A Coin Has Two Sides || Kaz Brekker x OC

25. A Returning Gift

It was the day of Winnie's 17th birthday.

It marked a year since she had arrived in Ketterdam and begun her new life.

A life which she now loved; despite all the pain she had gone through to get there.

Against a certain bastard's better judgement, Winnie had excelled in her new business.

Not only had she been left alone by Pekka Rollins and Ravkan soldiers, but she had earned enough kruge from making simple deals with various gangs to buy herself her own office in East Stave.

She decorated it entirely in black. The walls, the floor, the ceiling, her desk, chair, bookshelves. But she had positioned all sorts of beautiful glass ornaments which stood out like stars.

It was the place she was happiest, especially when she had someone in there begging for her help with a job.

She felt like she belonged, that Ketterdam had finally opened her arms out to her and taken her in.

Her favourite days were the ones where Jesper or Inej were sent to ask for her assistance by Kaz. They would often come and visit her of their own accord, but she loved the feeling of being the person higher up when they came to negotiate.

Jesper had taken to reminding her of the night they spent together and extreme flirting to get her to take up whatever he had to offer. She would always respond with an eyeroll and a finger pointing back to the door he had come in, causing him to walk back out with a sigh.

Inej, on the other hand had pleasantly surprised Winnie. She now saw her from Kaz's angle and realized how skilled and important her Suli friend really was. Winnie was always excited to hear what secrets Inej had to offer her in return for her assistance.

Winnie had carefully spent the last half a year changing her reputation around Ketterdam.

She was no longer the Dreg's little pet who would jump you in the streets demanding information.

Rather, she was a businesswoman in her own right. One to be respected and to be feared.

The first person who noticed this drastic change was Kaz Brekker when he had come to see her with his first job offer.

He knew she was new to the scene, and so set his price way lower than it should have been. She immediately saw right through him and so kept refusing and refusing, causing him to raise the amount higher and higher. With every new amount he put forward he could feel her ego growing and his authority slipping. He banged his cane on her floor as a warning to stop. She had only smiled and said, "Easy there, Brekker. Don't want you breaking your cane along with your dignity."

Kaz was right when he said Winnie would prioritise the Dreg's anyway. She knew them and so had a certain loyalty to them. But, knowing them also put them at an unexpected disadvantage, because Winnie loved to toy with Kaz during their deals.

It was one of the reasons why he rarely came to her himself and sent Jesper or Inej instead.

That was why Winnie was slightly shocked to see Kaz enter her office, but excited to have the opportunity to see him get wound up.

The perfect birthday gift.

"I'm not in the business of making deals today, Brekker."

"And why would that be?" he asked as he sat down in one of her velvet black chairs opposite her desk.

Kaz would never admit it, but he loved Winnie's office almost as much as she did. It was truly like sitting amongst the stars.

"Today is a special day, and I'm already booked up."