Emmett was practically bouncing with excitement in the 4X4, following the turn of events in Billy Black's restaurant and now the prospect of seeing Harry Clearwater. Jasper and Peter were sitting closer to one another in the back, whispering quietly in hushed tones. I was unsure just what they were talking about; it was both too quiet and too fast for me to pick it up.
The atmosphere in the car was tense following the incident with Jacob Black. Jasper was beyond pissed. You could almost feel his anger rolling off him in thick waves as the car sped down towards Harry's car lot. Jasper was, without a doubt, planning his next move and the next two after that.
There was no telling what Billy Black would do next, not to mention Harry Clearwater. Of course, Billy wouldn't go running to the police over this matter, he would risk too much if they were to become any more involved then they already were. Billy didn't need the cops snooping around, his business would crumble and, not to mention, he would be faced with a nice prison sentence. I couldn't know for sure, but I had a strong feeling that his cover wasn't as water tight as Jasper's.
With Jasper and Peter sitting next to each other, talking fast and in hushed tones, I wasn't sure what they were plotting, but knowing Jasper it wasn't going to be pretty. He wanted the matter dealt with now, words like 'moving', 'completed' and 'ended' were being repeated. I knew Jasper had a drug shipment due to touch the docks this evening, yet I wasn't sure when. The information had come a little too late to clarify when, where and what it was. The shipment, if it was in fact drugs, would be hitting the streets by sunrise at the very latest.
Shipments came in all the time for Jasper, both legal and illegal. Without the information at hand, there was no way I could stop the shipment from arriving. Border patrol would not stop every single shipment coming in unless they were sure that it contained something illegal. Whatever was arriving this evening, and on top of today's events, was causing Jasper a great deal of stress. He wanted to make sure that his transaction with the shipment went without a hitch.
"Boss? We're here," Emmett announced as the car came to a stop.
Looking out the window, I noticed we had stopped outside of a used car dealership. The cars that sat on the lot were at least ten years old, and none of them held any value or were classics. Unable to stop myself at the sight of it, I snorted, which earned a grin from Jasper.
"Boys, lets get to work," Jasper demanded as he exited the car.
Climbing out, Jasper popped the boot and pulled out a sledgehammer. He passed one to me, Emmett and Peter, before slamming the boot down and walking through the lot with Peter and Emmett at his flanks.
"Harry!" Jasper shouted as he stopped in the middle of the lot. "Come out now, before I do some damage!"
Jasper stayed relaxed and composed, staring right ahead at the office door on the car lot, waiting for Harry to come out. Emmett was already swinging his sledgehammer around, waiting to start hitting something, while Peter had his resting on his shoulder.
"Harry, I will not warn you again. Come out now, before I do damage." Jasper nodded at Emmett, who began smashing the hood of a car creating deep dents in the bodywork. "Last chance, Harry!"
Jasper stared dead ahead, watching, waiting and planning. Emmett, who was now uncontrollable with excitement, was slamming into his next target. Jasper seemed to pay no mind to it, instead he began walking towards the office door. Pulling his gun out of his jacket, he looked over his shoulder at me.
"Mason?" One word to me, and his head was back looking at the door.
Taking note, I began to follow Jasper as he crept cautiously towards the office. Stopping just short of the door, Jasper looked at me, and nodded, before kicking the door down. I wasn't sure what I had been expecting behind that door, whether it was a load of Harry's boys sitting in wait or not, I do know I wasn't expecting this.
Jasper became frozen to the spot, as he took in the scene before. Everything was gone. Harry, who it would seem was a lot smarter than Billy, had moved shop leaving a few cars behind that were worth nothing. Looking at Jasper, I could see his body begin to shake with rage. He had, just as I had, been expecting Harry to be there, or one of his goons. Seeing the place completely empty, with all files gone, meant that this trip was now redundant. There was no point in ripping this place apart if Harry had moved on to another spot, it would only be wasting Jasper's time.
Turning on his heel, Jasper, marched past me with a murderous look across his face. I had seen Jasper pissed off before, but right now I don't think pissed off even began to cover what he was feeling.
"Harry's cleared out!" Jasper shouted, stopping Emmett and Peter from their work. "Keys, now!" he demanded. "Get down to the docks now. I want that shipment in before anyone can fuck with it. I lose that shipment and someone will lose their fucking balls, do I make myself clear?"
Not giving them time to answer, Jasper walked towards the car and got in. The car shot off seconds later, tires screeching across the tarmac as he went. I looked over to Peter, who just shrugged his shoulders and began making phone calls as Emmett slapped his hand on my shoulder.
"Jasper has gone to fuck someone. It's his stress relief. He's off cooling off and we are heading down to the docks," Emmett informed me as he sat on the hood of one of the cars. "I do wonder though," he mumbled more to himself. "Why Jasper left you here?"
"What do you mean? Left me here?"
"You know exactly what I mean. Don't think I haven't noticed the looks you two give each other when the other isn't looking." Emmett beamed at me, like he had figured out something amazing.
"There is nothing going on between Jasper and me, Emmett. Sorry to disappoint you." Walking off, I headed towards where Peter was standing.
I couldn't help but let Emmett's words effect me. Sure, there was nothing between us, and there never would be, I was here to bring him down and nothing more. Yet, knowing he was off to go fuck a guy into next week hurt. Trying to push off the feeling, I shoved my hands in my pockets and looked at the ground.
"Shipment is on time. They dock in twenty," Peter said as a black 4X4 with tinted windows pulled up.
"What are we doing with Mason?" Emmett asked as he walked across the lot towards us.
"We'll drop him off," Peter answered with a smile. "You get the night off, Mason. Go and find some pretty boy and fuck it out of your system."
"What is with you guys being so concerned with me and fucking?" I asked as Emmett snickered, earning himself a dirty look from Peter.
"I still say they need to fuck each other and all will be good."
"Emmett, what have you been told about this shit?" Peter asked. Emmett grinned and opened the door to the 4X4.
"I have money on this shit," he declared.
Rolling my eyes at Emmett, I got in the back of the 4X4 and ignored everyone inside while my mind went on some roller-coaster ride. Emmett's words of having a bet, him mentioning Jasper fucking someone, and mentioning Jasper period, my feelings for him and the shipment, all battled to be my focus.
What I should have been doing was listening in, seeing if I could find out what was coming in and where it was going. I should have been gaining more and looking at a way to make this shipment stick to Jasper, if it was illegal. Yet, what I was doing was sulking.
The ride back to my apartment was short. The 4x4 had moved quickly through the streets in order to drop me off and make it to the docks in time for the arrival. There was no doubt in my mind that there was already another team waiting for it to arrive. Jasper had men working for him all over. Whatever was coming in was important to him if he had Peter and Emmett oversee it.
Cursing myself for not taking better notes in the car ride of what it was, I made a mental note to check the drug distributions in the area tomorrow morning. By then it would be too late, but I would at least know that Jasper was still controlling the majority of the drug distribution.
Climbing out the car, I mumbled my goodbyes, hearing Emmett's piss talking about Jasper and me. Brushing it off, I made my way into the apartment complex and headed to my door. Unlocking the front door and walking in, I closed it behind me with a sigh and dropped the keys on the side table.
Flicking the light on, I jumped slightly as I noticed Jasper sitting on sofa. Blinking a few times, I tried to figure out how he got in when the door was still locked. Jasper made no attempt to talk to me, instead he chose to just stare at me. His jacket was off, and thrown over the back of a chair. He was leaning forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees with a bottle of beer in his hands.
"How the fuck did you get in here?" I finally managed to ask.
"Doesn't matter how, the fact is, I got in. End of discussion," Jasper said before taking a long swig of his beer.
"You just came into my home, unannounced and you're not even going to tell me how?" I snapped as I made my way towards him.
"Got you a beer," he said as he pointed to the beer bottles lining the coffee table. "Sit fucking down, Mas. I can assure you that nothing has been touched or looked through, I'm here to talk."
"Talk? Thought you went off to fuck some stress out of you." Jasper smirked at me, all too knowing about the fact that Emmett had passed on this information and it had gotten to me.
"I did. That was my plan. I told you before, fucking is a good stress relief and right now, I am under a lot of it," he answered as he sat back on the sofa and continued to stare at me.
"Did you?" You just asked him if he fucked someone. Way to go, Edward. Nothing says I'm jealous than damn right accusing.
"Would you be bothered if I had?"
"No, not in the slightest. Who you fuck is up to you," I replied as I sat down and picked up a beer, hoping that I had actually sounded as though I didn't give a shit.
"You're lying, Mas. It would bother you." Jasper's smugness rolled off him in thick waves, lining the room with it.
"You think so?"
"I know so. You know I like you, I'm not denying I like you," he answered. "But to answer your question, I thought about it, but I didn't go through with it. I figured I could fuck you instead."
"And who says I want to fuck you?"
"I'm tired of playing your bullshit games with you, Mas. Just cave already, I know you want to," Jasper snickered out.
"Well, you're gonna be tired for a long time," I answered. "Besides, you don't bottom and neither do I."
"We'll see about that one." Jasper stood from his spot on the sofa and moved towards me. "Admit it, you've thought about me and you together, fucking."
"So what if I have? I don't deny you're good looking." Sighing, my eyes ran up Jasper's body as he stood in front of me. "I don't want you, Jasper."
As the words left my mouth, I saw a flicker of hurt cross his eyes before he masked himself again and placed his half drunk bottle of beer on the coffee table. Watching him closely, I expected to see him grab his jacket and leave; instead I found his hands on my shoulders pushing me back further into the sofa.
Not saying a word, he took the beer bottle out of my hands and placed it next to his. Jasper moved slowly, and cautiously, taking hold of my wrists as he straddled my waist. Keeping hold of my wrists, we stared at each other. His warm, beer fuelled breath fanned my face.
"No more games, Mas," he whispered before crashing his lips to mine.
Releasing my wrists from his grasp, my lips parted on their own accord, allowing his tongue to brush against mine as his arms went around my neck. My hands rested on the base of his back, pulling him closer to me as our lips moved perfectly with each other's. Our tongues brushed and lapsed, tasting one another slowly, as though it was the first time we had kissed.
Rocking my hips against his ass, I could feel Jasper begin to harden and press against my stomach. Squeezing his arse cheeks hard in my hands, Jasper growled into my mouth and became more dominating in the kiss. Lips, teeth, and tongues clashed in some primal battle. Hands gripped and tugged at one another, pulling clothing up and allowing fingertips to touch each other's skin.
Giving into my need, my fingers began to undo the buttons on his shirt just as his phone rang. Breaking apart, Jasper's cheeks were flushed pink as he panted slightly.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" Jasper cursed as he dug his phone out of his pocket. "This better be fucking good, Emmett," he snapped out down the phone.
Climbing off me, I watched Jasper walk towards the window and look out over the night's sky. "Tell that son of bitch not to fucking mess with me tonight. I am in no fucking mood." Jasper turned and looked at me, winking despite the ever growing pissed off look he had on his face. "Do not make me come fucking down there. I turn up there and some fucker is gonna have a fucking bad day. Do I make myself clear, Emmett?" Jasper's chest heaved with anger as he spoke. "Good, make sure it touches base."
Jasper snapped the phone shut and threw it on the sofa. I watched as he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.
"Trouble?" I asked leaning forward and picking up my beer.
"Just some cunt that thinks he can pull one over on me," he breathed out before opening his eyes and smiling at me. "Now, where were we?"
Opening my mouth to answer, I was cut off by Jasper's phone going again. He growled out loudly, snatching the phone off the sofa. "What the fuck now?" Jasper began to pace the room as he listened. "Are you fucking incapable of sorting this out?" he snapped. "You and I are going to have a long fucking talk, Emmett. I'm on my way, and this better be worth my fucking time." Snapping his phone shut, he shoved it in his pocket and picked up his jacket.
"Bad news?"
"If you want something done, you have to do it yourself. If the fucking moron thought more about his job than pussy, I wouldn't be having this problem." Throwing on his jacket, he picked up his beer and downed it. Getting to my feet, I went to walk Jasper to the door, unsure of what to actually do next. "We will continue this later, babe." Jasper pressed his lips softly against mine, just once, before he walked out the door.
XXXXXXX
The following morning, I found myself standing in Jasper's office with slightly bruised and swollen lips. I had been expecting Emmett to pass comment, considering Jasper's lips weren't much better, but he never so much as raised an eyebrow.
Word of Billy Black's restaurant going up in flames and his son being knee capped had spread around the underground like wild fire. Everybody knew that Jasper was behind it. Even if they hadn't heard it from Billy or Jacob Black, it was obvious that Jasper was the man to blame. Since it had gone down, people were slowly distancing themselves, not wanting to be caught in the cross fire that was bound to take place.
Jasper had been waiting for Billy Black to show his face, or at the very least, Harry Clearwater. Four days had passed since Billy Black's restaurant had been torched and Jasper was growing impatient. A tip off had been given to Jasper, that Billy was intending to make his way here today. The tip off had come from an unreliable source, and even though it was unreliable, Jasper was taking no chances. He had Emmett, Peter, Garret, and me sitting in his office waiting to see if this tip off was going to come to light or not.
The club was still closed following the raid, which wasn't helping Jasper's bad mood. Jasper had wanted the club to be back open and turning over a profit by now, and the delay in it re-opening was having an effect on us all.
"Looks like we got trouble," Peter said as he looked at the CCTV monitor, showing Billy Black and two of his lackeys walking into the club.
"About time. Emmett, open the door. Let's not delay this any longer," Jasper ordered as he straightened his suit jacket.
Within minutes of Emmett opening the door, footsteps could be heard coming up the staircase, followed by Billy Black and two others walking into the office. Billy looked round the room, before settling his eyes on Jasper. Smirking, Jasper looked at the two guys Billy Black had brought with him. In all fairness, the two looked like local druggies who were doing this for an extra score more than anything else.
Walking to the desk, Billy dropped a large brown envelope on it. Jasper looked at the envelope and back to Billy who now had his hands resting on the desk looking down at Jasper. Relaxing back in the chair, Jasper smirked and picked up the envelope.
"And this is?" he asked, not bothering to open it.
"The bill. How much it's going to cost me to reopen the restaurant and Jacob's medical bill," Billy seethed. "You knee capped my son, how dare you?"
"Firstly, this bill? Well, you have a better chance of Jacob competing for Olympic gold than you do of me paying out. And, as for Jacob? He was given many chances to tell me what I needed, he didn't, so I made him talk," Jasper answered in a calm tone, yet full of authority.
"He's just a boy!" Billy screamed at Jasper causing him to chuckle.
"Well, if you are going to leave a boy to play a man's game, then don't come crying when he gets hurt. Thing is, Billy, thanks to your son, he happened to inform me just who gave the tip off about Sam. So, you being here right now is either incredibility stupid or you have some nerve," he said.
"You should know that I'll extract my revenge for what you have done to my son," Billy threatened.
Jasper rose from his chair, placing his hands on the table and locking eyes with Billy Black. "Don't make threats you cannot keep, Billy. You're playing a dangerous game with me, one in which you would be wise to back away from before you get hurt."
"I'll make sure that this threat isn't empty, Jasper," Billy almost growled back, making Jasper smirk once more.
"Oh, really? You mean you want to come and play with the big boys?" Jasper laughed slightly, a sickening and cruel laugh. "You don't have the balls or the power to play my games."
"That's what you think, Whitlock. I'll make you pay, mark my words and watch your back." Billy moved back from the table slightly. "You're out of your depth."
"Really?" Jasper snickered. "Yet, you're the one that went running off to the police with a tip off? Billy, did you really think you could do that and not feel my wrath from it? If you did, you're dumber than I gave you credit for."
"It was an easy way for you to leave, and you failed to do so." Jasper picked up the brown envelope, and thrust it at Billy Black.
"Get out of my office, Billy. If it's war you want, it's war you'll get." Billy snatched the envelope out of Jasper's hand. "Remember I offered you a get out when you're begging and pleading for your sad life."
Billy glanced around the room, marking us all, before looking at the two guys he had brought with him. "I wouldn't, if I were you. You're out numbered and these two look as though the only thing they can shoot is a needle into their arms," Jasper spat.
Tension rose inside the office. Jasper never moved an inch, as he kept his eyes locked on Billy. Billy's eyes roamed the room, once again weighing his options up before settling them back on Jasper. No doubt during Billy's little eye dance he would have noticed that everyone, bar Jasper, him and his goons had moved.
Emmett, Peter, Garrett, and myself had flocked around them, effectively closing them off and taking away any means of escape should Billy choose to do something stupid.
"This is far from over, Whitlock," Billy spat as he turned on his heel. "You'll pay," he called out as he walked out the door.
The door closed, and the room fell silent. Everyone seemed to be waiting for Jasper to do or say something. His head was down, and he was staring at the desk in front of him with his eyes wide and out of focus.
"I want everything on full lock down. Nothing comes in or out without my say so," Jasper demanded as he lifted his head. "I want details. I want to know who he is talking to and what his full connections are. I want to know where and when he is talking to them. Every move that Billy Black makes I want to know. If the man takes a shit, I want to know. Do I make myself clear?" J asper asked as he opened up his desk drawer.
"What about Harry Clearwater? You know he'll go to Harry and try and bring him on board if he plans to go to war with you," Peter mentioned, already going through his phone.
"Both. I want details. I want zero dealings with either of them. Check the contractors for the buildings, if one of them has so much as said hi to either, pull them off the site," Jasper ordered, handing Emmett a file.
"Find out where Harry is, cut him off as need be. I want all their contact gone so they're on their own," Jasper said as he walked past me, towards the office door. "Details by the end of the day, I want a full file detailing everything. Get to work on it."
"Boss?" Garrett called up. Jasper looked at him, waiting for him to speak. "Harry jumped country, he's in Italy. I just got confirmation of him being seen in the airport."
"He's gone there? Hmm," he pondered tapping his chin with his long fingers. "Keep tabs on him, I'll speak to Italy tonight."
Italy? What connections did Jasper have there? From all the work and information we had on him, there was never the slightest mention of him and Italy. And, as far as I was aware, Jasper hadn't stepped foot on Italian soil, nor had he had any dealings with anyone from there, so what was the connection? I needed to get in touch with HQ and see if they could find anything out about it, if Jasper had connections in Italy, and Harry did, this war could turn nasty fast.
"Mas?" Jasper's voice brought me out of my thoughts. Looking around the room, I noticed that we were the only ones left.
"Sorry, what do you want me to do?" I asked. Jasper smiled at me, and for the briefest of seconds, he allowed his face to soften.
"I need you to stay here and make sure this place is open by tomorrow night. I want no fucking bullshit from them. Whatever it costs, tell them to do it, okay?" he asked.
"Sure."
Jasper leaned forward and brushed his lips to mine, just once, before pulling back. "See you tonight?"
"Tonight?" Jasper chuckled at me and then sighed.
"Emmett's birthday? You didn't think you wouldn't be invited, did you?" Jasper asked.
"Well, I assumed I would be working it, covering the VIP area. But now with the club not being open..." I trailed off not completely sure where I was actually going with this.
"It's at mine, get hold of Emmett and he'll give you the details to my place," he said as his phone started ringing. "Fuck, it seems like I can't catch a break with you, can I?"
"Maybe it's a sign that this is a bad idea." Wishful thinking there, Edward.
"I told you last night, I'm not playing games anymore," he smirked at me.
"You think because we kissed last night that I'm about to jump into bed with you?" I snapped back a little defensively.
"I don't think, I know. You and I both know that if my phone hadn't of gone off, you would've been waking up this morning thoroughly fucked." Jasper smirked at me, cockiness rolling off his every word. "See you later."