Page 11 of Vengeance

“About?”

Is he kidding? Psycho looks to have the same thought, and Jennings just pushes down his annoyance to try and keep cooperation, however minimal, going. “About whether or not you’re sending help to take out the Slashers.”

“Negative. I thought I already called to tell you it was voted down to send the Bratva your way. My bad. Guess it slipped my mind.”

“Slipped your mind?” Psycho asks. “Negative? We’re paying the price for the shit happening on your turf, and you can’t send anyone to help dig us out of the mess you created?”

“I did not create this,” Ivan barks. “That would be your friend Dimitri.”

Jennings holds a hand up to stop Psycho from laying into the man. “We want to renegotiate our terms with you, then.”

“No.”

“It’s a courtesy call, but if you can’t help us get the Slashers off our backs, we need to change our relationship, Ivan. It no longer benefits us.”

“Too damn bad.”

“Yeah, it is. We have two leads for new suppliers. Not only will they supply us with guns, they’ll assist with the takedown of the Irish. But if you don’t want to play ball, we’ll take one of them up on their offer.”

“We will fucking end you.”

Jennings laughs. “Is that so?”

“We have a deal. You buy from us and only us. No one else.”

“That doesn’t work for us anymore.”

“Then kiss your pretty little families goodbye. The ATF will be on your asses like-”

“No, that’s not how it’s going to work. We’ve got as much information on you, if not more, and we have more than enough to bury you. If you want to come after us, go ahead, but I think they’ll be willing to cut us a deal to catch the bigger fish. And you and your organization are the bigger fish to catch, Ivan.”

He coughs. “That is what you think?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“No, that is not how this works. Here is what will actually happen. You do not have any supplier lined up because no one wants to gain us as an enemy. This means that not only will you lose your supply of guns, you will have gained us as an enemy yourselves. Tell me, how will you protect yourselves and your families if you do not have weapons or money? Or bodies?”

Psycho lifts his eyebrows. “We have other sources of income.”

“That little strip club? That is not making what you are used to for money, and we all know it.”

“You don’t think we have any credibility to gather allies and protect ourselves?” Jennings asks.

“No, I do not. I also do not think you have any credibility to stand up against anyone with the full strength of the RIO on your ass. The Bratva will not help you, but they will take you out. I will not even have to come to your disgusting fucking country to take you out.”

Jennings stares at the laptop with a loss for words. He can’t argue with him, and he has nothing else to threaten.

Psycho jumps in. “You have one week to reconsider, Ivan. There is one contact I have that will be more than happy to take you and your organization on. In fact, they’ll give us a hell of a deal because ending the RIO along with the Irish would give them an unstoppable amount of credibility. And you may be tough, but you cannot touch them in terms of resources and balls to take out motherfuckers like you.”

“Do not threaten-”

“You have seven days. These motherfuckers are targeting our women. My woman. Jennings’s wife. That’s not okay, and if you won’t help us, you become as big of an enemy to me as they are. And I make it a point to end my fucking enemies. You know that as well as I do. Just look at my goddamned family. I slit my own brother’s throat before gutting my father like a fucking fish. Imagine what I do to assholes I’m not related to.”

The line goes dead, and Jennings puts his head in his hands. “Fuck.”

“We were fucked either way. But the truth is, my friend won’t turn us down. We might just have to get onboard with a career change. The one thing I can promise, though, is they won’t back pedal like pussy ass bitches knowing we want to take on the Russians. They’ll find it to be a fun challenge.”

The satellite phone in the closet rings, and Jennings walks over to answer it. “Guess Ivan wants to talk to us after all,” he says and answers. “What?”

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