Griggs squared his jaw, sharing a look with another member, Spinner, who seemed to be playing a VP stand-in and had the smarts not to say anything. None of the Satan’s Hex members looked comfortable.And none of you pussies are saying shit. Fucking weak.
Griggs sighed. “You’re asking for more than ten percent of our profit.”
Ace took a drag from his cigarette. “I’m not asking for anything. I’m telling you what the price is. You don’t like it, don’t take the deal.”
Spinner rested his elbows on the table. “Could you at least take our offer to Inez?”
This!That statement alone proved none of these men were equipped to handle negotiations or take on a deal of this magnitude. Go to Inez?What the fuck are you thinking?Wraith didn’t even care to hear the asinine response. He was shutting this bullshit down.
“No,” Wraith snapped, which had a few members stepping away from the table.
The club would oversee the transports and manage the dealers, selling throughout the state, taking a generous cut. Inez was the biggest manufacturer and distributor in their area. Killcreek served as the middleman. No one got to Inez without going through Killcreek. Many tried, but no one had been successful.
Ace laughed, shaking his head. “I take this to her, she’s gonna raise it by fifteen percent. Her cut goes up, so does ours. You think we’re gonna lose money for you?”
Griggs groaned, grabbing the arms of the chair, scowling. “It’ll be hard for us to move the product at that price, Ace.”
The room was silent, and Wraith shifted his gaze between the mouthpieces of the club, Griggs and Spinner. They shared a look. They were already devising a plan B scenario. Most people did. Everyone was working in their best interests. It was about making money. Wraith could respect that. But the club was in it for the same reason, and unfortunately for them, Killcreek had the upper hand.
“Not my problem,” Ace said.
“What if we handled our own transport?” Griggs countered.
How are these assholes part of a well-known club who’d been in this business for years, and still this fucking stupid?
Satan’s Hex may share the same state, but they had no ownership of territory. There were three separate groups who ran the state. The north was covered by Killcreek and Inez. The central part was run by the Underground, and a faction of the area was Ghosttown East’s territory. The smallest section in the south was the sole property of the Ghosttown Riders. Transporting through any part of the state would need permission. Satan’s Hex would never get it from any of the above.
“You’re welcome to, but that adds another five hours if you’re not cutting through the state.” Ace narrowed his gaze, sending a clear reminder. “Which we both know will never fucking happen.”
Spinner nervously shifted his eyes to the boss and parted his lips. Wraith knew what was coming. They all knew, and Ace wasn’t about to let him finish his sentence.
“We transport through this state. Only us. And you get the same warning as everyone else.” He paused. “If you cross through our state, we’ll find you, take the product, and then we’ll fucking kill you.”
“Ace, just hear me out. From Blacksburg, it’s a straight shot down…”
Griggs didn’t get a chance to finish. He didn’t need to. They all knew the lay of the land and in turn, his desired course for transport.Blacksburg is a straight shot down through Ghosttown.
Ace held up his hand, silencing Griggs. “If I even hear of a fucking whisper that your club was in Ghosttown eating a burger at that shitty little fucking diner? We’re gonna pay you an unexpected visit, locking the doors on your clubhouse with every one of you assholes inside.” Ace hardened his stare. “And burn it to the fucking ground.”
Yes, we fucking will.
“It’s our specialty.” Gent’s taunting tone only amplified the tension in the room. The only person unbothered was Gent himself.
Griggs, along with the other members, didn’t say a word. Killcreek had a reputation, and they’d lived up to it in every sense. Taking this deal would be a monumental risk with no room for error.
Griggs stood and straightened. “We’ll be in touch.”
Fucking idiot.
Ace took a drag of his cigarette, the smoke circling his face. “Slater and Axel know about this deal?”
Griggs smirked. “They’re not here. We gotta do what we gotta do to keep the club strong.”
“And you think tripling the order is gonna do that?” Wraith asked.
Griggs shifted his gaze to Wraith and shrugged. He’d lost some of the confidence he’d walked in with. “It’ll make us a lot of money.”
And there it was. Griggs, Spinner, and every member of Satan’s Hex standing in their clubhouse had lost sight of what Slater and Axel spent years building.
