Page 22 of Cash

“Hey.” Jules narrowed his eyes. “Now that’s just mean.”

“Ha! Good!” Brick scoffed. His head was swimming a little from the whiskey, but at least it didn’t feel like his heart was going to pop out of his chest now. “If you want any of my sweet ass tteokbokki, you’d better start talking.”

“I guess I’ll just have to suffer. ’Cause I ain’t tellin’ you shit.”

Brick groaned.

Jules put his hand on Brick’s shoulder again, and he let it rest there while he spoke. “I’m tryin’ to keep you outta trouble, all right? I can keep you safe, but you gotta do what I tell you. Listen to me, and I can take care of you.”

“Oh, sure, Daddy,” Brick sneered. “I’ll just blindly listen to whatever you say without asking any more questions and just trust you completely.”

“There. Good.” Jules patted Brick’s arm. “You got it now.”

“For the love of… I was being sarcastic.”

Jules frowned.

“Okay, fine.” Brick held his head high. “You don’t wanna tell me what’s going on, I’ll figure it out myself.” He pulled his phone out.

“What are you doing?”

“Googling you.”

“The fuck?” Jules snorted out a laugh.

“I have the power of the internet, and I’m not afraid to use it. I’m going to…” Brick froze.

Searching for a Jules Price in Strassen Springs brought up articles about a raid on a nightclub, a convicted assassin getting out of prison, and a big murder trial for some guy named Roderick Legrand, who was…

A mob boss.

An honest to God mob boss.

And Jules was his right-hand man.

Jules leaned close, peering at the phone. “Damn, that’s a shitty picture of him. Ha!”

“Roderick Legrand. This is your boss? This… gangster?” Brick was staring at a mugshot of the same man Jules had identified as his brother.

“Yup. That’s Boss.”

“I thought he was your brother?”

“He is. I told you, blood don’t make family.”

“Like, mob family, or like, family family?” Brick arched his brows.

“We’re family,” Jules said simply.

“Right. Cool. Awesome.” Brick kept scrolling, and the articles got worse. He kept drinking. “Oh, look at this. It says you guys set someone on fire. That’s super fun. And oh, ha, there was a body buried in cement too. Fabulous.”

“Is that you bein’ sarcastic again?” Jules asked suspiciously.

“Yes! Yes, I’m being fucking sarcastic!” Brick jumped to his feet. “This is insane! You, you’re some tough guy for the fucking mob, and you, you just, you’re just here! You’re a criminal!”

“Maybe just a tiny one.”

“Why are you really here, huh?” Brick waved his hands frantically, backing away from the couch. “Are you here to whack somebody? What the hell did they steal from you that made you come all the way down here?”

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