Jax (Titan #9)(71)

"Oh, my beautiful one." Hernán contained his amusement and could've said her response verbatim before she did. "That won't work long-term and teaches no lessons. They might renegotiate again in a few years."

Esmerelda took his hand and kissed it. "Maybe you've forgotten how good I am with body parts in Ziploc bags, mi alma."

No containing his laughter that time. "What if, instead, you get a request you've often made and Mayhem will forever behave. A gift for you and non-negotiable terms for them."

Her eyes went wide as her lips sealed. Patience for surprises wasn't her strong suit. But she knew any gift he'd ever given to her was very special and well meaning. "Tell me."

He inched closer and put his hands on her face, rubbing his thumbs over the apples of her cheeks. "Johnny Miller has children."





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."