Nailing the Foreman: A Kent Street Tale (JLC Construction Book 6) Read online

  “Some crime boss just got whacked and now his cousins want to scatter. They say they’re coming to L.A. and want to spend time with Damien—checking out the area.”

  “We’re not in Los Angeles. How does that affect us and the business?” asked as he pulled in front of Damien’s house—a renovation they’d done two years before. It was one of their grander homes, right on the water. Jax had loved this house… but right now, he didn’t want to be anywhere near it or the potential trouble inside.

  “I’ll let Damien explain it. I don’t have all the details myself.” Golden scrubbed a hand over his face. “Most of what I know is through Lucas.”

  Golden reached for the door, but Jax laid a hand on his husband’s sleeve.

  “Did you know, Golden?”

  Golden’s eyes widened. “I just found out a little while ago when Damien called me.” Golden sighed. “Trust me… I’m just as pissed as you are. And embarrassed. Damien’s my best friend. If he’s hurt us… I’ll kill him.”

  Jax saw the fire in Golden’s eyes and knew his husband spoke the truth. He slid a hand through Golden’s, squeezing. “Whatever this is… we’ll get through it.”

  Golden smiled at him… and from the corner of his eye, he saw Linc, Colt, and Chance walking up the drive.

  “We better get inside.”

  He climbed from the driver’s seat and rounded the vehicle. He saw the blank stares meeting his… and knew his was likely the same. “What is this?” Colt asked.

  “Dunno,” Jax said. “But we need to find out.” He turned toward the front door and felt the others trailing him.

  “Where’s Ryan?” Linc asked.

  “He’s finishing up the new pipes for Ulmstead Numero Uno’s bathroom and couldn’t get away.”

  Damien’s boyfriend, Lucas, opened the front door before they could barely reach it and ushered them inside. The look on his face didn’t help Jax’s nerves. They followed Lucas onto the back deck where Damien was talking loudly into a cell phone and waving his hands around.

  “Just sell the shares,” Damien said. “All of them.” He paused, listening in. “I don’t care if I’ll take a penalty. Just fucking sell them and call me back.”

  Damien ended the call and tossed the phone onto the patio table, growling in what appeared frustration. He turned to the guys, looking crestfallen.

  “What’s going on, Damien?” Jax said.

  “I screwed up,” he answered, shoving his hands into the pockets of his chinos. “Not to the point we can’t fix things, but it’s going to stretch us thin.” Damien pinched his nose. “I’m going to fix things. No matter what.”

  “What the fuck did you do?” Linc asked,

  “When you guys approached me about buying Kent Street… I didn’t have all the capital for the loan. We had to put up thirty percent to get the deal they offered… and I had a chunk of my cash tied up in several other projects. I didn’t want to let you down—and I only knew of one place where I could get that kind of dough.”

  “Your criminal cousins,” Golden said, shaking his head.

  “And they want their money back. Now,” Jax said, guessing the answer.

  Damien nodded. “They want their money back. Now.”

  Jax’s head was on overload. Kent Street had been a gamble… had been from day one, even without the addition of the mafia to the equation. A few towns over, three blocks of an old, failing commercial district was in the process of being renovated from the ground up. A new, LGBT-friendly corridor of businesses was springing up and already gaining a lot of news.

  Jason had seen the news about the project and had driven over one day soon after to take a look. Block after block of vacant homes surrounded the new commercial district… and where there were new businesses going in, Jason had suggested they scoop up the properties parallel to Kent Street and flip them. His excitement about the project had been contagious.

  Jason hadn’t had the funds to buy such a large project on his own, especially as his own flipping business had been in peril. The mill in the town he’d been doing renovations in had closed down, leaving thousands jobless. Houses had been put up for sale all over town… and Jason was left sitting on two completed properties that he couldn’t sell… and no prospect for more to come. Linkland was just too far from Los Angeles to tempt those who were willing to commute.

  Soon after, Jason and his guys had come to work with JLC—and not long after that—had convinced them in investing in Kent Street.

  It hadn’t been a bad investment. The renovations had already proving to be profitable. Jason had completed twelve houses and all had sold in no time, most for over asking price.

  But twelve homes completed out of the fifty-six homes and sixty brownstones they’d scooped up was a drop in the proverbial bucket.

  “How much do we owe them?” Colt asked, fury written all over his face.

  “We’ve paid them over half, but it’s still close to two million,” Damien said.

  Jax did some mental math and felt his whole body stiffen. They had maybe half that figure saved up.

  “We have it, don’t we?” Linc asked.

  “Liquid? No,” Damien said. “We’ve still got millions tied up on Kent Street, as well as numerous other projects here.”

  “How much do we have in our account, Jax?” Linc asked.

  “A little over a million,” he answered.

  “I’m selling off everything I can to add to the pot to make this right,” Damien said. “After that… I gotta get out of here.”

  “Why?” Jax asked, concerned. Damien had become a true friend to them, mistake be damned. The worried look on Damien’s face spoke volumes.

  “My cousins want to come out to L.A., but if I’m here, they’re going to come here, too. I won’t bring them to this town… I won’t involve you guys in anything… so I need to leave.”

  “But you’ve already involved us,” Colt said.

  Damien sighed, pinching his nose. “They don’t know what I needed the money for.”

  “We do,” Colt said. “Who knows where they got it from. Now the whole project feels… tainted.”

  “We couldn’t borrow money from the bank… to then pay the bank to borrow money. Thirty percent down, remember. That was a huge chunk of cash. I know how excited you guys and Jason were for this project… I didn’t want to let you down.” Damien paused, his face a mask of pain. “Yet that’s exactly what I did. I’m sorry.” Damien’s phone rang, and he drew it from his pocket. “Excuse me a moment.”

  He walked to the corner of the patio to talk, leaving them all there to stew. Jax’s brain was churning, trying to figure a way out.

  “How much you got stashed in your savings?” Colt asked Jax.

  “Two hundred thousand,” Jax answered.

  “I’ve got close to the same amount,” Colt said before turning to Linc. “You?”

  “Less. Between the wedding, the reno on the mansion, and the honeymoon we’ve already pushed back twice,” Linc sighed and eyed his husband, Chance. “We’ve got maybe a hundred fifty thousand, if that.”

  “If only I hadn’t donated my grandmother’s money to charity,” Golden added on a sigh. “I could’ve covered it.”

  “You did the right thing,” Jax said, squeezing Golden’s hand. “That money went to help the right people, so don’t stress about it.” He squeezed his husband’s hand again, and Golden turned to look at him. “Like I said… we’ll figure it out.”

  Golden met his stare and smiled, but it didn’t quite go to his eyes.

  “We never should’ve brought in an outsider,” Linc spat.

  “That’s unfair,” Lucas said from the fringes. “Damien made one mistake. One. And he had the best intentions when he did it.” Lucas turned to Golden. “How long have you two been friends?”

  “A long, long time,” Golden said. “Damien has always been there when I needed help. He helped you grow JLC.”

  “And just might be the demise of it, too,” Colt said. />
  “He’ll find a way to fix it,” Golden added to Jax. “He won’t leave you guys hanging.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Jax replied. He hoped like hell Damien wouldn’t leave them hanging. He didn’t think the man would, but then, he’d been disappointed by other people before.

  “So we find a way to come up with the rest,” Colt said. “Maybe we sell our houses and all move in together. We did it before. We can do it again.”

  “I’m not selling Golden’s grandmother’s house… or the lake house. Giving them everything would wipe us completely out and leave no room for error. We’d be cash poor,” Jax said. “I don’t like the idea.” He shook his head. “Maybe we sell off some of the Kent Street properties to another contractor?”

  “And that makes it look like we aren’t able to do the job, when we are,” Linc said. “Perception is everything. That could affect the sales of the houses we still did own.”

  “I have to agree with Linc,” Chance said. Chance was also their realtor and bought and sold almost all of their projects, along with Damien’s boyfriend, Lucas.

  “We need to jump in and get those houses done. As in yesterday,” Linc said. “We sell them and refill the bank account.”

  Jax turned to Linc and Colt. “We can’t finish the houses—and do them right—and get them sold—in a matter of days,” Jax said. “If they want the money now, we can’t do now. At least, not that way.”

  Damien ended his call and walked back over. “That was my broker. He sold off a chunk of my portfolio… so I can add in five hundred G’s to repay my cousins.”

  “That’ll help greatly,” Jax said. “Thank you.”

  “I got us in this mess. I’m going to try to get us out of it,” Damien said. “Lucas has listed a few properties for me and if we can get them off my hands, I can repay more of that debt.”

  “That, with what we have in the bank and our savings… would just about do it,” Colt said.

  “And if we all jump in to finish Kent Street, we can fix the cash poor issue immediately,” Linc said.

  “What about the projects here?” Jax said. “We start demo on Elm Street tomorrow. We’ve got the pair of houses over on Ulmstead still under renovation. Every one of us has three houses we’re working on simultaneously. We can’t just drop those.”

  “Zach just finished up his project. He and his crew can go help Jason,” Golden tossed out.

  “One extra crew isn’t going to help things,” Jax said. “And you’re just trying to get rid of him.”

  Golden lifted a brow. “Maybe… but it could help. As the projects come to a close here, you start sending your guys to the Kent Street project until everyone is busting ass there to get things done.”

  “That sounds good,” Linc said. “Except for the get rid of Zach part.” Linc paused and looked between them. “He not doing the job? Do we want to send someone to help if he’s not pulling his weight?”

  “Zach’s doing an amazing job,” Jax said. “Might be the best foreman we have and he’s only been with us a couple of months.”

  “Three,” Golden corrected before crossing his arms over his chest.

  Colt frowned. “What’s the deal then?”

  “Nothing,” Jax spat. “We have bigger fish to fry.”

  “You don’t like Zach?” Colt asked Golden. “Why?”

  “It’s nothing,” Jax interjected.

  “If it impacts the job he’s doing?” Linc asked. “It’s not nothing.”

  “Zach wants to get into Jax’s pants,” Golden snapped.

  Both Linc and Colt began to shake their heads.

  “You’re jealous?” Chance asked Golden. “Seriously?”

  “Maybe I am…” Golden shrugged before meeting Jax’s eyes. “I’d only share him with you guys. No one else. We’ve got a connection. Zach isn’t a part of that.”

  “As long as the reason isn’t professional,” Linc said, rolling his eyes. “Then send him on to help Jason.”

  “Yeah, Zach can have Jax’s clone,” Chance said.

  Golden laughed. “Hadn’t thought about that,” he said before dragging Jax closer. “I got the better version anyway.”

  “You make it sound like Jason’s the evil twin,” Jax said.

  “Not evil. Just not my man,” Golden said before lifting his head to capture Jax’s lips.

  Chapter Three

  “You’ve got to go.”

  After closing the door to the guys, Damien turned to Lucas and sensed the man was angry. “We discussed this… I thought you understood.”

  “I understand,” Lucas said. “You’ve got to go.”

  Damien reached for Lucas, but the man pulled away. “Lucas. Don’t. I need you now more than ever.”

  “Do you?” Lucas asked. “Because you’ve got to go.”

  “Spit it out. We don’t have time for games.”

  “I absolutely understand why you don’t want to lead your family here. What I don’t understand is why you’ve got to go… and it’s not we’ve got to go.”

  Damien paused, watching pain washing over Lucas’ face. He sighed, knowing this was the hardest decision he’d ever had to make. “I can’t ask you to leave everything behind for me.” He dragged Lucas closer. “And I don’t want my cousins near you, either.”

  “Yet you didn’t think twice about borrowing money from these guys?”

  “They were a million miles away then. Now they’re coming like a plague… a plague I’ve got to change the course of. No matter what I have to do… for however long.”

  “When you first told me about it, it sounded like it was going to be a temporary thing,” Lucas said, his eyes widening. “Leave for a couple of months, avoid your family, and then come back once the smoke cleared. But then you’ve handed me a list of properties to sell… including this house. It sounds like you’re not coming back.”

  This house. Lucas already stayed a few nights a week… and before the chaos, he’d been planning to ask the man to move in with him. He glanced up at the beautiful home, one Lucas had shown him upon first arriving in San Alicia… it was already their home in his mind.

  “I have no idea what happens next,” Damien said. “I don’t know when I’ll be back.” What if I’m never able to come back? The thought socked him in the gut. How could he walk away from this man forever? Breathing became harder to manage in that moment. His eyes closed, and he held on to his lover tight. When he reopened them, he could see Lucas’ face twisted in anguish and knew he wore a similar expression.

  Lucas lifted his gaze to Damien’s. “So this is goodbye? The forever kind of goodbye?”

  “I don’t know,” Damien whispered, pain slamming him in the chest. He didn’t want to leave Lucas behind, but he wouldn’t allow his family to taint the relationship he had with the man he loved. “I don’t plan on it being forever. They might come to L.A. and hate it. Considering the fact I’m planning on showing them the worst parts of living there, they might change their minds. With any luck they’ll go somewhere else and leave me be. And then I can come back.” Damien laid a gentle kiss on Lucas’ lips. “I can come back to you.”

  “Don’t you think this decision was something we should’ve discussed? Together?”

  Damien rested his forehead on Lucas’. “I won’t let them close to you, Lucas.”

  “They’re that bad?”

  Damien shook his head. “Bad? No, not entirely. Like anything else, nothing is pure good or evil. They have moments where they’re almost likeable. But trouble follows them everywhere and I can’t let you get sucked into something by accident. So you stay here where you’re safe. Period.”

  Lucas’ mouth opened, as if he wanted to argue.

  “No, Lucas. I love you. I love you so fucking much it hurts like hell to think of leaving you… I’m doing this to protect you.”

  “Or… hide me from your family?”

  Damien frowned. “Is that what you think?”

  “I know you said you came out to them
before you left… but that’s not the same as living your truth in front of them. You didn’t do that out in the open.” Lucas frowned, his handsome face twisted in pain. “You didn’t hesitate to call them and ask for the money for Kent Street, but you hesitate to have them see me and the lives we lead here.”

  “I’m not ashamed to live out loud before my family. This has nothing to do with that,” Damien said as he cradled Lucas’ face. “Me leaving has everything to do with protecting you.”

  Lucas met his stare. “The fact you made a multi-million dollar deal in a town close means they might already be targeting this area. You borrowed the money from them… they have to know where you invested it.”

  Damien sighed. “Only another reason for me to leave. I have to keep them away from San Alicia.”

  A hopeful look crossed Lucas’ face. “What if they truly want to turn over a new leaf and go legit?”

  “They would have to prove that to me… and that won’t happen overnight.”

  “So either way… you’re gone for months… maybe even years.”

  “Hopefully not,” Damien murmured, drawing Lucas closer again. He lowered his head and captured the man’s lips. “I don’t want to leave you. Not for one second.”

  Lucas pressed his forehead to Damien’s chest, hiding his face. He could feel the pounding of the man’s heart against his chest and the strain in Lucas’ body. He wanted to tell Lucas it would all be okay. But that would be a lie.

  “Don’t sell this house,” Damien said suddenly.

  Lucas frowned up at him.

  “Move in here… and wait for me to return.”

  “When you can’t tell me when you’ll be back?” Lucas asked.

  “I’ll do whatever it takes to get back to you as soon as I can. That I promise you.” Damien pressed his lips against Lucas’ for a kiss that would never be long enough. When he lifted from it, he saw the love in Lucas’ eyes as the man stared up at him. He has my heart. “Knowing you’re here… in our home… waiting in our bed… it’ll only give me more reason to get back here all the sooner.”

  “Our home? Our bed?” Lucas asked, a slight frown still darkening his expression.

  “This house is as much yours as it is mine,” Damien said, taking Lucas’ hand and leading him up the stairs. He cast a glance over his shoulder as they rounded the curving staircase toward the master suite, etching his lover’s face in his mind.