Thor (Recherché #1) by LP Lovell Page A

self-explanatory.”
    “And I have to find out like this, via an email from your assistant.”
    I sigh. “Yes. As did my other clients.”
    “This is about that girl isn’t it?” She asks, desperation leaking into her voice.
    “I am not your fucking boyfriend, April!” I shout. I’ve never lost it with her. Never.
    “I will pay you double!” She screams. “A hundred thousand a month.”
    “April.” I say her name through gritted teeth.
    “I need to see you before you leave.” There’s a pleading edge to her voice. God, I can’t deal with her shit right now.
    “No, from now on you book through the office like everyone else. Call SJ and she’ll book you in for when I’m off holiday.” I hang up.
    I’ve allowed April far too much special treatment. It’s like anything. If a high end customer turns up to your night club you give them VIP treatment. You look after those who will spend a lot of money and therefore heavily support your business. The fact is Recherché wouldn’t be what it is without all the money that April Farley has given me over the years. There comes a time though where you have to take your soul back from the devil. She’s always been intense but I never really cared before. Now…I don’t know, I guess her crazy ownership thing pisses me off. 
    So now I’m free of clients for the next two weeks and I’m not sure how I feel about that. Part of me feels like I lost. Poppy got under my skin and this feels like giving up, like I stopped fighting. I throw myself into agency work because at least that makes me feel like I haven’t just given up on everything I’ve ever known.
    Early evening the guys start rolling in. Kaden turns up wearing a seriously sharp suit and tie and his usually messy hair is combed back. He puts his invoice list on SJ’s desk.
    “Hey boss.”
    “Looking a bit slick, kid.”
    He glances down at himself. “Oh, yeah. I had to go and hang out with Mrs. Preston this afternoon.”
    I lean back in my chair and smile. “What did she have you doing this time?”
    He rubs the back of his neck and looks embarrassed. “Uh, I went to bridge club with her.”
    I have to laugh. “Kid, if you can go to bridge club for five grand an hour then fair fucking play to you.”
    “I also need you to background check a new client.”
    I cock an eyebrow at him. “Do you now?” He digs in his pocket and hands me one of his own business cards. Scribbled on the back is a name, address and date of birth. That’s everything I need to know, everything there is to know about a client. It sounds ridiculous, but it’s something we’ve always done in terms of a financial background check. My guys aren’t cheap. The last thing you want is to fuck someone and not get paid for it. Of course when we took Cora on I started to worry about the other side of things. Clients are now fully checked and if they flag with any criminal history then we don’t work with them.
    I skim over the details, mainly the date of birth. “Thirty-six. That’s almost young for you Kaden.” He flips me off and I grin. “How did you find her?”
    “Uh…” Again he rubs his hand over his neck. “I have this guy…He works with her apparently.” He shrugs. I don’t ask too many questions. If the kid’s happy to do it and the client pays their money, then it’s all fine.
    I nod. “Okay, I’ll run it now.”

    An hour later I step out of the office, but the guys are nowhere to be seen. I can hear music blaring down the corridor, coming from the gym. When I open the door my eyebrows shoot up.
    Maddox and Kaden are both topless, working out. Maddox is hanging upside down doing sit ups on the pull up frame, while Kaden is doing cleans. Xavier’s in the corner, hoody pulled up ignoring everyone as he works over the heavy bag. I press pause on the sound system. Xavier carries on, but the other two stop and glare at me.
    “Guys, it looks like the warm up for a porno in here.” I tell them.
    Maddox grins.