RIVAL’S POV
Vega leaned back in his chair like he’d been expecting us to walk in bruised and broke. Thomas still had a faint limp, and my lip was split from my own job earlier in the week, but neither of us was in the mood to give him the satisfaction of a complaint.
Instead, Vega slid a small envelope across the counter.
“This one’s different,” he said. “Not muscle. Not the type you can intimidate with a fist in the gut. He’s clever. Real clever. Slipped two other collectors in the last month.”
Thomas raised an eyebrow. “And you’re sending us?”
Vega smirked. “Because you’re still too new to think you’re untouchable. You’ll pay attention. You’ll stay hungry. And if you screw it up, you leave or—” he tapped the counter— “you’ll learn fast.”
I took the envelope before Thomas could star
