Page 118 of Borden 3

“I’m used to it, doll.” He set the dummy phone down and looked at her. “Every time I have a meeting with a potential business contact, it’s the same shit.”

“This is Theo. I can’t…” She paused, trying to find words. “He’s impossible to understand. Sometimes I think he had something to do with Officer Young’s death. Other times I think he just wanted the cops to get rid of the dealers that kept hounding him to sell their product. And then…” She sighed miserably. “Then I think maybe they didn’t force him to do it at all. Maybe he wanted to do it.”

She had told Borden everything. It aligned with a lot of what Hawke had said. There were discrepancies, of course. Theo’s past was a hard one to dissect. Borden didn’t know him at the time, and yet, he must have been associated with the same dealers Borden wound up in trouble with given the area they’d hung around in.

This city felt small at times.

“It would make you feel better if they hadn’t forced him to do it.”

She frowned at his words, but then nodded. “Yes.”

“You feel like you abandoned him.”

Her shoulders slumped. “Yes.”

“Imagine your trajectory had you gone.” He narrowed his gaze on hers, truly wondering what would have become of his doll if she’d fled with Theo. “Life’s a bit of a fucked up ride, doll. You jump off when you’re in over your head, and then climb back on when you’ve decided where you want to go.”

She looked at him, stiffening a nod. “I jumped back on with you.”

“I was in way over my head with Kate,” he admitted. “I jumped the fuck off and ran.”

“I wonder if you’re the happiest with me,” she said quietly, looking away. “I wonder if you’d have been happier with her—”

“No,” he cut in. “Enough.” He wasn’t going to accept that talk. “People come to us for a variety of reasons. Sometimes for one sole reason. Kate showed me I wanted to be loved. I’d been so cold and alone. She was a bright beacon, snuffed out too early. Doll, I talk to her sometimes, when I need direction.” He lowered his voice. “She’s my angel still in the dark, and she whispers in my head to hold you close and never let you go. Because you were made for me, Emma.”

Emma’s eyes welled with tears. He swallowed hard at the sight of them. He was about to edge closer when knocks rapped at the door. Within moments, Gerry was coming in, leading Theo inside.

Theo was alone.

Cheeky fuck.

Dressed in jeans and a long sleeved white sweatshirt. Nothing special about him. He was a big guy. Could have his pick of the litter for sure. His hair was cropped super short. He almost had that fuckboy look except for the scars on his face and burn marks along his throat, leading to his torso. There was a story behind this fucker.

He smiled charmingly as he looked at him and then at Emma. “About time, Borden.”

Borden just stared vacantly at him. “I want to know your conditions before we proceed.”

Theo seemed to expect that. “It’s a fairly predictable condition.”

“Money.”

Theo nodded. “Money. In fact, I got an exact amount right here.”

He pulled out a piece of paper. It was all wrinkled and shit, like he’d scribbled it down on the back of a receipt. He stepped forward and then paused when Gerry was close to having a spastic fit about getting too close to Borden. Borden nearly rolled his eyes as Gerry took the paper off Theo and delivered it to Borden. “Sir.”

Borden felt everyone’s eyes on him as he spread the paper wide open and stared at the number. There was also a line beneath it. Four words that made him blink quickly. He read it a few times, narrowing his eyes curiously at the four words. Then he crumpled up the piece of paper and shoved it in his pocket.

“That works,” he stated simply.

“How much is it?” Emma whispered.

“It won’t break the bank,” Theo said. “You’ll still be able to throw your champagne parties and make-belief charities, Emma dear.”

“Fuck you,” she icily said. “That’s not what I do.”

“Doll,” Borden cut in.

Emma had so much pent up emotion, she’d finally lost it. She pointed at Theo. “He’s going to use that money to fuck with you, Borden. It’s a trick. He’ll eradicate these fuckers because he needs your men also, and then he’s going to try to go for the throne—”

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