Page 151 of The Sweetest Cruelty: Hudson
“You can have your sappy reunion when we’ve settled business,” Anton Creed sneered, pushing off the table and walking towards Hudson.
“Tommo?” Hudson questioned as he saw his friend.
The beaten man lifted his head. “Sorry, man.”
“It’s not your fault,” Hudson said.
“Enough!” Creed barked.
Hudson was standing in the middle of the wooden flooring, an old dancefloor I suspected. He looked tall and in complete control. He was wearing the jeans and tee he’d worn to school earlier that day. In his hand, he was holding a black gym bag.
The drugs. Thank Christ.
“You wanted your drugs, now let them go,” Hudson said, his head held high. He then threw the bag at the feet of Creed.
Anton then clicked his fingers towards Xander. “Check it’s all there. You can count, and so you shouldn’t fuckthatone up,” he muttered in a cruel voice.
Holding his bleeding nose, Xander walked over to the bag. He exchanged a look with Hudson before squatting down and checking the contents.
“There’s only one brick here. There should be three,” he said, his expression horrified. His eyes met mine, and I swallowed.
“Get up, take it over there. Where’s the rest, sunshine?” Anton said, addressing Hudson.
“You get the other two when you let them go,” Hudson stated with a flick of his head. “Let’s call it a brick per person.”
“Quite the negotiator, aren’t you, kid? How about I put a bullet in your friend's first?” Shit, maybe he did have a gun.
“Then you’llneverget them back, and the real villain who the drugs belong to will come for you.”
A smile spread across Anton’s features, and he glanced towards his son. “You see this, boy? This is what a real man with balls looks like.” Again, taunting Xander for not measuring up.
I felt sick, and a wave of dizziness. Hudson made a move towards me, but man-bun shot around to stop him. “Alright, sweetheart. Stay back.”
Hudson held his hands up and moved away. I raised my fingers to say I was OK.
My hair had come out of its ponytail, and strands were falling across my face, and my uniform was a mess. He probably thought they’d roughed me up when they hadn’t. Notreally. Sweat was running down my spine as I watched the two men participating in a staring contest.
“The drugs are mine. I’ve sold them, but I haven't yet received my money. Tell me where the rest is, or Rafe here may have to convince you the hard way.” So, man-bun was called Rafe.
Rafe started to circle Hudson, like a shark does its victim. “My old man used to know yours. He was a real cunt if I recall,” Rafe drawled nastily. I noticed his teeth were yellow.
Hudson stiffened, and I knew they were baiting him on purpose, trying to get him to lose control.
The topic of his father would no doubt be a trigger.
“As I said, let them go and I will tell you where the rest of the drugs are,” he said, in a firm voice. I could see his fists were clenched at his sides, and a muscle started to tick in his jaw.
And then something unexpected happened. Rafe stopped in front of Hudson, leaned towards him, and confessed, “I’m the one who stuck your little brother.”
“What?” Hudson snarled, his face switching between confusion and dread.
“Yeah, that black bastard. Cried like a pussy as hebeggedfor his life, and I only stuck him once.”
And Hudsonsnapped. He lurched forward and head-butted Rafe in the face, the big guy's nose busted open, spraying blood onto the floor. It was so vile that I dry heaved as I fell off the chair and scrambled back on my bottom away from the two men. And then chaos erupted as the two guys started to throw punches, wrestling each other, kicking, elbows, and fists flying everywhere. Chairs were knocked over, and I glanced at the others in the room. Tommo was struggling against his restraints, and both Creed and Sulton just watched. Xander was pressed against the wall, unsure of what to do.
At one point, Sulton made a move to join in, but Creed held his hand up to stop him.
“No. Let it play out. Callum’s boy has balls of steel,” he shouted over the noise of the fight, clapping his hands together. Callum? Was that Hudson’s father’s name, and how did Anton know that?
