19. Hartley
19
HARTLEY
“No,” Sheldon said, with his arms crossed and his lips pressed into a line.
“Come on,” I whined. It wasn’t pretty, and I didn’t care. I needed to get in to see Lane to ask him what he knew about the piece of paper.
“None of that will work on me. Not the puppy dog eyes, not the begging, nope. And you can’t use sex, so that’s another check in the hell no box.”
I scrunched up my nose. “Do you seriously think I’d cheat on Jordan? If you knew the way he?—”
Sheldon put his palm over my mouth. People had to stop doing that to me.
I slapped his arm away. “Anyway, I’m getting into that room to talk to Lane whether or not you go with me.”
“Really, how?”
“It’s sad how you underestimate me.”
“Sheldon,” my brother cut in gently. Sheldon’s eyes went to Forest. My brother was my secret weapon. Sheldon wouldn’t be able to resist him. He gave him the paper, after all. “You’ll be in there with us. Invite Ollie along. We just want to talk to Lane, nothing else. He has no weapons. He doesn’t even have a phone. What could he possibly do with you two in there with us?”
“Say something you don’t want to hear.”
“We passed that when you handed me this.” Forest held the square of folded paper between his fingers.
“There could be more. Shit you don’t want to hear.”
“Or he could know nothing. Either way, we have to cover our bases. It’s either we go in there and have a civilized conversation with Lane, or Jordan goes in there and makes him bleed.”
Sheldon shrugged. “We don’t need him. Jordan hasn’t told anyone about the money. If it disappeared, no big deal.”
I let them keep talking while I kept an eye out. Sure, there were cameras everywhere, but I’d walked all over this building in the past. I doubted my every move was reported to Jordan. And if it was today, I would have the information necessary to tell him everything after speaking with Lane. If Jordan was still pissed, which he would be, I’d blow him or tell him to fuck me. Nothing relaxed that man like coming his brains out.
“You’re going to have to talk fast,” Sheldon said. Wait, was he saying what I think he was?
“I know,” my brother replied.
“Jordan’s going to find out you’re in there. Barry isn’t manning the security desk, but no one is supposed to talk to Lane without Jordan’s permission. It’s a strict drop off meals, make sure he’s okay, and leave.”
“Jordan’s not here though,” I cut in. “He’s at one of his companies doing financial shit.” There I was, sounding smart again. You’d think I’d be better about this stuff, considering I ran my own business. Meh. Whatever.
Sheldon sighed. “You’ve seen Albert drive. Jordan is going to be on a warpath.”
“By the time he gets here, I’ll be naked upstairs, and he won’t be able to resist me.”
“What about Vail?”
“Vail can have any part of me he wants.”
“You don’t think he’s going to be upset you went in there?”
“Of course, but I have a really nice dick and a firm ass. No one will be angry by the time they’re done and then, when they’re calm and blissed out, I’ll fill them in.” I couldn’t understand why Sheldon wasn’t comprehending my plan. We would talk to Lane fast. I’d elevator upstairs, rush to the bedroom, strip, and suck a bunch of dick. Vail would come upstairs from his kitchen the second he heard Jordan was pissed at me, attempting to be a buffer. But he’d forget about it when he saw me naked. They both would.
“He’s going to fire me.” Okay, that wasn’t going to happen.
“No, he won’t. I’ll make sure he doesn’t.”
“Why don’t you come home with me after we talk to Lane, so you’re not in the building?” Forest asked.
I turned to my brother and raised an eyebrow. “Got something you want to tell me?”
“What? No, I’m trying to save Sheldon.” Uh huh. Sure, he was. The blush that flushed his cheeks was there because he was stupidly excited about our plan then.
“Fine,” Sheldon said.
I grinned. Forest for the win! I wouldn’t have been able to convince Sheldon without him. Now my brother had to take Sheldon home with him. I doubted anything would happen. Forest blushed, for fuck’s sake. He was so far out of his depth. That was, if he wanted to even be in the pool.
“Let’s go,” I told them. “The longer we stand here, the closer we cut this. I want to get in, out, and naked before my man gets home.”
“I don’t want to hear about your sex life with my boss,” Sheldon said.
“And I don’t want to hear about your sex life at all,” my brother added.
“Whatever,” I grumbled. “You two are idiots.”
“What the hell did I do?” Forest asked.
“If you don’t know, I’m not telling you.” I let him think that over while we walked down the stairs. It was better than us talking about my sex life. I had a person to question, and sex wasn’t part of it.
Was this how Jordan felt when he was about to interrogate one of his enemies or someone who double-crossed him? He had weapons on him though. All I had was a beautiful silk scarf. I could wrap it around Lane’s neck if he got mouthy or wouldn’t talk.
I gave myself an internal shake. What the fuck was wrong with me? I wasn’t about to choke anyone except maybe Jordan. If he would get on his knees for me, I’d stuff him full.
“Move please,” I said to Oleander as we approached the apartment Lane was staying in. It was Oleander’s turn to stand guard since Vail was down in his kitchen. There were plenty of guards in the building that we weren’t followed when we were in it. Although, we might be after Jordan found out what I was doing.
“Excuse me?”
“I’m going in. You’ve gotta scoot your ass out of the way so I can get by. ”
“I don’t think so.”
“Let him in, Ollie,” Sheldon said.
“You can’t be serious.”
“I gave Forest the paper.”
Oleander groaned. “Why would you do that? You should have given it to Jordan.”
“It was about their grandfather, not Jordan’s. It was for them to know about.”
Oleander shook his head. “Whatever. I guess we’re all going down. You know I’m in it with you, Shel. Will you at least help me look for a job or take me with you wherever you go?”
I patted Oleander on the arm. “No one’s getting fired. I’ll be very persuasive.”
He chuckled. “Of course you will.” Oleander lifted his hand and tapped his knuckles on the door. “Lane, are you decent?”
“Yeah,” he called back.
Opening the door, Oleander went in first to sweep the room. I wasn’t sure what he thought was smuggled in there or how. Once he deemed it safe, he moved out of the way for Forest and me to enter with Sheldon behind us.
“You’ve got minutes,” Oleander told us. “The moment Jordan finds out; it won’t matter what he’s in the middle of. He’s going to tear back here.”
“I know,” I said, then focused my attention on Lane, who sat on the couch in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, watching TV. At least his beard was trimmed, and his hair was brushed. “Lane, can my brother and I ask you a couple of questions?”
He lifted the remote to shut off the TV. “Sure.”
“I’m not going to sit because I need a hasty getaway.”
Lane chuckled. “I don’t doubt it. What can I do for you? ”
Forest unfolded the paper and handed it to him. “Does this look familiar to you?”
“I saw it in the home. I wasn’t digging through your grandfather’s things. It was sitting on his nightstand.” The one room my brother and I couldn’t bring ourselves to go into, outside of quickly grabbing a suit for our grandfather to be buried in, after he passed. Forest and I went in, grabbed what we needed, and left. We didn’t go through his belongings or see what he left behind.
“The handwriting?”
“Is my father’s, but from years ago. Now his hand shakes too bad to write anything. I don’t know how old it is though. Or if the money was paid off. When I say they didn’t tell me shit about their operations, I mean it. I was always kept in the dark because my mom didn’t want me involved. I was called weak and useless. She protected me and they hated me for it.”
“Did he do this often? Write what was owed?”
“When he wanted to drive the point home about how much they owed him. If they didn’t start paying, he’d kill them. But that was when we were in the U.S. He had guys still here he could hire to carry shit out for him, but killing a man who was already dying? I’m not sure he would bother. We didn’t have much money, and he’d have to pay someone to carry out a murder for him. That doesn’t come cheap. If the people who owed my father wanted to pay him, they could put money in an account but I’m not sure if it was done in this case. Your guess is as good as mine.”
“If our grandfather still had this, my guess is it was for a reason. That he didn’t pay off the debt or he wanted us to find it.” Shit, why didn’t I think of that before? What if he didn’t pass from cancer and wanted to leave a clue to how he died? Then again, he wouldn’t want us getting mixed up with the Everhart family. Man, if he could see me now in bed with a mafia boss every night. He’d be glad I was happy, and not so thrilled about my choice of Jordan. He’d love that I was with Vail though.
“I can’t imagine he paid off the debt,” Lane said. Not with the way he was living. “A man with money would have repaired the home.”
“Why wouldn’t someone come after us then?”
“Like I said, money. It would cost a lot to have him killed. To kidnap or use you as collateral? That’s even more time-consuming and expensive. I don’t pretend to know everything my father and brother did. Or understand the way they think. But money was a big driving factor. They both wanted to come back here, and it cost them. They’re desperate. While Jordan feels safe here, desperate people do stupid shit. I wouldn’t be surprised if they came to Dremest. Just be careful. They never forget about debts. You’re in a relationship with Jordan, that’s a big prize. Threaten you, kidnap you…”
He didn’t need to finish the sentence for me to understand what he meant. Forest and I had targets on our backs. It was one thing to be with Jordan and realize I would always need protection. This was different. This was a debt my grandfather incurred.
After talking to Lane, I had more questions than answers. I also had a lot of clothes to shed to make up for doing this behind Jordan’s back.
“Thank you for talking to us,” I said to Lane. “If you think of anything, please let me know. I have to run though. Literally. Jordan’s going to kick my ass, and I need to be naked, so he has something else to focus on.”
“Godspeed,” Lane said as I rushed out the door.