Page 68 of Wicked Truths

The two women exchanged a look each silently acknowledging the subtext.

“I’m going over to Walgreens,” Izzy said. “Do you need anything?”

“I’m good. I just have a few more entries to make, then I’m going to treat myself to a nice hot bath.”

23

“How long you been at the Desert Apartments?” Nick tapped his fingers against the steering wheel as he waited for the light to turn green on the intersection of Flamingo and Las Vegas Blvd.

“All morning,” Jax said. “The bitch he’s shackin’ up with left a half hour ago, but his car’s not here and there’s no sign of him.”

“Stay on it. I’m heading over to the penthouse to check on Cheryl. I’ll fill you in later.” Nick disconnected the call on his steering wheel, crossed the intersection and hit Mamba’s number.

“Yeah?” Mamba rasped through the phone.

“You got anything?”

“Nothing. Talked to the guard at the gate and he said he hasn’t been home in over twelve hours.”

Nick blew out a frustrated breath. “Where the hell is this motherfucker?”

“No fuckin’ clue.”

“All right. Later.” Nick disconnected the call just as he pulled into the garage of his building. He’d check on Cheryl, then head over to the Gold Mine to talk to Cobra. He wanted some backupfrom the Serpents to make sure everything went as planned with Johnny. Just the thought of that fucker’s face when he realized what the was going on was worth it.

Nick hit Johnny’s number as he rode up the elevator. Might as well make the call and maybe get an idea where the asshole was right now.

After the fifth ring, Nick expected voicemail, when Johnny’s voice boomed through the phone. “What the fuck do you want?”

“That’s no way to talk to someone who’s looking to make you a shit ton of money.”

“What?”

“I just left Frank and he wants to combine the profits from the jazz clubs and Wicked.”

“Why the fuck would he do that?”

“Cause he sees two moneymakers and he wants in on it. It’s no surprise you’ve made the L.A. clubs a huge fuckin’ success.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

Yup, just like Nick suspected. Play on his inflated ego.

“Even the Chicago crew is impressed.”

“How the fuck do you know?”

“Aren’t you fuckin’ listening? I just left Frank. Heard him on the phone telling them all kinds of good shit about the profits you’ve made.”

“Even after what went down between me and Marie?”

The name threw Nick for a millisecond. “Ahhh, yeah, he don’t care about that. He says what happens between you and her is personal and has nothing to do with business.”

“And what about you?”

“What about me? No fuckin’ way I’m letting a bitch get in the way of my money. The way I see it, Chicago comes in and dumps some money into our clubs and we all get rich.”

Like him or Samson would ever let the Chicago mob in on their profits.

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