Page 79 of The Don

“What are you talking about?”

“What’s he promised you?”

Jesse pulls his shoulders back and stands to his full height. “You can fuck yourself.” He points at me as he steps into my space with anger.

I advance forward and square up with him, ready to fucking slit his throat. “You want him, you can have him. But he’s playing you.”

“What are you talking about?”

I hear the grass crunching from behind me, but I indicate for them to stop. It’s either Dominic or Dante, or both of them. “Your men didn’t hit my clubs?”

“Yeah, we did. And you fucking killed them all.”

“Is that the only time?”

“Listen, old man, I don’t have to answer any of your fucking questions.”

“We have a common enemy, you fucking idiot.”

He backs away from me and glances to my men over my shoulder. He’s figured my men outnumber his. “Count yourself lucky,” he says. “You won’t be next time.”

This president is going to get his entire chapter killed because he’s so fucking naïve. He can’t control his ego long enough to listen to anything I have to say. At least I know that Adrian is playing him like a fiddle. Jesse continues walking backward, lifts his hand in the air, and makes a circular motion. His men all mount their bikes, spark them alive, and take off.

“What the fuck was that about?” Dominic asks as he approaches me.

“It was a fucking pissing competition.”

“What a waste of time,” Dominic replies.

I turn and look at him. Shaking my head, I smirk. “Not for us.”

“What?” Dominic casts a careful eye at the back of the motorbikes.

“The president is full of ego, but he told me Adrian’s given them twenty pounds of cocaine and they only hit the club recently.” Dominic and I stay in the field while we discuss what I was able to learn in my short interaction with the Fallen president.

Dominic pinches the bridge of his nose. “Wait, we’ve been working on the assumption that the first time the three clubs were hit when Adrian disappeared, that the ones who hit it were the Fallen, and Adrian had fed them information.”

“Exactly.”

A knowing look passes over Dominic. “Which means he’s double crossing not only us, and the Fallen, but someone else too.”

“Possibly,” I say. Not to mention killing Mario and taking the van.

“What other explanation could there be?”

“He’s creating his own army.”

“Against you?” Dominic’s elevated voice is full of surprise. “He can’t be that much of an idiot.” I simply shrug. “He can’t be stupid enough to think he can take us on.” Dominic takes his cigarettes out and lights one up. “What the fuck is he doing?”

“Your brother has to die,” I say.

“He’s no fucking brother of mine.” I have no doubt where Dominic’s loyalty lies.

“Sir,” Dante says as he approaches. I look to his extended hand and take the cell he’s offering.

“Yeah,” I say into the phone.

“15 has requested a meeting.”