CHAPTER 269: PAYING OFF DEBTS (1)

As night set upon the town, Noah travelled with a man Mark introduced him to.

Declan walked into the brothel with Noah at his side. He didn’t understand the importance of this job, but since Mark asked him to protect Noah, Declan couldn’t say no.

Declan frowned, put off by the sight of women scantily clad starting to approach him. He glared at Noah since he was the reason he was here.

Noah noticed Declan’s gaze and smiled. He was apologetic.

"I don’t like it here as well," Noah replied.

"Find Victor so we can leave soon," Declain said, his discomfort quickly settling in.

It wasn’t a good look for a man of the court to be here, even if it were for a case.

Mark owed Declan for sending him here.

"Oh, yes," Noah said, looking around for Victor.

Declan shook his head, taking Noah for a fool. "You won’t see the owner just sitting around. You either need to get a woman to go for him or spend a lot of money to get his attention."

Declan stopped a woman passing by him and offered a gold coin. "Tell your boss he has visitors."

The woman looked at the gold coin and then back up at Declan. She smiled, silently letting him know it wasn’t enough.

Declan placed two more coins. "Get your boss here now. Tell him a man from the court is here to see him."

Noah watched as the woman’s eyes widened before she walked off.

"Was it wise to tell her where you work?" Noah asked.

"It is not my first time in the red light district for work. From the moment I walked through those doors, they knew who I was. He will come," Declan spoke confidently.

Owners never liked it when the court lingered around their brothels.

Declan walked to a chair to sit down. "Would you care for something to drink? You need to relax."

"Nothing will help me to relax. I am standing in the brothel as a married man and coming to pay off the debts of my son, who might be held captive. I will need far more than a drink to calm down," Noah said, trying to avoid the touch of the women walking by.

"You’ve been to one of these brothels before, haven’t you?" Declan asked, not buying Noah’s act.

"I am married-"

"I didn’t say it was during the time you were married. You’ve been here before. You got that look of guilt on your face," Declan noticed.

Declan wondered if Noah was afraid he would be noticed by one of the ladies here.

"I had a life before Kate, and I am not ashamed of it. We didn’t come here to speak of what I did in the past. You’re only here to help me," Noah reminded Declan.

"Working in the court doesn’t give me much time to rest. I should be home at this time, but here I sit with you. The least you could do is speak," said Declan.

Noah was reluctant to speak, but he didn’t have anything better to do. "Like I said, I had a life before Kate, and it wasn’t pleasant. It was to the point where Kate and Warren are my only family. I’ve grown to not have an interest in brothels."

"Running from a long life of stealing and accused of killing someone-"

"I didn’t," Noah said, slamming his hand on the table. "That’s my business."

"I like to know who I am travelling with, Mr. Kennedy. I admire that you came here to start a peaceful life, but don’t act like you can’t protect yourself. You know how to use a gun," Declan said, his gaze shifting to the men approaching.

Declan took a gun out of his coat and passed it to Noah. "Remember your old life for a moment," he said.

Victor noticed the gun and said, "I normally wouldn’t allow guns into my brothel, but something tells me a man from the court won’t listen. Guns tend to scare the girls, so you should put that away."

"Mr. Kennedy," Victor said as he sat down. "I’m disappointed that you went to court over your debt. This was something us men could handle between ourselves."

"I see you have some money with you," Victor said, eyeing the bag in Noah’s hand. "I’ll need to have someone I can trust count it."

"It will be counted before us," Declan said, stopping Noah before he handed off the money too soon.

Victor smiled. "I like you. You would be so much better off working for me. Tell me, why did the court get involved with a debt? There are many people with debts all over the town, but they don’t get the help of the court."

Declan didn’t respond. Instead, he handed the money over to the man standing beside Victor.

"Count it here," Victor went along with the request.

Just from looking at the bag, Victor thought it wasn’t going to be enough money to pay off the debt.

Victor wanted the contract to last a little longer, so he would gain ownership of the old Barrett home. He always wanted a home belonging to a nobleman, and he was close to having it.

"Why hasn’t your son come to pay me instead of you? He was man enough to walk in here and demand to see me. He should come and pay me instead of having his father do it," Victor said, wanting to see Warren.

Victor still liked Warren, though he tried to run off without paying.

Noah wanted to take the gun Declan handed him and shoot Victor with it. The town would be better off without Victor walking around.

"Don’t," Delcan stopped Noah.

Declan didn’t give Noah a gun for him to make a bad decision. It was passed, so he had someone to cover him should Victor do something foolish.

"Listen to old Declan here. He knows how it works in the red light district. Mess with the king and you’re not going to make it out of here," said Victor.

Declan laughed at Victor calling himself a king. ’There’s only one king."

Victor nodded his head, partially agreeing with Declan. "There’s only one king in the palace, but here, this is my kingdom. Ask around and see who owns the red light district. It is only a matter of time before you need my permission to walk in here."

Victor was going to use any means necessary to buy out every brothel owner and rule the red light district. He was willing to resort to killing the other owners.

"I don’t care about any of this. That will be enough money to pay off the debt. Tell me, where is my son?" Noah demanded to know.

"I would love to know why you are asking me," Victor replied.