Page 5

Mathew ‘The Cleaner’ Page, a pretty infamous ‘mover for hire’, turns his back to Hubert’s body like it’s just another piece of furniture and comes over to us, his eyes calculating.
I wrap Vera against me tighter. If he’s going to try to kill her, he’ll have to go through me first.
“No closer.” My words are little more than a growl, but he stops, holding up his empty hands.
Like that’s supposed to calm me down. I saw how he slid the knife from his jacket in a flash. He can take it out and put it away in the blink of an eye.
That he’s not holding one right now doesn’t mean shit.
“I’m not going to hurt you.” He circles us, leaning against the desk instead, his lean muscles moving under his skin as he puts his hands on his desk at his sides. “How am I going to get my money back if I hurt you?”
Hismoney?
“What do you want from us?” Vera moves in my arms, glaring at him.
That’s my girl, that’s my sweet Omega, always ready to kick ass. A proud rumble starts in my chest as I nuzzle her hair. She’s not afraid of anything.
“Well…” Mr Page moves some papers around on his desk, holding a few of them up. “I still need to get paid. We went through all of this trouble to get you here, but I don’t think Mr Russell can pay for it now.”
“A million quid? You want us to pay you a million quid?” Vera stares at him, disbelieving, but also angry.
“Do you know how hard you two are to track down?” When we don’t answer, he keeps talking. “Not to mention, the hospital bills, covering the pay for the guys who won’t be able to work because of you, the two trucks we lost?—”
“Three,” I can’t help but offer.
“No, the third one was Mr Russell’s, not ours. And I don’t think he really cares about losing it now.” Mr Page smirks, glancing at the lifeless body.
His men are still standing near the wall, ignoring the body, like it’s the most normal thing in the world. Which, if I’m to believe even half the stories about Mr Page, is probably not far from the truth.
“Of course, I’ll have to add disposing of the body and redoing the carpet to the bill too.”
“That’s not fair! We didn’t do any of this. We didn’t ask for any of this.” Vera’s voice wobbles slightly and it seems the emotions and exhaustion of the last couple of hours have finally caught up with her.
Her pheromones are all over the place, making me automatically try to surround her with calming pheromones. I hate seeing her upset, it makes me growly and prone to not thinking situations through as much as I should.
“Life isn’t fair. Do you think that Mr Russell wanted you to get kidnapped on your wedding day? Don’t you think you should take some responsibility in all of this?” His tone is patronising. “I fear that these costs are only a fraction of all the money he’s spent to get you back.”
This grinning fucker has no idea what he’s talking about, he has no idea what Hubert was like.
Mr Page has no idea what state Vera was in when I rescued her. Or if she’d even still be alive if I hadn’t…
If I hadn’t been there that day, would she still be alive? Would she have survived her wedding day? The first week of marriage? The first month?
With how relentlessly Hubert has been hunting us, has been sending all sorts of people after us, how would he have acted if my precious Vera showed him that stubbornness that I adore so much?
How long would she have been able to survive?—
“Caleb.” Vera puts her delicate hand on my cheek, turning my face in her direction, her voice soft, her eyes sweet. She kisses my cheek and then nuzzles my neck. “He’s gone. He can’t hurt us anymore. He’s gone.”
It’s only then that I notice the angry growl in my chest, the tightness of my muscles, the way I’m ready to jump anyone who poses a threat to her, and I force myself to calm down. If I do anything reckless right now, we might still end up dead, and it would be my fault for not staying in control.
Mr Page smirks, amusement in his eyes as he watches us, observes us. He licks his lips, his tongue piercing flashing in the light before disappearing.
“What do you want?” I ask him the same question as Vera asked him, my arm around her tense as I nuzzle her hair, soothing myself with her sweet honey scent.
“I believe you have two options. The first one, pay off the debts. But you will have to pay it back within twenty years and don’t think I won’t charge interest.”
“And the second one?” I glare at him.