Page 20 of Corrupted

I decided that vocalising my surprise at his ability to write was low-lying fruit, even for me. I also strongly suspected that Carlos wouldn't care whose company I was in, if I insulted his intelligence.

Unless he was really, really big, then that was a gun in his pocket. If it wasn't a gun, I was impressed.

"So you're going to ignore them?" Damon asked. "The cartel is supposed to protect brothers. That's what I'm trying to do here."

Beside me, Mina stiffened slightly. I could almost feel her thinking, wondering if that was Damon's agenda. If anyone else was aware of a response, I saw no sign. They were too busy trying to out testosterone each other.

"In the cartel, brother doesn't mean blood," Carlos said. "It means we protect the brothers of our allegiance. Our brother Vipers. Blood means shit." He spat on the concrete floor beside Reuben's shoe.

"Name your price," Reuben said. He seemed completely unruffled.

Carlos' jaw moved in irritation. Of course, this was just part of the game. The harder he made it look like we wouldn't get what we wanted, the higher the price.

I doubted there was anything in the world that wasn't for sale if we offered enough. Men like this would sell their own mother if it benefited them and their bank account.

Finally, Carlos jerked his head towards a room to the side of the headquarters that he used for his office. The space was makeshift at best. Trestle tables and folding chairs, a locker to one side that probably contained guns and knives. None of the finesse of our lifestyle.

Which begged the question, why would Enzo prefer to work here than for Reuben? Each to their own.

Carlos sat on one of the tables. It groaned under his weight, but held.

"How much do you want to know where Enzo is? It seems to me you want that a lot. The question is, why?" His gaze slid to Mina, taking her in like she was a piece of meat.

To men like him, women were nothing more than a commodity. A place to put his cock when he needed release.

He jerked his chin toward her. "That's why you brought her? You want to exchange her for him?"

We all anticipated the question, so none of us reacted. None of us even killed him.

Yet.

"That wouldn't be a fair exchange," I said easily. "She's worth more than six or seven of him."

That got Carlos' attention. He looked at her more intently. "You think so?"

"I know so," I said. If he looked at her like that for much longer, I was going to have to relieve him of his eyeballs. Didn't he know it was rude to stare?

"She's not for sale," Reuben growled softly. "We can double your next shipment in return for Enzo."

Carlos failed to contain his surprise at the generous offer. "You really do want him, don't you? If he's worth that much, maybe I should hold out for more."

"Maybe we should kill you and deal with whoever takes your place," Damon said mildly.

Carlos barked a laugh. "You think you'd walk out of here in one piece? I fucking dare you to try." He raised his hands to either side. He was beyond smug.

I would be too if I knew no one would kill me, even if I provoked them. Not openly, anyway. He wasn't stupid enough to turn his back on us, or anyone we might send to kill him later. Which we wouldn't do. Probably.

As long as he served our needs, he could keep breathing. He should be careful not to get too self-important though. That was when people started to make wrong moves.

"Do we have a deal?" Reuben said, clearly impatient.

"I'll take triple," Carlos said. "For four times that, I'll throw in my sister." He chuckled. "You look like you could handle a wildcat like her."

"Triple," Reuben said. "Keep your sister. I have no interest in buying women."

Carlos smirked. He was smart enough not to point out that Reuben didn't seem to have too much trouble selling them. A comment like that would see the price drop back to double. Or the regular price of shipments Carlos bought from us, would suddenly skyrocket. He couldn't afford that and we all knew it.

"Enzo first," Damon said. "Then I'll make the arrangements for the next shipment."