Page 71 of Never and Always
And he was holding a gun.
Chance turned to stone, and all the blood in my veins turned to ice. I heard Tessa gasp.
“You’re a hard man to track down, Ellis,” the man rasped.
“I don’t know who you are,” my brother said woodenly.
“I work for a…local businessman. You sat at his tables last night and slipped out without paying.”
My chest squeezed. “You gambled again last night?” My voice turned high pitched.
“I was trying to make some money! Enough to give a down payment to…” He trailed off.
A down payment to the other bad guy he owed.Jesus. “You got into a huge gambling debt, so you thought you’d gamble your way out of it? And now you owe someone else.” I gave a harsh laugh, and the way Tessa and the guy with the gun looked at me, I knew it was verging on hysterical. “What is wrong with you?”
“I…I’m sorry, Piper.” Chance hung his head.
I shook mine and looked at the gunman. “How much does he owe?”
“Twenty K.”
I closed my eyes. “Oh, my God.”
“I needed money fast, Pipe.” I saw Chance was trading dejected for pissed off. “I’m in a fucking bind.”
“You’re a gambling addict! You don’t work, you leech off people. I’ve tried to help so many times?—”
“Oh, the high and mighty, oh-so-perfect Piper. All you do is judge me.”
I tried to remember the sweet boy who’d slept in my bed when we were little, and jabbered to me about games and books on the way to school.
But I couldn’t see him in this petulant man.
I turned to the older man, who’d thankfully lowered his gun. He actually looked vaguely amused.
“He doesn’t have twenty thousand dollars.”
“Then he needs to take it up with Mr. Fowler.”
At the name, Tessa made a sound. I figured that wasn’t good.
Then suddenly, the curtain behind the bad guy twitched again.
A man charged into the room from the balcony, dressed in a suit and long, black coat. He had a dusting of snow coating his shoulders. He lifted his head.
My mind went blank and I couldn’t breathe. It was the man with the scar who’d attacked me in the alley.
He rammed into the older guy, sending him flying to the floor. Then he flicked a glance my way. His eyes were hard and icy, without a whisper of humanity in them.
Then he focused on Chance.
“It’s over, Ellis. Mr. Rocha has run out of patience.”
My brother lifted his arms, palms up. “Listen, Corvo, I’m getting the money. I just need more time?—”
“You’re out of time. You take the money, you don’t pay up, so you pay the price.” He pulled out a knife and flicked it open.
I took a step back, and Corvo looked at me.
