Chapter 6 - The Terms of the Debt
“What condition?” Sadie asked suspiciously, crossing her arms over her chest. Nothing in the criminal underworld came for free, and she knew it better than anyone.
Gabriel leaned back, steepling his fingers. “Your brother is a liability. If I leave him in South Philadelphia, someone else will collect his bones within a month. I’m shipping him out west tonight—freight logistics, supervised, no access to casinos, no internet betting. He works off his remaining balance pushing crates in Seattle.”
Sadie’s eyes widened. “You’re exiling him?”
“I’m saving his life. Just like you saved mine,” Gabriel corrected smoothly. “And as for you, Miss Hayes—you have a habit of walking into dangerous alleys and rescuing men who don't belong there. I find that deeply inconvenient.”
“I didn't ask to walk into your mess—”
“No, you didn't,” Gabriel interrupted. “Which is why you’re going to work for me.”
Sadie choked out a harsh laugh. “Work for you? Are you out of your mind? I pour drinks at a dive bar!”
“You have a sharp mind, nerves of steel, and absolute discretion,” Gabriel countered, sliding a second document across the mahogany desk toward her. “My medical logistics division needs a coordinator. Someone who can manage confidential supplies, emergency reserves, and off-the-books clinic accounts without asking unnecessary questions. Salary: eighty thousand a year. Full benefits. Your apartment lease is paid off through the end of the decade.”
Sadie stared at the contract. The numbers on the page swam before her eyes. Eighty thousand dollars? Her apartment paid off? It was a life-altering sum—enough to erase every financial nightmare she had carried since her mother’s death.
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“Why?” she whispered, looking up. “Why me?”
“Because,” Gabriel said, standing up and walking around the desk to stand directly before her, his gaze intense and unwavering, “I don't like owing debts, Sadie. And I especially don't like debt collectors coming near the woman who kissed me in the rain.”
