I don’t answer because all I can see is Sammie’s face being stubborn. When she looks at me like she’s daring me to disappoint her or throwing out wiseass remarks daring me for a comeback.
I drink again. Harder. Music amps up, and two more girls take the stage.
Jack appears from the back, sweat slicking his collar like he’s counting the days till he never has to come back to this shit-hole.
“Drinks on the house,” he says quickly. “Girls too. Whatever you need.”
Ace laughs. “Looks like they’re praying we take this place back.”
I nudge the women away and nod toward the back of the club. “Business first.”
Jack nods, and Ace and I follow him to his office. He closes the door, which mutes the din from the club. He goes behind his desk and motions to the two chairs facing him, but Ace and I remain standing. This is either gonna go the Kings’ way or not, and we don’t need to sit and make small talk first.
Jack fiddles with a pen on his desk, then meets our gaze. “I talked to TriState Reality, and they’re willing to take your offer.”
Ace and I nod, then wait.
“As you know, there is another party interested in this property, but they’ve proven to be very unreliable and somewhat harsh and brutal.”
Good description of the Dogs.
“They actually expected us to hand it over for a very minimal price, and when TriState rejected their offer, they set fire to the dumpsters out back.”
Sounds like the Dogs. Even back in the day, they loved to torch shit.
“Some guys are just bat-shit crazy when they don’t get their way,” Ace adds with his trademark grin, and Jack pauses for a minute, probably trying to figure out if Ace is warning him too.
Jack opens a folder and shuffles some papers on his desk, then turns the folder toward us. Typical contracts of sale. We may be outlaw bikers, but over the years, we’ve owned quite a few businesses, including two other strip clubs, so we know how this works.
I read through most of the things we already discussed, nod at Ace and sign my name on the dotted line.
When I’m done, Jack scoops up the papers and shoves them back in the folder like he’s afraid I’ll change my mind.
He sticks out his hand and we shake. “You’ve made a very sound investment, gentlemen.”
“What we’ve done is buy a shit-hole of a strip club that, in time, is gonna make us a fuck-ton of money.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
DEUCE
Jack’s eyes widen at my blunt appraisal, then he smiles and waves his hand around the room. “I can have my things out of here by tomorrow.”
Jack moves to the side when Ace comes around the desk and peers at the computer monitor. He taps a few keys, then looks at me. “Decent POS system. No need to change it.”
“It does a full inventory from the registers, and can even pick up on any theft,” Jack adds.
Ace huffs out a laugh. “The only thing that stops theft is the fear of making friends with a baseball bat.”
Jack’s eyes get wider, and I decide it’s time to leave.
“Just take your personal shit. We’ll either keep the rest or dump it.”
“Fine, fine.” Jack comes around the desk like he can’t wait for us to leave.
“My security guy will come by tomorrow for the keys and all the alarm codes.”
“One question.” Jack moves closer to us, lowering his voice. “How will you handle telling the other party you are now the new owners?”
