Jax (Titan #9)(21)

"No, no." Esmeralda glided back from Johnny, spreading out her well-manicured hands toward the feast on the table as her jeweled bracelets clinked. "I'm leaving. Enjoy."

"Thank you." Since they had crossed many lines of appropriateness, Johnny's comfort level at a one-on-one goodbye seemed almost benign, but Jax saw the play coming fast.

She bent to her captive audience, perked breasts on display, and leaned close enough to whisper in his ear as her curtain of dark hair shielded the room from her lips.

Jared's fist hit the table, and he stood. "None of that."

"Come now." Hernán leaned back, smirking at Jared. "We boast three five-diamond awards for our customer excellence in addition to the food—"

"Cut the BS and get her out of here." Jared stepped closer to Hernán. "Or this is done."

Hawke pushed his chair back a few inches, glaring at Johnny, and Johnny shook his head as though siding with Hernán and Esmeralda.

She glided out, coming around to the other side of the table and trailing her fingers along the edge of an empty chair until she came near Jax. She let her fingernails scrape across his elbow, then she left the room. What the fuck was that all about?

The mood in the room had shifted entirely, and tension that had already been uncomfortable was now untrusting and on edge. Jax looked at Jared. "I don't know about you, Boss Man, but I could use a break."

Jared ran a hand over his face and gave a curt nod. "Everyone take two."

Hernán and his associate didn't even turn to one another, and that was all the confirmation Jax needed that Esmeralda was a play. Hernán's associate was nothing more than a straw man standin, and he probably knew jack shit about the Suarez cartel business. They'd been doing business with Mayhem for many years, and they likely knew the club's leadership well enough to know that Johnny was the weak link, just like Hawke knew.

Jared could protect them against the bad deal, could help them negotiate good terms, but he couldn't tell them to keep themselves in line, and if Mayhem wanted to fuck up their own situation, that was on them. Boss Man and all of the talent the Titan Group housed couldn't help them with that.

Hawke all but growled at Johnny, and they made their way to a private balcony outside. Jared tilted his head, and Jax stood up, pushing away from the table. They both moved to the corner of the private dining room.

From their vantage point, they could see that Hernán had a smug look on his face as he popped olives in his mouth and looked at complete ease. The man next to him fiddled with the silverware and barely dared to look at the cartel king. Hawke and Johnny were visibly in a heated discussion, and Jax only shook his head. Both he and Jared knew better than to say anything out loud because there was no telling how the room was wired.

"Fuck this shit." Jared cracked his knuckles and stormed toward the balcony door.

Jax should have let him head out there alone, but he was asshole enough to not want to miss the fireworks, and if Jared was going to tell Johnny to man up, he wanted to see it.

"You mind telling me what you two are bitching about out here?"

Hawke's face said it all, but he didn't utter one word.

"Jesus fucking Christ," Jax muttered.

"Start by telling me what the problem is. Simple. Just spit it out. Johnny?" Jared's ice-cold glare landed on the man causing their headache. "You've got something to say?"

"Yeah. As a matter of fact, I do."

Hawke grumbled, shaking his head, and he turned around, pacing a loop before he returned. "This is not about making money. This was a club vote. This is about shutting it down. What part of this do you not understand?"

"Money talks. We should ask for more of a percentage instead of breaking down the deal. We ask for more money, and everything is justified. We bring it back to the club, and they don't want more money, then we can farm it out. Or we do what we're doing, and we make a better cut. I don't see what the problem is."

"Unbelievable." Jax couldn't contain his amazement. "Is it stupidity or greed?"

Johnny took an aggressive step forward, fists bunching. "Excuse me?"

"Jax is right. What'd she say to you?" Jared asked. "What percentage did she whisper in your ear while she was feeding you corn cakes like she was planning to leave her husband to do nothing but suck your cock?"

"You don't know shit."

"What I do know is you're fucking coked out and"—Jared's eyes narrowed—"selfish as fuck. That's not stupidity. That's greed."

Johnny pulled his right arm back, but before he could make a stupid life-or-death decision, Hawke caught his forearm and whipped him around. "You stupid, dumbass motherfucker. Do you have your face in that candy again?" Hawke grabbed Johnny by his leather cut and pulled him close, studying his face as if he could do a drug test with a hard stare. Coming up with his own determination, Hawke pushed him away, cursing out his VP.

Boss Man's disappointment registered as a scowl. "You work this out. I'm going back in."

Jax and Jared moved back inside the restaurant, and it would be a lesson in diplomatic relations. Jax would be interested in watching to see how Boss Man would handle this. Maybe diplomacy was more interesting than Jax had given the subject credit for.