The Truth Evasion: Jackson Wang (2)

The Mafia

“You’re late.”

Jackson beamed, his usual handsome, cheeky grin adorning his face. Sometimes you wondered how he switched so fast from the genuine, heartfelt lover he had been last night to the cocky, sleazy hitman that stood in front of you now. You’d spent a long time trying to decide which of these personalities was actually real, but you’d come to the conclusion that they were both indispensable parts of Jackson. It was just one of his many charms.

“Sorry baby, I had to shower in the morning. Couldn’t come down here and protect you while smelling like blood and sweat from shooting that robber’s brains out last night.”

You sighed, handing Jackson the heavy briefcases and watching as he smoothly placed them in the trunk of his car. You had to admit that he smelled nice; of soap and a hint of some expensive cologne. Forcing yourself to turn away from him, you folded your arms across your chest and gave him a disapproving look. You were in no mood to deal with Jackson’s antics and flirtations.

“You’re not here to protect me, you’re here to protect the money,” you reminded him firmly.

Jackson raised his eyebrows at you and smirked. “Oh, so if a guy put a gun to your head and asked me to hand over all the cash then you would want me to take the money and leave you to die, is that it?”

You ignored him. “Get into the car, Wang.”

“No, I think we need to straighten out our priorities here. What if there’s a crisis and I don’t know how-“

“Wang, get into the ing car before I shoot you with your own gun.”

He grinned at you playfully, but obeyed and got into the driver’s seat. You sighed as you buckled your own seat belt and watched Jackson place his gun in the cup-holder in case he needed it. Technically, nobody knew that you were in possession of the money so there was no reason for it to be in danger, but GotSeven didn’t take risks where cash was involved. Jackson noticed how your gaze followed his gun and he raised an eyebrow at you.

“Scared? I have another gun in the back, you can have it if you want.”

You blinked at him. “You know I can’t handle weapons. I’d probably shoot myself in the face. No thanks.”

“Yeah, that’s what I don’t understand about you,” Jackson mused, pulling out of the driveway and hitting the road at full speed. Jackson drove like a madman, befitting of his expensive sports car. “How did you get so deep into the underground without even knowing how to shoot a gun? Aren’t you scared for your life? What if someone is after you? What if you’re in danger?”

You raised an eyebrow. “I operate bank accounts from a laptop all day. Who’s going to come at me with a gun?”

Jackson shrugged. “I mean, sure, Jaebum doesn’t send you into the field so you work from headquarters. What about earlier? When you worked for that Russian gang, the one we took out before Jaebum decided to hire you? I find it hard to believe that they let you work for them without any self-defense training or teaching you how to use a weapon or two.”

You bit your lip and turned to glance out of the window. It was true. A couple of years ago, when GotSeven had still been establishing their territory, a Russian gang had operated this area. They’d been running some real estate fraud, investing their dirty money into high-rise buildings and condos near the sea. The official story was that GotSeven had taken them down one-by-one to establish dominance; Jaebum had only offered you a chance to live because you had skills that he needed and you’d agreed to use them to help GotSeven.

Nobody except you and Jaebum knew what really happened that day.

“They didn’t let me handle any weapons,” you said simply.

Jackson blinked at you. “You’re really mysterious, you know that?”

“If you’re so curious, why have you never asked Youngjae to pull up my files and do a background check on me?” you challenged.

Jackson glanced at you briefly before turning his eyes back to the road. “Nah. If Jaebum trusts you, then I trust you too. Besides, I like the thought of you hiding some dark, mysterious trauma that you finally confess to me one day, only to discover that my love transcends the scars of your past,” Jackson mused cheerfully. “Did you by any chance kill one of those Russian guys? Are they going to come after you someday? I’ll protect you, baby.”

You let out a sigh of irritation. “Oh god. You’re unbelievable. They’re all dead. You guys made sure of that yourselves.

“I’ll be honest, though, I have always wondered why Jaebum didn’t kill you too, that day.”

“Maybe he couldn’t kill a woman.”

Jackson scoffed. “Please. Jaebum could choke a baby if he thought it was necessary.”

“… I don’t think that’s true.”

“Yeah, it’s not.”

“Are we there yet?”

“Patience, darling. The Bear told us to park behind this old warehouse, and we’re a couple minutes late so he should already be here… yup! There he is!” Jackson pulled up to the only other car in sight and let out a low whistle. “Damn, he got a new car. Smuggling must be going well. Hey man! Sweet ride!” he yelled out of the lowered window.

The Bear was standing beside his car and grinned. “Thanks, I got her last week. You guys have the goods?”

You stayed in the car and watched through the open window as Jackson grabbed the briefcases full of cash. He put them safely in the Bear’s trunk and then shook hands with him, before he started admiring the paint job on the new car. You rolled your eyes in irritation and leaned your head out of the window. “Jackson! Get the back here, we’re not here to chit-chat. Did you guys get the message I sent you about the drop-off location? My guy’s going to meet your people there tomorrow,” you told the Bear.

The Bear nodded. “Yeah, I got the details. Don’t worry, your cash is safe. The Macau route is easy to navigate, we get entire shipments of illegal arms through it every month. Your cash is no problem,” he replied. “Besides, it’s not every day that GotSeven asks us for help, eh?”

You grinned. “Savor the moment, you’re going to want this favor returned someday.”

“I don’t doubt it. All right, I’m going to get this cash back to our guys. Say hi to your leader for me,” the Bear replied.

“Will do.”

You convinced Jackson to get back into the car and drive off, relieved once the cash was safely transferred off your hands. Carrying precious items like that always made you a little jittery. You had no combat training, and you didn’t like being in the field or interacting with other gangs. You could feel Jackson’s gaze on you and you raised an eyebrow at him.

“What?” you demanded.

“Nothing,” he replied with a shrug. “Back to headquarters?”

“Yes, please.”

You leaned back in the passenger’s seat as Jackson drove silently. You couldn’t help but glance at him out of the corner of your eyes. You had always found Jackson extremely handsome; he worked out and his body was possibly the fittest you’d ever seen. You’d be lying if you said that you didn’t feel attracted to him. Your judgement had lapsed before, and you knew from that experience that Jackson was an affectionate, caring lover.  But there was something beyond physical attraction, something that held you back from allowing yourself to fully love this man.

Damn, why does this idiot keep calling me?” Jackson interrupted your thoughts, glancing at his cellphone that was buzzing in the cup-holder. You could see the caller ID and it was Bambam. Jackson sighed and pulled over by the side of the road before answering the phone. “Talk. This better be important, I told you I was doing a drop-off this morning….What? Last night?… Why the  are you telling me this now, Bambam? Damn it. I’m on my way.”

You stared at Jackson as he hung up and restarted the car.

“What happened?” you asked him.

“Emergency at the club. We need to take a detour.”

You stiffened. “Drop me off first. I don’t want to go to your stupid club right now-“

“Look, there’s no time, okay?” he snapped.

You sat still. Jackson never snapped at you. Despite your severe revulsion towards his strip club, you silently allowed him to turn back and head towards the shadier parts of town, where men came with their dirty money and spent it on their dirty pleasures. You stayed stiff in your seat as he pulled up outside the club and got out, raising an eyebrow at you. “Are you coming in, or do you plan to sit in the car?”

You glared at him, but got down and followed him into the club. Despite having known Jackson for years, you’d never set foot in this club. Jackson had tried a lot to convince you to come get a drink with him here, had professed excellent bartending skills and tried to woo you with cocktails. But you’d always been adamant about not wanting to come here. As you stepped inside for the first time, your eyes swept the place curiously. It was deserted, as it would be on a Sunday morning. The place was well-lit, the tables pushed back against the walls and the floors swept clean. You followed Jackson upstairs to the VIP rooms, where he coolly burst into one.

“Bambam. Start talking. What happened here?” Jackson demanded.

You stepped into the room and immediately felt your stomach lurch. There was a girl sitting on one of the VIP couches; she had a darkening black eye, a busted lip and a dark red cut dripping blood across her jawline. Her entire body slumped forward and she was clutching her stomach in pain. Bambam was pacing the room nervously, while his girlfriend tried to dab at the injuries of the beat-up girl.

Bambam looked at both you and Jackson and lowered your voice. “One of the clients did this to Star last night,” he muttered.

Jackson’s eyes widened. “What? Here? On the club premises? What the where you doing while it happened?”

Star interrupted, her voice weak with pain. Your eyes widened as you watched her look up and struggle to speak. “No, I… I left the club with him after my shift. He’s a regular here so I thought it was safe. But there were a lot of men at his apartment and when I said that I had only agreed to  him, he got angry,” she mumbled. A choked sob escaped . “I thought they were going to kill me.”

It was too much for you to take. The sight of the girl in tears, the thought of what those men must have done to her, her injuries both visible and invisible… your stomach lurched and you ran out of the room, running over to a bathroom at the end of the corridor. You leaned over the toilet and dry-heaved, trying to calm down your racing heartbeat and ignore the blood rushing through your head. Terrible memories flashed through your mind, and you felt weak as you slumped against the bathroom floor.

“Get her to the hospital,” you could hear Jackson’s voice saying faintly from the VIP room. “And get me the tabs from last night so we can get this guy’s address.”

There were a few voices and then you heard approaching footsteps. The door to the bathroom swung open and Jackson looked down at you, your sweat beading on your forehead while you slumped in front of the toilet, pale-faced. His hand came and rested on your shoulder gently. “Hey,” he whispered, helping you sit up straight. You flinched away from him and he froze, kneeling beside you. “Are you okay? I thought you were stronger than that. You didn’t even bat an eye when I carved this one guy’s guts out last month.”

You glared up at him. “I want to leave.”

“What’s wrong with you-“

“Is this how you treat all the strippers that work at this ing establishment of yours?” you yelled at him, fists clenched. Your eyes were red with anger. “You let your clients beat them up and gang them for a few extra bucks? This is the source of your money, Jackson Wang? How do you live with yourself?”

Jackson looked like you’d slapped him. “What? No.”

“What are you even-“

“I didn’t tell her to go home with that guy! I employ Star to be a stripper, my contract with her only extends to her performances on stage. That’s all I pay her for. If she chooses to go home with clients then that’s on her, I’m not running a whorehouse. I’m only employing strippers so don’t you dare try to make me feel like this is my fault,” Jackson insisted. He was offended, and he reached out to take your arm gently. “I’m not lying, she’s just a stripper-“

You laughed derisively. “Just a stripper? You keep telling yourself that.”

Jackson glared. “What?”

“She’s no stripper, Jackson, she’s a worker and what you’re doing… you’re essentially their pimp. You attract rich men to this place so that they can watch these women dance on stage and then pick which one they want to take home for a price. It’s work and what happened to Star is an occupational hazard.  You want to know why I would never give you a chance, why you and I can never happen? Because of this. Because you make a living off the misfortune of these poor girls.”

Jackson stared at you, speechless.

“That’s not… I don’t…”

You got to your feet, trembling, and pushing Jackson away. He watched silently as you shoved past him and walked towards the door.

“I can’t stay in this disgusting place for another second.”

You felt weak and miserable for the rest of the day. You locked yourself up in a room in the headquarters with your laptop, trying to focus on tracking the money going to Macau and figuring out how you were going to get it back. But Star’s face kept flashing in your mind, her miserable expression and the pain she’d had to go through because of that horrible man. It made you feel sick and you ignored Jinyoung when he knocked on the door and asked if you wanted lunch.

It was late evening when Jackson Wang entered your office.

There was blood on his clothes and he walked inside unapologetically, the door banging against the wall. There was a fire in his eyes as he looked at you, his fingers clenched into tight fists at his sides. “I killed the man who hurt Star,” he told you proudly. “And I didn’t make it easy on him. He’s not going to try that with any of the girls ever again. None of the club’s patrons are ever going to try that again, I’m sending out pictures of his dead body as a message.”

You were silent as you stared at the laptop screen, trying to ignore the tears b in your eyes.

Jackson’s eyes softened as he set his gun down on the table and slowly took a seat next to you. He seemed worried that you would push him away again, but he relaxed when you didn’t move. His large hand came to gently rest on top of yours. “I talked to Jaebum,” he mumbled. “He told me what you were really doing with those Russian mafia guys. I should have known that a girl like you wouldn’t have really been working with them, I don’t know what I was thinking. I wouldn’t have killed them so simply if I had known-“

You cut him off. “Save it, Jackson.”

“No. I want you to know-“

“The Russian mafia guys were the easiest part of my former life. My father first sold me into ion when I was fifteen.”

Jackson was silent. You could only hear the sound of him swallowing.  

“I got out of there because one of those Russian guys was a regular client of mine,” you replied, trying not to let your voice crack. You had been suppressing these memories ever since you started working for GOTSeven, ever since your life got better. But the way Jackson was looking at you made you want to break down in front of him. “I convinced one of those ers that we were in love and he paid a huge amount of buy me out of the whorehouse. He was one of the guys who managed their money. I learned how the mafia rerouted their dirty money through foreign investments because of him. Some things he told me himself, others I learned through documents and stuff he left lying around like his laptop.”

Jackson was silent for a long moment. “That’s why Jaebum didn’t kill you,” he mumbled.

“Of course he didn’t kill me. I wasn’t a member of the mafia, I was a and I knew about their operations. He knew I was more useful alive than dead.”

Jackson nodded. “Right.”

You turned away from him and stared at your laptop for a few moments. Your eyes were too blurry with tears to see anything clearly but you simply couldn’t bear to look at Jackson. He sat beside you silently, hands clasped in his lap. For a while you wondered if he’d even gotten up and left, but then he finally spoke in a slow, desperate voice.

“I’m sorry that you had to go through that,” he said quietly. “But you have to know that I’m not who you think I am. All these women came to me, they all want to work here. I made sure of that, I’ve never forced anyone into anything, especially not into doing ual favors for anyone. They want to be there-”

You cut him off firmly. “No woman wants to be there.”

Jackson turned to you angrily. “Yes, they do. They came to me asking for work. I know that you were forced into this industry at a young age and that you didn’t have a choice in it. But they’re not all like that.”

You closed your laptop and turned to glare at Jackson. “No, Jackson. It’s notsomething a woman chooses to do. Sometimes she’s deluded into thinking she had a choice, by men like you who don’t want to deal with the burden of forcing a woman into a life like that. Maybe it makes you feel better about running a strip club if you think of these women as ually promiscuous s who enjoy this life and want to be there, but that’s not the reality. It’s not a choice if it’s the only option you have. I guarantee you that none of these women ever had a real shot at doing anything else with their lives.”

Jackson looked down at his hands and took a deep breath. His voice trembled when he spoke. “I love you,” he whispered. “And I hate that you consider me disgusting. Tell me what I can do to change it.”

“Shut down the strip club. Stop employing these women. Stop making them think that the only thing they can do to support themselves is to sell their bodies,” you replied firmly. You took a deep breath and bit your lip. You turned to look at Jackson and stared into his deep eyes, the pain in them making your heart skip a beat. You knew he wasn’t a bad person. Not really. And you believed that he loved you. “Jackson… you mean a lot to me. But it took me years to escape from a life of ion and I’m not going to let myself fall in love with a pimp. That’s not negotiable.”

Jackson ran a hand over his face. “I can’t just shut the strip club down,” he said shakily.

You felt your heart sink. “The money means that much to you? You can’t find another way to make it?”

“It’s not the money. If I fire those women then they’ll just end up somewhere else, with someone who treats them even worse than I do. It’s the worst possible thing that could happen to them. I know I was careless, I let Star get hurt but I’m not going to throw these girls out to the street to fend for themselves when another gang could pick them up and traffick them.”

You stared at Jackson calmly.

“Then we have nothing to talk about,” you muttered.

He looked at you desperately. “Baby, don’t say that. Please don’t say that. I’m not who you’re making me out to be, you know that-“

You stood up and picked up your laptop.

“I don’t have anything left to say to you, Jackson.”

You cried yourself to sleep that night. You weren’t sure what to do, and you still didn’t know if you’d done the right thing with Jackson. You knew he loved you, knew that he would take better care of you than any man alive. But that terrible shameful feeling in the back of your mind wouldn’t go away. Why would you fall in love with a man like that? You barely got yourself out of ion and now you want to date a pimp? That’s not normal. That’s the unhealthiest thing I can think of. Don’t do this to yourself.

Jinyoung gave you a sympathetic look when you entered the headquarters the next morning, your eyes red and face pale from lack of sleep. He probably knew what was going on; Jackson and Jinyoung were surprisingly close, they never kept secrets from each other. You forced a smile at him.

“Hey,” he said. “Jackson’s waiting in your office.”

You stiffened. “I don’t want to see him.”

“I think it’s business.”

You took a deep, calming breath. You didn’t want to see Jackson now, couldn’t bear the fact that he was probably going to leave your mind messed up for the rest of the day. But you forced a smile and entered your office, seeing him sitting at your desk. You put your bag down on the desk and raised an eyebrow at him coolly.

“What are you doing here?” you asked stiffly.

Jackson stood up and walked over to you. His own expression was miserable and you couldn’t help but wonder how hard you’d hurt his feelings the previous day. He bit his lip and gently picked up a briefcase, placing it on your desk. He opened it and revealed piles of cash. You raised an eyebrow at him.

“I need help converting this into clean money.”

You blinked. “Why?”

Jackson took a deep breath and he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. Then he looked down at you, dark eyes piercing into yours. “You were right last night. I fooled myself into thinking those girls wanted to work as strippers. They never had any other choice, not really. Nobody ever gave them a way out. But at the same time… I’m not going to fire them. I don’t want even a single one of them ending up in a common whorehouse, or part of some trafficking ring. So I’m not going to shut down the strip club, I’m not going to fire any of these girls.”

You glared at him. “Is this what you came here to tell me-“

“No. I’m going to make sure they’re all here by choice. I called a meeting yesterday, told them all that the only way they would be allowed to keep working for me by night is if they all went to school by day. So I’m paying for all of them to go to college. Well; Shimmer and Eliza dropped out of high school so they’re going to start by getting high school diplomas. The rest of them are enrolling in the local university this fall.”

You stared at Jackson. “Oh.”

Jackson bit his lip. “I know it’s not a lot,” he whispered. “And I know that you still consider me a pimp and it’s difficult because men like me have hurt you in the past but…” he took a deep breath and reached out to grab your hand, pulling you closer to him. His fingers came up to cup your cheek. “I love you. But I don’t know what else I can do. I can just make sure that if these girls ever want to get out of this career, then they’ll have some skills they can use legally. I’m sorry if that’s not enough.”

You felt tears spring to your eyes, and Jackson released you hurriedly, stepping back. “I’m sorry-“

You cut him off, pulling him closer and kissing him hard. Jackson gasped against your lips but within seconds he had his arms wrapped around your waist, his mouth slanting over yours as he kissed you back. You let yourself melt against him, letting his strong arms wrap around you as it sank in how amazing he was. You had been holding back for so long but it suddenly struck you how much you loved Jackson. If he was willing to do this… to pay for at least fifteen girls to go to college out of the goodness his of his heart… then you doubted that you would ever find another man like him in the world.

“I love you,” you whispered against his lips. “Thank you for doing this.”

Jackson smiled and pulled you closer, his lips caressing yours and sliding down your jaw and neck until his face was buried in the crook of your neck. He hugged you to him tightly and took a deep breath, his arms crushing you to his chest as though he was afraid you would change your mind.

“No, thank you,” he whispered. “For making me want to be a better person.”

You pulled back and smiled at him, wiping away your tears and giggling at the relieved expression on Jackson’s face. Then you gently removed his arms from around you.

“Come on, Wang. We need to figure out how you’re going to pay for fifteen college tuitions without the money being traced back to your illegal strip club. That means a lot of foreign transactions and maybe we need to open a new shell company. I’ll need the social security numbers and IDs of all the girls who work with you, and we need to find a legitimate source for their income. How do feel about creating a couple of non-existent dead uncles who left them loads of cash as inheritance?”

Jackson sighed.

Oooh, sounds fun.”

Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
blueandgrey_ #1
Chapter 9: of course, as always, your writing never disappoints ~
so glad i stumbled upon this story and read all the chapters in one sitting!! it's so hard to find good quality stories these days, especially got7 ones, and this one is an absolute delight!!
i love the thrill of the mafia!au, and your characterisation is brilliant...i love how you never fail to highlight the raw, human side of all seven of them despite the storm they're currently in. and all the female characters are so likeable and the pairings have been created beautifully too.
and i also love how you've connected it all so wonderfully (even though i read it in the most messed up order based on my bias rankings LOL)
this comment is all over the place, i know, i'm sorry...i'm just in awe of how amazing this story is!!
( p.s. i am ready to place all my bets on mark and the police detective being a thing, you've placed some really clever hints throughout the story)
the hard work and effort you've put into this is more than clear, thank you so much for sharing it with us!! i'll be waiting eagerly for the mark and youngjae (not a single clue what to expect here) chapters ♡
Red0302
#2
Chapter 1: I love this chapter. Hope you will write about other members as well. :)
Red0302
#3
Chapter 7: I think you have posted the same story twice. Anyway such an intense episode!! LOL Good Job ;)
Red0302
#4
GOT7 as Mob bosses!!! I'm totally in :) :)