Holiday With My Neighbour

27. This Can't be Happening

Savannah's POV

I thought Adam's threats yesterday would deter Matt from me, but I guess he didn't care, as he invited me to have lunch with him near the beach.

I couldn't turn him down, so now we are on the way to the restaurant in his car. 

A few minutes into the journey, Matt clears his throat and lowers the music, prompting me to turn towards him as he focuses on the road. "What did you want to ask about Theo?"

He really kept his promise.

"Just don't tell anyone I told you any of this, not even Rosanna." He adds.

I nod and then begin with my first question. "A while ago, you told me that Theo killed people. Why would he do that?"

Matt takes a moment before responding. "Alright, let me explain from the beginning. Whenever Theo took on a job, he'd try to sort it without it getting messy. So if someone was in trouble because they owed money, he'd give them money to help. But if they were targeted again for the same shit, then yeah, you need to beat them up a little to make them learn. He'd only kill people that are like rapists or paedos who deserve to be dead, so yeah, out of context, it sounds bad, but he did a good thing doing it."

I furrow my brows at Matt in confusion. "You made it out like he was some psycho murderer when you said he killed more people than you." I say, trying to make sense of the situation.

Matt nervously laughs before admitting. "Yeah, maybe I exaggerated it a bit. The only reason he's killed more is because of the shit he's been through in life, he can handle it."

Ugh, I can't believe Matt twisted the situation. Ignoring the frustrated feeling, I press on with my questions. "Would he ever check if they deserved it... when he got told to hurt someone?"

"Yeah and he'd refuse the job if he didn't agree."

"That's such a good way of doing it. Why don't you do the same?" I ask, remembering how Matt doesn't check.

"Truthfully, it just takes a lot of effort looking into the target, checking evidence, and all of that instead of just agreeing with the job and getting it done. Also, people get pissed if anyone declines, so it's better not to."

"So, you can't say no?" That seems so wrong.

"Depends who you are. I can, and I won't get into any shit because of my family. Theo didn't care who ordered the job, he'd flat-out refuse if he didn't agree. To be honest, it was a good play because people higher up started liking him for standing up for himself. They would protect him, and nobody could touch him. Adam used to get into a lot of shit for rejecting a job, but then it stopped when people caught on that he's close to Theo."

I had no idea Theo was this powerful. "Adam does them too? He told me he wasn't involved." I ask, hoping he didn't lie to me.

"He used to do them, but he went legit as soon as Theo stopped looking for Emilia. He was only doing it to help Theo with his connections to find her."

I tut in sadness. "Adam was such a good friend to him." He didn't deserve Theo's betrayal.

"Mm-hmm, he's a good guy."

I steer the conversation back. "Even then, Adam sounded pretty involved when he confronted you about the blood on your watch yesterday."

"That's because he used to make plans to help us do jobs without leaving evidence behind, so obviously, me not taking my watch off is so stupid because little things like that get you caught."

"Ah, okay." I nod my head in understanding. "Do you ever get jobs involving girls or children?" I ask, curiosity getting the better of me. 

Matt shakes his head in disgust before replying. "You should see the type of shit some people request, it's fucked. I straight up reject those."