15. Jordan

Having Hartley and Vail in my space was pummeling me from all sides. Every sense was aware they were here.

Their scents were in my home. Their laughter filled the air. When one of them reached for me, even in the barest of touches during conversation, my entire body burned with need. The food Vail made, even though I told him to sit down and rest, was better than anything I'd ever had. Irene kept having to shoo him out of the kitchen, but Vail found comfort in cooking. If it helped him feel better, I wasn't going to stop him.

And I couldn't forget sight. Everywhere I turned, there was something to remind me of them. Whether it was Tahoe running around with Latte, or the blankets on the couches that weren't usually there, to the rooms they slept in with their things scattered about. It was tortuous in the best way.

They both said they should leave, but I told them to stay until I knew they were better. It was a way to keep them with me, where they belonged. I didn't voice that out loud. How could I when even thinking it caused ice to flow through my veins? Being with me meant death by my hands. That was the last thing I ever wanted to do with them. Not that they were with me. If I brought it up, they might be.

They could be with each other.

The revelation that they knew one another still floored me. When I had their backgrounds looked into, I didn't dig as deep as I could have. The connection between them wasn't unearthed. Them maintaining a bit of their privacy was important. That had me sucking in a breath when I first thought about it.

They meant something to me. A lot if I was honest with myself, which I usually was. That was how I ended up in the situations I did. With my wife, with Malik, I didn't turn away from what they were doing. It was the opposite. I couldn't let them get away with deceiving me. With them and with Vail and Hartley, I was drawn to them from the start.

Now I was pacing my office like a damn caged bear, not sure what the fuck to do with myself. If I didn't feel jealousy rise in me every time they touched one another in a friendly way, I'd suggest they be together. I might as well tear my heart out if that were the case. Fucking obliterate it. They were supposed to be with me.

"Goddammit," I growled.

There was business to tend to, which I kept doing from here instead of going out into East Dremest and handling it myself. The truck of guns finally came in from Leeland. They were already off to my buyer. But Leeland was as persistent as a fucking mosquito who kept at it until he drew blood. He wanted in with the senator's daughter. The only way was through the senator.

I'd called him like I said I would. I was a man of my word. The senator's daughter was currently in Italy. She'd return next week. I'd told Leeland this and arranged for a meeting when she returned, but he wanted to fly there and drop to his knees in front of her. I understood his obsession to a degree. She was attractive, had more connections than him, and she liked to get dirty too.

The senator promised me once she returned, they would meet. Then it was up to Leeland. It was worth the shipment of guns.

Leeland wasn't a high-volume dealer. What he had were connections to high-end, more difficult to get my hands on, weapons. That was why I hadn't killed him yet for being the annoying insect he was. We needed what the other could provide.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out to see Barry's name on the screen.

"What?" I barked. I was close to tipping over the edge of my sanity.

"Leeland's here, sir."

"In the building?" I growled.

"He got past the men outside by talking a bit too loudly about a shipment you had coming in. They don't know Leeland's full of shit and he doesn't owe you any more weapons. They ushered him in and are holding him on the third floor."

"You know me too well." I grinned wickedly. Barry put Leeland in a room where I had access to all kinds of weapons.

"He's pushed too many times. I've never met a man so hard up."

"He has his eyes on a prize and won't settle until he gets it."

"Obsessive personality."

"It's not a terrible trait unless he keeps showing up here." After all, my need to keep Vail and Hartley close was why they were still here, even though they were getting better. The antiviral worked wonders.

"Send Sheldon to the room. Have him wait for me outside."

"Will do." He hung up.

Now I had something to occupy my time and take my aggression out on. I pocketed my phone and cracked my knuckles. The day was looking up.

In my desk, I withdrew one of my handguns and put it in the holster under my jacket. When I exited my office, I heard Vail and Hartley talking. I followed their voices to the kitchen where Vail was teaching Hartley how to bake. Their heads lifted when they heard my shoes clap on the floor.

"Are you leaving?" Hartley asked.

I hadn't gone anywhere since they'd arrived, not even leaving my home to go to another floor. They were safer with me here. Yes, I had my guards, men who would die for me. They knew Hartley and Vail were to be protected. But would they die for them too? I would, so this was where I stayed. With Leeland in the building, my hackles were up. He shouldn't be here while they were. He shouldn't be here at all.

"Just downstairs. I have business to handle."

Vail dropped his gaze while Hartley held mine. Neither of them liked violence. With Vail, I could understand why after what he'd been through. He didn't criticize me or tell me I shouldn't do what I did, which I appreciated. The look on his face… I hated it.

Hartley nodded, then gently elbowed Vail to get him to focus on the food again. I turned on my heel and strode toward the elevator.

"Stay here," I told Raiden.

"Yes, sir." As long as Hartley and Vail were in my home, Raiden and Reghan were on rotating twelve-hour shifts. I didn't trust anyone else to be up here besides Barry, who had to run security. And Sheldon, but he didn't come up here often.

I pressed the button for the third floor once I was inside the elevator. Rolling my neck, I let the tension bleed out of it and my shoulders. This would be good for me. I could threaten Leeland, and maybe draw a little blood.

Sheldon waited for me outside the room. He had this quietness about him where he could be in the room and wasn't noticed. Listening, taking everything in, that was one of his skills. Sheldon had his finger on the pulse of my building and the people within it without being asked. That alone gave him value.

He was slender and toned, not overly built. He also had the calmest voice of anyone in my organization. The way he questioned a person even had me falling under his spell, wanting to do what he asked. Beside his voice, the reason I kept him employed was how deadly he was. He was a master of poisons, knowing the exact dose to kill someone and what to use, so it would be difficult to trace by a medical examiner. There was an entire closet in his home here lined with vial after vial of his concoctions.

It wasn't that I couldn't handle Leeland on my own. I needed Sheldon's voice, his calmness. It helped center me, which I required more than ever.

"I wasn't told to bring anything," he said as I approached. His blond hair fell forward, partially obscuring his face.

"No, not for this. I might need you to speak to him. I can't have him showing up here like this again. He's on my last fucking nerve. And with…" I dropped the sentence, not wanting to mention Hartley and Vail.

Sheldon nodded. "Understood. Just so we're clear, no one will get past me to hurt them. While your muscle could take Gil down, he'd never expect me." I shouldn't be surprised he knew about the men I had in my place.

"I will kill for them without hesitation."

"I figured."

Opening the door, I stepped inside and came face-to-face with Leeland. "Jordan, finally," he exhaled. "Trying to get in front of you is like seeing God."

"If you'd like to test that, I can certainly attempt to send you there. With the things you've done, my guess is you'd head south."

He waved me off, ignoring my threat. "I have more for you." His hand trembled as he raked it through his dark slicked-back hair. "There are more than guns this time. I have the purest cocaine you could ever get your hands on."

"I don't need that." I already had someone for my drugs. "How much of it have you had?"

"What? Oh, not much."

I closed the distance between myself and Leeland, Sheldon shadowing me. The time for restraining myself was over. "You come to my home, to the place I sleep, and start yelling in the street about guns!" I couldn't contain my anger. "I might have cops at my disposable but not all of them. You don't stand in my fucking city and say that shit."

Sheldon's hand gently grazed my arm, letting me know he was on my left flank, so I didn't lash out and shoot him.

"Leeland?" Sheldon asked.

His eyes latched on to Sheldon's. "Yes?"

"Why don't you tell me why you came here today?" He pulled a chair out and sat but Leeland remained standing.

We were in a large room that doubled as a meeting space. There were cabinets along either wall, with a few round tables and chairs. It looked innocent enough. In the cabinets were weapons and plenty of them. All in safes behind panels that would need my fingerprint to open. Leeland didn't open the doors before we arrived. If he had, Barry would have seen him on camera and told me.

"Jordan and I have been working together. I wanted to tell him I had more to offer him." Leeland swiped under his nose as his eye twitched. He needed to get the fuck out of my building.

"But that's not the real reason," Sheldon said. "What's your motivation?"

"A beautiful woman who has the power I crave."

"What else?"

"She wears these heels that would feel good pressed to my throat. It's not only that. She also has connections. I could be more than I am now."

"And you want your cock buried in her too."

"Of course. I want her to be mine. With the access I have, plus her connections, we could build an empire." I barely remained where I was. The way Leeland spoke sounded like he wanted my territory.

"You know Mr. Altair rules Dremest, correct?"

"The east side."

"No, all of it. The Altairs and the Dremests go way back. You don't come here and try to take over, do you?"

He shook his head, falling right into Sheldon's trap. "But I want her. I want it all." That greedy fucking asshole.

"Then you need to find a different woman to dominate you where you won't be at the mercy of Mr. Altair. You can't build anything here."

"I shouldn't." He sniffed and wiped his nose again.

"What do you think you should do?"

"Leave, but we had a deal."

"The meeting is set," I cut in. "But if you try to set up shop here, I'll kill you."

"You won't do that, right?" Sheldon asked Leeland.

Leeland's gaze bounced from Sheldon to me and back. "I need the money, the power."

I erased the distance between us and pulled the knife from my pocket, flipping it open until the blade gleamed under the fluorescent lighting. Pressing it to his ear, I said low, "If you try to make a move on what's mine, there will be nowhere you can hide. I have connections everywhere. I gave my word that you would meet her, and I'll honor it, but you better stay the low-life piece of shit you are, or all deals are off. If you try to increase your business or think you can steal some of mine…" I sliced the knife over his ear slowly. Blood rose to the surface and seeped from the wound before it dripped onto my hand.

Leeland didn't cry out. He was smart enough not to. "Surely we could come to an understanding."

"I don't think you realize who you're fucking with," I seethed. Pulling my hand back, I took the knife and stabbed it into his ear and twisted. That time, he did scream. And I grinned as his blood hit me from the force of the knife.

I left the knife there and gripped the slimy hair on the back of his head. "If you take one step in my goddamn city again, or try to take what's mine, I won't hesitate to kill you. Slowly. Painfully. And you'll never get your cock anywhere near her."

I released him and pulled out my knife, slicing more as I did so. I let the blood drip to my hand, then the floor. Fuck, that felt good.

Two of my men stood on the other side of the door when I exited the room with Sheldon. They would put some gauze on Leeland, escort him back to the sewer he crawled out of, and have the room cleaned.

Before returning upstairs, I stopped in one of the bathrooms to clean up. I didn't need Vail and Hartley seeing blood on me.