Bash (Kings of Carnage MC #1) - Sapphire Knight Page 0,38
me up on it. I don’t smoke often, but when I have a decent-sized deal going down, my nerves call for the nicotine. It helps me remain calm, and in this business, that’s imperative. If you’re wigging out and not thinking straight, shit can head south quickly. “Not gonna lie and say that there isn’t someplace else I’d rather be.”
His brow wrinkles as he bobs his head. He questions, “Your woman that good?”
“Fuck, man. Good isn’t a strong enough description for it. She has me all sorts of twisted up inside. When you took her home, I about lost my shit. Showed up pounding on her door until we worked through our issues. I decided I was over being patient, done waiting on her schedule.”
“You thinking about claiming her?”
“Making her my ol’ lady?”
He nods.
I exhale a cloud of smoke, my shoulders bouncing. “Crossed my mind around three a.m. when I was dumping deep inside her cunt for the fourth time.”
He smirks, not replying as a luxury SUV pulls in beside us. A man gets out of the passenger side and opens the back door. Our client steps out, looking every bit the part of a successful billionaire. While making back-alley deals is beneath him, given the nature of this, I insisted I meet with him and no one else. I don’t make agreements with middlemen—never have and damn sure won’t start now.
Jinx and I both vacate the bikes, approaching our buyer. I toss my cigarette to the ground, smashing it out with my boot. “Maliki,” I chin-lift to the prominent African American businessman and take note that none of his guys approach us, giving us privacy. He’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. His brother was even worse before he was murdered, but I never had any dealings with him. I’d heard through the grapevine how he’d fucked over a variety of different people. I kept my distance, not wanting any part of what he was offering. Being a drug dealer is tough enough evading jail time, that I stay far the fuck away from people known to screw others over.
Maliki, however, is a different story. He makes many of his more lucrative business deals during his ostentatious parties. He’s somewhat famous for them on the streets. Not that any of us common folk would ever get invited. We’re not rich enough. We only know about them from his tall orders and overboard requests—the streets like to talk. He’s the type of man that if he wants something, it doesn’t matter how low he has to go, he’ll achieve it. Some of his past dealers have bragged about doing business with him and they’ve wound up dead. I’m not a fucking idiot like they were, and neither is Jinx. When business goes down, we keep that shit to ourselves to ward off any potential heat or threats from coming our way. Not only that, but Jinx and I have each other’s backs. Always.
“Bash,” Maliki greets, flicking his shrewd gaze to my brother.
“This is my brother, Jinx. He’s another officer in Kings of Carnage.”
He nods to Jinx. “You’re the other dealer Bash recommended to me, I take it.”
Jinx agrees. He’s not a man of many words; he’s been that way the entire time I’ve known him. His big, Samoan ass doesn’t like anyone except his brothers, my guess is it’s because of the way he grew up back in Hawaii. If he doesn’t know you, he won’t say shit to you. It makes some people nervous, but I actually prefer it. I know he won’t chitchat randomly about anything unless he means it or finds it necessary enough to notate.
Maliki exhales, turning to me. “I’m glad you’re both in the same MC and officers with positions of power. I wasn’t keen on splitting up this deal, but this doesn’t bother me as much as it did when you’d previously brought it up.”
“Jinx is straight. I trust him with my life. I’d never have put him up for the job if I believed differently.”
He steeples his hands, flicking his attention between my brother and me. “Will we need to negotiate on the price, or do you honor Bash’s deals, Jinx?” Maliki inquires, making my shoulders tighten. He should’ve asked me this over the phone. It’s not cool to question things when we’re already here to arrange transport and take a deposit. If he wasn’t spending so much cash, a question like this could potentially have him lose everything. Hell, in the past, it’d