Brett looked at me and smiled. “Whatever you do, just don’t say you’re leaving, okay?” he instructed.

“Sure,” I agreed, trying to swallow my nerves. I’d never been to the front of a deal before, that meant I’d have to probably do a little talking too. The saying ‘fish out of water’ sprung to mind.

“Gonna put that away?” he asked, laughing as he nodded down at my hands.

I looked down curiously, only to see I was still holding the little handgun in my hands. I winced and nodded, scooting forward in my seat and shoving it down the back of my jeans, pulling my jacket down to cover it. Brett climbed out of the car, straightening his jacket as he spoke quietly with a couple of his guys. I climbed out and stood next to him. I forced my harder personality to take over, now wasn’t the time to start thinking about how much I didn’t want to be here, this was my last job as ‘Kid Cole’ so I might as well make it convincing.

“Mr Lazlo’s already inside, he has about eight men with him,” Wesley told Brett.

Brett nodded. “Then I’ll take eight too. Tell Rob and Enzo to stay outside.” He looked at me and nodded towards the workshop. “Let’s go make the deal of a lifetime then, Kid.”

As we walked into the workshop, I cast my eyes around quickly, taking in my surroundings, sussing out the unfamiliar people. A guy in his mid-forties sat at a wooden workbench in the middle of the room, his bald-shaven head glistened in the bright light. He stood up, smiling warmly at us as we headed in. He was wearing plain jeans and a pale blue Ralph Lauren polo shirt. He wasn’t even that tall, maybe about five foot eight, a little stocky. He didn’t look that intimidating at all, the complete opposite to what I imagined a mob boss to look like.

The guy next to him was obviously his son or family member because they looked exactly the same, just years apart. Six guys stood behind them, all wearing the same threatening, menacing expression. Now they were intimidating! As we all walked in, I could practically feel the tension in the air, the uncertainty and unease as everyone assessed each other with calculating eyes.

Brett spoke first. “Mr Lazlo, it’s nice to finally meet you,” he stated, strutting confidently into the room - which meant that I had to go with him because I was his wing-man for the night. I pulled my shoulders back, keeping my eyes trained for any sort of trouble, and followed Brett into the Lion’s den.

Talking, boring planning talking. My eyes were stinging from tiredness now but I couldn’t rub them like I wanted, instead I sat straight, keeping my face in a neutral position as Brett and Dominic argued over territories and percentages of profits. I was sat at the bench next to Brett. Dominic and his son were sitting opposite us as they discussed things that seemed to have taken hours already. I had to chime in a few times about boosting, how many cars were possible in one night, how many staff would be needed and things like that. Other than that I just had to sit there and look confident.

In reality, the most prominent thing on my mind was the gun that was digging into my back to the point of cutting into my skin. I desperately wanted to reach behind my back and pull it out, but I daren’t touch it in case the six guys that came with Dominic thought I was trying something. They were already watching everyone intently, fingers twitching as if waiting for one of us to make a move. Guess there was going to be no trust in this partnership.

Finally, things seemed to be wrapping up, Brett and Dominic were both smiling as things seemed to be getting ironed out. The more I listened, the more I realised just how good this deal was for Brett, he’d be turning over a hell of a lot more money from now on. Dominic knew a lot people that were willing to deal with Brett if he was affiliated with the Lazlos, he estimated that he could push at least one boost a week in Brett’s direction, big ones for overseas clients. Brett’s territory would expand considerably for dealing too by the sound of the talks.

Brett sat back in his chair and slapped me on the back, grinning. “That’s great then. I think this’ll all work out really well and will prove to be a lucrative partnership,” he announced.

Dominic smiled, nodding in agreement. “Absolutely, this has been a good meeting.” He turned to one of his guys and nodded. “The sampler?” The guy immediately stepped forward, setting a black leather briefcase on the workbench in front of Dominic, popping the catch. Dominic smiled and lifted the lid, turning the case to face us and I felt my insides squirm because I’d never seen so much cocaine all in one place.

Brett smiled, leaning forward in his chair with a glint in his eye. “Excellent. You mind if I try it?” he asked, pulling out a little knife from his pocket. Dominic waved his hand and shrugged, obviously giving the go ahead. I watched as Brett picked up one of the parcels, making a little cut in the side of the rectangular packet. He dug his finger in there to get a small amount then rubbed it on his gums, nodding appreciatively. “It’s definitely good quality,” he confirmed. He nodded to Ed who was hovering behind us, and Ed stepped forward with a black duffel bag, handing it to Brett.

I was mentally counting down the minutes now. This was almost over, once he paid there would just be some pleasantries and then I could finally go home and flop into bed. I glanced at my watch, it was almost two in the morning now, we’d been here for so long that my ass was starting to get numb.

Brett handed over the duffle bag and I didn’t even need to ask to know that it would be full of cash to pay for the drugs. Damien, Dominic’s son, looked in the bag, rummaging through it before he nodded to his dad and they both stood up. “Well, it was good doing business with you. I’ll pass your details onto the relevant people so things should get moving quickly with the cars and stuff, that kind of thing is always in high demand. Let me know when you want more,” Dominic stated, nodding at the briefcase as Brett snapped it shut and stood up too.