Instead of putting it back on the side, I pushed the box into my pocket. For some unknown reason, I liked to carry it around with me; it made me smile every time I bent over or crouched down and the little box dug into my leg - it made me think of her.

I forced myself to stop thinking about her now though; I really needed to get to the warehouse before they all started calling me and panicking that I was going to be late. I grabbed my wallet and jacket, practically running out of the apartment and down to my truck. I was eager to get this night over, because once this job was done, then that just left the fun things.

The fifteen minute drive seemed to pass in a blur and before I knew it I pulled up at the warehouse.

I didn’t want to be working tonight at all, I should have finished with Brett last week but the bastard had made me do this job before I was ‘allowed’ to quit for good. Apparently he had no one else that worked like me, no one he could trust not to screw this up and he wanted his strongest team with him. Tonight wasn’t a boost like I’d told Ellie it was, tonight was something different, and not in a good way.

My hand closed around the door handle and shoved the door of my truck open, just as Brett walked out of the warehouse, looking in my direction with a stern expression on his face. I flicked my eyes to the clock on my dashboard, it was one minute past eleven, technically I was late. Damn it.

“About f**king time. Come on, Kid, where have you been?” he asked, not looking too happy with me.

I smiled sheepishly. I didn’t think ‘screwing the life out of my girl’ would be very appropriate to say. “Packing, lost track of time,” I lied, shrugging. “I’m here now, are we going?”

He nodded and most of his guys all walked out of the warehouse behind him. I frowned; looks like we were going in heavy tonight, Brett obviously didn’t want to take any risks. Ray waved in acknowledgement but stayed inside, he didn’t come to anything like this, he was just a mechanic really, not too involved in anything that wasn’t car related. I envied him in that respect. The ten or so guys all started heading to their respective cars in the lot. I spotted Terry, so decided to ride with him, I didn’t really want to take my piece of shit car to a deal like this one, that wouldn’t look too good on Brett.

“Kid, you’re with me,” Brett called as I started walking towards Terry’s car.

I sighed, but nodded, heading over to his Bentley instead. “Alright, Ed?” I greeted. He nodded in response, looking a little nervous. Usually these type of things, and the meeting with a brand new client were always a little nerve-wracking because you never knew how it was going to go down - hence why Brett was bringing along all of his heavies.

As I slid into the back of the car with Brett, he smiled at me as he ran a hand through his hair. “You have a piece?” he asked suddenly as the car pulled out.

I gulped and shook my head, immediately knowing what he was talking about. “No, but I don’t want one anyway,” I answered.

He made a scoffing sound and reached under his seat, pulling out a black duffle bag. Dread washed over me as he unzipped it, so far I had gotten away without having to touch one of those, but I guess tonight I wasn’t so lucky. He pulled open the bag and motioned for me to take one of the guns he had nestled inside it.

“Brett, really, I don’t want one,” I protested.

He shook his head firmly, his hard eyes telling me that it wasn’t really an offer, but an order.

“You’re coming to the front with me, you need to be armed,” he stated.

Front? Damn it.

I sighed and looked in the bag, seeing about ten guns in there, ranging in sizes from shotguns to small handguns. I shoved my hand in, picking up one of the smaller guns, a black handgun. I knew how they worked, I’d been taught how to use one but I’d never actually fired one at a real person.

Usually these were just carried for show, so that people wouldn’t think about a double cross, hopefully tonight would be no different.

Tonight Brett was meeting with the head of a rival syndicate from the next state. The Lazlo family had mob connections and were known everywhere across the US. Tonight they were trying to make various deals, drugs and guns mostly. They’d never met up before; Brett was hard-core, and well connected, but this guy that he was meeting with tonight, he was in a different league entirely.

Hopefully they’d be able to come to some sort of deal tonight; if they could then they would form a partnership of sorts, making Brett part of the largest crime syndicate in this side of the US. Brett was small time compared to this guy Dominic Lazlo and this was his shot to get in the major league.

“Why am I coming to the front? Doesn’t Ed usually do that?” I asked, not wanting to get that involved. I didn’t even want to be here, usually I would just stand at the back and look intimidating, but now it appeared that I would actually be involved in the talks too? This night sucked big time.

He rolled his eyes as if I’d said something stupid. “I need this guy to be impressed with me. Having my best man there looks good for me, I don’t think you understand the high regard you’re held in by your peers, Kid.”

I frowned, wishing this night was over with already. “But I’m not gonna be here from tomorrow, so what’s the point in me getting involved in anything?” I asked, shrugging.

His face turned hard. “Don’t mention that in front of Dominic. I haven’t told people you’re leaving, so as far as tonight goes, you’re on my team to stay,” he said fiercely. “I really want to form this partnership with him, if I do then my income will practically double overnight. Not only will I have all my usual customers, but I’ll have the ones that he can put my way too. It works both ways, people that usually come to me for guns and I’d tell them to find someone else, well, I’d pass them onto Dominic, and in return he’ll pass the boosts to me. I’ll also get the benefit of a reduced price supplier. He shifts more drugs and gets a bigger territory with people to do all the dirty work for him, and I get a higher profit margin. It’s a win-win situation.”