Page 13 of One
I studied him for a moment before letting him go, wary that he was going to do something stupid while my guard was down.
“You started it, pendejo,” I said, wiping my mouth.
“Let me sample, Noelle, and I’ll get your money.” He smiled as he motioned his guys over, giving me his handkerchief. “I have a bathroom you can use if you’d like.
I shook my head. “Lance, sample.”
I was not going into a room where he could trap me, and I wanted to get the hell out of here.
Lance brought a suitcase with all the samples I needed. My nose was still bleeding as Jay opened the suitcase, and Rogelio gave me a water bottle. I rinsed my face off as best as I could while watching Jay sample everything. The product was better than Kris’. I wasn’t cutting it as much, it was packaged better and if Jay stuck around, he would deal with less bullshit with me.
I don’t know how Kris had run Christmas Town for so long without running it into the ground. It was a fucking miracle he had made any profit, but I was starting to figure out that’s why he had sold women and children.
Jay snorted a line of coke and the moment it hit him I saw the devilish look in his eyes. “When you told me the price, I was ready to haggle you, but it seems you don’t operate like Kris,” he said, wiping his nose. “How bad was he fucking me over with product?”
“I can’t tell, but he was fucking over a lot of people,” I said. “Kris’ way of doing business isn’t how I will run things. This is business. I do well, you do well and that’s the way it’s going to be.”
Jay stared at me for too long before he motioned to one of his guys. Cash was brought out.
“D will finish out this transaction, but I look forward to working with you, Noelle,” Jay said, holding his hand out to me.
“You too, Jay,” I said, shaking his hand. “D, get her a drink and a fucking chair and anything else she wants.”
With that last command he left with a few men. It took twenty minutes to count the money and only until I was in our SUV did I let out my frustrations. My eyes watered and my body started to shake. I knew this was goingto be dangerous, and if Jay had wanted, he could have killed me and my men.
“You did great,” Lance said, as we drove off Jay’s property.
“For a moment, I thought he might kill us,” I sighed.
“It was a test,” he stated.
“A stupid dick measuring contest.” I rubbed my temples.
“We need more men,” Lance said softly from the driver seat.
“We need a fucking army.” My voice wavered as my adrenaline wore off.
Maybe Boogie’s and King’s concern was valid, maybe I was in over my head.
Chapter 6
King
Boogie’s nostrils flared as Ally recounted her meeting. Her voice was steady while she spoke. I tried to see if she was lying about anything, not that I think she would lie to us, but she might have left something out. My jaw was cramping from how tightly I had been clenching my teeth.
“It started out rough, but I left feeling good about our future meetings,” she said before yawning.
“He hit you?” Boogie snarled.
Ally sighed. “Is that all you got from my entire story?”
“Who the fuck does he think he is touching you, Doll?” I kept the anger out of my voice.
“It was a test, a fucking dick measuring contest, he?—”
“I don’t give a shit what the fuck he thought he was doing, give me an address,” Boogie snarled.
The line went silent as we stared at the phone.
