Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Bonte snorts a laugh. “Okay, that was funny, but I need more details about last night.” She leans back in her chair. “And don’t leave anything out.”
I let Mac tell her everything, my thoughts elsewhere. This is all becoming too consuming, and I’m not sure how to handle that. I know how to handle everything; maybe this marriage isn’t the best idea, but the idea of him marrying the blonde pisses me off more than him ruling my every thought.
Chapter Nine
PAXTON
Having friends in high places can be rather helpful. I’m calling in a few favors to get the information that I need so I can get things lined up before she lands. That’s okay; I have been stockpiling them.
I had an idea of where Naomi was off to. If she wanted to dig more into me, then the best place to do so would be on the West Coast. It’s where I have spent an abundance of my time. It also gives me a home field advantage.
I hadn’t set myself up in California only because it could be lucrative for me and a nice fuck you to everyone else who hadn’t managed to take over a huge chunk of the docks’ imports and exports, but also, it put Naomi at a greater distance from me. It hasn’t been easy to bide my time, but I knew it was what I had to do. I had to play this all very carefully. Normally waiting and idling time is my specialty.
Sloane says I have the patience of a saint. Dealing with my father, I’m sure, plays into that. The man was often getting in his own way and pulling triggers far too quickly. At a young age, I’d learned to watch everything and pay attention to all the details. Learning to read the tells that people have and how they respond to things has been one of my greatest assets.
The devil is really in the details. Honing in on the skills, I was able to build my own wealth outside of my father. It started with hitting a few poker games and went on from there. You can bet on all kinds of shit, and the more you know, the easier it is to place those bets.
Which football players have drug problems or injuries? You could even wager on who was hard up for money. One bet after another, I was making a killing. It didn’t only supply me with money, but it helped further my understanding of people and the things they do, the whys, which can be the most important.
My father became the easiest to predict over time. I could lead him right into a trap of his own making. Slowly I started to dismantle the world he’d built around him. Studied all the people he both feared and respected. Those who had deals and understandings with him.
That is what led me right to Naomi all those years ago. I’ll never forget that day. I’m sure she hasn’t either, except she has no idea I was the man who fought at her side.
I’d traveled up the coast with only one target in mind. War Marino. My father hated how much he depended on War and the control he could hold over his docks and him. It had started with War’s own father decades ago, but like all things, in time, the Marinos didn’t want to dabble in the darker aspects of the sex trade and dirty drugs. And the fact often is, the dirtier you are, the more money you can make.
When War took the reins over from his own father, things started to shift. He pulled back some of the protection they’d once given my father from others that tried to move in on what he had.
War made it clear: Clean up shop, or he would keep taking action. My father was never quite sure what that action would be. It could only be one of two things: He’d take it for himself, or he’d leave my father to the vultures.
That had him cleaning things up for a while. I knew myself that it would only last so long. It went against my father’s nature. The Marinos would have to take action at some point, and I needed to make sure I was the one that would pull that trigger, lining up all the dominoes in their place.
I knew that back then and had to form a real understanding of who the Marinos were and how I’d need to do that. I knew the only way to truly do that was to have eyes on them myself. To learn everything about all of them, from how they took their coffee to how often they took a shit. The plan had been to go unnoticed. I was only there to simply observe until my hand was forced that day.