The Willingness to Burn by J. P. London Read Free Book Online Page B

months ago off the strength of her Instagram following.
    Mark lined up more coke and after Jace refused, he grinned and said something that Jace couldn’t hear, then poured a vile of coke on Kendra’s exposed cleavage. Jace looked at him hesitantly, but it was just a look. He knew the second that the white power touched down on her breasts he was going back to that familiar place. Mark offered him a nod of encouragement. As Mark offered him that nod, that mentor/mentee guiding nod, Jace buried his head in Kendra’s chest. He inhaled deeply through his nose and the bitter chemical taste of cocaine, a taste that he had always been fond of, engorged his senses.  He snorted and could feel the wet drip in the back of his throat. Oh, fuck.
    Mark smiled and slapped Jace on the back.
    After another drink, Jace started rubbing his temples. He wanted more. Coke wasn’t the type of drug that you did once and then you were fine. It was the type that called out to you, that beckoned repeatedly. The downfall was much worse than the continued use. Jace looked over at Mark. He ground his teeth. Mark grinned back at him from beneath the Brazilian girl whose name Jace could not remember. Dexter plopped down on the couch next to Jace and signaled to Kendra that she needed to leave so that they could talk. Or, at least, that’s what he was going for. “Get the fuck out of here” was more of the message that was delivered.
    “Bro, we are going to take over this fucking town.”
    “You got that goddamn right.”
    “Soon enough we’ll be partners, running this shit for ourselves.”
    “Hell yeah, man. Having people like us doing all the work while we sit back and cash giant motherfucking checks.” Behold, cocaine: the drug of ambition.
    “You got that right.”
    Mark slammed down on the couch on Jace’s other side and screamed at them.
    “Let’s get the fuck out of here. We’re taking those girls to the W.” Mark motioned to the five girls who at that point were either models or hookers, there was really no way to be sure with Mark.
    “Fuck yeah! Now we’re talking,” Dexter screamed.
    Jace laughed. “All right, I gotta take a piss,” Jace responded.
    “I’ll go with ya,” Mark said and stood up with Jace. “Dex! Take them out the backdoor to the car.”
    Dexter nodded and the two men powered through the VIP and to the restroom.
    The place was crowded and there was a line. But things of that nature were no concern to Mark. The rules of normal men no longer abided. He and Jace walked to the front of the line, gave the bouncer a fist full of hundreds, and walked in the bathroom.
    Mark took up the urinal next to Jace and stared straight ahead—proper bathroom code.
    “So ten million, huh?”
    “Yessir,” Jace said with a slight slur.
    “You’re really shining, man.”
    “Thanks.”
    “Yeah, I mean that, too. You’ve locked down what, four clients?”
    “Five.”
    “Five clients. In what, three, four months?”
    “Yeah, about that.”
    “That’s fucking golden, man. Rollover fees alone you’re gonna make a few mil this year.”
    “Yeah I know, man. I’m so fucking excited.”
    Mark finished and walked over to wash his hands.
    “You should be,” he called out. The music was low and a scream was unnecessary to communicate at short distances.
    Jace finished and zipped up.
    “Most people don’t make it this far. We’re the few and the proud.”
    Jace laughed. “Yeah, like the marines, huh?”
    “There’s a lot more of them then us.”
    “That’s true.”
    Jace started washing his hands and Mark held a key with coke on it to Jace’s face.
    “Here ya go.”
    Jace snorted and shook his head with newfound energy. After all, he had already tasted it. What’s a few more hits? If you’re going to do it, you might as well do it right.
    “Hits the spot, don’t it?”
    “You got that fucking right!” Jace exclaimed with the mania only suited to a drug user.
    Mark took a bump of coke himself. “All