Page 36 of The Handyman

My mom put a hit out on me that my boyfriend took on— like I was an underdeveloped character in a B-rated movie. Like my life had suddenly become the first five minutes of a bad trilogy of revenge and strange misadventure.

“. . . When—” Struggling to swallow my mouthful, I huffed hoarsely and flexed my fingers around the edge of the plate. “Do—does she know you’re my boyfriend?”

“No. She only knows what I tell her…I would take the job when I received payment. She has no way to knowing who I am or that we’re involved. She’s already paid, and she gave me no instructions to alert her with proof the job was done, but. . . Riley, I got lucky this time. If your mom uses a different servicer when she finds out you’re alive, we may not be so fortunate next time.”

She’s already paid.Those three words were all I could hear, and I managed a shallow, calmer breath. My mom hated me so much for so long that she really paid someone to kill me. “Wow…” Slumping in my chair a little, the hysterical urge to laugh tickled my chest and forced a choked sigh from my lungs. “Wow. That’s—so, so stupid?”

“You’d be surprised how common it is to kill family members, actually. They’re the ones that hurt the worst.”

Delilah’s voice made me jump, and the table rattled loudly when my knees hit the underside. Sympathy creased between her slender brows and flooded her green eyes as she sighed. “In my case, it’s extortion, but it’s basically the same thing.”

“Oh…um, right—what? What would you do?”The fuck kind of question is that!Groaning softly as my brain kicked into high gear, I reached to push my palms into my temples. “What’s happening?”

Delilah shook her head. “There’s no guarantee that any answers you get will be the truth, Riley, and…to be honest, I have no idea what I would do in your situation.” Delilah set a hand on my bicep and she gave me a warm smile. “Just breathe. It’s rough, at first. I’ve been there.”

“Mymomhired myboyfriendtokillme! How can I‘just breathe’!” My voice crackled harshly as it rang shrilly through Reece’s apartment and I glared hotly at Delilah. “Just don’t, okay.”

She nodded meekly.

Just now, I didn’t have the room to feel bad about snapping at her even as I blew out all the air in my lungs. Lowering my head, my fingers snuck into my hair to curl into fists and pull the strands taught.

“Wha-a-at the fuck did I wake up to. . .?” Hannah grumbled.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

She sniffed harshly. “Are you for real right now?”

“Please, Hannah— no commentary right now, if you don’t mind.” I hoovered up air roughly through my nose, lifting my head as huge, gaping spaces opened up in my chest. Standing up, I pushed my knuckles together before shuffling out of my seat to push it in. All eyes bored holes into me, but I ignored it to head upstairs and into the bathroom.

I feel so disgusting.

26

Riley

“Next time, just…” I paused to swallow heavily. “Tell me one— one thing at a time, okay?” Wiping my soaked hair from my face, I pulled back the shower curtain.

Looking concerned, Reece nodded from his spot sitting on the toilet. Upset, guilt and regret waged war on his face.

I’d been in the shower for a while, but time escaped me as I struggled to make my brain work. I inhaled a deep, soggy breath and held it. “So. . .”

“So, what happens next is up to you. Even if you just tell me to make a decision on your behalf and ignore the aftermath…” Reece trailed off to scowl lightly.

Resting my cheek on the lip of the tub, I sniffled harshly. “This isn’t a situation I’d ever thought I’d be in. “Is it bad that you took her money and didn’t do…the job? Like—”

Reece shook his head immediately and at least there was one thing he was sure about. This wasn’t his fault, but he never bothered with answers before, and it was coming back to bite me in the ass.

I sighed. “I don’t know. What if you just don’t do anything?”

“There’s a chance she’ll try again with someone else. There’s a chance she won’t do anything. Theoretically, she could go to the police claiming she was scammed and get the money back, but that’s part of the problem. $13,000 dollars isn’t enough to hire a proper handyman. She’ll end up with one of those idiots that’s a friend of a friend’s cousin that’s kinda alright but talks himself up.”

“How much does someone expect to get paid to kill me?” The question slipped out of my mouth, and I pulled my knees up to my chest. Hot water streamed down on me, but it seemed cold under Reece’s narrowed, heated gaze.

“It depends on who you are, to be honest. You remember on the news a few weeks ago, some kid got killed outside the courthouse?”

Humming softly, I could see the news report when I blinked. Supposedly, that guy got into trouble with the wrong people. It wasn’t his first time on screen, if Google was any indicator.

Reece explained, “That was a million-dollar job for a few reasons. Is there a narrative to follow? How easy will it be to pull it off? What’s the risks involved? All that is calculable into the price. For you…for any average person, really, it’d $25,000 bucks minimum.”