After a long pause where it seemed that he was weighing something up in his mind, he leant forward again and said, “We’ve been tracking Black Deeds for a long time. Some of them are the lowest fucking scum on Earth as far as I’m concerned, and trust me, I’ve dealt with some scum. After a thorough analysis of their operation we decided to target their porn business. We’ve almost crippled them there. They rely on their drug trade to pay their porn debt. Without their drug business they can’t service the debt. We’re working on taking their drug business away from them.”
Fuck. I’d seriously underestimated Blade. “The coke business isn’t what you’re after at all, is it?”
“No.” Those hard eyes hit mine again, and I had to wonder what lay behind them; what made him tick.
“Care to enlighten us as to what is?” Dad asked what I was thinking.
Blade paused again. “Bullet and some other members will be eliminated and Black Deeds will be rebuilt by a new president.”
“You do realise they have other chapters they’ll call in, don’t you? It won’t just be this chapter you have to deal with.”
“I’m not a man who doesn’t finish what he started. I’m also a very patient man. This plan has been in place for two years and the research on it was conducted over the prior year. Those other chapters won’t be a problem; I can assure you of that.”
My father was looking at Blade like he hardly knew him. “You’ve been working on this for three years and I never knew about it?”
Blade’s face contorted in anger, and he shoved his chair back and stood. “What do you know about me, Marcus? Tell me what the fuck you actually know about me,” he thundered.
I settled in to hear this. Looked like Blade and I had something in common after all; a burning contempt for our father.
“I thought I knew that you ran a gang that was involved in robberies, prostitution and drugs.”
“Turns out you were wrong,” Blade snapped.
“Would have been nice for my son to tell me the truth.”
“What the fuck do you know about being truthful?” The anger swirling around Blade was palpable; I was starting to think he had more anger in him than I had in me.
Dad looked like he was about to explode with his own anger. Fuck, we were just one big happy fucking family. I stepped forward and broke through their tense standoff. “Blade, what’s the reason? What have you got against Black Deeds?”
The pain that ran across his face was clear and appeared to run deep. “Three years ago, Bullet and three of his club members murdered my girlfriend. Ashley and I had been together for five years and were planning to get married. This particular night she was out with friends celebrating one of their birthdays. She tried to call me to come pick her up but I missed her call. From what the police worked out, her drink was spiked at some point and they took her after that. They gang raped her and slit her throat. Same as what they did to Madison’s friend.”
“Christ,” I muttered, the horror of it hitting me and dissipating some of my hostility towards him.
He nodded. “Since investigating them, I’ve discovered there are more women out there who’ve died at their hands.”
“So why not just kill them and be done with it?” Dad asked.
“The current VP of Black Deeds wants out of porn and drugs. He’s watched what you’ve done with Storm and wants something similar; something that doesn’t bring them so much heat. He and I have been working together to make that happen. It would have been easier just to kill them but this way I’ve gotten to watch Bullet shit himself while he’s been losing everything he’s worked towards. Easy revenge doesn’t give the same sense of satisfaction as this has.”
Blade was one cold and ruthless man, that was for sure. The fact that he’d calculated this plan in such detail put him in that category.
“So, where does that leave us and our current problem?” I asked.
“To start with, those guys from the other chapter that came to your club have been taken care of. And if any more turn up, they’ll be dealt with also. My men had been watching your club to try and stop Black Deeds from fucking with you but the night they came in, we were dealing with another issue -”
I cut him off. “So your men weren’t watching Harlow?”
“No, not in particular. They did report back about her though. Being a new staff member, I had her investigated to make sure she was clean. Incidentally, she is.”
“I know that, asshole.”
He shrugged. “Can’t trust anyone these days, Scott. Black Deeds have been trying to screw you by messing with your stock distribution for your businesses but I’ve taken care of that too. Now, as for Bullet. I was scheduled to take him out in two weeks but in light of his threats against Harlow, I’ll see if we can move that up.”
“I want in on that, Blade,” I demanded.
“We’ll coordinate with you and any of your men that want in.”
“I also want this to happen soon.” I needed this to happen quickly; there was no way I was leaving Harlow in danger while we waited around for Blade to get his plan working.
His hard glare penetrated mine. “I’ve said what will happen; you just need to sit tight and have some patience. Harlow will be kept safe.”
I scowled at him. “Yeah, she damn well will be because I’ll be making sure of it. You hurry this the fuck up or we’ll take shit into our own hands.
Chapter 24
Scott
I knocked on her door and then stepped back, waiting for her to answer. It was just after ten pm and I was at least an hour late after being held up at Indigo. The new manager was still getting his bearings; I hoped to Christ he didn’t take long working it all out because I’d had enough of being there every day.
Harlow opened the door wearing jeans and a t-shirt. I ran my eyes over her body and appreciated everything she had on offer.
“My eyes are up here,” she joked as she reached out and lifted my chin so that I was looking at her face.
I took a step forward, curled my arm around her waist, pulled her close, and growled, “I was getting there, babe. You’ve just got too damn much for a man to look at all at once.”
Her breathing picked up, and she murmured, “Take your time. I like your eyes on me.” She wrapped her arms around me and threaded her fingers through my hair before her lips found mine in a searing kiss.
Kissing Harlow was unlike kissing any other woman. She made me feel alive in a way that no one else had. Most women were in it for them; what they could get out of me. They were always looking for more from me; more that I didn’t want to give them. Harlow wasn’t looking for a damn thing. And she didn’t take my shit. I could respect a woman who respected herself enough to stand her ground. As much as it fucking pained me sometimes.
She ended the kiss and raised a querying eyebrow at what was in my hand. “What’s that?”
I gave it to her. “Picked it up for you this afternoon. Put it on.”
She smiled; her excitement obvious. “I love it!” she exclaimed as she put it on. “I’ve always wanted a leather jacket.”
“Yeah, well whenever you’re on the bike, I want you in this.”
Her smile could have lit up the whole fucking world. “You’re making me all squishy,” she said, her eyes twinkling.
“Babe, I have no idea what that means but if it’s gonna get me laid tonight, I’m fuckin’ glad that I’m making you all squishy.”