Gunsel
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Do this right, and you'll be in work for months, he'd said. Prove I'm trustworthy, and I won't have to worry about money any time soon. So I step out of the alley, knife in hand, and get to work.
Series
- Part 1 of Gunsel
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Another rush of bravado gets its claws into me, and I snort with laughter. "A night in a cheap hotel? Some treat, boss." I can hear the sound of people shouting and police sirens wailing outside, wafting through the draughty windows as I'm talking, and the sound just makes me laugh again. I walk over to the window and lean against the sill, picking at the peeling paintwork. "Romantic, too. You're really spoiling me."
Series
- Part 2 of Gunsel
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"What is it about the middle of the night that makes you guys so keen on cutting each other up?" He locks the outer door, and gives me a look that could bore through steel. "You've got the brains of a stray dog and the morals of an alley cat, every single one of you."
Series
- Part 3 of Gunsel
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He looks even better in the flesh than in the photo they gave me. Tall and fair, maybe ten years older than me, with a face like a matinee idol and a suit that must have cost more than my whole wardrobe put together. Looking at him, I can't help but be thankful the boss picked this guy for a target. Hell, I'd probably do this for free.
Series
- Part 4 of Gunsel
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The boss takes out a cigarette, and I lean forward to light it for him. Before I've even put my lighter away, he's got his hand on my shoulder, pushing me down to my knees. I should be thankful I'm getting the attention, but I can't resist giving him a bit of cheek. "I don't mind a bit of overtime, boss. But how much of a bonus is this going to earn me?"
Series
- Part 5 of Gunsel
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All of a sudden the club is filled with the sound of a new singer's voice, and it's the kind that makes you stop and just soak up every note. I look over to the stage, and that's my first mistake tonight, because as soon as I lay eyes on the singer I'm hooked.
Series
- Part 6 of Gunsel
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"Look, buddy, I've got more than enough father figures as it is, and even if I wanted another you're on the wrong side of forty for that." I bring my free hand up to rest on his shirtfront, and I can feel the heat of his skin, almost like there's nothing between us but air. "So how about you just tell me what this is all about? You didn't tail me all afternoon for a quick dockside fumble."
Series
- Part 7 of Gunsel
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So it looks like I'm the carrot and Joe's the stick, just like old times. Now, I'm not relishing the idea of getting up close with this hack, but if it's for the boss, I'll do it. So I nod, trying to keep the queasiness out of my voice. "You want me to go and ask this guy nicely to knock it off?"
"No, you won't get anywhere with the journalist, he wouldn't give you a second glance. But his employer would." The boss laughs, low and nasty enough to give me the shivers. "He'd give you a second, and a third, and then some."
Series
- Part 8 of Gunsel
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I've never heard this guy's name before, but if he's been away that long then he must have been around well before my time. I mean, twelve years – I'd have been in middle school when he was put away. That's the kind of vintage that gets me hot and bothered. Add in the fact he's happy to deliver a smack-down if someone's asking for it, and you can consider my fate well and truly sealed tonight.
Series
- Part 9 of Gunsel
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He knows as well as I do that threats like that only make me worse. It's been weeks since Joe last worked me over, and I reckon he's as hungry for it as I am. He looks at me, hard and white-hot, like he's just daring to me push my luck, and I can't resist that any more than he can resist my baiting.
Series
- Part 10 of Gunsel
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He's close enough now that I can smell the perfume on him every time I take a breath, sweet and heavy and cheap enough that I'm embarrassed it works on me. But it does. It really does. His shirt's still half-unbuttoned, and when it falls open a bit further as he moves, my eyes linger long enough on his bare skin that I've got no chance of pretending I'm not interested. But who am I kidding? He knew he'd got me the minute I let him into the car.
Series
- Part 11 of Gunsel
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Something's going on. My orders said that I need to be ready to go at eight, sober and smartly-dressed, that we'll be out of town all weekend, and that I don't need to bring anything with me. That's it. No idea what I'll be doing, no idea where we're going, no idea what'll be waiting for me when I get there. So here I am, clueless and full of nerves, just the way the boss likes me.
Series
- Part 12 of Gunsel
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He looks like the type that'd push you right to breaking point, just to see you snap. He looks like once you were broken into a dozen little pieces, you'd find yourself under his heel, being ground up into dust. I think about that long and hard, and when my attention finally drifts back to their conversation, I'm just in time to catch the best bit.
Series
- Part 13 of Gunsel
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When I take out my wallet, I can almost feel his eyes on it, on my hands as I pull out a couple of notes, searing into my skin like white-hot little torches. I wonder if this is how the boss feels, how Joe feels, when they deal with chisellers personally. I wonder if they get the same sour kick out of it. I wonder if the buzz of it gets them as hot as it's getting me right now.
Series
- Part 14 of Gunsel
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I had a grin on my face a mile wide when I first set eyes on them in the boss's office. Both tall and stocky, with cropped dark hair and hard brown eyes. Both in expensive suits, with big flashy watches and tie-pins and cufflinks that glittered in the light. Both looking up at me with identical frowns and identical furrowed brows. Twins, I'd thought to myself. Must be my birthday.
Series
- Part 15 of Gunsel
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"You like that, don't you?" Holt says, and his voice is so warm with approval that I feel like someone just handed me a bonus cheque. Yeah, I like it, alright, and I'm not going to hold back one bit tonight. He likes his boys shameless, does he? Well, I'll show him shameless. I'm going to make the other boys he's had courtesy of the boss look like a bunch of awkward first-timers.
Series
- Part 16 of Gunsel
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"You want some company?" I say, toying with my belt buckle. I can feel his eyes on me, running over the leather of my jacket, the scuffed denim of my jeans, the pomade in my hair. It feels like his hands are already on me, and if I'm getting this overheated just from the way he looks at me, it's going to take a lot of self-control to keep it professional tonight.
Series
- Part 17 of Gunsel
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I spot him the minute I walk into the place. That white-blond hair's like a beacon all on its own, but with the matching suit he's wearing, he stands out a mile. He looks like one of those white marble statues, only statues don't drape themselves over bars like that. Statues don't laugh like that, soft and light and a little bit mocking, like everything around them's just a joke. Statues don't stroke their fingers over the stem of their wineglass like that, like they can't help toying with whatever's within reach.
Series
- Part 18 of Gunsel
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I tip my head back, holding his gaze, staring up at him as he keeps on squeezing. I can feel my pulse hammering under his thumb. He must be able to feel it too. He must be able to see in my face what all this does to me. That’s why this is the best part of the job. This is the bit where I don’t have to lie.
Series
- Part 19 of Gunsel
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I want to get up and walk out of here. I want to leave this conversation and this boy and this whole night behind. But even if I did, where would I go? Round to Miller's place, so he can tell me again in looks and sighs and silences how much of a coward I'm being? Round to one of the bars where I know I won't bump into Tommy? Home, so I can lie there half-sober and wide-awake and trying not to think about any of this?
Series
- Part 20 of Gunsel