15. Vail
15
VAIL
Jordan put Lane in another room with Sheldon and Oleander on him while Reghan and Raiden’s room connected to ours, and Albert and Rory were on the other side. Julia and Vincent would stay near Lane’s father and brother, monitoring them. I didn’t envy them staying awake all night.
“I couldn’t have my own room?” Ava asked, standing in front of us.
“With everything going on, we don’t think it’s safe for you to be away from us,” I said. “And with Julia not here…”
“I understand, but…” She turned to look at the rollaway bed brought up by the hotel staff. Jordan could have ground his teeth to dust at the idea of letting Ava out of our sight.
“It’s not ideal for us either,” I reminded her. “We wanted this to be a getaway, but circumstances have changed.”
I wanted to give her everything she ever wanted, but it couldn’t be here and now. Not with people after Jordan and us in an unfamiliar hotel. If we were back home in Jordan’s building, this would be a lot easier. Hell, I could envision him giving her an apartment when she graduated high school. It was a ways off, but at least we’d know she was safe inside, if not on the same floor.
We had plans to show Ava and Jordan around the small town we grew up in. Where the schools were, where Forest and I would get in trouble, and other places. It was all shot to hell now.
I sure wouldn’t have wanted to stay in the same room with my parents when I was younger. No, we weren’t her parents. I probably wouldn’t sleep tonight over worrying about her. If she was in here, she was safe.
My phone rang, so I pulled it out of my pocket. Shock rocked through at seeing my mom was calling. “Hello?” I answered. If she was calling, that meant she wanted to see me, right? Would want to meet Jordan and Hartley?
“Vail, are you outside our home?”
“No, why?”
“There’s a big vehicle parked on the street and your father thought it might be you.”
I switched the phone to speaker. “What does it look like?”
“Why do you have me on speakerphone?” I could hear the frown in her voice.
“This way my partners can hear you too. Just describe it, please.” I needed to keep her focused, not irritated others could hear her.
“I don’t know what you’re up to.” The disappointment was obvious in her tone. “It’s a black SUV. Four doors, bigger. Not one of those small things.”
“Can you see if there’s anyone inside?”
“No, the windows are tinted. It’s been out there for about a half hour. Your father wants to confront them.”
“No,” I rushed to say, then had to calm my voice. My parents didn’t need to know about the people after Jordan. He paced away as I kept talking. “Dad shouldn’t go out there. We don’t know who it is, and it could be dangerous.”
“Is this what I have to expect now that you’re with a criminal? I wanted better for you. And that you’re dragging poor Hartley down with you…”
“I’m not poor anything, Mrs. Ayers,” Hartley said from my side. “I’m right where I want to be, with who I love.”
She scoffed, but didn’t say anything else.
Jordan paced back to us. “Mrs. Ayers, that is one of my men out there making sure the area is safe in case Vail wanted to visit.” He didn’t introduce himself and the lie rolled easily off his tongue. I knew where his men were, and they weren’t there.
“You need to send them away,” she said firmly. “I’m not in any danger.” Then she hung up. I shouldn’t have been surprised. I also had to finally realize I’d probably not see them for a long time. They wouldn’t accept Jordan, even after he saved me from Gil. They wouldn’t do anything because all they thought when they heard Jordan’s name was that he was a dangerous criminal, not bothering to learn about the man he really was.
Sighing, I pocketed my phone.
“Sheldon and Oleander are on their way there,” Jordan stated. “Reghan is with Lane. Albert is outside our door and Raiden, well, you can see him. We’ll make sure your parents are okay.”
Was it wrong that the thought didn’t even occur to me once she started with her attitude? I was too irritated about her being mean to Jordan. Some son I was.
“You okay, V?” Forest asked from where he sat in one of the chairs in the room.
“I shouldn’t be surprised. ”
“Yet you are. I really hoped for your sake they would have been better, but my gut was right. They’re not going to change. They didn’t love you like you needed back then, and they sure as fuck aren’t now.”
“Vail,” Hartley said softly, gently turning my chin toward him. “Remember what Pop used to tell you when you’d come over and he saw how unhappy you were?”
“That he had enough love to go around, and he’d never treat me differently because of who I was attracted to?”
Hartley nodded. “So many of his friends gave him shit for sticking up for you and me. He told me that a while back. How no matter who thought he did the wrong thing, he didn’t care, because he loved us, all three of us, and would always be there when we needed him. While it fucking sucks that your parents are like this, we have enough love for you. Jordan and me. Forest and the guys.”
“And me,” Ava spoke up. “Mama would have never treated me that way. That’s not how parents are supposed to be. She loved you too. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t have…” She shook her head and looked away. I didn’t need her to finish her sentence. If she didn’t love me, she wouldn’t have put my name in her will as the guardian for Ava.
“You’re right,” I told her, then turned to Hartley. “You’re all right. I can’t let this get to me. There’s other shit going on and I need to be present, not stuck in the imaginary place where my parents wanted to meet the man I loved. The men I loved,” I corrected. “They knew you in the past, Hart, but they don’t know the person you’ve become.”
He shrugged. “It’s their loss. I’m amazing.” He grinned.
“You are.” Leaning down, I brushed my lips over his. “Thank you. ”
“You don’t have to thank me for loving you. It’s a privilege.”
I was lucky to have the people with me I did. I would have been fine if I were on my own, living in my home in West Dremest, cooking at Untouchable and giving lessons. But my life with Jordan and Hartley was everything to me. They were supportive in every aspect.
Jordan gave me space in his building to create a dream kitchen, where I could cook for not only the people I loved, but the friends I’d made, the guards who worked for Jordan and the other staff. He wanted me to thrive. Sure, some might see it as him trying to control where I was, but they didn’t know him. They hadn’t seen what he had or been through what I had. Where they might see another cage, I saw room to grow. I saw opportunities. Jordan didn’t stop me from working. He simply wanted me protected while I did it.
Hartley supported me in other ways. He was there for me when I hadn’t even realized I needed his comfort. I’d wake from nightmares and find his arms around me. Even in sleep, he’d reach out for me like his body knew there was something going on with me, even if I didn’t wake him up. He’d caress my arm absently. When we were awake, he’d nudge me to put my head on his lap while we watched TV. He’d visit me at Untouchable sometimes or show up in my new kitchen to see how the progress was coming along.
I couldn’t forget about Forest, Ava, or the other people in my life. They each had their own ways to show me they cared. Ava didn’t owe me anything, yet at night when I would sit with her while her tears dried, she’d thank me for being there. For not letting her go into the system or end up with a family member she didn’t know. She might be young, but she recognized how different her life could have gone. She was an amazing person who would no doubt grow into an adult who changed the world.
It wasn’t long before Sheldon called Jordan to tell him the SUV was gone. They drove around the block, up and down the street, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. It wasn’t like they could get out and make sure no one was hiding on my parents’ property in broad daylight. Jordan told them to return to the hotel. He was uneasy with two fewer guards here.
Ava went next door with Albert. He asked if she wanted to watch TV with him, probably guessing we needed to talk in here about more than we wanted her to hear. Raiden took up a post outside our door.
“They don’t know we’re here or that Lane is with us,” Jordan said. “Their guards were probably outside your parents’ house to see if we were there. They’re after me, not your family.”
“What if they go after them?”
“If it were me, there’s no reason to. I wouldn’t want to knock off Lane. I want his father and brother. Aunts, uncles, and others who have no business in our world wouldn’t bother me unless I needed leverage. That piece of shit just wants me. I’m the one to blame for him losing what he had. If I have it my way, he will lose everything when I put a bullet in his head, then take his other son out of this world the same way.” I’d have to take his word on it.
“We should go home,” Hartley said. “I came down here to check on the house and I did. If we go home, we can draw them to follow us.”
“I’m not sure it’s that simple. They can’t get to me in Dremest. Out here it’s easier. Although, it would be safer for us there. The idea of them disappearing and me not knowing where they are doesn’t sit well with me though.”
Jordan’s phone started vibrating in his hand. “What?” he barked out when he answered it.
I could hear Vincent shouting on the other end. “We’ve been found! Shots fired!”
“Get the fuck out of there. We don’t have enough resources here to take them on. Meet us at the airport.” Jordan hung up and immediately called his pilot to get the plane ready now. I doubted it would be easy to obtain clearance and be able to get in the air at the drop of a hat, but with enough money, I’d learned most things were possible.
Jordan told the others we needed to leave quickly. We gathered our belongings, luckily not having unpacked yet. Ava shook against me as I held her close to my side as we rushed to the elevator. We didn’t stop when the person at the front desk asked if we were checking out already. They had Jordan’s card on file and could easily charge him for the rooms. One foot was put in front of the other as we piled into the SUV Albert pulled around. The others got into the remaining SUV that Oleander and Sheldon pulled up in just in time.
Tires screeching, Albert got us out of there and on our way to the airport where, hopefully, the plane would be almost ready, and we could return to the safety of Dremest.