The Mafia Lord's Secret Lover (Evelyn) novel Chapter 76

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76 Compensation?

“Oh, Lord in Heaven, we are in serious shit,” Toby whispered. 1

Dean gave a nervous laugh, though it cracked in the middle. “These people are gangsters. Actual gangsters. This is how we die, isn’t it? Following a woman and her kid to get their pictures for a paycheck.”

“Don’t be dramatic,” Toby muttered, though his voice wavered. He shoved his camera into the backseat as if it were incriminating evidence. His chest tightened.

Dean gripped the wheel, frozen, waiting for the knock on the glass that would seal their fate.

Toby leaned back, shut his eyes for one brief second, and exhaled. “Damn it, Dean. You ruined everything.”

Outside, the two men closed in, each heavy step echoing like a countdown.

Toby’s pulse thudded in his ears as the two men approached, their shadows swallowing the front of their car.

Dean whispered, barely moving his lips, “Okay… hear me out. We just apologize. Polite. Like gentlemen. Maybe they’ll let us go.”

“Gentlemen? Dean, they look like they eat gentlemen for breakfast. With extra hot sauce. In other words, they are gangsters!”

The first man, tall with a scar cutting down his cheek, rapped his knuckles against Dean’s window.

It wasn’t a polite tap–tap. It was the kind of knock that said, “Open up or we’ll rip the door off ourselves.”

Dean reluctantly rolled down the glass. “Uh, good afternoon, sir! Lovely weather we’re having-”

“Lovely weather?” Toby muttered under his breath from the passenger seat. “What are you, applying for a butler job?”

The man with the scar leaned down, his eyes like shards of ice. “You hit our car. Get out… And check how bad our car is!”

Dean swallowed. “Technically… you stopped too suddenly, sir.”

The second man, stockier with arms like tree trunks, stepped forward. His grin didn’t reach his eyes. “So you admit you weren’t paying

attention:

Toby chuckled inwardly as he talked to himself, ‘Damn it, Dean! For the love of journalism, shut up!‘

Scar Man straightened. “Compensation. Now. And get the fucking out of the car!”

They both finally get out of the car and follow the two men to check the broken vehicle. They are both speechless because they can’t bear to hear who has been more pitifully damaged than they.

“Compensation? Well, that’s a bit awkward. You see, the car isn’t even ours…it’s a rental. Your car only has a scar, while ours is significantly damaged”

“Rental or not, you pay. Or maybe we break something else. Like your faces.”

Toby threw his hands up. “Hey, hey, wait. This is a misunderstanding! We’re respectable journalists.”

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76 Compensation?

One of the men chuckled as he said, “Respectable? Following a woman and her child with a camera? Sounds like rats to me.”

Dean elbowed Toby and whispered, “See? Even the scary guys think we’re low.”

“Not helping, Dean!” Toby hissed. Then he turned to see the bulky man before him, “Sir, how do you know? Do you have any evidence

we’re tailing them?”

Both of you were following them from the cafe behind, and you slowed down your car to block ours when we were about to enter that

building. He pointed to the building just ahead of them.

Toby and Dean gasped. Their faces turn paler. Now they are at the end of their lives.

Dean fumbled for his wallet. “Fine, fine. How much do you want?”

“One thousand. In cash.”

Dean nearly choked. “One thousand? For a scratch the size of a freckle?!”

The bulky man smirked, “Our time is valuable. And so are our fists.”

Toby leaned toward Dean, whispering urgently, “Pay them. Pay them before we end up in body bags.”

Dean glared at Toby.

“I don’t have a thousand! And besides, it’s their fault. They stopped too suddenly.” He whispers to Toby.

“Dean, these guys aren’t filing insurance claims. They’re filing us into coffins.”

“Damn it! Then you pay the rest! “Dean cursed Toby before turning back to the two men in front of them.

“Listen, this is all we’ve got… Five hundred. Take it or leave it.” Dean took out the bills and offered them to the scary man.

“No, this is…only enough for our mental shock compensation.” He took the bills, unimpressed. “Not enough.”

Dean was rendered speechless.

As Toby and Dean were arguing, another man suddenly appeared from behind their car and opened the door without them noticing.

The man was quiet, quick, and invisible, slipping into the backseat. He was Liam’s ghostlike subordinate, who had already removed the SD card from Toby’s camera and pocketed it. Seconds later, Dean’s and Toby’s cell phones were also taken.

Everything happened so fast. One minute he was there, and then he was just gone, hopping into another car and driving off like it was

nothing.

“Sir, we only have this. Please, have mercy on us. We are tourists here.”

Dean finally pleaded. He knew that whatever they said, these gangsters would only twist their words. He needs to leave this place, or

these people will break their nose.

“Alright! Since you’re pleading so nicely, I’ll only take two hundred. It’s for my Insurance claim.” The intimidating man then handed back

the three bills, and just like that, they left.

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76 Compensation?

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