33. Vail
33
VAIL
We hadn’t heard from Jordan, not that I expected him to call us right away. He had a lot to take care of. Finding them, doing what Jordan did, and getting the people who mattered out of there safely. Not to mention having someone come in and stage it. I still didn’t know who did that for him and didn’t want to know. It was enough that Sylvan crafted stories. That was all the information I needed.
I stood in our kitchen, staring at the cabinets, the stove, the refrigerator, and decided it wasn’t big enough. Rooting through the closet, I found a large tote bag and started loading it with what I’d need. There was nothing in my new kitchen yet since it was just completed. I’d have to go to the store and load up on the essentials once everything settled down. Then again, would that ever happen?
With Reghan, Raiden, Oleander, Sheldon, and who knew who else with Jordan, I had Barry keeping me company while Rory was with Hartley and Vincent downstairs. I couldn’t stand to not do anything, so I had kissed Hartley and came upstairs to just stand here too .
“Let’s go, boy,” I called Tahoe. He’d keep me company while I baked.
“Do you want help?” Barry asked.
His dark hair wasn’t slicked back like it normally was. Pieces had fallen forward that he kept brushing out of his face. A shadow of scruff covered his jaw and cheeks. What really ate at me were the dark circles under his eyes. Barry took everything as hard as Jordan did, but we didn’t see Barry’s lack of sleep daily. It was no wonder why Jordan put him in charge of his security. Barry was dedicated.
“Sure.” I handed him the bag and returned to the kitchen to load up my arms.
The elevator arrived as I was doing so. Hartley stepped out and came over to help me too. Rory was with him, who also lent a hand. Hartley didn’t ask any questions, just let me give him stuff to carry. The four of us and Tahoe squeezed into the elevator and rode downstairs. Once there, they placed everything on the counter for me to put away. They weren’t sure where it went, and I was going to be really particular with this kitchen. Jordan already had his set up a certain way with Irene. This one was wholly mine.
Barry and Rory left us to it and moved to stand by the door in the hallway. Barry took his job as seriously as anyone else, but I thought it went deeper than that. Barry was one of the men left Jordan could trust when Malik went behind Jordan’s back. No matter what Jordan asked of him, Barry did it. Not only was this a job to him, it was also his entire life.
“Do you think he’s happy?” I quietly asked Hartley so Barry wouldn’t hear me.
“Who? Tahoe? I think he’d like to snack on whatever you’re about to make.” Hartley was good at making me smile when I didn’t feel like I had one in me .
“No, Barry. He’s here day and night. I’ve never seen him talk about anyone else.”
“Neither do the twins or Ollie. Sheldon at least follows my brother. Rory is a bit of a mystery.”
“Reghan and Raiden already have their sights set on people. I think Ollie has a thing for Sylvan. They might not be in relationships but there’s a direction to their desires. You’d know Rory better than me.”
“Maybe we need to spend more time with Barry. We could set him up with someone.”
“We don’t know much about him. We should have him over for dinner or lunch sometime. Rory too.”
Hartley put his arm around my waist. “You’re one of the kindest men I know. When shit is going on outside, you still think of the happiness of others.”
“It’s easier than focusing on the dread in my mind and the pit in my stomach. I thought once Gil was gone, I’d feel better, and my anxiety would lift. While some of it did, now I worry about other stuff.”
Before my mind could go down that road again of what could be happening, I started putting together the ingredients I needed for brownies. Not just any brownies either. I was loading them up with gooey chocolate and only going to bake them until they came out moist and decadent.
“Jordan’s going to be okay,” Hartley whispered. “He has to be. We’re going to have a big celebration where we pledge our lives to each other with our friends and family there.”
“Pop would be proud of you.”
Hartley gave me a sad smile. “I hope so. We have Lane now as part of our family. A half uncle I didn’t know I had. Fuck, that sounds weird. I’m not calling him that. I’ll just say he’s my cousin or something. Less questions will be asked that way. Anyway, what are we making?”
“Brownies and maybe another dessert if we have time. I’m not sure how long Jordan will be gone and want to keep myself busy. I already called Dex and told him I wouldn’t be in tonight. It’s one thing to be here and bake but going to Untouchable when all this shit is going on, I wouldn’t be able to focus.”
“At least Jordan doesn’t freak about the security when you’re there. No one’s getting into Untouchable who isn’t supposed to. Dex’s guards would fuck them up.”
“Dex would too.” People saw him and immediately thought businessman, but he was much more than that. Dexen didn’t have an ex-fighter for a brother without learning a few things himself.
“True. I forget Dex can kick ass. He’s also got two big partners who would gladly handle it for him.”
I smiled. “They fit together well.” It made me happy to see people find where they fit in life, not only professionally but also personally, especially when they were amazingly kind.
Hartley and I worked side by side to make the brownies. Once they were in the oven, we started on banana bread. I asked Rory if he could go upstairs and get the too ripe bananas off the counter. We weren’t going to eat them that way so they might as well go to good use.
With the bread in the oven too, Hartley and I took care of the dishes. I told him he didn’t have to help me, but he wanted to. With Ava away at her friend’s house and Jordan out, it kept us busy. Maybe I wasn’t the only one who needed something else to do.
We sat on one of the couches I ordered for the space to relax on when there was food in the oven. It faced the floor- to-ceiling windows that took up the far wall, looking out over the city. I loved sitting here at night, taking it in, enjoying the peace that came with knowing I was in here and not out there fighting my way through city traffic and dealing with more stress than I could handle. I might have gone through a lot with Gil, but I was also lucky in a lot of ways.
My arm rested around Hartley’s shoulders as he tucked against my side, his head on me. “I never imagined we’d be here,” I said.
“Waiting for Jordan to get home to wash blood off himself? It’s not a thing of dreams, though I do love it when water drips down his bare chest.”
“No,” I chuckled and pinched his side. He let out a little yelp then nestled back in. “I mean us. You and me. We knew each other years ago. I was always with Forest, and you’d tag along now and then.”
“It was either that or wait for Pop to give me a lesson about something. I know what you mean though. Occasionally, I wonder if I’m dreaming. I had such a crush on you, Vail. It was a fantasy, not a reality. And then you were in front of me like I pulled you out of thin air. I couldn’t believe my luck at meeting Jordan and having you back in my life.”
“We’re where we’re supposed to be.”
“We are.”
The sun started to set over the city as Hartley and I stayed on the couch. When the timer went off for the brownies, then the bread, Barry told us not to move and entered the kitchen to remove them from the oven, and turn it off, before slipping out the door again and closing it partway behind him.
Hartley and I ended up lying down on the couch with the recessed lighting casting a warm glow on us. Tahoe lay sprawled on his side on the area rug. I put that there for him, not wanting him on the couch. There was no way I was buying his spoiled-ass another bed.
The couch was long, but not nearly enough. My legs rested on the arm while my head was cradled on a throw pillow. Hartley lay on top of me, his cheek pressed to my chest where he could listen to my heartbeat. He said it was a soothing sound.
The door opened a bit later. Instead of hearing the quiet footfalls of Barry, it was loafers tapping across the floor. I’d know that sound anywhere.
Hartley must have fallen asleep at some point because he didn’t move as Jordan rounded the couch and stopped in front of us. His suit of earlier was gone. In its place was a pair of the lounge pants Hartley made and loved us in, and a white T-shirt stretched across Jordan’s muscular chest. When I looked down, I saw fancy slippers, not loafers.
He crouched and brushed a lock of hair from my forehead. “Hi, baby. Doing okay?”
“Better now that you’re here,” I whispered, trying but failing not to wake Hartley.
The moment he stirred, and his eyes latched on to Jordan, he flung himself in Jordan’s direction, knocking him onto the area rug where they landed, displacing Tahoe, who jumped out of the way just in time.
“You’re okay?” Hartley asked as he lifted Jordan’s shirt, and his hands skimmed over his flesh.
“I’m fine. I wasn’t hurt.”
“Was anyone?”
“Lane, but he’ll be okay. He just needs time to heal.”
“Oh, thank fuck.” Hartley dropped his forehead to Jordan’s chest. “I worried they were going to kill him.”
“They might have. No way to tell. We got there in time though. I’ll tell you about it later. Not the gory details but what we found out. I want to hold you both and touch you. Remind myself we’re safe in our home.” Jordan relaxed onto the rug like it was as comfortable as our bed. Tahoe took that as an invitation to bathe Jordan’s face with licks, which he rarely got to do. “Come on,” Jordan growled and sat up, taking Hartley with him. “I’m not going to get drooled on by a dog when I just showered. If anyone is licking me, it will be you two.” Jordan got to his feet and told Tahoe to go see Barry, who called him over.
Hartley stood with a smile. “Fuck, I’m glad you’re back. They’re dead, right? We don’t have to worry about them anymore?”
“No, you don’t. And if the cops ask, you have no idea what happened except for what Lane will tell you. I’ll fill you in on that too, later. Right now, I want you both upstairs, in bed, and I want to be buried in one of you.”
“How about you’re both buried in me?” I asked, feeling like it was the right time to try taking them both inside me. It would hurt but I was more than ready to be that connected to them at the same time.