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“Who the fuck is this?”
Nigel stared down at the bowed head of the man tied to the chair in his flat, utterly perplexed. He couldn’t be anymore than twenty two, with dark curls, pale skin and eyes that were too big for his face. He was very slight, hunching in on himself, with wrists that look like they could break under the pressure of the cable ties. Though he wasn’t struggling, the skin was reddening beneath the plastic.
Nigel’s eyes flickered up to Angelo, raising an eyebrow. Angelo stood behind the tied man, shifting his massive bulk from foot to foot uncomfortably under his boss’s dead stare. “It’s David Claremont, boss,” He said, like it should be fucking obvious. “You told me to fetch him to you if he didn’t pay back the money he owed.”
Nigel looked back down at the man. He hadn’t moved since Nigel had started speaking, but he started to tremble uncontrollably. “That is not David Claremont, Angelo. David Claremont is a thirty two year old ex boxer who's built like a brick shit house and just as ugly.” Nigel pointed down at the tied man. “Does that fucking look like David Claremont to you?”
Angelo looked down at him and took longer to answer, the thick bastard. “No,” he said petulantly.
“No,” Nigel echoed. “No is right. He looks like a twenty two year old twink that would break in half if I so much as sneezed in his fucking direction.”
“I’m twenty six year old,” The man said, making eye contact for a split second, before ducking his head back down again. “I-I don’t know what a twink is.”
Nigel noticed he had a cut lip, blood beading on the pale skin. The sight made him inexplicably angry and he fought to rein it in before he punched someone. Preferably Angelo.
“What the fuck happened?” Nigel demanded, ignoring the tied man’s protests.
Angelo shrugged. “I went to the address you gave me, exactly as you said and this guy was there. He wouldn’t give me a straight answer about who he was, said he didn’t have the money so I took him to see you. How was I supposed to know the address was wrong?”
Nigel narrowed his eyes at Angelo, the big man paling beneath his club tan. “Are you saying my directions were wrong?”
“Of course not, boss,” Angelo said hastily. “It’s just that this guy is now living at 2A 57 Belmont view-”
Nigel threw his hands up. “Well, no fucking wonder you got the wrong guy. I gave you the directions to 2A 57 Belmont Drive. You fucked up.”
Angelo visibly blanched. “Ah.”
“Yes, ah.” Nigel growled.
“Do you want me to…” Angelo gestured at the tied man. “Get rid of him?”
Nigel sighed tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose. “No, i’ll take care of it. Get out of my sight before I shoot you in the face.”
Angelo didn’t need to be told twice. With stuttered apologies of “Sorry Nigel, so sorry-”, he made a break for the door, leaving Nigel and the not-David alone together.
~
Adam hurt. His jaw throbbed from where the big man, Angelo, had backhanded him across the face, sending him to sprawl across the floor. His scalp hurt from where Angelo had used a handful of his hair to drag him to his feet and out of his front door into the van. His wrists and ankles hurt from being tied to the chair.
But that was nothing in comparison to the fear and confusion he felt at being at the mercy of two men he didn’t over what seemed to be a cause of mistaken identity.
Angelo had now left them, left Adam with this other man who answered to ‘boss’ and Nigel. He should be calmed by the removal of the man who physically hurt him, but he didn’t. This Nigel may not be as big as Angelo, but he looked meaner. He had an air of something about him that made Adam sit up straighter and keep him in his peripheral vision at all times.
Nigel had pulled up a chair so that he was sitting directly in front of Adam, knees nearly touching. He tried to catch Adam’s eye but Adam studiously stared at his twitching thigh.
“I’m sorry Angelo hurt you,” Nigel finally said. “He shouldn’t have done that.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Adam said in a small voice. “I was having dinner in my home.”
“And I apologise profusely. Angelo thought you were someone else.”
“David Claremont, who owes a lot of money,” Adam remembered.
“Yes, exactly darling.” Nigel nodded. “But you shouldn’t repeat that out loud. We wouldn’t want you to get hurt more than you are now, would we?”
Adam’s eyes met Nigel’s and they held the eye contact. They were a light shade of brown, bottomless. Adam may not be good at reading facial expressions but Adam was able to read those eyes. They were sincere and encouraging. He didn’t want Adam to get hurt.
Adam cleared his throat. “No,” he said softly.
Nigel blinked, lips curling at the edges with a grin. “Good. I’m glad to hear it.” He got up from his chair and went to rummage in the kitchen drawer for a pair of scissors. He came back out and Adam, upon seeing them in Nigel’s hand, physically flinched.
Nigel faltered for a moment before he came to stand by Adam’s side and used his other hand to lift Adam’s chin up gently. “I’m not going to hurt you darling, okay? I’m just going to cut the cable ties from your wrists and ankles. Make you more comfortable.”
After a moment, Adam nodded wordlessly. He didn’t have much of a choice but to trust the man not to hurt him.
Nigel knelt by the chair and, with careful movements, he cut the ties one by one. Adam pulled his wrists away rubbing at the reddened skin to let the blood flow back to his fingers. Nigel watched him for awhile before moving back to sit in his seat. “I’m going to be honest darling, i’m at a loss as to what to do with you.”
Adam abruptly froze and stared at Nigel with a worried frown. “I want to go home.”
Nigel nodded. “And i want you to go home too. But i’m worried that if you do, you’ll tell someone about what happened tonight and that will be bad for me.” Nigel sucked his bottom lip into his mouth before speaking again. “Do you have a girlfriend? A boyfriend perhaps?”
“No, I-” Adam looked down at his hands. “I live alone.”
Nigel smiled then. “Now that surprises me, gorgeous. A pretty little thing like you should have someone to take care of you.”
Adam only blushed further at his words, not sure how to answer that.
Nigel didn’t seem to mind. “I don’t like threatening innocent people, but I will do it to ensure I get no future problems. So I will ask you, very nicely, to keep quiet on what has happened here tonight. If someone asks you about your cut lip, say you had an accident. I promise you this won’t happen again. You are safe. But if you tell anyone about me or Angelo, you won’t be so safe. Do you understand?”
Adam nodded, feeling his heart in his throat. “I understand.”
Nigel smiled, pleased. “We are of one fucking mind then, darling.”
“Adam,” Adam supplied, still a little unsure with how to proceed in this situation. “My name is Adam.”
“Pleasure to meet you Adam, despite the circumstance.” He stood up and offered a hand for Adam to take. “Now, let’s get you home safe and sound.”
Adam looked at Nigel’s hand like it could bite him, but he finally took it in his and Nigel pulled him up out of the seat.
~
Nigel drove Adam across the city to his address and watched him slip away into the building, out of sight. His car idled in the parking spot, engine growling softly, thumbs tapping out a rhythm on the steering wheel as he continued to watch the doorway. As if Adam was going to come back at and wave at him.
He didn’t know the neighbourhood, a little too nice for his kind. But Nigel knew, through personal experience, that these types of places were a temptation for the low lives of the city. Even nice neighbourhoods like these weren’t safe from robbery or armed assault. Not as safe as they once used to be, at any rate.
So Nigel should probably keep an eye on dear Adam, make sure things like tonight don’t happen in the future. After all, who is better to protect Adam against thugs like a thug himself?