Page 86 of Frenemies
“We have enemies, just like you. Sometimes dealing with them requires a firmer hand.”
Uh-huh.
So basically, he wanted bag men. Wasn’t sure if I liked that. Right now, we decided who’s skulls we cracked. When men like Louis got involved, bikers became nothing more than cannon-fader.
We were thrown in the middle of a war without any regard for our lives. Minions basically, and when the underlings didn’t listen to their so-called overlord, bad things happened. That was the reason my old man avoided dealing with the mob.
“I don’t know.” I shook my head.
Yeah, going after Naomi’s old man would be easier with Louis’s permission, but this was an awfully high price.
I guess he sensed my hesitation because Louis said, “I want you to understand something, Chase. You and you men wouldn’t be thought of as any less. You would be equals in the society.”
“All of my men?” I asked skeptically.
“No.” He shook his head. “We only need four bloodlines to fulfill the wolves’ side.”
“And I get to choose who?”
Louis took a second to think before nodding. “I can’t see why not.”
Hmm. I had to admit it was tempting. There were a lot of bonuses to being tied in with an organization like his. But. . .
“What if we have enemies?”
Would they do the same as they expected from us? The answer he gave was not one I expected.
“There’s a hundred of Nikolai’s men waiting outside the city for word to move in on the Reapers compound.”
That caused my brow to arch. Nikolai Ivanov was the leader of the bratva, and while I had no interest in working with the mafia, it wouldn’t be me that owed him for this favor. Plus, Russians were ruthless. They were the only assholes I knew who weren’t afraid of the Cartel, and those motherfuckers were crazy.
If you crossed them, they wouldn’t just kill you. They’d wipe out your family line and anyone that said hi to you in the grocery store. The fact that the Russians were willing to work with the cartel said a lot. Then again, the bratva was just as ruthless. Louis may have just handed me a way to end this war.
Jax would never see this coming.
“Alright,” I held out my hand. “You’ve got a deal.” When Louis took my hand, I pulled him in and looked him right in the eyes. “But understand, my men are not your minions. We decide what we do, and none of us want anything to do with your politics.”
“Understood.” Louis gave me a little nod.
We took a few more minutes to talk about some of the finer details and then headed outside, where Beast and Keenan were waiting.
Beast nodded at me. “You get everything sorted out?”
“For now.” There were still a few things I wanted to discuss.
Beast shifted his gaze over to Louis. He didn’t trust him, and I can’t say I blamed him. He was going to be pissed as fuck when he found out about Nikolai’s men. “Your cousin wanted to say goodbye before he hit the road.”
Louis’s brow rose at Keenan. “Cousin?”
I reached out to give Keenan a hug while shooting Louis a look that said, don’t even think about it. “It was good to see you.”
“You too.” Keenan patted me on the back. “Take care of yourself.”
“I will, and you take care of that kid.” I couldn’t help but feel some pride at that last part. Soon I’d have my own kid.
We were just about to part ways when Snake came running over with a phone in his hand.
“Boss, I called to check in with Tanner like you said. . .”
