To my surprise, he not only returned with two beers but with plates and napkins. Our conversation might have been tense, but I was so hungry that nothing could put me off pizza. Not even the fact that I was still seriously pissed off at him.
Between bites, I asked him, “So why did you tell me? Really?”
“Jena, do we have to talk about this while we’re fuckin’ eating?”
I gave him a level look. “Uh, yeah. I didn’t invite you here, I’m only letting you stay because there’s pizza and I don’t think I could throw you out myself. So answer the damn question.”
He shook his head, but not in an angry way. It was almost as if he enjoyed it when I said stuff like that to him. “Larry found out what I was up to with you. He’s pissed as hell, wondering what you told us.”
“But I didn’t tell you anything,” I argued. “Plus, it’s been two and a half fucking years!”
King shook his head. “No, he’s thinking that you told me when we had our thing six months ago, and that’s why you found another job.”
My heart stopped. Now that made sense. I tossed my half eaten pizza in the box lid. “Okay, you’re right. We do need to talk. You can start by telling me exactly what Larry does.”
King’s black eyes leveled on me. “He runs guns, Jena. He also provides courier services for people who want to move shit that can’t be moved through legal channels.”
My eyes bugged out. “What?”
“The Laundromats are a way for him to make his money look legit. The sonuvabitch is ironic, I’ll give him that.”
I just shook my head and stared at him, even more confused.
“Laundromats to launder his money,” King stated.
I rolled my eyes then. “Oh, that’s cute.”
“He hired you because you were so clean you squeaked. He knew that having you in the office meant that, if the cops came sniffing around, they wouldn’t be able to leverage anything on you. Most of his office employees have no clue what goes on behind the scenes.”
“Okay, so what would it matter if you and I were close then? Until you told me, I had no idea what he was doing.”
“Yeah, but you worked there for a long time. You know about his habits and he can’t be sure what you might have overheard.”
King was right. When Larry was pissed, he got loud. He had employees that didn’t work in the offices with us, but they did come in regularly. All of them were men and he didn’t censor his language if they displeased him, berating them loudly for us all to hear.
“Okay, so how can I convince him that I really don’t know anything?”
“You can’t,” King answered. “But Wick and I can.”
“Wick?”
“My boss.”
“You have a boss?” I asked.
King’s lips turned up at the corners. “Yep.”
“But I thought you owned the bar?”
He nodded. “I do.”
He didn’t elaborate, so I prompted him, “And?”
“And I have other business ventures. In those, Wick is in charge.”
Sensing something I should know, my eyes narrowed. “Explain.”
“Let’s just say that Wick and I share similar interests with Larry.”
“Guns?” I really hoped the answer to that was no.
“No. We deal in information and provide safe passage for people and things. Larry is hotheaded and runs his mouth a lot, so our business was doing well, because the people in need of our services want to know that discretion is first and foremost to us. A coupla years ago, right before you met Justin, Larry’d been dickin’ around, fuckin’ us over, and Wick and I decided it was time to take action, get him outta the game.”
Well, since Larry was still sitting in his office every day, that hadn’t happened. “What went wrong?” I asked.
King’s jaw went tight at my words. “We found a better way.”
“Justin didn’t seem too happy when you called it off.”
King shrugged. “It wasn’t his decision to make.”
I knew that wasn’t the whole story, but the why wasn’t important right now. We’d gotten off track. I needed to know why King was suddenly in my life again. “So tell me why Larry suddenly thinks that I fed you information?”
“Like I said, we found a better way to get what we needed, but it took more time. We made our move right around the time you quit your job with Larry and started at your new place. It made him suspicious.”
“Surely I could talk to him-” I started.
King shook his head. “If he sees you, you’re dead. He might question you first, then let his guys play with you, but you’ll end up dead. Larry doesn’t usually like for things to get bloody, but in this case he’s not just pissed, he’s furious. We’re not just taking his business away, we’re pushing him out of Dallas completely.”
Yikes, none of that stuff sounded like things I wanted to be involved in. “So how do you and Wick propose to take care of this issue, since you claim I can’t do anything to straighten it out?”
“We’re gonna have a meet with Larry, convince him it’s in his best interest to retire and move to Florida.”
“That’s not a euphemism for bumping him off, is it?”
King grinned. “Bumping him off?”
“Whacking him? Making him sleep with the fishes?”
King shook his head, chuckling to himself. “No. Wick wants a bloodless coup. We’re gonna make it worth his while to move on, but in a way he’ll like if he can get over that stupid macho bullshit he tries to pull.”
“He’ll like it?” I asked, shocked.
“Most people like money.”
“So you’re what, buying him out?”
He nodded. “Basically. There’ll be a little more to it than that, but it’ll be much easier on everyone if he takes the buyout.”
“So what am I supposed to do in the meantime?” I questioned. “Hole up in a hotel?”
King shook his head. “Larry is gonna want to talk to you, if for no other reason than to save face. It’s not gonna happen.”
“So, I’m in danger? Actual mortal danger?” My voice was thin and tight. The scariest thing I’d ever dealt with was getting rear ended by some drunken guy in college. He’d climbed out of his car and he’d been huge, angry, and threatening. He’d blamed me for the accident and was screaming profanities at me when the cops finally showed up and hauled him away. In the grand scheme of things, that was a nonevent compared to my current situation.
“Unfortunately, yeah,” King stated.
“Shit.”
“Wick and I have you covered.”
“How’s that?” I asked sharply.
“Well, tonight, I’ll stay here with you, but tomorrow, you’re gonna pack up enough shit for a few weeks, maybe even a month, and you’re gonna move in with me.”
Chapter Fifteen
‡
Stretched out on an unfamiliar bed, I stared up at the ceiling and wished I’d never met Justin Chambers. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be in this mess. I also wouldn’t be freaking out about having to get tested for STD’s or the fact that a woman I considered one of my best friends had been sleeping with my boyfriend.
It also explained her contempt of me when she saw King and I together. I’d wondered what was going on with her and now I had a little insight. Ashley and I had tried talking to her, but she was so closed down it was impossible.
Now, I didn’t think I wanted to talk to her at all. Maybe never. Yeah, never sounded good.
“Jena.”
My eyes went to the door and I saw Wick standing there. “Hey.”
“I knocked a couple times. Didn’t you hear me?”
I sat up on the bed. “No, I’m sorry. What’s up?”
“Dinner’s ready.”
Yanking my hair away from my face, I nodded. “Okay.” Then I blinked. “You made dinner?”
Wick smiled and shook his head. “No, but I ordered Chinese. I hope you like orange chicken.”
“Sure. That sounds good.”
He nodded and left the room, shutting the door behind him. I slid off the bed and headed into the bathroom. As I dragged a brush through my hair, I took a moment to really look at myself in the mirror for the first time in two days.