“It’s all right,” he replied. “You sure you’re not in the wrong place?”
“You’re here, aren’t you?”
He narrowed his eyes and frowned, clearly struggling to understand what I meant. “You’re looking for me? Who are you?”
“The name’s Sullivan Matthews.”
He sucked in a deep breath. Good. He recognized the name.
“Gads, man, no need to look so alarmed. I’m simply here on business.”
“B-b-business? What business?”
I didn’t blame him for being wary. The name Sullivan Matthews wasn’t known for generous deeds.
“You have a boy I’m interested in.”
“Which one?”
“The kitty.”
His shoulders slumped, and he said something to the woman still standing to his right. She pouted, then stalked away. When he turned back to me, he wore a wide grin.
“I see you’ve met my truffle pig. Not that there’s anything piggy about that one. I must warn you. He’s the best there is on the market.”
“I don’t doubt it.”
“Wait. Are you the guy he went to the hotel with?”
“Guilty.”
“Hooked on him already, are you?”
“Exactly.”
“So what are we talking about here? A couple of days? A week? You look like a guy who can afford it.”
“I want him forever.”
“What?”
“I want to buy him from you. I have thirty thousand on the table. Take it or leave.”
“Wait, wait, wait, what? Sell him as in…”
“He won’t work for you anymore. He’ll become my personal property.”
“Shit, man. You hit it that hard, did you?” He licked his lips, his beady little eyes full of greed. “Well, you know, he’s worth a lot more than that. Can you really put a price on Kit?”
“Twenty-five. The longer you hold out, the less my offer will be.”
“But you want him. I should set the price.”
“Twenty thousand. Final offer.”
He stalled, shifting his gaze away from me.
I downed my drink. “Right then. It was a pleasure to meet you, Nolan. You’ll excuse me if I don’t shake your hand.”
I strode from the bar, the door swinging shut behind me. At the bottom of the step, I checked my watch. What was Kit doing? Was he violating my privacy? Snooping around my house despite me telling him not to?
The door creaked open behind me. “Wait! Wait! I’ll take it. The money.”
I turned to him. “Then let’s go. I need all his personal items that are in his room. As soon as I have them, I’ll transfer the amount into your account.”
He swallowed. “Just so you know, I do business for the Grimaldos. If anything happens to me—”
“Spare me the dramatics, Nolan. I’m here for the boy. That’s all.”