26. Vail

The evening was supposed to be one with Jordan, us, his son, and his son's partners. Instead, it turned into a fucking circus. There was a lot to follow as words were said and stories were told, but I got the gist of it. I was also happy to have met Romeo's mother. She was a spitfire of a woman. She reminded me a bit of my sister with her take no shit attitude. It was no wonder Jordan and Pepper went back and forth, placing gifts for the other in Romeo's house.

Pepper leaving with Vivian brought Jordan's shoulders down and the tension drained from him. He could finally relax in his seat and enjoy dinner with his son. And us. I still couldn't believe I called us his partners. Jordan didn't know what to say, and I hated the sudden silence, so I jumped in to fill the gap.

Once everyone left, including Raiden, who was on the floor below Jordan's home for the evening to give us privacy, Jordan poured himself a drink and stood by the tinted floor-to-ceiling windows in his living room that overlooked the city. "I still can't believe that fucking woman was in my house." Pepper and Jordan weren't friends. They weren't even acquaintances. I thought he hated Vivian more than Pepper now, which was saying something.

I stepped up behind him and put my hand on his lower back. "Hey, let all that go. They're gone."

He turned to me, his eyes dropping to my lips. "Make me think of something else."

Taking the glass from him, I poured the rest of the scotch down my throat and set it on the coffee table. "Do you want to fuck me, Jordan?"

"What if I want Hartley to fuck you?"

"That's up to him. I would love to have his hands on me, but what about you?"

"I'd like to watch."

"And not participate?"

"I want to see you two together. I've been with you both separately. All that's left is for you to come together. If it doesn't work, there's no chance for the three of us. I'm not sure where that would leave things."

I shook my head. "Don't go that far. I want Hart and he wants me. We'll figure things out."

Hartley walked into the room. He made a quick stop in the bathroom when Jordan headed for the living room. "What did I miss?"

I chuckled. "Were you expecting more drama?"

"I hoped not, but who knows around here."

"Jordan suggested you fuck me."

His eyes widened and his mouth formed an O. "I'm game if you are."

Nodding, I let my gaze trace down his body. Hartley was a very attractive man. I didn't worry about what Forest would think. His problems were bigger than Hartley and me. At one time, Forest and I were inseparable. Like everything else, Gil drove a wedge between us, our friendship tanking along with the rest of my life.

"I would love to have you inside me," I told Hartley.

"Jordan fucked me bare, and I know he did the same to you. If you want to use a condom, I'm fine with it." Hartley spoke fast, then licked his lips, a tell from back when he was younger. When he got really nervous, he would lick them.

I erased the distance between us and placed my hand on the side of his neck. Hartley was shorter than me by quite a bit. I towered over him, but not in a way I wanted to intimidate him. Hartley had more power than he realized.

Was there anything better than being with someone I'd known for a long time? I was about to find out. That comfort, that sense of home just by being with them. How they knew you and your faults and still wanted you. While Hartley didn't know me well now, he would. And he knew me back then.

"You don't have to be nervous around me, Hart."

He peered up at me, his beautiful brown eyes filled with so much depth. That pink tongue of his swept out once more. This time, I couldn't resist and leaned down to kiss him. He stilled against me, like he wasn't sure what to do. My other hand went to his hip as I turned us around and backed him to the window. He gasped against my mouth as I pressed the length of my body to his, so he could feel the way my dick hardened from touching him.

Dropping his head back against the glass, I gave him breathing room. His eyes were closed, and his lips parted. "I can't believe this is happening. Do you know how many times I jerked off to fantasies of you? Teenage me is very happy right now."

I reached down and cupped his dick through his slacks. He was so fucking hard and long. He would feel good inside me. With my lips a breath away from his exposed neck, I whispered, "And what does teenage you think of having me like this?" Then I pressed a kiss there and another. My tongue licked up his neck so I could taste his skin.

"He already came. Adult me is ready to strip you and sink deep though."

"No one's stopping you."

Hartley opened his eyes and looked around. "Raiden left, right?"

"He did," Jordan said from where he leaned against the glass a few feet from us. His eyes were hooded, and his hand was in his pocket, his fingers rubbing his dick through the material. "You can fuck anywhere you'd like. This is your home too, Hartley. It can be yours as well, Vail."

"I'm still thinking about it," I told him. "To give up everything I have to move in here, I worry about the what-ifs. What if this doesn't work out? What if you decide you only want one of us and not both? What if we're not compatible in more than sex?"

"What if I want you two here for the rest of my days? I don't do things lightly."

"What happened to being worried you'll have to kill us?" I asked.

If he wanted to harm us, he'd had numerous chances to do so. For all of Jordan's talk about not wanting to fall in love again, he still couldn't help himself when he found someone he desired. Controlling, possessive, and used to getting his way, this was Jordan Altair Sr., mafia boss of East Dremest. Yet when it was the three of us, he was just Jordan. A man who had a lot to give but didn't know how to express his feelings with words or say the things others typically did. I liked that about him.

I liked far more than that and was already falling for him and Hartley, as insane as it was. After being abused by Gil, I walked into a relationship with Jordan like he wasn't the bad guy everyone made him out to be. As long as I didn't have to see the violence, I'd be okay. Or at least that was what I told myself.

"The only way I'd kill either of you was if you tried to hurt me or my son. Everything else is forgivable."

"You say that now," I told him.

"Did you forget who you're standing in front of, Vail? The number of crimes I've committed, the bodies I've had my people dispose of, the lies that flow easily from my tongue, I'm not new to this. I'm sixty fucking years old. I'm too old to play games with the people who mean something to me, like you and Hartley do. What will it take to get you into my bed every night? To have your clothes in my closet and dog roaming the house? To have your bare feet on my floor every morning?"

My eyes held his. "I'm yours. I've already told you that, but I need to keep something that's mine too."

"Keep your house. I'm not asking you to sell it. Between its space and location, it's worth a lot and you clearly love it. Hell, I'll give you a fucking sledgehammer so you can tear this place apart if it makes you happy."

"I couldn't do that."

"Why not?" He stood up straighter, no longer leaning against the window. "This is just stuff to me." He motioned around the room. "I don't give a shit about any of it."

"You have a lot of expensive art."

"Yes, to prove to others I'm worth more than they could imagine. So everyone knows who owns this shit and makes the money here. But for you and Hartley, I'd get rid of it all."

"That's a hell of a declaration of love, Jordan," I said.

"I didn't mention love."

"No, and who knows if you ever will." Once again it was his actions coming through. Sure, he said he'd get rid of things, but there was no confession of his feelings. That was in his willingness to clear out his home. "Fine. You want me to move in here? I will, but only if I can leave when I want. If I can do as I please and I'm not bound to any conditions by being here."

"I don't want to clip your wings, Vail."

I nodded. Apparently, I let my emotions out and I was moving in with Jordan and Hartley. Was it insane? Absofuckinglutely. However, I could only fight this for so long. Yes, I'd given him me, but not everything. Now I was with the hope he would hold true to his word and not try to cage me.

A whimper returned my attention to Hartley. My hand was still on his dick, stroking against it like it had a mind of its own. He writhed beneath my palm.

"I'm sorry, Hart. I forgot to give you the attention you need."

"You and Jordan talking made me hotter. Are you really going to move in? You really want me like that? I know you want him, but me too?"

"I wouldn't have agreed to it if I didn't want you. You're part of this, part of us. Now I'm going to strip out of my clothes and we're going to get to know each other in a way we never have before. I'm going to be yours as much as I'm Jordan's. Is that okay with you? We have a lot to learn about each other. Our past selves are just that, in the past. This is me and you moving into the future with Jordan."

"Forest is going to kick my ass for fucking you."

"Forest has his own shit to worry about and given the shape you said he's in, I doubt he could fight his way through an open door."

"If your brother lays a single hand on you in anger, I'll remove it from his body," Jordan bit out.

Hartley shivered at Jordan's words. While violence wasn't my turn-on, clearly Hartley loved when Jordan got possessive like this. I had to admit, there was something to it. Not the threat of injury, but the way Jordan wanted to own us. As long as he kept his word and didn't try to trap me here, I'd willingly fall under his spell more than I already was.

While the two of them stared at one another, Jordan silently seething and Hartley on the verge of coming, I stripped off my sweater, slacks, and boxer briefs, happy to rid myself of the clothes. My shoes and socks were already gone. Being naked was freeing, especially when I drew the attention of the two men in the room.

Jordan picked up the empty glass from the table and filled it before taking a seat at one end of the couch, facing us. I wanted to give him a good shot of what we'd look like together. While I was thinking about that, Hartley took his clothes off. It was my first look at him naked, at the beautiful man beneath the clothes. With slight ridges of muscles and enough hair I could run my fingers through, Hartley was beautiful.

There was no going back. The truth was, the moment I stepped in here that night to cook dinner, I was hooked on Jordan. With Hartley, someone who felt like home to me, I didn't need anything else. These two were everything. I just had to hope neither of them would destroy me.