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    â€˜Come on Reecie, Daddy will be waiting and he doesn’t like to be left waiting,’ said Annaliese as she shot him a bright red lipstick-covered smile.
    She was a very pretty lady, nice body, long legs, extra cleavage if you were into the fake kind and always was made up to perfection. Maybe a little too much. High-maintenance kind. She also had expensive tastes in clothing and accessories. Probably why her daddy was in the crime business, to keep his daughter happy with her lavish tastes.
    How Annaliese could walk so fast in her amazingly high black heels he didn’t know, but she pulled him into the restaurant on Seventh Street. Deparro’s was an upmarket place with designer meals. It was one of her favourites and she often had dinner here with her dad. But this was the first time Ryan, aka Reece, had ever been invited. This was big.
    Sure he’d met her father, Jamison, a few times, but only in passing as Annaliese introduced him as her boyfriend. This time was different. Ryan had told Annaliese he was looking for work, and just as he hoped she suggested her dad might have something for him. At the moment he had Annaliese hooked around his finger. He just needed to keep her interested enough to keep him around.
    â€˜Oh, there he is,’ she said, waving to a man sitting alone by the back wall in a dark grey suit with white accents.
    But he wasn’t alone. Ryan counted two bodyguards, maybe three. Two guys sat at a nearby table and another man sat alone at another. They were in suits but looked the bodyguard type, with extra muscle, thick necks and darting eyes. Ryan also checked for exits, escape routes plus anything else that might help in case something came up.
    â€˜Hi Daddy,’ said Annaliese, giving her father a hug and kiss. ‘You remember Reece?’
    â€˜Mr Figlomeni,’ said Ryan, shaking his hand rather firmly. He had to make an impression, and what better way than that.
    â€˜Reece, nice to meet you again. Sit. I’ve already ordered a bottle of the house red,’ said Jamison.
    He was a tall, lean man whose chunky silver jewellery only added to the superior impression. He was a man who thrived on power, his head always held high, as if he looked down his nose at all those under him, and his dark eyes seemed to take everything in, just like Ryan had when he first walked in. This was a fierce opponent, one many had been trying to catch out for years. He was cunning, clever and not one to outwit. Ryan had to tread very carefully here and come across as real as possible.
    Ryan played it cool, ordering and then letting Annaliese take the stage with her ramblings of her life of parties, friends and social moves. Much to his credit, Jamison listened intently to her chatter, a besotted father indeed. Good to know. Ryan had derived that when Annaliese’s mother died when she was six, Annaliese became his life outside his crime business, which he wasn’t sure how much she knew about. All this would come out in time. Some undercover missions could be years in the planning. Ryan was lucky Jamison had a daughter who was easy to please.
    â€˜So Reece, Annaliese tells me you’re out of work?’ said Jamison halfway through their mains.
    Ryan dapped at his lips with the napkin, taking a moment to gather himself. It was batter up. ‘Yes, I’m trying to get a job as a bouncer in the meantime, until something better comes up.’
    Pax had worked hard on making sure his past jobs, past employers, all matched up and all numbers worked should anyone ever check up. Ryan guessed that Jamison would have done a background check on Ryan the moment he started dating his daughter. So it had been imperative that the details were right from the very start.
    â€˜What work are you looking for?’
    â€˜At the moment, something to pay the bills, but I’m after a well-paying job in security, preferably, as that’s where I’ve worked before. I have