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Chapter 9
DARREN
Past
Ihave my own entrance to the BDSM side of my club, but Bridget wants to give the clothes she brought to Cheryl. Before we can make it over to my office to see if Cheryl is there, Manny Wu, dressed head to toe in a black Armani suit, accosts me. Manny is a hanger-on, but my mother and his are friends, and I’ve always felt kind of sorry for him, so I humor him.
“Darren, Darren,” he says and doesn’t seem to notice Bridget at all. “I just talked with Hao Young. He’s back from SoCal and was here earlier.”
I motion for the head of my security detail, Marshall, to come over. I instruct him to take Bridget to see Cheryl. Cheryl had texted me while I was in the car about Lee Hao Young, a triad vanguard trying to recruit me to fill my father’s shoes in the counterfeiting division. I told her to set up a lunch meeting. I probably should be paying more homage to someone as high up as Hao Young, but I am not derailing my night with Bridget.
“I told him all about how—”
“I’ve got plans for tonight. You can tell me about it tomorrow.”
“This won’t take long. I promise.”
“Let’s take the talk upstairs. You get five minutes.”
We head to my private balcony. Manny takes a seat on the sofa, but I remain standing to reinforce the short duration.
“I told Hao Young about the massage parlors I’m doing with Tran in the suburbs.”
“You told him you were working with the Park Street Boyz?”
“I kinda fudged that detail. Made it sound like it was more my thing. We’re going gangbusters. Got more clients than we can book because we don’t have enough girls. He said I should talk to JD about it. And I mentioned that I’d love to work my way up in the triad. He suggested that JD could mentor me. Maybe we could even work together on his shit. But you know what your cousin is like.”
JD’s not a fan of Manny. When we were teens, JD was always trying to find a way to ditch him.
I want to cut to the chase. “So what do you want from me? I don’t think another loan is going to solve your problem.”
“I’m not looking for more money right now. I need you to talk to JD. Convince him to take me on.”
“That’s a big ask.”
“But you and JD are like brothers. He’ll listen to you.”
“He’ll listen. Doesn’t mean he’ll agree.”
“Will you at least try?”
“I can try,” I reply.
“You’re the man, Darren. Anytime you want me to cut you in on the massage parlors, you just say the word.”
So far I’ve limited my involvement in triad business, but if I was looking to expand my activities beyond The Lotus, it wouldn’t be to run low-level massage parlors, especially with the PSB.
“I’m good, but thanks,” I reply.
“Tran thinks I’m hot shit. Ever since I brought him here. He’d like to come back.”
“No.”
Manny pouts. “But he’s my business partner.”
“I don’t want people thinking he’s a regular.”
“The PSB are a pretty big deal.”
