Chapter 13 Twenty Grand

• ~ Violet ~
• “Dylan, can I talk to you for a second?” Violet gave Adrian a polite smile before pulling Dylan to the side. She walked far enough to make sure Adrian couldn’t hear her before she said, “What the hell is going on here?”
• “I don’t know, Vi. The man just came out of nowhere,” Dylan shrugged.
• “Did you do something? Or say something?” she narrowed her eyes.
• “Of course, not,” he said. “If this was about last week’s thing, they wouldn’t wait a whole week before finding me,”
• “Then what’s this about?” she asked. “And you know I don’t like you hanging around these people,”
• “I don’t like it either, but these people pay us well,” Dylan clapped back. “And I don’t know if you know, but we really could use some extra cash right now,”
• Violet let out a sigh. That was a good point.
• “What are you planning to do?” she asked him.
• “I’ll go and meet him,” Dylan paused for a beat before adding, “And maybe I’ll ask to borrow some money,”
• “You can’t do that,” Violet shook her head violently. “You remember what happened the last time dad borrowed money from these people?”
• “Dad went to the wrong guy, he was involved with the Italians,” Dylan sighed. “Damon Van Zandt is different,”
• “How is he different?”
• “Well, he’s not Italian,”
• “Dylan!” Violet glared at her brother. “He’s still leading the freaking mafia!”
• “Shush, keep it down, Vi. We’re in a hospital,” Dylan chuckled and looked around to make sure no one was listening.
• “Dylan, I need to know that you’re gonna go out there and not do anything stupid,” Violet demanded.
• “Fine, I won’t, sheez,” Dylan raised his hands up as an act of surrender. “But I’m still gonna go and see him. I have to, he’s called for me and these people don’t like being turned down,”
• Violet nodded her head and bit her lip.
• “Are you gonna be okay though?” she asked.
• “I think so. I mean if he wants me dead and I’d be dead already,” he shrugged again.
• “Dylan!”
• “I’ll be fine, Vi,” Dylan smiled reassuringly. “I’ll just go see him and maybe I’ll offer him some of my goods or services,”
• “Your goods or services?” she narrowed her eyes.
• “Well, yeah. You know, things that I got a connection for,” Dylan covered his mouth as he spoke, making sure no one was hearing them.
• “You mean like…?” Violet couldn’t bring herself to continue the words, but she knew what he meant. Dylan’s nickname at The Union was the ‘magician’ because he was known as the guy that could pull anything out of thin air. Yes, that included drugs, weapons, and girls.
• “But I doubt that he’ll want anything from me though,” Dylan said again, muttering under his breath, “I’m sure he can get any drug he wants or any girl he wants just by existing,”
• So what would Damon want with Dylan? Violet thought.
• “Hey, Dylan, can I ask you something?”
• “What?”
• “How much are they willing to pay for the, um, girls that you bring them?” Violet couldn’t even look at Dylan in the eyes as she spoke.
• “Uh, it depends,”
• “Depends on?”
• “The request. Sometimes they want different things, you know?” he said as he rubbed his head. “Like a virgin could be sold for like, twenty grand at least,”
• Violet’s eyes shot up as she heard the number. And she fell silent instantly, lost in her thoughts. Dylan noticed it and he narrowed his eyes at her.
• “Why? Why are you asking me this?” he asked.
• “Well, I don’t know,” she shrugged. “I was just thinking, maybe… I could…”
• “Oh, hell no!” Dylan almost shouted, and the nurses walking past turned their heads. Dylan cleared his throat and quickly fixed his volume. “Don’t even think about it, Vi!” he hissed under his breath.
• “Why not? Twenty grand could go a long way right now,” she argued.
• “No, Vi. Stop being so ridiculous,” Dylan glared at her. He was still in shock that she would even think of something like this. “Look, I gotta go, the man’s waiting. You stay here with mom. I’ll be right back,”
• “Okay,” Violet nodded her head. Dylan let out another deep breath before he turned to his heels.
• “Hey Dylan,” Violet called out to him before he got too far. Dylan turned around and waited for her to continue.
• Violet glanced at Adrian who was smiling at her, and she turned her eyes back to Dylan again, muttering, “Be safe,”
• Dylan gave her a small smile and he replied, “I will,”
• And with that, Dylan disappeared out of the hospital with the man in black. They got into a dark SUV parked outside and the car drove away, leaving Violet alone with her thoughts.
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• - - - - - - To be continued - - - - - -