Page 11 of Vengeance

“Now. To what do I owe the pleasure of you contacting me. It’s been a while. Since you went turncoat on the Soles, right?”

“Before, actually,” I reply. “But I have no time for your whims and games.”

“Somebody wants to skip the date and wooing to take me straight to bed and pound my asshole,”Hudson says.“Even a whore gets payment first.”

I ignore him and say, “I need weapons. A lot of them. Yesterday.”

“Weapons? Don’t tell me Pray’s little war with Addy Bianchi has gotten so bad that you’re that strapped and cornered already. If that’s the case, no amount of weapons are going to help you, and I’m going to lose a lot of money it seems.”

“This isn’t on behalf of Pray. This is for a personal project.”

“The only personal projects I deal in are things like personal militias. So that begs the question, what’s your personal project.”

“That doesn’t concern you. The question is can you get it.”

“That’s not a question.”

“Then I’ll send you the details and who to deliver them to with half the payment upfront and the other half after confirmed delivery of good product.”

“On one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m having a little party next week. It’s my birthday. I would be honored if you could attend.”

“Where is it?”

“The greatest city in the world, of course. NYC. Rented a venue. Neutral grounds. Going to be all decked out. I’ll even put in a few special requests for you.”

“You know good and well I can’t come to New York. If any of Addy Bianchi’s people find out I’m there…”

They’ll just take me to Dele, and she’ll find a way to slip me back out the city. Might even get a good fuck in before I have to disappear. I’m more concerned about Pray finding out I’ve risked going to the city. I take enough risk when it comes to all this as it is. And while I could just inform him that I’m going off the grid, I don’t go off the grid often. It’s usually reserved for extreme cases and missions.

“Come on. It’s not like everyone doesn’t know Addy is your old girlfriend. What’s the worst that will happen. She’ll hold you prisoner, chain you to a wall, strip you naked and—”

“I dare you to finish that sentence.”

Hudson rolls his eyes.“You always were so serious. Never had a sense of humor.”

“I just didn’t find the things you found funny humorous.”

“Look. I’ll give you your weapons. I’ll even throw in a steep discount. Just come to my party. You always did make things entertaining.”

If this were anyone but Hudson, I’d assume this was a trap. But since it is Hudson, it’s almost inevitable that he just wants my company so he can bother me like he’s been doing since he met me as a child.

“Just don’t make a big deal out of it,” I finally reply.

“Now Adrian. You know I look out for my friends.”

“If this is friendship, I hate to see how you treat your enemies.”

“One last thing,”Hudson says in a hurry before I can hang up.“Dele Martin…”

“She’s dead,” I say immediately.

“I’ve heard some rumors that might not be true and that if I asked the right people, I could learn the truth for myself. Thought you might be one of those people. She grew up real pretty last I saw her. If you can get ahold of her, maybe extend an invite from me for—”

“I’m sure you heard that I killed almost a hundred men in her name once,” I say in warning.

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