Page 6 of Coal
“No, I’m not fecking high,” the man blusters. We could all hear he was an educated man and knew from the background check Sterling had done that he was as corrupt as fuck and regularly took backhanders as a judge. It made my blood boil, as we had a brother in prison in the States, and it made me wonder if they’d had judges who hadlooked the other way.
I wasn’t naïve; I knew it happened, but this guy—and it looked like his son—were pieces of work. Although Sterling hadn’t found much on the son, basically, the family were high-born thugs, and I wasn’t keen on doing business with him, never mind marrying one of his daughters like he was demanding.
“So let me get this straight. You want me or one of my brothers to marry one of your daughters before you’ll do business with us?”
We can hear from the change in the tone of his voice that he thinks he has us over a barrel when he replies, “That’s correct. I don’t know you, but I’ve done my research, and you seem on the up and up. I think we could have a mutually beneficial arrangement if we were part of the same family.”
He could think what he wanted, but I had news for him. We didn’t bow to anyone.
What I wasn’t liking was hearing he was willing to basically sell off his daughters to further his gain, and I could see by the looks on my brothers’ faces that they thought the same. While none of us wanted to get married, I was more worried about the girls. I knew from thecheck Sterling had done that one was the same age as Opal and the other was a few years older. I couldn’t imagine my sister being what equated to being sold to further a business deal.
“Which daughter?” I ask, pretending to be curious. Cross went to say something, but I held up a hand for him to wait.
“I have two. One is eighteen and the other is fifteen, if you happen to like them young. They’re both virgins, so you’d be getting good quality.”
My anger grew as we listened to him. For fuck’s sake. The way he spoke about his children as if they were a commodity.
“I need to speak to my brothers. We’ll call you back in an hour.” Abruptly, I end the call.
“Jesus, Coal, they’re babies,” Cross groans, looking ill.
“I know, brother, but this is just the beginning. You know it’s going to get worse than this. Fuck!!!” I growl out. If I could hit something, I would.
“What do you want to do?” Copper asks.
Scowling, I grunt, “You mean other than obliterate the fucker?”
Chuckles rise around the table at my words. “Unfortunately, the man has our firepower,” Brass grumbles.
“Yeah, sadly he does,” I mutter, rubbing a hand tiredly over my face. “What do you guys suggest? I will say I’m not comfortable leaving those girls there.”
All the brothers nod their agreement.
Making a decision, I turn to Sterling. “Find out as much information as you can about Kelly and his family. Use your counterpart, Hard-Drive, if you have to, but I want all that information by the weekend.
“In the meantime, I’m going to agree to a meet, but I’m not agreeing to shit. I want my eyes on those girls so I can see what condition they’re in. We can decide after that.
“Tinman, I’m leaving you here with Sterling, but the rest of us are riding. Are we all good with that?”
There’s a resounding “Aye, Pres.”
Picking up the phone, I dial out and wait for the dickhead to pick up. When he does, I waste no time in telling him, “We’ll be there on Monday. Have the girls ready for us.”
Kelly chuckles, and I can hear that he thinks he’s won. “I’ll have a marriage licence ready for Monday afternoon. I look forward to doing business with you.”
Ending the call, I look at my brothers. “We’ll make a plan once we get more information. Do any of you have anything to add?”
When they all shake their heads, I slam the gavel down on the table, dismissing church. I push my chair back, stating, “I need a fucking drink to wash this bad taste from my mouth.”
“Same,” Copper agrees, opening the door. We file out into the main common room, and I head straight to the bar where Blue must read the look on my face because, by the time I get there, he’s poured a glass of whisky and hands it to me as soon as I reach him. Throwing it back, I tap it on the bar to be filled up, saying, “Line them up, Blue. I think everyone is going to want a glass.”
“You got it, Pres,” he replies, lining up glasses and filling them up. They are immediately picked up and emptied by all the brothers.
“Jesus, it must be bad,” Blue rumbles, filling them up again.
“You’ve got no idea. Pour yourself one and follow me to the office, and I’ll fill you in. We’llneed you for this.”
“You got it, Pres.”
