Page 19 of Wrath

But I didn’t like it, and I was pretty sure most of the brothers felt the same. Tension crackled around the room as we all watched him take a sip of his beer. “Nice place.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. We’re not here for pleasantries.” Cotton glanced over at Savage and Stitch, then back over to Bruton. “We have questions, and it’s best that the answers come directly from you.”

“Like I told you earlier, I’m more than happy to answer any questions.” Bruton gave his horn-rimmed glasses a slight push, inching them closer to the bridge of his nose. “So, what do you boys have on your mind?”

“We wanna know what happened to your previous supplier.”

“Some of their endeavors were a bit unsavory.” He took another sip of his beer, then added, “I’ve never been a fan of the whole trafficking thing, but I turned a cheek until they ran into trouble and took the wrong girl. The cops started sniffing around, and I decided it was time to cut ties. I placed a final order, and that was that.”

“And then, you decided to look into us?”

“Among others.”

“What others?”

“My business is my own.” He looked Cotton directly in the eye. “I’m sure you understand.”

“Under different circumstances, I would, but if you intend to work with Fury, then you’ll have to be willing to share every detail of your business, from who you are working with to how you handle an exchange.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Then, this partnership between us isn’t going to happen.”

“Can’t expect me to open my doors to you without some kind of assurance that we will be moving forward.”

“If you can’t give us the details we need, then this ends here.”

“What exactly do you want from me?”

“I want you to let us to be there when you make your next drop. It’s the only way we see how you do things.”

Bruton cocked his brow. “If the roles were reversed, would you be open to such a transgression?”

“I’ll admit I wouldn’t like it, but if I was in your position, I would see that I had an opportunity to work with the best—the very best. And I wouldn’t let anything get in the way of that.”

“I respect your confidence.” Bruton thought for a moment, then said, “I will allow one of your men to attend the exchange.”

“And when will that be?”

“Today.” Bruton stood, then announced, “Have whomever you chose at my place at two.”

Without another word, Bruton turned and walked out of the room.

After a heated debate, it was decided that I would go with Bruton’s men and observe the exchange. Three hours later, I was sitting between Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, and I was doing my best not to speak as Jarhead drove us all into the city.

It wasn’t easy.

I had a ton of questions that I wasn’t allowed to ask, and it didn’t help that Jarhead was a shit driver. But I did as I was told. I kept my trap shut and watched, taking in everything from how Bruton’s men interacted with one another to the weapons they carried.

They didn’t make it easy.

They rarely spoke, but I saw the side-eye glances and the slight fidgets. I knew what they were up to. Like my brothers and me, they were in sync. They didn’t have to speak to let the others know what was on their minds. I liked that. I respected it.

And as far as their weapons were concerned, they were well hidden beneath their black business suits, but I could still make out the outline of their Glocks on their hips. They were well armed and seemingly prepared for whatever lay head.

Now, it was just a matter of waiting.

I just had to sit there between the two knuckleheads who didn’t speak and wait until we arrived at the location of the drop.

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