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“Hammer’s going to kill him.”
“I knew it!”
Shiloh is the one to say the last comment.
Armor pulls me closer and drapes an arm over my shoulder. “Yeah, this is what’s going on. Hammer gave the okay . . .” Armor looks at me for confirmation, and I nod, “Jada’s my woman.”
I want to jump up and down, punching my fist in the air because I feel like I’ve just won a great victory.
“Well, as long as you got the go-ahead, I think that shit rocks. Come on, get a drink.” Breaker waves us over, and the two of us sit at the bar together.
Everything goes on, as usual, no one really paying us any mind, but I feel like a live wire.
Once I get my drink, I calm down a bit. I didn’t realize just how stressed I was on top of being happy to be out in the open.
“God, that’s good. This was stressful,” I mutter over to Armor.
“Tell me about it. I’m sorry you’ve been through all this just to be with me. How about, to make it up to you, we go on a real date tomorrow? Now that we’re out for the world to see, there’s no reason to hide.”
“You want to take me on a date?” I ask, smiling wide again.
“Abso-fucking-lutely.” He leans forward and kisses me softly.
I lose myself against his lips, and it’s only when I hear the embarrassing ‘awww’ coming from everyone sitting around us do I realize that we truly are outside our little bubble. Now our happiness can be shared with everyone around us.
CHAPTERTWELVE
Armor
Jada’s staying in Los Angeles permanently. She told me yesterday. I thought for a while that she’d end up changing her mind. I didn’t want her to, but deep down, I kept telling myself she’d decide one day that she didn’t like it here. Fortunately for me, that wasn’t the case. Last night I told her we’d go out this evening for a date.
This morning she told me about a show she wanted to see at the theatre. I haven’t been to a theatre since I was a small boy, and it was something my mother and father typically forced me to go to. I hated it back then because I found the subject matter boring, but I think the stuffy tux I was forced to wear didn’t help. Then again, I was a child. I suppose anything your parents want you to do when you’re a child isn’t necessarily fun. I’m excited to be going with Jada, but I’m not very excited to be going to the theatre. But, because of the way I feel for her, I’d probably do anything, maybe even walk on hot coals barefoot.
I’ve been buying enough product from Otis that he got me in contact with a man named José. José is also a trafficker contact in the Southern California region, but José has quite a few international brokers. The plan today is that I’m meeting one of José’s contacts. His name is Vik, so I’m assuming he’s a Russian broker, but I won’t know until the motherfucker actually shows up.
I keep glancing at my phone because I need to meet Jada in forty-five minutes if we’re going to make it to the theatre at a decent time. The only decent thing is that I was smart enough to shave up a bit to look a bit more clean-cut and change into a suit. I drove one of the club’s grocery getters out here, and I’m in a parking lot at an old industrial park. Not even one-third of the buildings are rented out, and it’s after hours, so most of the people are gone by now.
I’m sitting in the blacked-out SUV, waiting for anyone to show up. I keep looking down at my phone, and before I know it, another ten minutes have gone by. Shit, now I have a little over half an hour to get back to the club and take Jada out.
I sit back in my seat and wait because it’s all I can do. Jada didn’t just tell me she was staying in Los Angeles permanently. No, she dropped another bomb on me. She told her brother that the two of us were together. We didn’t even discuss an official term for us, like if we’re dating, boyfriend/girlfriend, or whatever. I didn’t even care that she told Hammer we were together because it damn well feels like we’ve been this way for a long time.
Jada is unlike any other woman I’ve been with before. In a way, I think that should be frightening, that she’s unlike any other . . . but instead, it excites me. She’s as gentle as a lamb but as fierce as a lion. It’s probably why I can see myself being with her for many years to come, if not for the rest of my life.
I continue to look around the parking lot, and I’m disappointed as more minute’s pass by. In all honesty, I’m growing aggravated. José told me they’d be here at a specific time, and neither one of them had shown up. How can someone do business and not have the decency of being on time with their potential client?
Just as the thought runs through my mind, a set of headlights come down in the direction I’m parked in. I can’t tell the make or model of the vehicle because half the streetlights here don’t work. I imagine when only a third of your industrial park is rented out, you can’t afford to keep up with all of the basic maintenance.
Finally, the vehicle pulls a few spaces away from mine. The driver gets out first, and then the passenger. The passenger comes around to the driver’s side, and I get out of my own vehicle, leaving my keys inside in case I have to get out of here quickly.
“Otis speaks very highly of you,” a man with a thick accent states, who I naturally assume must be Vik.
“As he should. I’m one of his best clients,” I tell him, and then I glance over at José, who I’m planning on doing business with now as well.
“So he says,” José pipes up and then clears his throat. “This is Vik, the other supplier I was informing you about.”
I glance down at my Rolex and look at the time. “You have fifteen minutes to sell me, so I suggest you make it quick.”
“Fifteen minutes, is that all?” Vik laughs boldly.
