Page 6 of His Dark Hunger

“Mind if I come in?” Kyle gestured behind him. “I need to talk to you.”

“Okay.” The man gripped the door frame. “You’ll have to excuse the mess. My wife’s at work, and I only just got off shift.”

“No problem.” Kyle wasn’t there to judge. He only wanted their name signed on the dotted line. “This shouldn’t take long.”

“Fine.” He withdrew, allowing Kyle to collect his case and pass, though his body language conveyed how little he wanted the interaction.

If he’d just got back from work, Kyle could understand his reticence. The guy probably needed sleep. Hopefully, that urge would accelerate his acquiescence in the conversation.

“Go left into the lounge.” The exhausted-looking guy motioned to the room he meant as he closed the front door. “What’s this about?”

Kyle entered the cozy space, briefly noting the array of family photographs. “Did you receive my letter, Mr…?” Prior residents had introduced themselves before he’d needed to ask.

“Kendal.” The man’s jaw clenched as he wandered into the lounge and perched on the end of the sofa.

“Mr. Kendal.” Kyle offered his well-practiced smile as he placed his case on the other end of the couch and opened the lid. “I sent a letter ahead of today’s visit but wanted to follow up personally. I have a revised tenancy contract for you to look over.”

Taking the appropriate wad of papers, he pushed it toward Kendal.

“Thanks.” Kendal snatched the paperwork from him without so much as glancing at the front page. “So long as it doesn’t include an increase in the rent. We’re struggling to pay as it is.”

“Ah.” Kyle’s lips twitched. There was the first real resistance to his plan. “It does, in fact, include an increase, I’m afraid.” He wasn’t ‘afraid’ at all, but he sensed empathy was required where Kendal was concerned.

“What?” Kendal stared despairingly at the revised contract. “By how much? I’m not joking, Mr. Kyle. My wife and I are working full time, but we don’t have any spare money for rent increases.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Glancing around the room, he might actually have meant it.

Kendal was clearly a family man, and based on the faces of the boys in the array of pictures scattered around the room, his kids were still relatively young. Kyle was a businessman, but he wasn’t an ogre. He didn’t love the idea of making a family homeless or the dent it might make in his thriving reputation, but perhaps Kendal could repay him inothernon-financial ways.

“I’m not here to cause unwarranted disruption to the people you love.” Tugging down his lapels, he sat down on the well-worn couch. “Maybe you can pay the deficit in other ways.”

“What ways?” Kendal eyed him with understandable suspicion.

“Well, what are you good at, Mr. Kendal?”

“I’m an accountant.” Kendal’s brows knitted as though he’d admitted a sin. “Nothing fancy.”

“An accountant who’s home at this time of the day?” Kyle hadn’t heard that one before.

“I work for multiple companies.” Kendal blew out a breath. “We need the money.”

“Well, accountants are good with numbers.” Kyle’s lips stretched wider as the plan formed in his mind. “And numbers are important to me.”

Kendal’s brow rose. “You want me to run your numbers?”

“Perhaps.” Kyle could use a loyal person to manipulate his tax affairs. To date, he’d only been able to afford mediocre professionals to handle his tax affairs, so if Kendal could find inventive ways to manage the problem, he’d be an asset.

“But, like I said, Mr. Kyle.” Kendal blew out a breath as he placed the paperwork on the seat between them. “I already work a lot.”

“You have some evenings, I assume.” He met Kendal’s worried gaze. “And weekends?”

“Y-yes.” Kendal sounded hesitant. “But that’s family time.”

“You’d be keeping a roof over your family’s heads.” Kyle reminded him. “A lovely one, too.” He motioned around the room. “You’ve lived here for a long time, I think?”

“Around eight years.” Kendal nodded.

“You’ve made a home here.” It wasn’t the type of home Kyle aspired for, but still, it had a sense of relaxation and security about it. He was damn sure Kendal would rather stick than twist.

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