Too Late to Hold Me Back novel Chapter 185

"So you're saying you won't lift a finger unless I pay you first?"

Mara was seething. She felt like there wasn't a single decent person left in the world.

She had dropped twenty thousand to save their miserable lives. Back then, they had groveled at her feet like she was a saint.

Up until now, all she had asked them to do was tail Mira a couple of times. Now, the second she asked for a real favor, they had their hands out.

"Miss, you're looking at this from a mansion, not the gutter.

I don't mind skipping a meal or two, but my boys have got to eat.

With your kind of money, the crumbs that fall through your fingers could feed us for months."

The thug on the other end of the line went by the street name Rex.

At that moment, he was leaning against a brick wall, phone pressed to his ear, a cocky smirk plastered on his face. He felt like a master negotiator.

"Fine. How much do you want?"

"Miss, I can get five guys together. Standard street rates for this kind of high-risk work: a hundred grand upfront before we even blink.

Once the job is done, another hundred grand. Otherwise, no one moves."

"Look at it as buying peace of mind. Once we take your money, our lips are sealed. If we get pinched, we'll take the charges and the fines without ever dropping your name."

That was exactly what Mara needed to hear.

Fine. Clean and efficient.

It wasn't really the money that bothered her anyway; she was just annoyed by their audacity.

She transferred the hundred thousand dollars on the spot.

"Make sure you destroy as many as possible. Every bike you wreck gets you an extra thousand."

"Princess, if we get caught, the fine for one wrecked bike is a thousand."

"Then I'll pay you two thousand per bike, so you still make a profit."

"Perfect. Always a pleasure doing business with you. Two grand a bike, plus the final hundred-grand payout when the dust settles."

"Right. Just make sure you do the job properly."

True to his word, he pulled together four other guys, making a crew of five.

"This is a sweet gig. See those green bikes lined up on the corner? That's the target."

"That's it? We're stealing bikes?"

Obviously, they weren't getting paid that much just to go for a joyride.

Rex looked at his underling like he was a complete moron.

"Why the hell would we steal them? They're bright green and trackable. You ride one of those home, and you're begging to get locked up."

He jutted his chin out, glaring at the younger guy. "We're not stealing them. We're smashing them.

Our employer is feeling generous. Ten grand for each of you upfront, plus a grand for every bike you wreck. If the job goes smooth, there's another ten-grand bonus at the end."

"Wait, isn't destroying those still going to get us arrested?"

"We live on the edge, kid. If there wasn't a little heat, you think they'd be throwing this kind of cash at us?"

With that, he immediately transferred ten thousand to each of the four guys. He quietly pocketed the remaining sixty thousand for himself—the undeniable perk of being the boss.