David

“Lucas will see you now David.”

Marcus looked a little nervous, but I wasn’t going to take his cue. After everything that I had been through, there wasn’t much of anything that I was actually afraid of. The only thing that I was afraid of was to lose what I had. Carol was mine and I couldn’t fathom losing her, not for anything. It had been almost a week that I stayed over at her place and even less time that we were actually out of bed. She didn’t want me to go and that was reason enough for me.

I moved into the room that Lucas used as an office. Last meeting was done in one of his establishments. This time it felt more secluded and I still didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Was I just walking into another trap because of what I had done to one of his men? I knew it was a possibility.

“Thanks for seeing me Lucas.”

“It has been hard to get a hold of you. I was looking for you a week ago.”

“Had to get back in fighting form, so I took a couple of days off.”

“I think you were doing fine when you got out of the hospital. It doesn’t seem like you took much time before you were out in the streets causing mayhem.”

He was talking about Leo and everything that had happened with him. I wasn’t going to tell him everything that happened, but I knew that Marcus had. He worked for Lucas after all, not me.

“Had to take care of a few things. Up north we like to retaliate right away.”

“I have always liked to let someone sit and stew a little while first.”

“I guess I don’t have the patience for all of that.”

“No, I guess you don’t.”

I wasn’t sure if he was mad or not. It didn’t seem like he was, but I couldn’t tell. I didn’t know Lucas, about as much as he didn’t know me. At the end of the day, I had made things harder for him when I got rid of his men. It had to be done, that much I know, but I had to wonder if there would have been a better way. I should have talked to him first before I started stomping heads, but it was too late for that now.

“Have you thought about my offer?”

“I didn’t know if it was still on the table.”

“Why, because of what you did to Leo, Brauns, Keith and Javone?”

“There was a couple more.”

Lucas chuckled. “Yeah, but they aren’t with me, so they don’t count.”

“Oh.” What else was I supposed to say?

“Yes the offer is still on the table. Leo was on his way out and the rest weren’t much help. I need someone like you more than I need someone like them.”

“Good, then I will take it.”

“Are you going to be able to abide by my rules?”

“What are they?”

“Pretty standard, but one that you might have a problem with is coming to me first before making a big play like that. You caused a lot of damage and I don’t want the cops sniffing around. We like to keep things quiet.”

“It was brought to my door, so I had to take care of it.”

“You should have come to me first.”

I nodded my head in agreement. I knew that I should have, it was a sign of respect, but I couldn’t. “Things happened pretty fast and I didn’t think about it.”

Lucas sat back in his seat. “I just don’t want a rogue man working for me. We do things together and you get my okay.”

“I don’t see that happening again.”

“After what you did to them, I think not.” He was smiling and I was going to take that as a good sign. The last thing I wanted to do was make him angry. He was the boss of a big gang, not someone that I wanted against me. It had turned out the best way that I know how.

“I just did what I had to.”

“No, I heard about it all. Marcus has never been one to get spooked.”

“I spooked him?”

Lucas looked towards the closed door. “Yeah you did. He is my nephew and I want him to be fearless, but I did tell him some fear is good. It keeps us alive.”

I didn’t know what to say. Lucas was getting off topic and before long we were back to the job that I had agreed to. It wasn’t that hard to figure out what it was he wanted me to do. He wanted someone to get their hands dirty for him and I have never had a problem with that.

“You do for me, what you did for you and I will make you a wealthy man. I know that having you around, things are going to change pretty quick.”

“Are you having troubles?”

“Marcus tries, but he needs someone with him, someone that can teach him a thing or two.”

“That is what you want me to do?”

“You already are and you have some integrity. That is who I want my nephew working with. It would be good for both of us. You get a bigger piece of the pie and Marcus gets what he needs to one day take over for me. Everyone wins.”

We shook hands on the deal and though he wanted to sit and drink a while, I had another place to be that was calling to me.

“Where are you off to in such a rush?”

“Got to go see my girl.”

Lucas’ brow went up. “Is this the one that you tracked down and saved on that boat?”

He did know everything and I groaned a little. Carol was my weakness and I didn’t want everyone to know that. It would put her in danger and make me look soft. Both of those options are dangerous.

“Yeah, that’s the one. Some women are hard to forget.”

Lucas nodded and smiled to himself. I had a feeling that he had a woman in his life that he couldn’t shake either. Sometimes that was just how it was supposed to be and I knew that there was a reason that I had met Carol. I didn’t believe in fate, but with her, it was hard not to. She was the one for me and no matter what happened next, it would be okay if she was by my side.

THE END