OWNED & UNTAMED (Back Down Devil MC #11) - London Casey Page 0,44
Hell Five,” Jasper said. “They think we purposely lost their money only to buy up some land. There’s more to this story, but they want to blame you, Duke.”
“You were the one who called,” Trev said. “The one up there. The one who grabbed a prospect and not a member of the Hell Five.”
“A member would have caused a bigger war,” I said. “And you’ve talked to Carlo. I’m not involved in shit.”
“But you know more than the rest of us,” Kye said.
“That I do.”
“Holding back on info?” Trev said. “That’s vote worthy to strip you of your goddamn leather cut.”
“Then fucking vote!” I yelled. “The truth? I’m trying to find out myself. A guy I served in Iraq with is the one who sold that land. I was up there trying to help him personally. His sister called me. He had a couple rough nights. That’s why I was up there.”
“Pussy,” Cash said. “Always goddamn pussy.”
“It’s not that,” I said. “It’s more.”
“Jesus Christ, Duke,” Jasper said. “If he sold that land, what are we supposed to do?”
“My plan was to go back up there and talk to him. I was up there already and found out it was him that sold the land and not his sister. That was my first priority.”
“Pussy,” Cash said.
“If you say the word pussy again I’m going to make it so you never enjoy pussy again.”
“Cash, shut up,” Trev said. “Duke, keep talking. My patience is counting to zero.”
“Jim lost a leg over there. He was blown up. I saved him. It was a bad situation for a long time for him. Trying to recover. His sister has been helping for years. I kept my distance because I had nothing to say to Jim. I couldn’t save him from himself. That’s the fucking truth. I was on my way back here when I stopped to take a piss. I heard voices and that’s when I saw what looked like a deal going down. I trapped one of the prospects, figuring he’d talk fastest and wouldn’t be all that missed right away. That’s the fucking truth.”
I looked around the table to my brothers. Like I had to get their approval.
“Keep going,” Trent said.
“That’s it,” I said. “I found out about the land and here I am now. Belle owns a few sections. Jim owns a few sections. The one that the Hell Five bought was owned by Jim.”
“Then we stop the deal,” Austin said.
“Can we do that, Cade?” Trev asked.
“We can do anything we want. But if things are in motion… being transferred… it’s going to be tricky.”
“Then we better move,” Xavier said.
“I’m trying to get all the information I can from Jim,” I said. “He’s a stubborn miserable prick to talk to.”
“I can see why you two are friends,” Trev said.
“Thanks, Prez,” I said. “Look, I am not fucking with you guys here. I’m not going behind anyone’s back. I’m trying to figure out what the hell is going on before anyone makes a rash decision.”
“Because of your involvement in the situation,” Trent said.
“Fuck off, brother. You don’t know my fucking involvement in anything. If I wasn’t there to see the Hell Five we would be really screwed right now. Nobody can deny that. So I’m trying to get names, places, everything here. There’s no way in hell Jim just handed over paperwork to someone in the Hell Five. So if we find out who he dealt with and how this is done…”
“A dummy corp,” Cade said. “We all do it. You run certain business through dummy corps. Fuck. That’s how they did it. Probably some bullshit company that’s looking to acquire land. Probably hired some broker or agent to scope things out and approach your friend. That’s how it was done.”
“Even still,” Jasper said, “this is a big deal. The Russians are pissed at us.”
“So we get our information in line,” I said. “What choice do we have? You want to ride up there and put a bullet in Jim’s head? Belle’s head?”
“If this wasn’t your current pussy, what would you do?” Cash asked me.
I looked at him and refused to answer.
“Cash has a point,” Tristan said.
“Agreed,” Hudson added. “We put the pressure on. Right now. Hard.”
“That’s how you all feel then?” I asked.
The table all started to argue. It was an instant explosion. Everyone had a voice and an opinion. I stood there, catching some of the words, but my eyes were locked to Trev. I knew how he felt about Eden.