Chapter 3

By the next morning, Jacob had a meeting set up between Joseph and me at one of the most desired restaurants in town, La Grenouille. It was one of the most iconic French restaurants in New York and it was always busy so at least both of us knew that nothing would happen while we were there. The meeting was set for eight o’clock that night and I was already pumped. I had heard some crazy things about Joseph but it didn’t bother me. He wanted me to work with him and I wanted to have an agreement between us that I could live with. Now that my group was expanding I didn’t want our men to have to worry about pissing off the Suicide Kings.

It was only noon so I decided to go down to the warehouse and check on the newest shipment we had received and then have a quick workout. I headed down to the garage and hopped on my bike and took off to the warehouse. When I pulled up Jacob was outside yelling at a few of the men. “What have I told you fucks about checking the shipments completely? Now we are short over fifty guns and have no idea where they are.” I walked up behind the men and stood there with my arms crossed trying my best to not kill all of them where they stood.

“What the fuck do you mean the shipment is short? I thought I told you, idiots, to double-check everything. Who was in charge?” A younger member came forward. He wasn’t much to look at and I honestly had no idea who he was. Jacob usually dealt with recruiting.

“I was sir. I ...” I didn’t even give him a chance to explain. POP! POP! I shot him where he stood.

“Double check the shipments. Next time I will kill you all.”

I walked past the shocked faces of the other men and went inside. I heard Jacob yell at them to clean up the mess then he followed me in. I walked straight into my office with Jacob on my heels. “What the fuck do you want Jacob?” He stopped in the doorway.

“Just wanted to make sure you were ready for your meeting tonight.” I glared at him and he quickly exited my office. Stupid ass, of course, I am ready. I have done my research and I know just about everything I can about Joseph and his gang. I needed to let some steam off so I changed into my gym clothes and headed over to the gym. I worked out for about an hour before Jacob came in. He was geared up and headed into the boxing ring. “Come on Jensen, let’s do this shit.”

I looked up at him. Did he just challenge me? “What are you up to Jacob?” I said as I made my way into the ring. “You know that you are no match for me.” Before I could even get in the ring all the way, Jacob was on top of me. He was quick but I was quicker. He hit me in the chin knocking me to the ground but I used that to my advantage and took him down with a swift kick to his legs. I was on top of him punching him in the face but he kept himself covered. He was able to break my concentration for a split second and threw me off of him. Once he did this he stood up and threw his hands up in surrender.

“Alright Jensen, you are king. Now, do you feel better? Because I can’t have you going into your meeting all hot-headed.” Fucking bastard.

“Yeah, I am better. But if you ever do that again I won’t stop.”

I got out of the ring and walked back to my office. I had wasted enough time at the warehouse for the day so I changed and headed back to the house to get ready. By the time I was showered and dressed it was time to go. I drove to the restaurant alone but Dillion and Jacob would be in the restaurant for backup. I pulled in front of the restaurant and the valet rushed over to my side and opened the door. I tossed him the keys and handed him a bill. “Keep it close.” His eyes were wide and a little too excited as he hoped in my cherry red with black stripes 1970 Chevelle SS 454 to park it. I watched as he parked it in the first spot closest to the door then I walked into the restaurant.

The maître d’ ushered me back to a private booth in the back of the restaurant where Joseph King was already waiting for me. As I approached I surveyed the area and saw Jacob and Dillion close by then I picked out a few men that looked like they belonged to Joseph. When I got to the table Joseph stood up and shook my hand. “Mr. Daniels I take it. Please come, have a seat. I have already ordered for us I hope you don’t mind.” I didn’t say anything just nodded at him as I took my seat across from him.

“Alright King, I don’t want to be here all night let’s talk business. I want a straight down the middle split with the profits. Fifty, fifty, or no deal. I also want boundaries drawn up so neither of us has to worry about the other one crossing into their territory.”

Joseph laughed as our food started to arrive. “You have some balls kid. I like it. Usually, I wouldn’t make such a deal, but I have seen what you can do and I like it. So deal. I will have someone draw up boundaries but I would say we can just discuss that I will take the north end of town since I live there and you can have the south. The docks will be neutral so we both can conduct our business. Sound good to you.” I nodded and took a good look at Joseph. He was in his forties with black hair and a goatee. He was well dressed and seemed in good shape. I stood up to leave and shook his hand. 

“Have your man contact me with all the details for the next shipment. I will take it from there.” I turned and walked past Jacob and Dillion who got up and followed behind me as we walked out. This was going to be a good thing and now I had more work to throw myself into.

Over the next year, my partnership with Joseph seemed to be going well. He stuck to his side of town and I stayed on mine and I was making us more money than Mendoza ever did. Everything was going to good in fact. I thought it was suspicious that a man like Joseph King would just let me have everything I wanted but I hadn’t seen any proof that he was double-crossing me yet. Then some of my men got attacked at the docks while unloading a gun shipment. They had gotten away with half of the shipment and had almost killed two of my men.

I called Jacob and Dillion into my office. “What do we know about the attack at the docks the other night?” Dillion was the one that answered me. 

“Honestly, we don’t know much. They seemed to be pros. They knew when our shipment would come in and how many men would be there. They wore a mask so none of the men got a good look at them. The two men that were shot will live but they will be out for at least six weeks.” I thought for a few minutes. 

“When is the next shipment due?” I asked. 

“Next week,” Dillion said. I wanted to catch these fuckers in the act and deal with them. 

“Alright, when the next shipment comes in we will be there waiting for them. No one fucks with what is mine.” Jacob and Dillion just nodded and then left the office.

The next few days we made our plans and had everything ready for when the next shipment came in. The night before I decided I needed to let some steam off so I headed to the bar. I walked up to the bartender and ordered a whiskey and then turned and watched the crowd. I spotted two girls on the dance floor eyeballing me. The blonde was a knockout and her brunette friend wasn’t bad either. I turned to the bartender when he handed me my drink. “Send a round to those two girls over there on me.” I handed him a hundred dollar bill and he immediately made some drinks and sent them over to the women.

I watched as the waitress took the drinks to the women then raised my glass to them when they looked up at me. The blonde was the first to approach me, I knew she was a whore. “Hey baby, thanks for the drinks. So my friend and I were wondering why a good looking guy like you is here alone.” I laughed to myself, this brood had no idea what she was getting into. 

“Well, I was looking for some company for the night. What do you say you, I and your friend over there head back to my place.” She smiled and waved her friend over. 

“My name is Tracy and this is Stephanie. What is your name?” She asked with a smile. 

“Jensen. You girls ready?” The girls nodded and I wrapped my arms around them and headed out to my car.

We spent the majority of the night in my bed. These bitches just couldn’t get enough of me. After about four hours I sat up in my bed smoking a cigarette with the two whores asleep next to me. The blond rolled over and placed her hand on my thigh. I smirked a little ‘same shit different night’ I thought to myself. I pushed the blonde’s hand from my thigh which made her roll back over. I saw my phone light up on the nightstand next to the bed. I reached over and grabbed it. When I saw the number my anger rose a little. What the fuck did Mike want?

The blonde, Tracy I think, looked up at me and smiled as she crawled up my body and gently stroked my leg with her hand. “Hey baby, do you want some help getting back to sleep?” I looked at her.

“No, I want you and your friend to get the fuck out of my bed.” I pushed the other woman out of my bed and heard her hit the floor. 

“What the fuck was that for? What is your problem?” She looked up at me from the floor but quickly changed her attitude as I glared at her. She quickly got up and grabbed her clothes and the blonde did the same. Just before they left the blonde turned back around. 

“You’re an asshole Jensen, go fuck yourself.” I saw red and grabbed the lamp next to me and tossed it at her but she quickly ducked out the door.

My phone went off again and this time I answered it. “Hello.” Mike’s voice came across the phone.

“Jensen, it’s Mike. I need you to come home, bro.” I laughed. 

“Why the fuck would I come back there? There is nothing there for me.” I could tell that pissed Mike off but I didn’t care. 

“You know that I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t really need you.” He was right I thought, in two years he had never called me for help. 

“What is it Mike I am kind of busy here?” Mike’s voice softened, but he still tried to pull the I am the boss bullshit. 

“Look, Jensen, you are my best friend and one of the best men that I have. I will explain everything when you get here. Will you come, brother?” Fuck I hated it when he pulled the brother card. 

“I will see if I can. But like I said I am busy. I’ll let you know.” I hung up the phone and slammed it down on the nightstand. Who the fuck did he think he was asking me to go back there? I sat and thought about everything until the sun came up. Finally, I decided that I would go back and help clean up whatever mess Mike was in, but shit was going to be done my way.