Tough Guy: A Hero Club Novel by Jamie Schmidt (the reading list .TXT) 📗

“You wanted to see me?” I said to Leonidas while Ginny writhed all over him.

“That’s good enough, sweetheart.” Leonidas gave Ginny’s ass a sharp slap.

Ginny met my eyes. I raised my eyebrow. Did she want me to do something about it? She gave a slight shake of her head.

“Keep your hands to yourself,” I said mildly instead of throwing him out.

“Ginny doesn’t mind? Do you?”

“No, Leo. Not with you,” she simpered and swayed away on her five-inch stilettos.

“Don’t touch my dancers,” I said again, just in case he was going to try that shit with any of the others.

“Relax. I didn’t come here to cause problems.”

“That’s good. Why are you here then?” I nodded as the waitress handed me my club soda and lime. I did a double take. It was Zeke’s sister. Liu must have hired her when I wasn’t here. I’d have to make sure everything was in order with payroll. Or maybe I could let my people do their jobs. It was tough to let go of all of the responsibility, but I was getting there.

“We heard about your problem the other night with the gas leak.”

“It was a prank.”

“A costly one.”

I grunted.

“We could stop things like that from happening.”

“I told you two years ago I wasn’t interested in protection.” I eyed the other three gang members. One of them blanched and looked away. He was probably one of the ones I’d sent to the hospital.

“And you don’t need it. Your reputation precedes you. But the utility companies don’t give a damn if you’re Europe’s hottest floor man. We could have gotten you back in business within the hour.”

I had to consciously unclench my jaw. “That would have been helpful.” I was being shaken down, and this time it was because Leonidas had bribed people in public works. There wasn’t much I could do about that. “How much is this insurance going to cost me?”

“Ten grand a month,” Leonidas said pleasantly.

“Go fuck yourself,” I said in the same tone.

The three goons went to stand up, but Leonidas waved them to sit back down again. “I actually like you, Miles. I liked your uncle too. No one here wants to see Dalton’s go the way Uncle Johnny’s did.”

I saw Grier sit down at a nearby table and pay Ginny to give him a lap dance. He was close enough to hear the conversation and Ginny dancing on him was a good cover.

“That kind of cash would impact my profits enough that I’d close within a year. I don’t have that many gas leaks called in to warrant paying the Rivs protection money.” I didn’t raise my voice, but I hoped Grier was getting this anyway.

“These pranks have a way of escalating,” Leonidas said. “How did the fire start in Uncle Johnny’s Gentlemen’s Club?”

“It was faulty wiring,” one of his goons said.

“I heard it wasn’t up to code,” another said.

“How’s your wiring looking?” Leonidas asked with an air of innocence.

I was going to kill him. I had a moment to consider leaping across the table and banging that smug smile into the floor. The other three would be on my unprotected back with knives. I couldn’t count on Grier to break cover and help me. A quick glance around the room told me that my security team would be a few seconds too late.

“Are you saying the Rivs could have stopped Uncle Johnny’s from burning down?”

A shadow crossed Leonidas’ face. “You’re doubting my word?”

“I’m considering your offer. Did you give my uncle the same deal?”

“We weren’t operating this street back then.”

I hadn’t thought so.

“Trouble,” Highway said in my ear. I looked up and Jackie was coming straight for us. Shit. I didn’t want her to be any part of this.

“Who was?” I said casually. “That information would be worth more to me than greasing bureaucrats.”

I saw Mav step in front of Jackie and escort her back to the dressing room. One less thing to worry about.

“Five thousand up front and I’ll give you the names of the people responsible.”

“How do I know you’d give me the right people?”

Leonidas gave a nasty laugh. “They’re trying to reclaim old territory. The Rivs aren’t going to give it to them.”

“I’m going to need proof that they did it.”

“I can’t give you a signed confession, but you should be able to beat one out of them. If you got rid of them, it would be doing us a favor.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Shouldn’t you be paying me, then?”

“It doesn’t work that way,” Leonidas said. “My cousin speaks very highly of you. If he hadn’t . . . well, that’s not even worth talking about. You bring me five thousand dollars and the Rivs will leave Dalton’s alone. We won’t help, but we won’t trash the place. In return, you take the men who murdered your uncle and burned down his club and make them go away.”

I hoped Grier was getting all of this. “I don’t have the cash tonight, but I can get it for you by noon tomorrow.”

“Noon is good enough.” Leonidas nodded.

“If you gentlemen will excuse me then, I’ve got a club to run.” I dragged the chair back and plopped it at Grier’s table. He didn’t look up from Kikki, and I walked back to the dressing room.

The five dancers were in various state of undress when I walked in. Ginny ambushed me with a hug before I could stop her.

“I knew you couldn’t live without me.” She missed kissing me because I ducked away.

“Knock it off,” I growled.

Jackie leaned up against the wall with her arms crossed. She raised an eyebrow.

“What did Leonidas want?” Ginny asked.

“None of your fucking business. If you want to know so bad, go back and ask him. VIP room three is free.” Shit. If she could do that, I could set Grier up in my office to listen in.

“Fine,” she drawled. “Are you fucking the new girl?” Ginny pointed at Jackie. “Because rumor has it, you are.”

“Yes,” Jackie said,