROSEY
Mav’s waiting when I return. I try to pass his office, but he steps in my path, halting me. “Office, now,” he orders. I groan like a stroppy teenager and head in behind him. “You ran out,” he says. “What the fuck, Rosey?”
“I didn’t wanna see her,” I tell him, shrugging.
“Still the same fucking Rosey,” he mutters, shaking his head. “Running at the first sign of difficulty.”
“Difficulty doesn’t bother me, Mav. I kill for a living,” I remind him.
“But anything emotional and off you run.”
“I haven’t seen her in years, and she’s not seen Ollie since he was small. I have nothing to say to her.”
“But she clearly has shit to say to you, and if I know Connie, she’ll just keep coming back until she’s said what she came to say.”
I chew on my lower lip, thinking over his words. “What did she say?” I reluctantly ask.
“She’s been back in London for six months.”
I roll my eyes. “Yet this is the first time she’s come to see me?”
“Apparently, she didn’t know where you were. She tried your old haunts and came here just in case.”
“You shouldn’t have told her I was back here,” I mutter. “Then she’d have left.”
“I thought it might help you to have her back in your life,” he begins, perching on the edge of his desk. “I know you’re struggling with Ollie, so maybe having your mum around might help?”
“I don’t see how, Mav. She was hardly mother of the year.”
He nods in understanding. “I know, but she looks clean, Rosey. I wouldn’t have told her you were here if I thought she was still using.” He hands me a piece of paper. “She left her address. Go and see her, find out what she wants. It could be what you and Ollie need right now.”
Archer yawns. “Were you up all night studying the human body?” I ask, arching a brow.
He smirks. “Not exactly. I mean, I was examining a human body, but not in the way you want me to.”
“Albert is keen on getting rid of you,” I confess, and he sits up straighter. “He hates the mess. I told you it would come back to bite you.”
“I made a deal,” he snaps. “He gets to live, and I get regular work.”
“Relax,” I mutter. “I smoothed it over with him for now, but you gotta take it seriously, Archer. The Taylors never let outsiders in, and they took a chance with you. If you carry on ignoring my advice, who knows how it’ll end.”
“Are you saying they’d take me out?”
