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I managed to convince Neco no one needed to die for my scars and that they were just a side effect from binding my chest. He looked like he briefly wanted to get revenge on some bandages, but then he realized it was pointless.

He wouldn’t kiss me and I wasn’t going to make him. I did ask him to stay the night. We were both going to have to get up early to see our fathers, and we did this all the time when we were kids. I missed it.

Neco was a perfect gentleman, even if my bed wasn’t all that big.

He wrapped me up in his arms and ordered me to go to sleep.

I just felt safe and protected. This was new and Neco wasn’t Ollie, Beck, or Ronan.

I made sure not to grind my ass against him in any way, even though it was pressed right against his crotch.

I didn’t want to ruin this, so I enjoyed it until I fell asleep. I was out, and it wasn’t just everything that happened before. I used to sleep better when I fell asleep in Neco’s bed.

Except Mom was in my room violently shaking me right as the sun came up and I had no idea what was going on.

“What is it?”

“Your father is outside with Trevils. Get dressed,” she hissed.

What the fuck? That wasn’t the plan, and I trusted Trevils.

He completely lived up to all the stories Old Man Aimes told us when we were kids.

He wouldn’t have changed the plan. Trevils wouldn’t have spoken to Folcard without me.

Especially not this early. The ride to Guttertown didn’t take as long with the horses I knew they would have, but it still wasn’t short.

Mom passed me a new set of bandages. He’d already seen them once, and I didn’t particularly care if he saw them again, but Neco turned his back when I whipped off my shirt to bind my chest.

As soon as Neco and I were dressed, we went outside and everyone was out there.

The Madame took her place next to Mom, but most of Guttertown was about to watch this go down.

Most people looked the other way when a Baron slunk their way onto our streets to take a mistress, but that wasn’t what this was.

Trevils mouthed an apology to me and I realized exactly what had happened when I saw Goran sitting on the horse next to Folcard.

Not only was this man not Guttertown, the Ghoul would have easily been able to kill him because Lower Cutwart didn’t like his family enough to invite him to the celebration.

I figured out why. This man was a fucking snitch.

I could see the sweat on his brow. He told Folcard some tale and Folcard dragged him all the way to Guttertown to prove it.

Goran could have told him anything. He was there for everything because we decided to be nice and give him a chance to avenge his family.

I was going to rethink being nice to people who weren’t from Guttertown unless I was sure they deserved it.

“Open your shirt,” Folcard demanded.

Ah, fuck. He ratted out that. Neco stepped forward.

“This man is a rat. He was a target of the Ghoul because he was raising one of your bastards, but he made it easier for the Ghoul to get to him because the rest of Lower Cutwart didn’t like him enough to invite his family to their celebration. You can’t trust anything he says.”

“I’m not stupid, boy. I was fully aware he was lying when he showed up with a story about single-handedly stopping the Ghoul and wanting a reward.

When pressed, he started babbling about a one-eyed giant and my daughter.

I decided to come to Guttertown to clarify because I signed a contract with a Lance Argent.

If someone used a fake name on a contract, then that is fraud and I demand payment. ”

Fuck. He was trying to throw me in the brothel for free. He’d say the contract was void, and he didn’t owe Mom the cure, but since I didn’t use my name, I had committed a crime against him that I needed to pay off at the brothel. It would never be paid off. He’d leave me there until I died.

Mom stepped up next to me and squared her shoulders. She really should be in bed, but I was pretty sure she’d been wanting the chance to face my father in some capacity since he decided she was his.

And Folcard might think he was the smartest man in Nestran, but Mom was smarter.

“Check the census. When I registered her birth, I gave the name Lance Lucia Argent. It’s a family name.

She signed her name as it’s written on the census.

I’m guessing she didn’t correct you when you assumed she was a boy because she didn’t want to embarrass you that you couldn’t tell the difference, sir. ”

Oh, gods, I loved my Mom. She had thought of everything when she decided to hide me as a boy. I didn’t know she had me on the rolls officially as Lance just in case, but with Lucia as a middle name so I could be called Lucy.

And she just put it back on Folcard that he should have known if he was that smart.

And this was Guttertown, so not a single person was going to speak up that they didn’t know, either.

Most of them liked me and didn’t give a shit why they all thought I was Lance, but the ones who didn’t weren’t going to speak up, either, because the Barons might lose to Guttertown just for once.

“She didn’t correct me because she knew I wouldn’t have given a woman that task. I would have put her in her place at the brothel!”

Yeah, this was my turn.

“Oh, no, sir, I was just so shocked you couldn’t tell that I didn’t want to embarrass you. I didn’t know what to say and then the contracts were signed and you sent us off. I figured I’d just better do a very good job catching the Ghoul.”

“She was the one who caught him,” Neco said.

“She worked with Trevils and they figured out where he might be striking, but she was at this man’s house when he was there to murder his entire family and she was the one who knocked him out so he couldn’t.

You should probably rethink how you’re using your daughters who come to you for help. ”

I agreed with him. If someone wanted to work at the brothel, they absolutely should. If they had to, they should be able to keep all their money. No one should have to do what the Barons forced them to do.

Folcard narrowed his eyes at us because we had him. I didn’t lie about my name and put a false one on the contract. I had a perfectly good reason for not correcting him. I did what was outlined in my contract and caught the Ghoul.

All of Guttertown was out here. He didn’t give a shit about any of us, but it would look bad if he threw me in the brothel after all of this.

They got free labor and money off of their Guttertown spawn.

Folcard didn’t know Basselt was about to change things.

We’d only have to go to them for money now, but if he screwed me over, no one would bother.

We knew we were getting screwed in the whole arrangement, but what we did get saved our family, so it was worth it to us. If he threw me in the brothel after I caught a serial killer just because I wasn’t a man, no one would come to them again.

“I still think you deceived me. Consider the remedy I gave you to stabilize her payment for catching the Ghoul. I’ll sign a new contract with you. I’ll give your mother the cure and you can pay it back in the brothel.”

“No,” I said, raising my chin.

He wasn’t going to force me, but he wouldn’t blackmail me again, either. I had a secret weapon and that bloody thunderstorm last night meant I didn’t have to wait.

“No?” he sputtered.

“Obviously, I have other skills and I don’t want to work at the brothel. I’ll find the cure another way. You’ve shown me you can’t be trusted with contracts and if you were a decent father, you would have known it was your son butchering people all over Nestran.”

“I tried with that boy, but he was never right in the head. It was an issue with the bitch. I can’t be blamed. Don’t come crawling back to me when your mother is on death’s door because I’m only making this offer once.”

“It’s a shit offer. Your first one was better. I did what you asked, and you didn’t pay up. I’m not making a deal with you again.”

“Suit yourself. It’s not my mother who is going to die,” Folcard said, kicking his horse and riding off.

Goran stood there awkwardly for a moment and then joined him. Trevils was the only one who stayed, and I was fine with that. I owed him a drink and some food because he probably defended me when Goran was snitching.

I was guessing Goran didn’t get a damned thing out of this, but I hoped it was worth it because Neco was seething. Neco had rules and he just might break them over his friends and family.