I guess that’s because I just never expected to have a girl even look at me, so I always viewed people in relationships as the lucky ones.

I didn’t say anything in response, just sat there mulling over what I was going to say to Brett, how much I should tell him about my situation.

After half an hour of polite conversation with Ed, Brett’s office door opened. A guy stepped out, laughing and shaking his head as Brett clapped him on the shoulder. The meeting had obviously gone well.

Brett’s eyes landed on me and he smiled. “Hey, Kid. Good to see you,” he chirped. He turned back to the guy he was with. “This is the Jamie Cole. Kid, this Michael Torrent,” he introduced, waving a hand at us both in turn.

I stood up and smiled politely, shaking his hand. “Nice to meet you, Sir.”

He smiled and nodded. “You too. I’ve heard a lot about you,” he replied. His eyes raked over me from my head to my toes. “From the things I’ve heard about you over the years, I always thought you’d be bigger,” he added.

I laughed and shrugged. “Everybody does. I like to keep an air of mystery about me. It works to my advantage when people underestimate me,” I agreed.

He laughed and nodded. “I’m sure it does.” He turned back to Brett. “Nice doing business with you, Mr Mason. We’ll speak soon.” He turned on his heel and headed off down the stairs.

I turned back to Brett, smiling as he slung his arm around my shoulder and led me into his office.

“So then, Kid. What kind of trouble are we talking here?”

I sighed and plopped down into the chair opposite his desk, putting my head in my hands. “My idiot mother borrowed from a loan shark and has got herself in a little debt,” I started. I looked up to see him frowning angrily and I knew what he was going to say before he even said it. “I told her she should have come to you,” I said, before he could blow up about it.

He shook his head angrily and raked a hand through his hair. “I always look after my boys’ families, she knows that! Why would she go to someone else?”

I shrugged. “It’s done now, there’s no point in stressing about it. Anyway, I just need a couple of boosts or something to pay it off.” I looked at him hopefully. If he refused to let me back in then I was done for. It was usually really hard to get out of an organisation like Brett’s, usually you were here for life and worked your way out, or you died. Once you were out though, you didn’t come back. This was highly irregular and I just prayed that he accepted it – the alternative, working for Tony Grier, really didn’t appeal to me, especially since Brett would see that as a betrayal and I would wind up dead because of it.

He sighed and sat back in his chair, sucking on his teeth as he looked me over. “I thought you wanted out,” he said finally.

I nodded. “I do. I just need some money to pay off her debt because I’ve taken it over,” I replied.

He rolled his eyes and pushed himself up, heading over to the side wall and moving a picture out of the way to get to his safe. “How much you need?”

I gulped; this was where it got tricky. “Brett, I would rather leave the debt and just take a few jobs to pay it off. I don’t want to borrow from you,” I said quickly. I knew it was disrespectful to turn down his help, but being in his debt was worse than being in Tony’s, it would certainly last longer that’s for sure. If I was in debt to Brett, I would probably never get out of the organisation again.

He turned back to me and frowned. “Don’t be a prick, Kid. Tell me how much she borrowed. She should have just come to me in the first place. I bet there’s been interest and all sorts of shit added to it, right?”

I nodded and scowled, trying not to think about it. “Yeah. But really, Brett, I just want to work it off and earn the money if that’s okay. Three boosts are all I need,” I said, looking at him hopefully.

He sighed and slammed the safe door shut, heading back over to his desk. He pursed his lips and sat on the edge of it looking at me with his head cocked to the side. “I haven’t had that many since you left. The clients don’t come to me as much because the people I have aren’t as reliable as you. I lost a lot of jobs once you left,” he said, raising one eyebrow at me. I gulped. Was he going to tell me no? What the hell do I do if he tells me no? “I have a small one lined up for Friday night; you could run that for me. Once I spread the word out that the kid Cole is back on my team, the orders will come flooding back in. No one boosts like you can. They’ll be throwing orders at me,” he said, a smile creeping onto his face. He was obviously thinking about the money I would earn him.

“I just want three jobs, Brett,” I said quickly, wanting him to know that I wasn’t back for good.

He laughed and shook his head. “It doesn’t work like that, Kid, and you know it. If you want to come back then you come back, but I don’t just hand out jobs freelance. You want back on the team then you’re back on the team. Take it or leave it,” he offered shrugging and heading back around his desk, sitting down.

I swallowed loudly. I really didn’t have another choice. I needed the money badly. Now that I’d taken over the debt, if I couldn’t pay then Tony would come after me. If I still couldn’t pay after that, then he’d look for other ways to hurt me – Ellie would be prime target because of how much I cared about her. I couldn’t let that happen.