My mother let me live with her for the past four months until I could find the perfect place to live by myself. She cooked me dinner, she washed my clothes and she even let me drive her car to house inspections. I didn't ask her to, I didn't expect her to, she just did it out of the kindness of her heart. She really is the greatest person to ever be in my life.
Although I never expected many jobs for the Mafia, the payment I received from them was hefty and I easily had enough money for a house deposit as well as the savings I had made from having the government pay for my Witness Protection house. To be completely honest, this was was richest I had ever been in my life; even without Tom.
I had placed a bid on a beautiful three bedroom terrace house in the city a few weeks ago, which ended up being the highest. That brings me to today: moving day. I had slowly been purchasing furniture and home decor to put it in Mum's garage until I moved but the removal it's were now in the process of transferring it all here.
Standing on the street I smiled to myself looking at the 'for sale' sign that now had a large 'SOLD' sticker stuck across it. I purchased my own home, by myself, with money I had earnt myself. The tall narrow townhouse was picturesque, a dainty white building with a balcony overlooking the street off the second floor bedroom and a large window next to it. In the very small front yard, a tall wisteria tree peppered purple flowers on the ground and through its branches, giving the property a gorgeous splash of colour.
I already knew I wanted to plant some sort of hanging vine along the balcony metal fencing, to add more green foliage to the place; creating a lush atmosphere against the stark white building. This was my new home, it needed to feel like mine.
The street was pretty quiet despite it being densely packed with townhouses and cars on either side of the street. It was a nice change from the sprawling acreage Tom and I lived on; I like being in the middle of the city again. As the removalists moved in and out of the house carrying numerous boxes and items of furniture, I walked into the kitchen to sit on one of the only chairs I had so far to open up my laptop and check for job listings.
Given that Sofia Maniscalo single handedly ruined my future chances of ever working in a government job again by exposing my fake degree, I had to look at privately owned businesses that would look for someone with my specific skill set.
I had worked in the prison system specialising in psychology, I'd worked in the legal court system with psychiatric analysis and my final job was more in forensic psychology on the ground in actual crime scenes. Looking at those skills, I ruled out being an actual psychologist, I ruled out being a therapist and I definitely ruled out being a fucking lawyer. I could easily fake a law degree but, fuck being in courts all day.
I had applied to multiple places, but what caught my eye was an email from a name I didn't recognise:
From: Priya Ramakrishnan
To: Y/N L/N
Dearest Y/N,
I know this email may come as an alarm but I received your contact details from your ex-colleague Sam Pedersen. I own and operate an Private Investigation company called Zena and Co. I would be honoured if I could meet with you to see if you would be interested in working with us.
I am aware of your prior working history and the power a woman like yourself had in the government criminal justice industry. More specifically, the work you did against the government rather than for. Yes, I have done extensive research on you.
If you are interested, shoot me back an email and we can tee up a time. Salary wise, name your price - your experience is very valuable to us.
Regards,
Priya
—
Honestly, it caught me off guard. I was intrigued not only by the fact she reached out to me for a job, but more about the language she used when talking about such an elusive opportunity. She knew my background, she knew my history, she said I could name my price.
From: Y/N L/N
To: Priya Ramakrishnan
Hi Priya,
Feel free to call me over the next few days; I'm moving house at the moment so I will be home. Interested to see what your line of work entails.
Y/N
—
From: Priya Ramakrishnan
To: Y/N L/N
You should get black out blinds for your new townhouse, the direction you face will give sunlight direct access into the bedroom in the morning and give you restless sleep.
Good luck with the move.
I'll call you tonight at 6 - I already have your number.
I'm looking forward to our potential future together.
_____
A/N: THATS THE PAST CHAPTER MY DARLINGS! What a wild ride this book has been - excited to bring you guys the THIRD book soon!!!!