2. THE DEBT COLLECTOR

MAE

Filled with fear, I quietly took a few steps back and hurriedly texted Liam on my phone.

He was online, thank God, I thought as I typed out my message.

ME: He's here. The Owen Powers is here, in our house. He has my dad. I think dad is owing him some money. You need to come over.

How could dad be owing the most powerful businessman in Houston, literally? He owed a lot of people, granted, but how the hell did he even get the guts to add this to the list?

My heart thudded in my chest as I waited for Liam to read the text, then start to reply.

Dad was groaning in pain as he took every hit, but I knew I had to finish making these plans with Liam before I could even think of heading downstairs.

My eyes were transfixed on the screen, so much that I had not noticed how the entire place had grown dead silent.

Liam's reply popped up on my screen,

LIAM: Stall them. Stay where you are. I'll try to see if I can get backup. Please, Mae, don't fuck this up. I know my colleagues will not be willing to help at all as they are all fucking cowards, but let me see if I can get someone from the team.

The team… a group of officers who wanted to prove that Owen Powers was not just a businessman but a dangerous Mafia member or even boss, who was involved in numerous shady dealings like; money laundering, drug and human trafficking amongst other crimes.

What I would gain from the capture of Owen Powers? One of his close friends who worked in Owen's rumored underground club/casino knew where my mother was. I had seen a few pictures and Liam claimed to know who the man in those pictures with my mother was, but he was not easy to come across.

So, according to Liam, he would help me find out when he finally got his hands on Owen.

So, I typed back with shaky hands,

ME: Please hurry, I'll try my best to keep them busy.

I felt the breath on my neck first, before a low, deep chuckle.

I almost jumped out of my skin, swirling around to see who it was.

Owen Powers stood beside me with an ice cold expression, his facial features and jawline defined and gorgeous even under the dim lighting.

"Oh my fucking God, no…" I screamed, taking a few steps back until I unfortunately missed a step and fell, tumbling down the wooden stairs. My leg twisted in the process and I reached the ground with a thud.

My head had collided with the ground directly and my neck felt numb from the impact. I could not get up immediately but I knew that I eventually would have to. Especially now that Owen had started ascending the stairs to meet me.

I never felt that he would reach out to catch me when I had started falling, but then again, that would have been nice. My hatred for this man skyrocketed as I slowly got to my feet, limping straight towards dad who already had a red collection of fingerprints on his right cheek.

"Dad! Oh God.."

"Why didn't you hide, Mae! I told you to get out of here! Why do you never listen to me?" Dad cried out, and I just advanced towards him, ignoring the searing pain in my ankle, until I was roughly dragged back by a man who looked like he was five times my body size.

His grip on my arm was almost painful, but not as much, and I could not really focus on that at the moment.

A couple of other bulky men stood around him, obviously waiting for orders from their boss. This looked so much like a mafia setting, this could not just be in my head, right?

Owen was now down the stairs and before I could open my mouth to give a reply to my father's questions, I heard a gunshot, and then dad fell to the ground. Owen had shot him.

A piercing scream which I later decoded as mine filled the room and the man who had been holding me gripped me tighter when I attempted to go to him, screaming and kicking still.

Owen calmly spoke behind me, "Who were you texting? A name and details, or the next bullet will go in your father's throat."

There was so much blood, I had to do something. But what? Liam was taking too long…

"I wasn't…"

My eyes widened when he raised his gun again and I quickly shouted, "My friend! My friend! Please… I was only trying to get him to call the cops… I'm sorry, please…"

My voice had started to break as I watched dad grip his injured leg, pain spreading across his face. I was crouched on the ground as well, due to the fact that my ankle was also hurting like a bitch.

Owen chuckled at my confession. This was the second time I had heard him do that, and both times, his laugh was empty… void of every form of humor.

The man was every bit of the enigma people spoke about. He was one of the tallest people I had ever met, cruelly handsome, and his tattoos peeked under his shirt—chest area and wrists.

He had veins in his palms and his muscles seemed to want to bulge out of his shirt. His skin was a rich olive tan, just like the richness of his voice. I could not really tell the color of his eyes or some specific details about his face, but from what I could see… the gossips were right.

However, this man looked like he could not give two shits about his looks, or anything apart from his position as the Mob Boss, actually.

"You really are clueless if you think the cops had the guts to stop me." Owen's voice brought me back to the present, and then continued, "Now details. Who is this friend? What is his name and why did you think he needed to call the cops on me?"

My mouth opened and closed but I really did not want to give out Liam's details.

Owen aimed and shot at dad again, and I let out a loud shriek, again.

He crouched down to my height as I sat, then smirked, "Don't worry. I missed. Now tell me what I need to know."

"Liam. He's a lieutenant, and he thinks…" I swallowed, because there was really no guarantee that I would not be taking a bullet to my head if I dared to tell him that I thought he was in the mafia.

Owen tilted his head to the side mildly, an impatient scowl framing his face.

"He thinks you're a bad man. He wants you behind bars." I completed. Owen held my gaze for a while, then sighed and straightened.

"You just signed your friend's death warrant if he is already on his way, but I am sure you are realizing that now." He started, but before I could respond, maybe try to plead with him, he went on, "Your father will die tonight. He does not have my money, and I reckon you do not have it, either."

I shook my head no, trying to force the tears back.

"How much is it? How much does he owe you? I work, I know it's huge money probably but I can work and pay you back months or years, if you want, please…"

"I've already waited too long, I have no intentions of waiting any longer. Your father owes me thousands of dollars. Gambled at my casinos and drank my alcohol, owing a lot of my men money. I am a businessman, and I will tell you first hand that men like these never change. You should have warned your dad to stay away." He spoke casually, pulling out a death stick—cigarette—at the same time and slipping it between his lips before lighting it up.

"Any last words? Or are you just going to watch him bleed to death?" He raised his gun again.

I was shaking now, "No please! Please, let me work for you then. I can do anything. I even work in a strip club presently. If you have one, I can work there. I can clean, I can deliver your packages, I know how to be careful…"

His eyes lit up at the last part. Drugs. I was assuming that he trafficked drugs, and I waited for his reaction to it.

"I have a Personal Assistant for when I need to deliver packages, young lady, unless there is something else you're speaking about." He dared me to accuse him again but like a coward, I digressed,

"I strip well, then. You can ask Yuri, she knows that I do a good job… please, please let me work for you. I can keep working for you until I pay back everything he owes… you do not have to pay me…" I cried out.

This was literally killing two birds with one stone. If I worked for him, I would be paying off my father's debt, while getting closer to finding out what exactly happened to my mother. Oh, and also finding out for myself who/what exactly this man was.

Maybe I did not fully need Liam…

"Let him kill me, Mae… Don't offer him anything, let me pay for my sins with my life.." Dad's voice was barely audible as he could barely get the words out, due to how much pain he was in.

Owen paused, staring at me with a confused expression.

"Your father is deadbeat. Why are you so keen on saving the life of a man who barely gives two fucks about you?"