4. Hartley

4

HARTLEY

I smiled, hoping it would soften my wanting to delay this until JJ got here. Not knowing what Perry and Peyton were, or weren’t, aware of would drive how much I said about Jordan’s past. I wouldn’t break his trust. If they already knew, I wasn’t doing anything wrong. Unless Jordan got pissed at me for involving JJ in this, then I’d deal with the fallout. It was worth it if Jordan let go of the guilt that had resurfaced.

“Can we wait until JJ gets here?” I asked, smile still in place.

“JJ’s here,” Jordan’s son said, walking into the room. He shut the door behind him. He took the remaining empty seat. “What’s going on?”

“Okay, I’m going to begin this by relaying the events that have most recently happened. You all know about Gil, so there’s no need to rehash that nightmare. But what you don’t know is Gil had a sister who died in a car accident. His sister left behind a twelve-year-old daughter.”

“Oh, shit,” JJ gasped .

“Yes, and in Celine’s will, that’s Gil’s sister by the way, she granted Vail custody.”

“Vail has custody of Gil’s niece?” JJ asked, his eyes wide. “Holy fuck. How does he feel about that?”

“He was shocked. Not only about Celine’s death, but about him getting custody of her daughter. Apparently, Celine had Gil in the will until everything happened, and she found out Gil was an asshole who held people hostage and abused Vail. And that he was dead. Celine didn’t know Gil had done so many awful things until he was gone. She went to her attorney and had the will changed to grant custody to Vail.

“Celine must have seen the good in Vail while he was still with Gil. Vail took the time to play with her daughter and be the amazing person he is, even though he was dealing with hell at home. We’ll truly never know what she was thinking, but Vail couldn’t bear the thought of Ava, that’s Celine’s daughter, going to anyone else. Celine chose Vail for a reason, and he’d honor her wishes.”

“Jesus,” Perry muttered and leaned back in his chair. “Are the three of you going to raise her together?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. I didn’t care that I was in his building, in his office. He would not speak ill of one of the men I loved. “Yes, the three of us are.” My tone was hard.

Perry held up his hands. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

I cocked an eyebrow.

“Okay, I kind of did. But you have to understand where I’m coming from. My uncle wasn’t the best father to JJ.”

“Wellll…” JJ said, drawing out the word.

Giving JJ his full attention, Perry asked, “Well?”

JJ glanced in my direction.

I shook my head. “It’s not my story to tell.”

JJ launched into the story about his father. The reason Jordan killed his wife. Why he let JJ believe for most of his life that his father was a horrible man. Basically, how Jordan lost the first and second loves of his life to protect his son. Perry and Peyton already knew about Malik. When they put the pieces of Jordan killing his wife and later Malik together, the bigger picture truly formed.

Instead of saying anything, Perry stood and went to the side of the room, where he had a small selection of liquor and crystal glasses. He poured himself a decent amount of scotch, then tipped it down his throat like it was a shot. More was poured into the glass before he returned to the table and sat down.

“You’re not going to pour me any?” Peyton asked. “All the times you’ve offered me a drink and when I truly need one, you don’t offer?”

Perry scoffed. “We both know you won’t drink on the job.”

The room fell silent, the latest revelation sitting on Perry’s and Peyton’s shoulders. Nothing but the sound of air moving through the vents was heard.

After drinking the second glass, Perry placed it on the table, folded his arms, then dropped his head onto them. “I should have stayed in bed today,” he muttered.

“It’s hard trying to reconcile the man you always thought he was with who he truly is, isn’t it?” JJ asked his cousin.

“I still don’t like him,” Peyton muttered.

“No one’s asking you to have flowers and a card with an apology delivered,” I stated. “But you all walk around like Jordan is the evilest man in the world.” Peyton’s lips parted, but I pushed forward before he could speak. “Yes, I know he does awful shit and I’m not excusing that. At his base, Jordan loves his family and would die for every one of us. Well, maybe not you, Peyton, but you get my point. ”

“Hartley, why are you here?” JJ asked. “I doubt it was to be part of the Altair family therapy session.”

“Right. I have a reason. Jordan doesn’t know I’m here.”

Perry whistled. “That should go over well when he finds out.”

“If you think I’m afraid of him and his growly attitude, you’re wrong. It’s quite the opposite.”

His nose scrunched up. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Nope, but now you know. Anyway, having Ava in our lives is bringing a shit ton of guilt back to Jordan’s shoulders. He worries he won’t be who she needs. That she won’t be protected. That he’ll fail her and not know how to help raise her. Basically, he’s thinking about the ways he thinks he failed you, JJ.”

JJ reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He tapped away on the screen and returned it to his pocket. “Give me a minute. This is a lot. I just had to relive my father confessing everything to me and hearing about his guilt.”

A minute was about all it took before there was a knock on the door.

“Let him in,” Perry called.

The door opened, and Greer stepped in, closing it behind him. He surveyed the room, his eyes landing on me before going to JJ. Greer walked over to him and crouched by his side. “What happened?”

JJ reached for Greer’s hand, gripping it tight. “Vail was granted custody of Gil’s sister’s kid, and my old man has resurfaced guilt from being a shitty father.”

Greer blinked. “It’s nine in the morning. I’ve only had one cup of coffee.”

“Tell me about it. ”

“Wait,” Peyton cut in. “Did you tell Greer and Dexen about Jordan?” he asked JJ.

“They were there when he confessed it to me. So was Vail.”

“Everyone knew but me?”

Perry raised a finger from where his head still rested on his arms. “I didn’t know.” His voice was muffled. “Pretty sure Dom doesn’t either, since he tells us everything.”

Greer shrugged. “It wasn’t my story to tell.”

“Exactly why I was glad JJ told it,” I stated. “Now, what are we going to do because I didn’t come here for nothing. I have my own work to do.”

“Oh yeah,” JJ said. “How’s my suit coming along?”

A smiled bloomed on my lips. Talking about what I did for a living made me happy. “You’re going to love it. The cut will do wonders for those muscles you improved upon working out with Greer.”

“Can we circle back to why you’re here?” Greer asked and stood. He kept his hand in JJ’s. “What would you like us to do?”

“I came here to talk to JJ. I didn’t expect to be pulled into a full Altair meeting, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing. Now you know and can support Jordan.”

That got Perry to lift his head. “You want me to support my uncle? He’d never allow us to help him out. You should know that.”

I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t say invite yourself over for dinner and spend an hour hugging him. I meant stop avoiding him like he’s out to get you. There’s no excusing the shit he’s put each of you through. However, when was the last time he asked for something from you?”

“He wants me to stop by more often,” JJ supplied.

“That doesn’t count. You’re his son. You should do that anyway. Besides, I’ve seen how Jordan and Greer are getting along. Spending more time with us will only build upon that.”

“You can’t be serious,” Perry said. “Greer and my uncle are what? Friends?”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Greer cut in. “We’re just not in the ‘let’s see who can kill who first’ stage any longer.”

“Give them time,” I said. “Before you know it, Greer and Jordan will share grilling duties the next time we’re at their house.”

Greer gasped. “He’s not sharing my grill.”

“You’re right, but only because Jordan doesn’t cook. Can we focus?” I was just as guilty of drifting off track as they were, but I really had to get to work.

Peyton stood and crossed his arms, his eyes solely on his brother. “How much else are you withholding from me?”

“It’s not like that,” Greer said calmly.

“I think it is.”

“Okay, let’s look at this another way. If Dom’s sister came to you and told you something so deep, so personal, that it was like ripping her soul apart to share it, would you have run to tell me what you know?”

“When you put it that way…”

“I thought so.”

JJ sighed, ignoring the others, focusing on me. “Come over for dinner this weekend.”

“Ava is still adjusting. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“We could introduce her to Livy eventually,” Greer offered. That wasn’t a bad idea, but Ava still had to get used to us before we introduced her to others. Plus, she was still mourning the loss of her mother.

“Is she in school during the day?” JJ asked.

“Yes. She’s going to the same school she did before. Jordan hired a guard for her, who is driving her to and from and staying nearby.”

“What if I stop by tomorrow morning before I head here?”

“And say what? You were driving past on your way to work?” I asked. Jordan would see right through that lie, especially since JJ lived in the suburbs and didn’t go anywhere near East Dremest unless it was to check in on his shop.

“I’ll tell him I had to handle something at the garage and figured I’d stop by. That way he can tell me about Ava if he wants.”

I chuckled. “The moment I get home tonight, he’ll know something is going on. I can’t lie to him. And honestly, I don’t want to. He needs to understand you don’t hate him and want to be in his life. That having Ava in ours isn’t the same. We all make mistakes. We learn from them and are better for it. Jordan has to find his way but having you, his only child, there to support him, that’s the thing no one can give him but you. I could stand there and tell Jordan over and over how amazing he is and that he shouldn’t worry, but he needs to hear it from you.”

“God, I’m really going to need fucking therapy after this.”

“Jordan hired a therapist.”

JJ’s eyes bugged. “He did what?”

“Not for himself, but for those who work for him. There’s a reason people gravitate toward the life Jordan and the rest of them lead. They have their own demons to exorcise and pasts they’d rather forget.”

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