23. Hartley
23
HARTLEY
I felt like a kid who’d been scolded. That wasn’t necessarily Jordan’s intention, but the message was clear. I fucked up and so did Forest, Sheldon, and Oleander. Forest stayed in his apartment above my studio. He’d come down once this morning to find Sheldon on his hands and knees scrubbing the tile. Forest opened his mouth to say something, and I shook my head.
Sheldon’s punishment was to sit in front of the security desk and clean my studio. Mine was to watch him while he was here. Forest didn’t get a punishment. Jordan wasn’t about to make him do anything, but that didn’t mean he was happy with him. I asked if we could have him over for dinner last night and got a hard no.
Oleander was off doing tasks no one wanted to do, the ones they gave to the new hires who had to prove their worth. Luckily, Sheldon said no one was taking it too far or making fun of Oleander. They were a tight group and didn’t set out to bully one another.
With my elbows on my desk, I stared at the monitors but didn’t make a move to work. I was out on the floor, watching Sheldon, but couldn’t take it anymore so I retreated to my small office. I didn’t come back here often, preferring to have my laptop out there with me.
“You can’t hide in here all day,” Hazel said from where she leaned against the doorway.
“No? I’ve been doing a pretty good job of it so far.”
“Well, if I were you, I’d get out there because JJ’s here and he’s having a field day with Sheldon being on his knees.”
“Oh shit.” I stood and rushed around my desk. Hazel slid out of the way to let me by. I forgot JJ was coming in today for a final fitting. I wanted to make sure his order was perfect.
Skidding to a stop a few feet from him, I was ready to yell at him to knock it off. JJ and Sheldon didn’t get along. Well, JJ didn’t like Sheldon and Sheldon loved to make JJ uncomfortable. What I found was JJ with his hands in the pockets of his slacks, staring down at Sheldon with his eyebrows drawn together.
I turned and glared at Hazel. She winked. She knew I’d get out here fast if I thought something was happening. I would have come out regardless, but it wasn’t the first time Hazel had tried to coax me out.
“What’d he do?” JJ asked.
I crossed my arms. “Why do you think he did something?”
“Because I’ve seen this punishment before, but it was a long time ago. Sheldon did something to piss off my old man and it must have been awful for this to happen.”
“Nothing for you to worry about.”
“Does this have to do with the Everharts being in the city?”
“Jesus, you hear everything, don’t you?”
“Where do you think I learned it from? ”
Sighing, I motioned for him to come into the back so he could change and grabbed his suit. At least the first one.
“Hartley,” he said and put his hand gently on my shoulder. “I know my old man likes to keep everything close to the vest, but you’re part of our family. That means Dex, Greer, and I are here for you and Vail as much as we are for him. What can we do?”
“Nothing at the moment. I don’t even know myself. We found a note in my grandfather’s home. Apparently, he owed the Everharts a lot of money, but we don’t know how old it is or if maybe he didn’t die of cancer like we thought. He was very sick so he could have. All of these questions are in the air now.” I shouldn’t have even said that much, but JJ was right. He was family. If I couldn’t trust him then who could I? JJ lived this life with his father for a long time. No, he was never part of Jordan’s organization and didn’t want to be. That didn’t mean he wasn’t aware of what went on. Of the deals and deaths. Of the violence and vitriol.
“You’ve been wracking your brain to try to figure it out, haven’t you?”
I massaged my temples. “You have no idea. I haven’t slept much. Every time I wake up, your dad is up too. Vail’s the only one sleeping well, and Tahoe, of course. I don’t think it has anything to do with worry. Vail’s just been through hell and back and been worn down for years. I hate that this is even happening. Vail doesn’t need more shit in his life and here I am bringing it there.”
“No, you’re not. First off, those assholes would have come for my dad regardless. The note you found just added another layer to it.”
“Yeah, a mysterious one I can’t piece together. Pop didn’t bother anyone. He wasn’t wealthy or frivolous. He worked hard and saved his money to help put clothes on Forest and me. He kept a roof over our heads.”
“Everyone’s got their secrets though. At one point or another we do things we’re not proud of. Some much worse than others. Getting into debt with the Everharts wasn’t smart. Is Lawson digging?” Of course, JJ knew about the men his father employed.
“He is but not finding anything. I don’t think there’s a digital trail. Pop was old school, didn’t even own a computer. We had internet, as basic as it was.” I didn’t grow up wishing I had more wealth. I wished I had parents who were healthy, alive, and loved me and my brother. At least we had our grandfather. Without him, I didn’t want to think where we would have ended up.
It was on the tip of my tongue to bring up Lane, even though it shouldn’t have been. JJ was smart. If he could help us figure it out, it would be that much better. But I didn’t dare. I was already in enough shit with Jordan. There was no reason to make the mountain so big I’d be buried under it.
“Let’s get you into your suit,” I said, changing the subject.
JJ put it on and, luckily, everything fit well. I didn’t have adjustments to make but I wanted to go over each suit with a fine-toothed comb to make sure nothing was missed. After JJ tried on the others to make sure they were perfect as well, I carefully put them away and told him I’d see him in a few days to deliver them. I was doing it myself once the final touches were done, not using one of my staff.
“Why don’t you bring them over this weekend? Have dinner at our place. We’ll see if maybe Olivia wants to come over and talk with Ava, if Ava wants to meet with her, that is.” I had no doubt Xaiden, Val, and Corbin would be there too.
“It might be good for Ava after the weekend we’ve had. ”
If anyone needed normalcy in our little family, it was her. Though what was normal anymore? Damned if I knew.
JJ clapped me on the shoulder. “Talk to her and the old man and let me know. Fuck knows he’ll have something to say about it, good or bad. That man has an opinion about everything.” Jordan did but it was usually the right opinion, the smart one. Sometimes illegal, sure, but still, he did what he did for a reason.
I walked onto the main floor again, seeing JJ out, and found Sheldon still scrubbing the tile. It would be clean enough to eat off soon. “Sheldon, you can stop,” I said once JJ was gone.
“No, he can’t,” Rory reminded me. “Do you remember what Jordan said? If he doesn’t do this, his punishment will be worse.”
“He said if I help him, not if I tell him to stop.”
Rory’s eyebrows lifted. “You really want to test that and find out if it holds?”
“No.” I wheeled my chair closer to Sheldon and sat down, my fingers going to my temple to massage some of the tension away again. “Do you regret it?” I asked Sheldon. No one said I couldn’t talk to him.
He peered up at me then sat back onto his heels and wiped his forehead with his arm, pushing his blond hair out of his face. “Helping you and Forest?”
I nodded.
“No. I knew what I was doing, knew Jordan was going to be pissed. I wasn’t overly worried about your safety. If I was, no amount of convincing could have gotten me to let you two in there.” He was right. Sheldon might have had a thing for my brother, but he wasn’t thinking about strictly sex with him.
“What’s going on with you and Forest? ”
“Nothing.”
“He’s not here. I’m not going to tell him what you say.” I loved my brother, but Sheldon was my friend. I wouldn’t betray him like that.
“Sometimes I think that maybe… but then… No. He’s straight like you said, so I’ll take whatever this shit is I’m feeling and keep it inside until it goes away.”
“Just like that?”
“I’m not sure what else to do. I’m not going to put him in a situation that would make him uncomfortable. I don’t openly flirt with him, only try to be there when he needs someone.” He got back on his hands and knees and started scrubbing again. If Jordan didn’t have a security system installed in here and Rory wasn’t standing watch, I’d tell Sheldon to get out the mop and call it done.
“You’re a good man.”
“I’m not, but sometimes I try to be. For all I’ve done and will do in the future, I don’t force men to be with me. When I eventually find someone who loves me as much as Jordan and Vail love you, I’m going to do everything I can to make them happy.”
“I have no doubt you will. And you will find that person.” If it was my brother or not.
I still didn’t know what was going on with Forest. Whether he saw all Sheldon did for him or not. At the moment, I had enough on my plate with Jordan being pissed at me and his guards, and the mysterious note that stayed in my head like someone tattooed the fucking thing on my brain.
All that money my grandfather owed. He knew who he was getting into business with. Had to. But why in the hell were the Everharts down in North Carolina when they had their home base near here? At least I assumed it was near here since Jordan’s wife had fucked one of them. I doubted she flew south every time she wanted an orgasm and to plot the deaths of her husband and only child.
God, I hated that woman, and I’d never met her. Every time I thought about what she did, I got pissed.
Something suddenly hit me on the back and clattered to the floor. I turned to see a pen lying on the tile near Sheldon’s foot. He obviously didn’t throw it, so I lifted my gaze to Hazel. “What was that for?”
“You were scowling. It sucks that Sheldon is scrubbing the tile, but that doesn’t take away from the pile of orders you have.”
“You’re right.” Hazel was good at keeping me on task, even though it wasn’t her job.
I grabbed the pen from the floor, set it on the table, and returned to work while the sounds of bristles over tile was background noise.