CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

 

The hotel restaurant buzzed with the chatter of the always-eclectic Vegas lunch crowd, mixing with the clink of forks and knives and the not-too-far-away shuffle of people moving through the busy hotel. Jared had mentioned to Jax that they would meet up to discuss this evening's Mayhem meeting, but when Jax got the text message to join Boss Man for lunch, it caught him off guard. The trip wasn't a vacation, and Jax needed to remember he was there for work.

After checking in with the hostess, Jax was directed to the back room. Jared must have scared the bejesus out of the woman or issued a warning because she simply pointed in the direction he was supposed to go. After he followed the line of tables and turned the corner to a more secluded, slightly quieter side of the restaurant, Jax saw a row of private dining areas with glass doors. Some had curtains that could be shut, some were already drawn, others were wide open, and some were empty. Others were not. At the end, Jared waited against the wall, one boot kicked on top of the other and his arms crossed. He looked as though he were studying his phone, but Jax wasn't stupid and knew that Boss Man had a bead on every person that moved in any direction.

"Hey," he greeted his team leader. "Been here long?"

"Nah." Jared tilted his head, directing Jax into the small room, then shut the door behind them. The drape fell into place and obscured the last of the public views. There was an opening on each side so that Jax could see who came by one side and Jared the other, so neither one of them was sitting blind in a box. Jax hadn't asked, but with as many security cameras as there were in the building, along with all of the players and personalities and firepower that walked the halls, he was fairly certain Parker had all of Titan's IT resources working overtime. There were probably eyes on them and everywhere else.

"What's Sugar up to this afternoon?" Jax asked as he leaned back in the plush chair.

Jared chuckled. "Getting her talons worked on—or a manicure, whatever she wants to call it."

Jax laughed, and a knock sounded on the door before their waitress came in.

They took a moment to peruse the menus quickly before deciding on waters, New York strips, loaded baked potatoes, and broccoli. Bread quickly came after that, and it was placed right next to the small device on the table that Jax was familiar with. The contraption made sure that if there were any listening devices in the room, their signals were scrambled. No one could hear what they were saying, though the device wouldn't mess with their phones.

"About last night," Jared started, leaning back in his chair and popping a piece of bread in his mouth. "Give me a rundown of what you learned."

Good thing that Jax could remember everything important about the meeting. It had been a stupid move to drink more than he needed, even if he'd been off the clock. Jax focused on the important stuff in regard to work, leaving out the part where he'd gotten drunk and married. "Hawke's pretty levelheaded. He was able to keep rivals civil, converse with people he probably didn't like much, and work the room like a politician. If he spent any extra time with any one group, I'd say he's favoring The Brotherhood. They're both MCs. They have all of their motorcycle shit in common."

"Was that something he was leaning on, motorcycles, or did it seem as though they were talking business?"

"No one was negotiating. Booze, blow jobs, blow. Not a lot of business."

Jared snickered. "Ah, your typical Jax Michaelson social gathering."

"Exactly my type of crew," he groused. Booze, he could handle. Everything else, Jax would rather not. He didn't want to see it; he didn't want to know about it. "But it was more than a comfort level. There was trust there more than familiarity. They had a level of professional respect, and I think it will translate to tonight."

Jared nodded. "Noted. What else you got?"

"One more thing about The Brotherhood. Seven described their president as a robot. So much so, he actually goes by Bot. I think that works in favor of Mayhem handing the distribution off to them because Hawke and Tex don't want any drama. A guy named Robot? That sounds low drama to me."

"Hawke and Tex. Those are the two I'm not gonna worry about." Jared raised his eyebrows. "You saw Johnny, though?"

"About Johnny. That's going to be… a more complicated discussion."

"I excel at simplifying complicated."

At least one of them could. "I've confirmed he's not a fan of Titan."

"Imagine that," Jared grumble–laughed.

Jax recalled the amount of restraint it took not to tear Johnny apart limb by limb, and it might have been one of the hardest tests he'd ever had in his career. Johnny had to make it to the Mayhem meeting tonight—for Titan, for Seven, and for Mayhem. But if it weren't for that, Jax wasn't sure what it would've taken to stop him. The sight of blood trickling down Seven's chin could've been a catalyst for serious injury.

"Johnny unexpectedly came to Seven's hotel room this morning. They exchanged words… She slapped him, and he swung back." Jax wanted to sound unaffected but was failing. "She took a hard knock to the mouth. It tore up the inside of her lip. Those two have history, but not like that. I think she's more shocked than anything else."

Jax was so deep in his own head that he hadn't focused on Jared, but when he did, Jared's viewpoint had always been crystal clear. Right now looked to be no exception, even if they were in business together.

"And?" Boss Man growled.

"I took him in the hall, explained what I thought of that—with my fists—until Johnny decided it was time to apologize."

Jared's head moved slightly, agreeing, but his anger had not tempered. "If they have history and she didn't see it coming, what the fuck? You?"

"I don't know. Don't think so. Their past is old. Johnny sat across from her last night getting a blow job. Whatever rules ganglandia has, I don't know. Neither seemed jealous." Well, maybe Johnny…

"Then what?"

"He was hopped up and crashing hard."

Jared's eyebrows arched. "Cocaine?"

Jax sucked his bottom lip into his mouth. "I'm no expert, but yeah, maybe coke and something else. He was twitching, jerking. Meth? Dust? I don't know that shit."

Jared mulled in silence. Then their waitress knocked and brought their food. After they had both taken a moment to dig into their steak and potatoes, Jared asked, "How does Hernán not know this? The Irish and the Russian in a room together? The Niners and the Brotherhood? I get that it's one or two members from each and everybody has a financial incentive to behave. But still."

"I don't see how he doesn't know." If he were Hernán, Jax would be there. He would be in the hotel lobby, watching every single person try to betray his negotiated agreements. Hernán wasn't stupid, and his wife was known for many things but not stupidity or sanity. "Seven is confident, though, that Hernán is unaware."

Jared took another sip of water. "I hope to hell she's not naïve."

Jax shrugged. "I think she's idealistic. But I don't think naïve." Idealistic about a motorcycle gang—as if that wasn't a crazy oxymoron.

"What else is going on with you, Jax?" Jared used wiped his mouth with his linen napkin and leaned back in his chair.

He ran a hand over his face, hoping the dark circles and lack of sleep weren't showing. "Not much."

Boss Man dropped his chin. "How about that bruise?"

Jax ran his hand along his jawline. "I told you, brawl with Johnny."

"Not that one." Jared's eyes narrowed on his left hand. "That one."

Jax looked at the hand from which he'd slipped off his wedding band before he walked in to lunch. Seven had ranted and raged that getting married was an accident, and Jax didn't want his boss to think he was irresponsible. The whole thing was confusing, but Jared asking about his hand unnerved the hell out of Jax.

Jax brought his hand down and looked at his knuckles, red and raw, nothing unexpected from a scuffle. But there was an unexpected bruise on the top of his left ring finger, near the knuckle, that mimicked where his ring had been. "I don't know."

Jared harrumphed, making a disapproving, disbelieving grumble. "Right." He stood up, tossing down his napkin. "Lunch has been taken care of. Leave whenever you're ready, but I have to roll, and I'll meet you tonight. Parker will send you any logistical information you need. I'm going to go find my wife."

Jax tore his eyes away from his hand and stood as well.

"Maybe you should do the same."

Boss Man was the master for a reason. He missed nothing.