A roar of excitement rose up around the table. They banged glasses and laughed as I leaned back and crossed my arms. Leigh looked concerned, but a bemused smile grew across her lips as she tilted her head in my direction. I wanted to know what she thought of all this, what she thought of the guys, but I knew I couldn’t ask just yet. There’d be time to debrief later.
“Here’s the truth though. They’ve been coming after me, trying to stop the pill business—and you all know damn well we can’t have that. We show any weakness right now, right while we’re trying to rebuild the Volkov family and make it stronger than it ever was, then shit can fall apart.”
“Why hasn’t Hedeon sent us more men then?” Danny asked.
“He doesn’t think we need them. Do you think we need more help?”
He grunted as Samuel laughed and pushed his shoulder.
“Danny h as a point,” Martin said, his gaze steady and even. He sipped his whisky but didn’t slug it back like the younger men around him. “The Jackals outnumber us, even with five deaths. They come down on us in force and I’m not so sure we can survive. I’ll grant that we’re a strong crew and got some good fights here, but good fighters aren’t a good substitute for good numbers.”
I nodded my head and glanced at the faces all around me. “He has a point,” I said. “I can’t deny it. We’re outnumbered and outgunned. But we have the drug game locked down, and although the Jackals are riding around and trying to steal our customers away, they just keep coming. We have better prices and better supply than they ever will.”
“Damn right,” Danny said.
“Which means they’re not going to stop.” Martin stared at me impassively and he was starting to piss me off. “So what do you propose?”
“I don’t propose anything. We’re going to war, boys. That’s why we’re all here, that’s what you all need to know.”
A heavy silence descended over the table.
I didn’t like blurting it out like that, but the fact was they had to be ready. War wasn’t a good thing—nobody wanted to go to war, except maybe for psychos like Danny and the twins, but otherwise rational humans avoided war at all cost. I couldn’t blame Martin for wanting to be cautious, since this was going to be dangerous, but I had some idea about what we could do to get through this in one piece—and how to come out the other end stronger.
“I know that’s not what a lot of you want to hear,” I said, trying to keep my voice even and quiet. “You want me to say that we already crushed them, that it’s all over. They hit us, we hurt them back, and it’s finished. But unfortunately, that’s not how the Jackals want to play it.”
“It’s true, I was there. Boss offered them a good deal and they told us to go fuck ourselves.” Rolan grinned at me and nodded.
I gestured my thanks. “I got history with their leader, I won’t lie. But I didn’t hit first, and I didn’t escalate things. That was all them. If anyone hits us, we always hit back, isn’t that what I always said?”
“Damn right,” Ivan said.
His brother grunted. “Hit harder. Hit faster.”
“Numbers don’t lie, boss.” Martin tapped the table with his fingers. “How are we going to deal with that?”
“Clifton thinks he has this locked down because he thinks like you do. He sees his number advantage and he thinks he can’t possibly overcome it. But the fact is, battles are won by inferior, smaller forces all the damn time, and there’s no reason we can’t do it too if we’re smart.”
“So you got a plan then?” Martin frowned, shook his head. “I hop you got a plan.”
“We’re going to hit the Jackals where they won’t expect it. I’m going to need you all to trust me on this one, and I can promise it’ll be dangerous. But they won’t expect us to come right for their heart so soon. I want shock and awe, I want the Jackals on their heels, reeling from their wounds.”
Danny pounded his fists on the table. “God damn do I love this,” he said, tilting his head back and laughing. “Nothing better than the smell of blood and fear in the morning.”
Coming from anyone else, I’d think that was incredibly lame. But coming from Danny, I felt a chill down my spine, because I knew he meant it.
The men fell into a spirited debate among themselves about who was going to kill the most Jackals and I let them go for a few minutes. Leigh watched me with careful eyes and I wished I knew what she was thinking. This was a display of bravado and stupidity, but it was an important moment.