Chapter 2

The thick silence enveloped them both like a fog, but no one dared to speak. Blaze just stared at her while a string of thoughts ran through his head. Tessy, the perfect good girl and younger sister to his best friend, Elias, was a drug dealer. Of all things to be, a girl who dealt with all sorts of people using drugs.

He cleaned his eyes and raked them over her lithe features, struggling to believe that this girl, who had excelling grades, and was involved in several NGOs was also doing something scandalous like this. Where did she even have the time to combine everything? He made a mental note to ask her but at that moment, he looked at her and sneered. Who knew what else she had done?

Tessy on the other hand was shaking with fright as her eyes darted around the abandoned building. She considered making a run for it, but where would she go from here? If Braxley found out that one of his clients, a top one from what she had heard, had unmasked her and discovered her real identity…

She shuddered, the thought of what he would do refusing to form in her brain. Tessy could swear that Braxley was the one who wrote the book on 1000 ways to die. She once heard a story, way before she started doing business for him, about a guy who flouted the rules and Braxley ordered his men to skin the offender alive and then throw the remaining parts of his body into boiling oil.

Her breath hitched in her throat. She didn't want to be like that, so the only other option was to beg Blaze not to talk. But how could she, especially when he was looking at her like he would rather be anywhere else? He was probably already plotting of ways to break the news to her brother and then to Braxley.

Elias would kill her and then kill himself if he knew what she was up to. He frequently praised himself on having the perfect kid sister with hot brains and he would be devastated to learn she kept up a dangerous side hustle.

Finally she took in a huge breath and stepped forward, putting on a false show of bravery. "I need to ask–"

Blaze held up a hand instantly like he had been waiting for her to speak first, so he could interrupt and in truth, he was. He had watched the different emotions show on her face, from shock to anger to fear and finally stopping at a guilty look.

He knew she would beg him, and he also knew he wouldn't let her off the hook easily. Blaze didn't have a forgiving bone in his body, and he wasn't about to develop one simply because it was his best friend's kid sister.

"If you're going to ask for a favour, don't bother. How could you do this kind of job, Tessy?" He asked and shook his head, revelling in her look of shame as she bent her head and glanced at the ground. "If Elias finds out, he's going to be so heartbroken and if your boss finds out, well…" he trailed off, already knowing that those two people were the reason for her fears.

"They can't find out!" Tessy exclaimed and put her hands together as she began to plead furiously. "If they find out, my life will be all over. Braxley will kill me and then my brother will kill himself." She walked closer to him again and sighed defeatedly when he shifted back, a blank stare taking over his features as he folded his arms and shook his head.

"So what do you want me to do? I can't keep this a secret from my best friend, he knows when I'm lying," Blaze twisted the truth a little, his lips turning up in a smile as her eyes pooled with tears. "But I might be able to stop Braxley from finding out, although he has eyes and ears everywhere so...that might be a problem."

Tessy groaned quietly again and shook her head as hot tears began to run down her cheeks and she sank to the floor in agony. He was right in a way, there was nothing he could do concerning Braxley because for all she knew, he probably had her followed and maybe the person would be reporting to him about how the client saw her face.

How could she let this happen? She hit her head with her hands twice and continued to cry, thinking of how she could at least beg him to keep it a secret from Elias. Her brother was quite perceptive and it had been hard to keep her side job as secret from him and everyone else, covering up with study groups and volunteer meetings. But still, those activities had not stopped him from asking her about the sources of her money.

"But...maybe there's something I can do," Blaze murmured, and looked down at her. Instantly, her head perked up and she glanced at him with a tear-streaked face and mascara running down her cheeks. "If, and only if, you agree to my condition."

Tessy stood up from her position on the ground and looked at him, her hands still positioned in a begging stance. "What condition? Is it to help you clean, do your assignments, wash your clothes and car for…"

She trailed off when she noticed the look Blaze was giving her. It was a hungry one, and if she wasn't mistaken, a sultry look of lust. Her mouth formed an o shape when his eyes slowly raked over her body before they finally rested on her hazel eyes.

"What I want is for you to come to my house tomorrow at eight pm. Don't be a second late, or maybe...I'll have to invite Elias over instead," he threatened, the smile on his face now a wide grin as he watched her shift her weight between her foot uncomfortably.

Tessy looked at him with clear eyes, the tears now dried, as she tried to make sense of his request while he ignored the boastful smile he sent her way. It was obvious that he knew the power he now had over her, and she felt like smacking his chin and walking out of the building with her dignity intact, but she also knew she couldn't do that.

She had the sneaking suspicion that if she took a step forward without agreeing to his request, Blaze would be right behind her with a phone to his ear and lots of bad guys on her trail. Tessy put a hand to her forehead and stared at the ground again, trying to remember why she started the job in the first place.

Her thought was quickly cut short by Blaze's impatient voice. "Well, what do you say? Be quick, I have somewhere else to be, and besides, I need to make quick work of this," he said, jiggling the pouch in his hand and Tessy looked at its movements.

What if she ratted him out that he used drugs? Maybe she could blackmail him as well, but instantly she banished the thought from her head. Guys like Blaze had the power to overturn her statement into the mere words if a desperate drug dealer, and she knew Braxley would take his side and deal mercilessly with her. She was also under an oath not to speak a word to law enforcement about their feelings nor the people she sold to.

Feeling dejected and out of options, Tessy sucked in a breath and nodded her head reluctantly. "Okay, I accept. I'll be at your house by eight. The house next to the library right?" She asked and Blaze shook his head instantly as he pulled out his phone and began to type rapidly.

"Not that one. I'll send you the address for the house I want you to be at, and before you get worked up, it's still within New York." He gestured to her face, which held an alarmed expression.

She simply nodded again and picked up the ski mask, starting to go before she remembered that he hadn't paid her yet. She turned to face him fully and stretched out a hand. "You still haven't paid me."

"Oh that's true."  He dipped a hand into his knapsack like before and Tessy looked at his movements warily. That was the same technique he'd used to remove her mask the first time, and she was still cursing herself inwardly for not watching him more closely. After some seconds, he pulled out a small wad of cash and placed it into her open palm. "Have the extra for your troubles, Tessy."

He began to walk away with an extra swag to his steps, still feeling ecstatic from the nice deal he just struck. Also, the drug was beginning to take effect. "Don't forget our date," he called out and disappeared out of the building.

Tessa hung her head in despair as she watched him walk out. She knew he didn't have nice plans in store for her.