Ruthless Sinner (Ashby Crime Family)

Prologue

Jasper ~ Before the Shooting

I looked out at the opening night crowd of wall-to-wall, sex-crazed bodies bumping and grinding ecstatically to the music, and visions of dollar signs danced in my head.

As much as I hated to admit it, Sadie was right.

The new and improved Lucky Lopez was a success. An unmitigated fucking success. All three floors were packed with horny men and women eager to watch the young and beautiful strip for cash.

Others came to bump and grind on the newly installed dance floor, and most were here to just get fucked up. Opening night had brought out damn near all the residents of the Green Zone, not to mention the people we’d done business with for years.

Yeah, Sadie did it. Again.

I never doubted her. Sadie wasn’t just my mother; she was my mentor, the woman who taught me everything I needed to know about running the Ashby Organization for decades to come. At her side, I’d learned how to negotiate deals out in the legit world and in the underworld. She taught me to understand the difference between being tough and being just plain mean.

Well, my father Colm also had a hand in that lesson. A heavy hand, usually balled into a fucking fist.

I shook off thoughts of my bastard of a father and pushed away from the desk inside the tiny office in the back of Lucky Lopez and made my way through the throngs of sweaty, drunk bodies to the bar.

“Velvet Fire. Make it a double,” I barked over the din to the bartender.

One of the new girls Sadie and Thomas hired, I didn’t know her name, flashed a toothy grin and shoved her tits out to great effect. She had a great pair of tits, big and meaty, more than a handful and best of all, they were perfectly round and full.

The Lucky Lopez t-shirt she wore was cut into a low vee, ripped and tied into a knot at the waist to show off her hot young body.

“Here ya go, Mr. Ashby.” It was a smart move, hiring hungry young college girls to sling drinks. They would bring in more cash which meant we could clean even more money.

“Thanks.” It might have been a smart business move, but I didn’t like having all these new people around. I didn’t know these people, which meant I couldn’t trust them. I didn’t know who was in their lives or who those people knew and loved, hated or owed money to, and that was why I was on edge as I walked through the club, sipping on some damn good whiskey.

“Jasper!” Hulu smiled at me over the crowd and waved me over to the perimeter of the dance floor. He was big as fuck, spent a few hours almost every day in the gym, which made him the perfect deterrent for people looking to cause trouble.

“What’s up?” I stood beside the overgrown man feeling like a child at six-foot-two.

“Lots of people here tonight.”

“Yep.”

Arms crossed, Hulu’s eyes never stopped moving, never stopped scanning the crowd or looking over his shoulder. “Confiscated lots of weapons.”

“What’s lots.”

“Enough that I sent Provo out to get some lockboxes. I think you need lockers if this is gonna be your clientele here.”

I arched a brow at him. “Clientele? I think you’ve been working the card games too long if you’re gonna sound like an asshole.”

Hulu chuckled and shrugged. “Between the players and Nessa, I’m definitely growing my vocabulary.”

“Lockers are a good idea but run it by Sadie. This is her baby now.”

“Got it.”

“Anything else?”

“Nope. I’m good.”

“Good.” I walked up the stairs that led to level two and ordered another drink from a server walking by before going in search of the woman of the hour. She was, of course, in the VIP area, looking proudly down at her hard work come to life.

“You don’t have to look so damn pleased with yourself, Ma.”

Sadie turned slowly at the sound of my voice, a knowing smile on her face. “I know I don’t have to, but I am pleased. Look at this. Just fucking look.”

“Yeah, I see it. And I never doubted that you could do it. That was never a fucking question. I just didn’t think it was necessary.”

“And that’s why I’m so pleased. Look around. We don’t just have gangsters and investment bankers in here spending their money tonight, Jasper. That guy right there runs the corner market, and I’m pretty sure I saw his girlfriend head up to see the male dancers.”

“Your point?”

“My point, smartass, is that it isn’t just big money dollars flowing into this place. It’s all the money. People in the Green Zone now have money to spend, and they’re spending it with us.”

I nodded reluctantly, willing to give her that. “Makes it easier to clean the cash.” I didn’t bother reminding her that more cash put a bigger target on the place for robbery, even if it was an Ashby joint.