Page 152 of Unruly

No one spoke up.

Catherine let thirty seconds pass, and then a minute.

“I asked a question. I intend to get a proper answer, girls. What do we ask in return for what we provide to you all?”

“Respect,” one girl said quietly.

“Trust,” one closer to the window said.

“Loyalty.”

Catherine’s gaze met the girl sitting directly across from her.

Sonya, her name was.

A pretty Russian girl who not only knew how to peddle her drugs, but also how to disarm, charm, and steal her way through life.

Yet, she never stole from Catrina or Catherine.

She knew.

“Loyalty is exactly right,” Catherine said, flashing a warmer smile. “And I don’t think that’s much to expect, considering.”

“Of course not.”

“Not at all.”

Catherine waited the echoing voices out.

Across the room, her personal cell phone buzzed on the desk. She assumed it was just Miguel calling to let her know that his job with the handful of men who dealt product, and the girls’ handlers was finished. She ignored it for the moment.

Lifting her hand from her lap, Catherine waved a black remote. Without a word, she pointed it at the flat screen television across the room, and pressed the power button. Once the blue screen was lit up, she picked up the burner cell phone resting beside her leg.

Catherine had already set up the Bluetooth on the device to stream the one saved video on the phone. She had made sure that everything was in working order before the girls showed up to the meeting.

She didn’t have time for fuckups today.

Soon, a familiar video was playing on the television.

Catherine, Miguel, and Evira from that morning.

Every single girl in the room was glued to the television. The crack of Evira’s neck being broken by Miguel echoed throughout the suddenly quiet space.

Deathly silent, Catherine thought.

Not one person moved.

Not one person said a thing.

She hit replay, and let the video go through one more fucking time. She wanted her point to be absolutely clear, and not one question to be posed once she was done. Nothing more, nothing less.

At the end of the video, Catherine lifted the remote, and shut the television off. She said nothing as she flipped the phone over in her lap, pulled off the back, and yanked out the SD card. Tossing it into the glass bowl on the coffee table in front of her, Catherine lit a match from the pack next to the unused ashtray, and tossed it in.

Then, she lit another and another.

As many as it took until a tiny black plume of smoke lifted out of the glass bowl. Once she was satisfied the SD card was effectively ruined, she leaned back on the couch, rested against the arm, and let her gaze wander over the girls.

“So, I took care of the issue,” Catherine said, grinning slyly. “Do know, girls, this is the one and only way this sort of issue will be handled in the future. There are no second chances in this business. There is not—and has never been—any forgiveness for those who betray us. Have I made myself clear?”