COLLATERAL DESIRE

CHAPTER FOUR

Lance worked tirelessly, finding any side hustle he could, working all day without sleep.

Even with all that he didn't make anything close to what he owed but he kept on working, his muscles protested but he didn't stop, he couldn't.

One of those days, Lance was even tempted to steal, to rob someone, just to get easy and fast money. The thought crossed his mind more than once, especially when desperation weighed heavy on him.

At one point, he found himself close to a woman inside a*****e, a thick bundle of cash visible in her bag. It would have been quick and no one would have noticed.

But he stopped in his tracks.

He couldn’t bring himself to do it.

That wasn’t the kind of person he was, no matter how desperate things had become. Even with everything closing in on him, he still had lines he refused to cross.

He had been missing classes and had several missed calls from Ylva and his other friends. They were all worried, But every time he finally picked up a call or replied to a text, he reassured them that he was fine, that everything was under control.

It was a lie he repeated so often it almost started to sound believable

It was the last day of the due payment, he hadn't gotten a lot of money but he still summoned up the courage to go back to the warehouse.

When the man from earlier saw the amount Lance had he scoffed, “What am I meant to do with this?”. He threw the bag of money to the side.

“Please just take it and let Tamera go, take me instead please, I'm begging you just let my sister go" Lance pled all the fire in his eyes completely gone, leaving him open and vulnerable.

“You know it's really nice seeing you beg like this, the once prideful Lance” the man continued

He stepped closer to Lance looking him up to down "You a tall young man hm,I'm guessing about 6’4 maybe more and you're built well”.

Lance gave him a confused look. “What do you mean?"

“You do have one option to pay a back although I really don't think it is gonna work in your favor”.

“I'll do anything, please” Lance responded desperately

The man looked at Lance for a moment before speaking up.

“Well, as everyone knows, I’m not the real boss around here,” the man said. “We have our top dog. I could get you in contact with the main man, although I highly doubt he’ll even let you breathe near him.”

“Top dog?” Lance asked.

“He’s the man behind everything we do, and one of the cruelest, if I do say so myself,” the man replied. “I’m his right hand. I deal with lowly pests like you so he doesn’t have to get his hands dirty.”

Lance knew anyone involved in this world was dangerous, but did he really have a choice? It was either this… or Tamera died.

“I’ll do it,” he said firmly.

Atta boy. You’ve got some guts,” the man said with a grin. The other men around him mirrored the expression. “We can take you to meet him right now. Oh, this ought to be fun.”

All the men began laughing, Lance didn't know why but he had a bad feeling, a very bad feeling.

Before Lance could even process what was happening, he was shoved into a car and driven off to God knows where. His chest tightened as anxiety clawed at him, fear settling deep in his bones.

When the car finally stopped, they were in front of a massive house. It was modern, sleek, and painfully elegant.

Inside, one of the men disappeared into another room.

Lance looked around. The interior wasn’t heavily furnished, which told him the place wasn’t used often, but it was still more beautiful than most houses he had ever seen.

Minutes later, the man returned, his expression annoyed.

“The boss is pissed we’re bothering him with a nobody,” he said. “He thinks a measly amount like this isn’t worth his time.”

Lance furrowed his brows. “Measly? They were talking about a million. Who exactly is this guy?” he thought.

“But he said he’ll come out shortly,” the man added.

Lance let out a shaky breath, unsure whether to feel relieved or even more terrified.

The wait felt endless. His hands trembled, but he forced himself to stay still. He needed to do this. For Tamera.

Finally, after nearly half an hour, footsteps approached. Slow. Measured. Deliberate. Each step sent a fresh wave of dread through him.

The men roughly forced Lance down onto his knees as the footsteps grew closer. His gaze stayed fixed on the floor, his heart pounding so loudly he was sure everyone could hear it.

The footsteps stopped right in front of him. All he could see were the shoes, polished, expensive, it looked like it cost more than his entire life.

“This is the debtor?” the boss said

Lance froze.

That voice.

His eyes widened. He had heard it before. Somewhere. Somewhere too familiar.

Slowly, he lifted his gaze.

And when his eyes locked onto the boss, it felt like his entire world stopped.