“How about we strike a deal?” I offered, trying not to beg him with my eyes.

He looked at me curiously. “What kind of a deal?”

I ran my hand through my hair trying to think of something he would go for. Something that would be to his advantage, but that wouldn’t tie me in to his organisation too much. Time. I could give him a certain amount of time. “I only need three boosts and then I’m clear of my debt. How about instead of just joining back up, I give you a month of my time. I’ll do as many boosts as you want within that month, but after that I’m gone,” I suggested.

He frowned. “It’ll take me more than a month to spread the word around that you’re back. I won’t get that many lined up for a month,” he protested.

Shit.

“Two months then.”

He pursed his lips looking at me, thinking it over as he drummed his fingers together. “Six months,” he countered.

I shook my head forcefully. I would be sucked back in by then. Six months of boosting cars and I would be addicted to the rush again, I couldn’t do that. “Three. That’ll take us into the New Year, then I can have a fresh start next year.”

He nodded slowly. “Deal. But I want you on the team permanently. You’ll be at my beck and call, not just for boosts but for anything else that I need a good man for,” he replied, holding his hand out over the desk for me to shake.

I groaned at the thought of what that would entail. Protection. Violence. Drug running. Robberies.

Basically, it was everything that I hated the most about my old life. The only other choice I had was to go to Jensen, Ray’s cousin, and see if I could fight every night at his club. I would get pretty bashed up though and after a few nights I would be too messed up to win. There was just no other way out of this for me.

I put my hand in Brett’s and nodded. “Fine. Three months and then I’m done. No matter what, I’m out after three months,” I agreed.

A slow smile spread across his face as he nodded. “Excellent. Good to have you back, Kid.” He laughed and pumped his fist in celebration. “Speak to Ed about the boost on Friday night,” he said, nodding to the door, signalling the meeting was over with. “I’ll call you if I need anything in the meantime. Same rates as it used to be. I’ll pay you two grand a week for odd jobs, then five on top per boost.”

Friday night. Why did that ring alarm bells in my head? Suddenly, I realised. Ellie’s dance was Friday night. “Err, Brett, I can’t do Friday,” I muttered.

He laughed. “Yes, you can,” he said sarcastically.

I frowned. “Can’t you change it for another night? Any other night but Friday?” I begged.

“What do you have on that you can’t cancel?” he asked, looking at me like I was stupid. I had just agreed to be at his beck and call and now I was backing out of the first job, this was really something I shouldn’t be saying no to.

“My girl and I have plans on Friday,” I replied, praying he wouldn’t want me to elaborate.

He shrugged. “So, reschedule.”

I groaned and shook my head. Man, I really didn’t want to let Ellie down! I couldn’t go back and tell her I couldn’t take her to her dance, she’d hate me for it. “Brett, it’s my girl’s school dance on Friday night. I can’t reschedule. Please, can we just change the day for the boost?” I asked. I felt sick, the first damn job and it was already interfering with my relationship. Agreeing to do this for three months had to be the worst idea in the history of bad ideas. But there was no other way I could get my hands on that much cash to clear the debt.

He sat forward in his chair. His face stern, his jaw tight. I was seriously pushing my luck right now.

“The boost is Friday night. The cars are to be in the container bound for Germany, by five am. If you can’t do it then it looks like our deal is off,” he growled angrily.

I gulped. Five am. What if I went to the dance and did the boost after? I could bail out early and tell her I had a headache or something. “How many cars?” I asked, mentally working out how much time I would need to see if that was feasible.

“Three. All local and within an hours drive,” he answered, his eyes narrowing. “Kid, a dance, really? You’re seriously going to f**k me over to take a girl to a dance?” he asked, shaking his head incredulously.

Three cars, all within an hour. If I left Ellie by eleven then I would be able to do both. I nodded quickly. “I can work in both. The cars will be there by five. I’ll get the details from Ed. Thanks, Brett. I appreciate your help,” I said gratefully.

I knew he would come through for me. I just hated the thought of what I agreed to but I needed to think of the money. By the end of this week I would already have half the money to pay Tony back with. By the end of the three months, I would be clear from the debt, and I would have a lot of cash that would be left over too. I have no doubt in my mind that Brett would line up at least two boosts a week, bringing my weekly total to twelve thousand. By the end of the three months I would be able to afford to buy myself a new life with all that cash.

The only thing that worried me was Ellie. How was I going to keep this away from her? If she found out about me it would ruin everything and then I would be back where I started. In a worse position even, because I would know what it felt like to be in love. So, on top of being alone and a waste of space criminal, I would also be heartbroken. Life would seriously suck ass then. I just prayed that she never found out. I just couldn’t cope with seeing that look of distaste in her eyes when she found out who I really was.