Hyde joined the conversation. “I was just getting to it.”
King took over and gave me an update. “When I called you yesterday, Jackson was threatening to cut off our coke supply. This morning he made good on his threat. We’ve got a huge order to fill in five days and need our delivery from him. You and I are gonna pay him a visit.”
“You got a plan to run with?” I asked. Knowing King, he didn’t. I, however, preferred a plan with options for when shit went south.
“Don’t need a plan, Havoc. You’re my plan.”
“Jesus,” I muttered. “I’m not a fuckin’ plan.”
“Yeah, you are. You’re a quick thinker when shit goes down. But I’m not planning to take him on today. We just need to get in and talk to the guy, find out how to fix this with him. If today doesn’t eventuate into what we want, then we make a plan.”
Hopefully Jackson would play nice and restore their orders and then I could get back to more important things.
What the fuck is more important than taking care of club business?
I raked my fingers through my hair not wanting to contemplate the shit filling my mind.
* * *
A couple of hours later, Jackson watched King with a crazy gleam in his eyes— the same gleam that King was renowned for.
It was like a meeting of kindred souls.
Except for the fact neither wanted the other to have their wishes granted.
Jackson didn’t appear to want to cave on the drug supply issue. For some reason, the man who was known to only ever look out for himself seemed to have a soft spot for his cousin and was holding tight to it.
“This is business, Jackson,” King said. “Family don’t come into good business decisions.”
Jackson quirked a brow and relaxed back into his seat as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “So, you’re telling me that if you had a cousin and he’d been fucked with by someone you had business dealings with, you wouldn’t let the fact he was family interfere? I struggle to believe that.”
If you met Jackson on the street, you’d think he was an ordinary businessman. He wore suits and was well presented. And his mind was usually sharp. Crazy, but sharp. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why he was backing his cousin to this extent.
Inserting myself into the conversation, I said, “Your cousin owed King twenty grand. We encouraged him to pay, which he did. The debt was settled and we all moved on. Why are you now getting involved?”
Jackson directed his gaze to me. “Havoc, we’ve known each other for a couple of years and I’ve always liked you. That is the only reason I agreed to this meeting today and the only reason I’m going to answer your question.” He paused for a moment before turning back to King. “Davey, my cousin, is a dickhead who can’t help but land himself in trouble. He pisses me off more than he makes he smile, but he’s the only family member who has always been there for me. When I was a kid getting my head beat in every afternoon after school, Davey was the one who looked out for me and took the assholes on, even if it meant he also got beaten up. So when he gets beaten up now, I have his back. I fuck with whoever fucks with him. And when I saw him come home all bruised, at your direction, I figured the best way to fuck with you was to cut your coke supply.”
He’d barely gotten his words out when he stood and waved towards the door. “And now I’ll ask you both to leave, because as far as I’m concerned, this meeting is over.”
This was going to be a lot harder than I’d imagined. I’d never pictured Jackson as the kind to put family over business in that way.
It was clear King had come to that conclusion, also. He stood, his face clear of emotion. I saw the tick in his jaw, though, and that tick meant he was pissed off and plotting his next move.
“As you wish,” King said. “This won’t be the end of it, though. I can promise you that.”
Jackson held King’s gaze. “I’d be very careful with whatever you’re planning, King. I don’t take kindly to threats, if that’s what that was.”
“I don’t issue threats, Jackson. If you knew me at all, you’d know that.”
King wasn’t lying. He didn’t bother with making a threat; he simply went straight ahead and did whatever he would have threatened. The thing he did well was revenge and I wondered what plan his crazy mind was nutting out.
As we walked to our bikes, I asked him that very question.
He turned to me and wild eyes penetrated mine. “It’s simple, Havoc. If I don’t get what I want in life, I just take it. For too many years, I was denied everything. I vowed never to allow anyone to dictate what I could and couldn’t have after that.”
It sounded like his plan involved bloodshed and pain.
My soul warmed at the thought.
* * *