Page 35

Chapter Thirty-Five

Griffin's Beach Jennings

J ennings sits next to TK with VP and Colt cross from him in a booth by the front door. The blinds are closed, so nothing should tip off Ivan when he walks into the restaurant. Their bikes are parked down the block, and Jennings can't wait to see the reaction on Ivan's face when he realizes he's been caught.

“Look who's here,” Colt whispers, holding a menu up to help hide his kutte.

The man doesn't know them well enough to recognize them by their faces, but he'll know the kutte in an instant. And the moment he catches on, he'll know he's been set up.

All four of them watch Ivan walk into the main room over the top of the menus, the man none the wiser about the Drifters sitting there.

“O'Connor!” Ivan calls in a happy tone, his accent thick.

“Ivan,” Collin responds cooly.

Psycho pops up from behind the counter, holding a bottle of whiskey. “I think I found what you were looking for.”

“What the fuck is this?” Ivan shouts and backs away slowly.

Jennings leads his men out of the booth as they move shoulder to shoulder with five large, well dressed Irish bodyguards.

“We need to talk, Ivan,” Collin says. “Things have been brought to my attention.”

The Russian looks around the room as he appears to think over every possible option of a clean getaway. “Look, men-”

“It's kind of funny how you were on such good terms with us,” Jennings says.

“Allegedly,” Collin interrupts.

“ Allegedly . All the while, you were working with the head of the Slashers to take out Collin here.”

VP nods. “We couldn't quite figure out why you seemed so resistant to help us with the Irish problem we had, and we honestly just assumed you were trying to fuck us over. Never did we think you were the one to tell O'Malley to kidnap my fucking daughter just to get Dimitri, the man you set up for the failed attempt on Collin's life. It all makes perfect fucking sense now.”

“I don't know where you heard that, but it's not true. None of it,” Ivan says.

Psycho leans down and clicks something under the counter, and Ivan's conversation with Dimitri plays over the speakers in the restaurant. Ivan looks rather positive none of them speak Russian, so he keeps a strong poker face.

“Not only did we run this through a translation program, but Collin has a man who speaks Russian. Both confirmed you're the one who ordered the hit on him. The one that started this whole mess, and you put it all on Dimitri. Upon further examination, Dimitri tried to talk you out of it, but you outranked him,” Psycho says.

“Look, there's a lot that gets lost in translation-”

“Save it,” Collin says. “I trust my man a hell of a lot more than I trust you. I know exactly what it says, and it says you're the reason my brother's dead. Because you made me believe it was Dimitri, I killed his girl. Then, he killed my brother. The way I see it, it couldn't be more your fault than if you'd shot him between the eyes yourself.”

Colt nods to Psycho, and he plays the part of the next recording where Ivan tells O’Malley to target Lex, making them all clench their fists at their sides.

“That's you, Ivan,” Colt says. “Telling O'Malley to kidnap my wife. My FUCKING WIFE!”

His hands lift in the air. “Look-”

“You're the reason that scar-faced motherfucker became obsessed with Lex. He hurt her, but you fucked up. First, she's a woman of the club. She doesn't break easily. Second, the Slashers outed you. Mentioned you by name when they had her because they couldn't get her to crack. Should've really done some research first.”

“But Lex isn't the only woman you've had a hand in hurting, is it, Ivan?” Jennings asks. “You just never expected the Drifters to patch over the Hellraisers.”

Collin narrows his eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“We patched over the Hellraisers, and their President, Dax, lost his wife. Came home to a house fire that claimed her life. Except she wasn't the one in the house. Ryan Graves, the President of the Kingsmen, ordered her capture. Ivan and O'Malley hurt Dax's wife while she was held captive. Worked with a sociopath who drove her to try and kill herself to end the torture.”

“All of this to get your rocks off and overthrow the RIO while helping O'Malley overthrow Collin. Before you try and deny it, we have you talking to O'Malley about your plan. We can play it for you, if you'd like,” TK says.

Shaking his head, Ivan chuckles nervously. “Where did you get these recordings? This all seems very convenient, no? You have to know they're doctored.”

“No, I don't think they are. And I didn't know about a President's wife. You're caught, Ivan,” Collin says. “A man who purposely seeks out to harm women doesn't sit well with me.”

“I have money,” Ivan says quickly. “Name your price.”

VP laughs. “The amount it would take to offset what you did to Lex and Dani isn't an amount you have.”

“You might be surprised.”

Getting in his face, Colt forces Ivan back against the counter. “The only repayment I'll accept is your blood as you take your last fucking breath. You can't buy your way out of this. Not after what you did to my wife, and not for what you did to Dani.”

“I never touched Lex!”

“But you pointed O'Malley in her direction. Made him obsessed with her. He watched us fucking. She could feel his eyes on her, and he broke into our goddamned clubhouse to chain her to my fucking bed. Sent her sickening love letters and forced her to kill a man who tried to violate her in our own house.”

“After the RIO finds out about all of this, this might actually be the better ending for you,” Psycho says. “Then again, I helped create the plan of your demise, so probably not.”

He shakes his head. “You think the RIO has nothing to do with this? That they're not part of this whole scheme? Killing me will only rain hell down on you.”

Psycho pulls out a sack and unrolls it on the counter with various large knives nestled in the luxurious fabric with a giddy smile on his face. “I guess we'll find out when they open the box I plan to send with your head in it. But considering we have the Mexicans on our side, and the RIO is making next to no money on us right now since we’ve stopped all shipments, I don't think there's much hell that will be raining down on us anytime soon.”

Staring at Psycho as his head tilts side to side as he stares at the large, machete-looking knife with an almost manic smile on his face scares even Jennings. Times like this make Jennings more than happy to have him on their side. Undertaker and Venom may be able to match his level of crazy, but he'll always be the original Psycho.

Collin nods his head, and two of his men each take one of Ivan's arms and carry him through a door off of the dining area, his legs kicking in the air in a desperate attempt to free himself.

“They're taking him to the basement. Whoever wants to go and watch, feel free. There is a set of stairs to the right by the office. Jennings, unless you wish to partake, too, I'd like to speak with you. After hearing about his involvement with another lady of your club, I believe Psycho should be the one to take him out.”

Psycho bounces on the balls of his feet. “I really fucking like you.”

“I'll stay up here,” Jennings says.

TK nods. “I'll stay with you.”

“I'm getting a few hits in,” Colt says. “Can I borrow a knife, P?”

“You can borrow them all,” Psycho says. “Except Eleanor. She's mine.”

VP walks down with the two of them, and Collin nods in their direction. “He named his knife?”

“The machete,” Jennings and TK both say as though it's completely normal. To them, it is.

Chuckling, he snaps his fingers, and the same woman as the last time they were here walks up with a bottle of whiskey and three glasses. He pours the amber liquid into them and clinks in cheers.

“I would like to make my proposition. After thinking about this a bit more after our first conversation, I realized you could have kept me in the dark about this. I got Ivan here, but I wasn't completely needed. You shed light on a situation I thought I was very aware of and thought was resolved.”

It's true. Jennings didn't need to get the Irish involved, but he also wanted to make sure that they had the facts straight. And if it meant they stopped unnecessary death like Dimitri's, he wanted to take that chance.

“We treat others how we'd like to be treated. If the roles were reversed, we'd like to think someone would bring this to us. Besides, the only issue we had with the Irish was because of the fucked-up plan Ivan and O'Malley came up with,” TK says.

“I would like to say I would do that, but I honestly don't know. Probably not. You allowed me to have a part in this, and for that, I am grateful. I've also looked into some of the men who were very loyal to O'Malley and found many who were still carrying out his plans, even after he was killed as part of our truce.”

Smirking, Jennings raises his eyebrows. “Are we to assume that the past tense you said it in means they've been taken care of?”

“Very much so, yes.”

“Good.”

“Which also helped me. Had you not said anything, I'd still have a target I didn't know about on my back. So, I would like to extend an olive branch of sorts. I would like to offer to be your new supplier. It may take me some time to acquire some of the large caliber items I know you're accustomed to, but I will make it happen. And with your expanded distribution, I think we can prove to be very profitable for each other.”

Looking at TK, Jennings pauses before answering. They'd briefly discussed what they'd do if they were offered a new deal with the Irish, and they agreed it was worth seeing what can be negotiated.

“What kind of deal would we be walking into?”

“Terms are negotiable, but we would sell to you with thirty-five percent profits on revenue with at least a twenty percent above whole price.”

“That's steeper than the deal we have with the RIO right now. Assuming they aren't truly involved with Ivan's plan, which I sincerely doubt, they're likely to bend over backwards to try and keep us. They gave us a discounted price to keep us with them after the shitstorm that was O'Malley, and I have a feeling it will be extended indefinitely,” Jennings says.

Collin nods. “Talk it over with your men and send back what you feel would be a fair deal. We can open up discussions from there.”

“If we opt not to climb into bed with you because we may want to stick with the devil we know, where does that leave us with you?” TK asks.

The glasses get refilled, and Collin lifts his glass to his lips. “I have no problems with the Deranged Drifters. May even help out with a favor if there seems to be a benefit for me down the line. But there will be no retribution. Business is business.”

“Works for us,” Jennings says and clinks glasses with them again as screams fill the room from the basement. “Sounds like Psycho grabbed Eleanor.”