Page 91 of Roses Are Dead
“What shit about Carl?” I checked behind me to make sure the client and my apprentice weren’t listening in. “And let’s take this somewhere a bit more discreet?”
“You know what I’m mad about.”
Jackson could be mad at any number of things. A few of them related to Carl. More than a few were aggravated by the fact he hadn’t spent time with his family. But was I going to open my mouth and stick my size elevens in it? Hell no.
I led them through the bullpen to the back alley. “Okay, bitch me out, but first, what thing about Carl?”
“The money,” Wolf summarized.
Ah, that. I glanced at Jackson, who usually was more verbose. “Carl’s money. The protection fee?”
“You’re not stupid, Bear. The money Rose stole.” Jackson leaned in closer. “How does it look when we charge for protection, and our client gets ripped off?”
Shit. I hadn’t thought about that part of things. “She’s got it. It ain’t like she’s going anywhere.”
“Well, we need it.”
My gaze jumped from Jackson to Wolf to hear it from him. Just because Jackson said jump didn’t mean Wolf was going to make me go through with it. “We who?” I asked him.
“We, the club,” Wolf confirmed.
I swallowed. After hearing Rose’s side of the story, I had better insight into why she’d done what she did. Not that I fully accepted it, but it was a better reason than just wanting to take his money. Hell, I would have taken that as a reason and probably understood it. Carl hit her at least once. And with the way her voice trembled whenever she brought up her past with Carl, I’d guess that was not an isolated incident. It might even be a minor one, given her hatred of him. But I wasn’t the kind of brother who’d pass along a sob story to try to change both Wolf’s and Jackson’s minds.
“How much time do I have to convince her to give it up willingly?”
Wolf’s eyebrow went up.
Jackson, however scowled. “And you dare to say she’s not your ol’ lady?”
I squared off with him. Rank or not, he was pissing me off. “Let me remind you who asked me, no… ordered me to do this?”
“I didn’t say stick your dick in it.”
“You didn’t exactly tell me not to, either.”
Wolf’s heavy sigh of disgust interrupted our argument.
“What?” Both Jackson and I said at the same time.
“Twenty grand.” He held out his hand.
I stared at it. “The fuck?”
“Twenty grand from you. Buys out Carl. We meet him on his turf and buy Rose for the money she stole. Walk away from all of it. You then go back to Rose and tell her she owes you. Make her work it off.”
His plan was insane. “Who are you? And what if Tits hears you talking like that?”
Jackson laughed. “He’s got you there.”
“I’m serious. I won Tits fair and square. I know that’s not how it’s supposed to work but that’s how it smooths out all the fucking feathers sticking out.”
“You know, he’s not completely wrong.”
“Shut up, Jackson.” I wasn’t going to buy Rose from Carl. “There’s a huge problem with that. Carl wants her back. In fact, he named at least thirty grand, if not closer to forty-eight K as his starting point.”
The mere mention of how much I’d been quoted made the men with me scan the alley for eyes and ears.
“And I turned him down. I don’t buy women. They come to me and for me all on their own.” Sure, that sounded like bragging, but it was the truth.
