“So what’s the deal?” Jax asked Golden.
“I’ve told you before that guy wants in your pants,” Golden said. “What were you thinking hanging out with him alone?”
Jax chuckled. “Why he bothers you so much, I don’t know. He’s probably the best foreman I’ve got.”
“I see it every single time he’s near you. He’s making goo-goo eyes and watches your every move.”
“You’re seeing things.”
Golden huffed. “Seeing things? I think not. He wants to fuck you.”
Jax chuckled, but sensed Golden’s ire. “What does it matter what he wants?”
“You’re mine.”
“Not so long ago, we were all about sharing,” Jax said, casting a quick glance Golden’s way.
“That was with Linc and Colt. Not random men who were mooning over you.”
“Chance and Ryan were random men.”
“No. They were Linc and Colt’s. They weren’t random.” Golden glanced out the window. “Did you just miss the turn to Damien’s?”
“I assumed the green-eyed monster was the reason you dragged me out of that house.”
Golden sighed. “I almost wish it was.”
Jax felt a wave of tension come over him. “What’s the deal with Damien?” he asked as he pulled over and turned the truck around.
“Kent Street,” Golden said.
Jax frowned. The Kent Street project was massive. His twin brother Jason was the one heading that one for them, that and Jason’s huge crew of tradesmen and workers. “Is something wrong with Jason?”
No… my twin-link would’ve told me. Even during their days of not speaking, he’d known Jason was okay. Miles apart and both of them had ended up opening construction companies and flipping houses. Only difference was—Jax had his best friends Linc and Colt at his side.
“Of course not. I said Damien was the problem.”
“Then spit it out,” Jax said. “Jesus, Golden.”
“I want to, but I sense you’re going to be pissed.”
Jax cast a glance at Golden before looking back to the road. He clenched his jaw. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen worry like that on his husband’s face. “Tell me.”
“Remember when I got financing from Damien before you guys made him a partner… and how pissed off you were when I didn’t tell you?”
Jax clenched his jaw. “What did you do, Golden?”
“Me? No! I didn’t do anything. Damien.”
“What. Did. He. Do?”
“When you decided to take the leap and snatch up all that property around Kent Street, Damien had his money tied up in a couple of other acquisitions… so he borrowed a chunk of money from one of his cousins.”
“Okay,” Jax said, not understanding what was so bad.
“Those cousins,” Golden said.
Realization struck. “As in the ones with mob connections in New York?” Jax asked, his heart beginning to beat a little faster.
“Yep, those cousins.”
Jax squeezed the wheel a little tighter. He took a couple of cleansing breaths, trying to calm his temper. “Why did he go to them?”
“I don’t know. There’s another wrinkle that’s causing issues.”
“Of course there is,” Jax said sarcastically.
“Some crime boss just got whacked and now his cousins want to scatter. They say they’re coming to L.A. and want to spend time with Damien—checking out the area.”
“We’re not in Los Angeles. How does that affect us and the business?” asked as he pulled in front of Damien’s house—a renovation they’d done two years before. It was one of their grander homes, right on the water. Jax had loved this house… but right now, he didn’t want to be anywhere near it or the potential trouble inside.
“I’ll let Damien explain it. I don’t have all the details myself.” Golden scrubbed a hand over his face. “Most of what I know is through Lucas.”
Golden reached for the door, but Jax laid a hand on his husband’s sleeve.
“Did you know, Golden?”
Golden’s eyes widened. “I just found out a little while ago when Damien called me.” Golden sighed. “Trust me… I’m just as pissed as you are. And embarrassed. Damien’s my best friend. If he’s hurt us… I’ll kill him.”
Jax saw the fire in Golden’s eyes and knew his husband spoke the truth. He slid a hand through Golden’s, squeezing. “Whatever this is… we’ll get through it.”
Golden smiled at him… and from the corner of his eye, he saw Linc, Colt, and Chance walking up the drive.
“We better get inside.”
He climbed from the driver’s seat and rounded the vehicle. He saw the blank stares meeting his… and knew his was likely the same. “What is this?” Colt asked.
“Dunno,” Jax said. “But we need to find out.” He turned toward the front door and felt the others trailing him.
“Where’s Ryan?” Linc asked.
“He’s finishing up the new pipes for Ulmstead Numero Uno’s bathroom and couldn’t get away.”
Damien’s boyfriend, Lucas, opened the front door before they could barely reach it and ushered them inside. The look on his face didn’t help Jax’s nerves. They followed Lucas onto the back deck where Damien was talking loudly into a cell phone and waving his hands around.
“Just sell the shares,” Damien said. “All of them.” He paused, listening in. “I don’t care if I’ll take a penalty. Just fucking sell them and call me back.”
Damien ended the call and tossed the phone onto the patio table, growling in what appeared frustration. He turned to the guys, looking crestfallen.
“What’s going on, Damien?” Jax said.
“I screwed up,” he answered, shoving his hands into the pockets of his chinos. “Not to the point we can’t fix things, but it’s going to stretch us thin.” Damien pinched his nose. “I’m going to fix things. No matter what.”
“What the fuck did you do?” Linc asked,
“When you guys approached me about buying Kent Street… I didn’t have all the capital for the loan. We had to put up thirty percent to get the deal they offered… and I had a chunk of my cash tied up in several other projects. I didn’t want to let you down—and I only knew of one place where I could get that kind of dough.”
“Your criminal cousins,” Golden said, shaking his head.
“And they want their money back. Now,” Jax said, guessing the answer.
Damien nodded. “They want their money back. Now.”
Jax’s head was on overload. Kent Street had been a gamble… had been from day one, even without the addition of the mafia to the equation. A few towns over, three blocks of an old, failing commercial district was in the process of being renovated from the ground up. A new, LGBT-friendly corridor of businesses was springing up and already gaining a lot of news.
Jason had seen the news about the project and had driven over one day soon after to take a look. Block after block of vacant homes surrounded the new commercial district… and where there were new businesses going in, Jason had suggested they scoop up the properties parallel to Kent Street and flip them. His excitement about the project had been contagious.
Jason hadn’t had the funds to buy such a large project on his own, especially as his own flipping business had been in peril. The mill in the town he’d been doing renovations in had closed down, leaving thousands jobless. Houses had been put up for sale all over town… and Jason was left sitting on two completed properties that he couldn’t sell… and no prospect for more to come. Linkland was just too far from Los Angeles to tempt those who were willing to commute.
Soon after, Jason and his guys had come to work with JLC—and not long after that—had convinced them in investing in Kent Street.
It hadn’t been a bad investment. The renovations had already proving to be profitable. Jason had completed twelve houses and all had sold in no time, most for over asking price.
But twelve homes completed out of the fifty-six homes and sixty brownstones they’d scooped up was a drop in the proverbial bucket.
“How much do we owe them?” Colt asked, fury written all over his face.
“We’ve paid them over half, but it’s still close to two million,” Damien said.
Jax did some mental math and felt his whole body stiffen. They had maybe half that figure saved up.
“We have it, don’t we?” Linc asked.
“Liquid? No,” Damien said. “We’ve still got millions tied up on Kent Street, as well as numerous other projects here.”
“How much do we have in our account, Jax?” Linc asked.
“A little over a million,” he answered.
“I’m selling off everything I can to add to the pot to make this right,” Damien said. “After that… I gotta get out of here.”
“Why?” Jax asked, concerned. Damien had become a true friend to them, mistake be damned. The worried look on Damien’s face spoke volumes.
“My cousins want to come out to L.A., but if I’m here, they’re going to come here, too. I won’t bring them to this town… I won’t involve you guys in anything… so I need to leave.”
“But you’ve already involved us,” Colt said.
Damien sighed, pinching his nose. “They don’t know what I needed the money for.”
“We do,” Colt said. “Who knows where they got it from. Now the whole project feels… tainted.”
“We couldn’t borrow money from the bank… to then pay the bank to borrow money. Thirty percent down, remember. That was a huge chunk of cash. I know how excited you guys and Jason were for this project… I didn’t want to let you down.” Damien paused, his face a mask of pain. “Yet that’s exactly what I did. I’m sorry.” Damien’s phone rang, and he drew it from his pocket. “Excuse me a moment.”
He walked to the corner of the patio to talk, leaving them all there to stew. Jax’s brain was churning, trying to figure a way out.
“How much you got stashed in your savings?” Colt asked Jax.
“Two hundred thousand,” Jax answered.
“I’ve got close to the same amount,” Colt said before turning to Linc. “You?”
“Less. Between the wedding, the reno on the mansion, and the honeymoon we’ve already pushed back twice,” Linc sighed and eyed his husband, Chance. “We’ve got maybe a hundred fifty thousand, if that.”
“If only I hadn’t donated my grandmother’s money to charity,” Golden added on a sigh. “I could’ve covered it.”
“You did the right thing,” Jax said, squeezing Golden’s hand. “That money went to help the right people, so don’t stress about it.” He squeezed his husband’s hand again, and Golden turned to look at him. “Like I said… we’ll figure it out.”
Golden met his stare and smiled, but it didn’t quite go to his eyes.
“We never should’ve brought in an outsider,” Linc spat.
“That’s unfair,” Lucas said from the fringes. “Damien made one mistake. One. And he had the best intentions when he did it.” Lucas turned to Golden. “How long have you two been friends?”
“A long, long time,” Golden said. “Damien has always been there when I needed help. He helped you grow JLC.”
“And just might be the demise of it, too,” Colt said.
“He’ll find a way to fix it,” Golden added to Jax. “He won’t leave you guys hanging.”
“I hope you’re right,” Jax replied. He hoped like hell Damien wouldn’t leave them hanging. He didn’t think the man would, but then, he’d been disappointed by other people before.
“So we find a way to come up with the rest,” Colt said. “Maybe we sell our houses and all move in together. We did it before. We can do it again.”
“I’m not selling Golden’s grandmother’s house… or the lake house. Giving them everything would wipe us completely out and leave no room for error. We’d be cash poor,” Jax said. “I don’t like the idea.” He shook his head. “Maybe we sell off some of the Kent Street properties to another contractor?”
“And that makes it look like we aren’t able to do the job, when we are,” Linc said. “Perception is everything. That could affect the sales of the houses we still did own.”
“I have to agree with Linc,” Chance said. Chance was also their realtor and bought and sold almost all of their projects, along with Damien’s boyfriend, Lucas.
“We need to jump in and get those houses done. As in yesterday,” Linc said. “We sell them and refill the bank account.”
Jax turned to Linc and Colt. “We can’t finish the houses—and do them right—and get them sold—in a matter of days,” Jax said. “If they want the money now, we can’t do now. At least, not that way.”
Damien ended his call and walked back over. “That was my broker. He sold off a chunk of my portfolio… so I can add in five hundred G’s to repay my cousins.”
“That’ll help greatly,” Jax said. “Thank you.”
“I got us in this mess. I’m going to try to get us out of it,” Damien said. “Lucas has listed a few properties for me and if we can get them off my hands, I can repay more of that debt.”
“That, with what we have in the bank and our savings… would just about do it,” Colt said.
“And if we all jump in to finish Kent Street, we can fix the cash poor issue immediately,” Linc said.
“What about the projects here?” Jax said. “We start demo on Elm Street tomorrow. We’ve got the pair of houses over on Ulmstead still under renovation. Every one of us has three houses we’re working on simultaneously. We can’t just drop those.”
“Zach just finished up his project. He and his crew can go help Jason,” Golden tossed out.
“One extra crew isn’t going to help things,” Jax said. “And you’re just trying to get rid of him.”
Golden lifted a brow. “Maybe… but it could help. As the projects come to a close here, you start sending your guys to the Kent Street project until everyone is busting ass there to get things done.”
“That sounds good,” Linc said. “Except for the get rid of Zach part.” Linc paused and looked between them. “He not doing the job? Do we want to send someone to help if he’s not pulling his weight?”
“Zach’s doing an amazing job,” Jax said. “Might be the best foreman we have and he’s only been with us a couple of months.”
“Three,” Golden corrected before crossing his arms over his chest.
Colt frowned. “What’s the deal then?”
“Nothing,” Jax spat. “We have bigger fish to fry.”
“You don’t like Zach?” Colt asked Golden. “Why?”
“It’s nothing,” Jax interjected.
“If it impacts the job he’s doing?” Linc asked. “It’s not nothing.”
“Zach wants to get into Jax’s pants,” Golden snapped.
Both Linc and Colt began to shake their heads.
“You’re jealous?” Chance asked Golden. “Seriously?”
“Maybe I am…” Golden shrugged before meeting Jax’s eyes. “I’d only share him with you guys. No one else. We’ve got a connection. Zach isn’t a part of that.”
“As long as the reason isn’t professional,” Linc said, rolling his eyes. “Then send him on to help Jason.”
“Yeah, Zach can have Jax’s clone,” Chance said.
Golden laughed. “Hadn’t thought about that,” he said before dragging Jax closer. “I got the better version anyway.”
“You make it sound like Jason’s the evil twin,” Jax said.
“Not evil. Just not my man,” Golden said before lifting his head to capture Jax’s lips.