Middle Men

In Los Angeles, Jack helps run a sick friend's nightclub, setting the stage for his future ventures. Wayne Beering and Buck Dolby are introduced as ambitious but impulsive partners who quickly push an online porn idea. They win Nikita Sokoloff's backing by offering him a 25% stake in exchange for filming the strippers.

Sokoloff's nephew comes to collect his share and threatens Jack's family. One of Jack's bodyguards punches him, and he dies. They dump the body in the Pacific Ocean off Los Angeles and fabricate a story that he took the money and ran; Sokoloff accepts the cover-up but demands a bigger stake.

Jack pays Haggerty $200,000 to get out of the partnership; Haggerty is already under federal indictment, making him a liability for the business. Jack aims to keep the venture clean and protect the growing operation from legal trouble.

Sokoloff remains wary but is mollified by the cover-up and agrees to raise his share to 50% of the partnership. The balance of power tilts in his favor as the operation expands.

Buck and Wayne pivot from running a porn site to building an online billing service, founding 24/7Billing.com. The new model becomes the backbone for a large network of online porn providers. Within a year, the billing business earns hundreds of millions and redefines the players' lives.

Jack becomes addicted to money, sex, and power, spending little time with his Houston family. He begins a relationship with porn star Audrey Dawns, further entrenching himself in the LA lifestyle. The personal cost of his new life begins to mount.

Feeling sidelined, Haggerty manipulates Wayne and Buck into working with Denny Z, supplying billing services for Denny’s numerous child-pornography sites. The plot thickens as internal tensions threaten the partnership.

Audrey's live-stream porn site is monitored by an international terrorist network, attracting the attention of the US Government. The FBI asks Jack and Audrey to assist in expanding their counter-terrorism efforts. Wayne and Buck fear Jack will turn them in if the FBI gets too close.

Sokoloff's men kidnap the maid's son, believed to be Jack's, pressuring Jack to assemble millions and travel to meet Sokoloff. The sequence is shown early in the film, establishing the high-stakes stakes behind the partnership.

In a brutal turn, Sokoloff shoots Haggerty dead but spares Jack, rewarding him for the money and maintaining the alliance. The shaken partners realize the cost of their lucrative arrangement.

The FBI indicts Sokoloff, Wayne, and Buck for providing billing services for child pornography. They begin cooperating with authorities and turn state's evidence against Denny Z, resulting in a reduced sentence for Denny. The network begins to unravel as legal pressure mounts.

With the case collapsing, Sokoloff faces mounting pressure and flees the country. Moscow is rumored to be his new base as investigators close in on the remaining partners. The future of the operation becomes uncertain.

After the turbulent chain of events, Jack returns to his family in Houston. Diane warmly welcomes him back, signaling a fragile return to normalcy and the end of the immediate crisis. The film closes with a sense of regained, if uneasy, domestic stability.