Page 12 of The Vow

“I just found out what they are asking for, he wouldn’t tell me over the phone and insisted he meet with all of you to discuss it-” The Mayor seemed excited, or agitated, Carmelo couldn’t quite tell, he’d never seen her like this before.

“So we’ve got Jovan, his wife, Camilla, and a whole host of bodies in the room and one of their sort of, personal butlers, Ardian. Apparently their family have been working for the Zakarian’s for generations, the older brother, Kavan is the more senior and trusted advisor but he isn’t in the room yet-”

Colt grunted.

“-and a few others who, as far as I can tell, are just bodyguards-”

“I’ve only met Jovan once before and that was after many phone calls and initial posturing and dick measuring and we finally managed to get them to agree to give us a shot at their gun running-”

“I know,” the Mayor said.

“So why is he willing to come to this public hotel and meet us all out in the open like this?”

The Mayor didn’t make eye contact. “The nature of this, er… request-”

“That I have to say yes to-”

“-is quite a sensitive one-”

“Fuck’s sake.”

The mayor looked at Carmelo offhandedly. “You’re just here to show that local law enforcement isn’t a threat, Carmelo, no need for you to get involved here.”

“Wasn’t gonna,” Carmelo drawled, rolling his eyes. This was already sounding too high stakes and complicated and Carmelo would rather stay out of it.

“Just smile and look the part of an obedient local cop.” The mayor turned from him, effectively dismissing him. Carmelo gritted his teeth but said nothing.

She finally paused outside a meeting room door.

Finally Blue spoke, “This is where I leave you. Head of the Gangs Division can’t be seen meeting the head of the local gang.” He turned to the Mayor and nodded.

“Huh, oh yes, don’t worry, the MC will just set you up nicely and do all of your dirty work for you-”

“That was the deal, Colt, remember, you agreed to it. I offered you the opportunity to take up the reigns again of the Presidency of the MC, after you’d basically left a trail of bodies and destruction in your wake all across the States-”

“I was fresh out of prison and had been excommunicated from the club, I had no choice but to run-”

“-took my daughter with you though, and found plenty of time for dicking about with her, didn’t you-”

“Yeah ‘cause the MC had kidnapped her, too, and were going to either kill her or force her to be their sex slave-”

“Well, it’s all water under the bridge now, you got the job of your dreams, the girl of your dreams-”

Colt held his chin high and stared straight back at Blue. “High price though, capitulating to the FBI. Not just one mole, not just one undercover agent. Multiple, and the whole of the MC are informants, too.”

Blue shrugged, trying to sound casual. “Your MC is flush with cash, you’ve got a good solid base of work-”

“Drug running for the Mexican drug cartel, delivering bomb parts for the white supremacy group the Guardians of Purity. Now protection racket and delivery service for the Armenian Mafia family, the Zakarian Syndicate. Criminals. Nasty people. Dirty people. Oh yes, I’m living the fucking dream alright,” Colt snarled back at his father-in-law.

Blue put a hand on Colt’s shoulder now, softening his tone. “Son, we got you, we are covering the bigger picture and will be sweeping up every last scumbag once the MC had played out enough of the scenario with the gangs to allow me to lock them up for good. The time will come, trust me.”

Colt pursed his lips, torn. Blue was a father figure to him, Blue was the one who had let Colt into the club in the first place when Colt was a skinny homeless teenager and Blue was the undercover FBI agent MC Prez.

“You got this,” Blue said simply to Colt, and brought him in for a hug. Blue held Colt’s head, handling him like a little boy, which was almost hilarious as Colt was over six feet of prime man and lean muscle.

Colt let himself be pulled in for a second and Carmelo could have sworn he heard the tiniest little purr of satisfaction from Colt. A noise he never thought he’d hear in a million years. Colt finally pulled away, slapped Blue on the back, clearing his throat. Blue returned the friendly slap with a chin lift.

He wordlessly nodded at the Mayor before handing her the rolled up local paper with a conspiratorial flash of his eyebrows. The Mayor took it without reacting, but watched Blue carefully.

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