Chapter 9 Sheldon
SHELDON
It shouldn’t have bothered me that Forest went behind a closed door with a man I’d never met. JJ was Jordan’s son. There was no reason for me not to trust him. Keith working with him and being a co-owner, that should be good enough. It wasn’t. I hated not having Forest in my line of sight.
“There’s only one door in and out of there,” JJ said, drawing my attention to him, briefly at least.
“Fantastic,” I deadpanned.
“Do you admit to yourself how much you desire him, or is this something you’ve buried and only let out because you can’t contain it?”
“I don’t need to be nice to you,” I said calmly, although I was itching to raise my voice. “Jordan knows me well enough that he expects me to behave a certain way around you. I don’t have to disclose how I may or may not feel.”
He tilted his head slightly. “Did he ask you to come along today?”
“No, Hartley called and said Forest needed a ride. That was all I knew until Forest was in the vehicle with me.”
“Oh, Hart’s fucking slick. He’s aware of your feelings. I don’t even need to ask. He set this up.”
“The ride, yes. This conversation, no. I doubt he thought you’d be here.”
“You underestimate him. He’s aware of how much I can’t stand you.
I’m seeing another side of you today—one, I’m not sure what to do with.
A crack has formed in your mask. I think the only person who can fully break it is the man behind the office door.
If he does, you won’t let it fall in public except where he’s concerned.
When you’re guarding my old man and the people he loves, you’ll be as you always are, as my dad expects you to be.
That’s your selling point. You have a way of calming him. ”
“Thank you for the explanation of where I’m best suited.”
He groaned and dragged his hand over his face.
“I shouldn’t have come today. Greer told me to go to the office, yet I had to be here.
Something pulled me in. Maybe it’s for the best. I’ll know what we’re getting into if we hire him.
You’ll be here more often. If my dad lets you.
If he gets sick of your shit and sends you to protect Forest. If there’s nothing else he’s assigned to you. ”
“That’s a lot of ifs. If I were you, I’d keep to my lane. Your shop, your men, and your other job.”
“And what’s yours?”
“My job.” I took a step closer. “My poisons.” Another step. I was only a foot away from him now. “And Forest. He’s in the fucking center of my lane, and I will put him in a goddamn armored tank so nothing can hurt him. Do I make myself clear?”
JJ held my gaze, not flinching, not even blinking. “Do you mistake me for someone easily intimidated, or do I need to remind you who my old man is and how I grew up?”
“My father beat the shit out of me and my mom until she had a heart attack and died. He’s been rotting in prison since.
Should we continue down the road of whose childhood sucked more, or can I go back to waiting for Forest?
Oh, and so we’re on the same page, I’ll be wherever Jordan wants me.
If that’s with Forest, find a fucking chair and slap my name on it. I’m moving in.”
I was used to pissing matches, to men thinking they were bigger or badder than me.
I didn’t need to flex my muscles or pull out the arsenal I always kept on me.
Guns, knives, or tiny vials filled with pretty liquids, it didn’t matter.
I was a breath away from ending a life whenever I wasn’t in the safety of my home.
“Forest is overqualified for the job,” JJ stated instead of replying to what I’d said. “Everyone else who’s applied wasn’t the right fit. Chances are good he’ll be hired.”
“Why are you telling me instead of him?”
“Because every word out of my mouth elicits a different reaction from you. If I can catalog them all, then I can read you. If I can read you, I can deal with you better. Don’t mistake my walking away from you right now as a sign of me backing down.
It’s anything but. My dad likes you enough to keep you around for as long as he has.
It’s for a reason. I’d like to know what it is.
” He walked around the reception desk, sitting behind it.
“I have a pleasant attitude, what can I say?”
“You don’t try to hide, do you?”
“What would be the point? I won’t get anywhere by concealing who I am.”
“Forest doesn’t know how you feel.” It wasn’t a question.
It was obvious how confused Forest was before.
JJ leaned forward, his elbows on the desk.
That calculating gaze reminded me so much of Jordan’s.
It didn’t matter that JJ’s eyes weren’t the same color; it was the way he studied me. “Why haven’t you told him?”
“He likes women.” Apparently, I was saying whatever I thought today. Good to know.
“Forest likes you, Sheldon.”
“You’re not the first to tell me.”
“Okay, I give.” He held his hands up. “I’m not here to convince you to do anything about it.
I’m going to preface this by saying, I still don’t fucking like you, but you’re not completely horrible.
Don’t waste time overthinking things. Tell him how you feel and see what he says.
Then you can move on one way or another.
If this life has taught me anything, it’s that nothing’s guaranteed.
Don’t let him slip through your fingers because you didn’t bother to dig deeper than surface level. ”
There was no point in replying. He didn’t say anything I hadn’t heard before or didn’t think myself. Death surrounded us more than I cared to see. It was part of the world we lived in, the one Jordan created, and I signed on to be a part of.
I remembered the day I met him…
I had no love for Dremest, not for its people or its businesses. I only lived on the eastern side because it was cheaper than the western side, and it wasn’t a bad commute to my work at the restaurant. Not my dream job, but who had those anyway?
My hands were stuffed in my pockets as I walked over the bridge that connected the two sides of the city. It wasn’t big, only spanning a creek, but it was enough to put a division there, a separation.
Cold air rushed around me, biting through my jacket.
I should have been on my motorcycle. The icy roads this morning made that impossible.
It was bad enough I rode it in the winter when the roads were dry.
I almost got frostbite. When the roads were wet or frozen, it was a no-go.
Most days, I didn’t want to waste money on a cab, and the bus schedule wasn’t in my favor tonight.
My hands ached by the time I got to a coffee shop and slipped through the door. I had enough money to buy a cup, so I did and sat at a small table to warm up before I walked the rest of the way to my apartment.
Person after person came in. They didn’t pay me any mind.
I watched them though. Listened to their conversations, heard their misery or delight depending on what they were discussing.
It was an interesting thing to be invisible and see everything at the same time, especially when it came to the East Dremest Police Department and the two officers currently talking about their latest case out in the open like no one could touch them.
I was so caught up in them, I didn’t notice the man who took a seat on the opposite side of my table. In fact, I didn’t see him until the two officers turned our way and stared at the man. That was when my head turned toward him as the officers left, their eyes on us.
“What were they discussing?” Jordan Altair Sr. asked me. Interesting that the mafia boss of the city chose to park his ass at my table.
“Why should I tell you?” After growing up with the father I had, I wasn’t easily intimidated.
“You know who I am, yet you have no fear of me?”
“Should I? Did I do something to personally upset you?” I hadn’t, but it was worth asking to further the conversation.
“Is this what you do for a living? Listen to others’ conversations?”
“It’s a hobby.”
“What were they discussing?” he repeated. I wasn’t surprised. Jordan was here for a reason.
“I’ll tell you, not because I’m intimidated by you or feel the need to spill my secrets.
I simply don’t care what they were talking about since it has no bearing on me.
They were discussing an unsolved case where they found a woman’s body beside a man’s, both stabbed, both were on drugs at the time of death, per the medical examiner.
The drugs didn’t kill them. There wasn’t enough in their systems to do that. ”
“Did they say that?”
“No, one was reading the report and listed the amount. It wasn’t deadly.”
“You know this how?” he asked.
I watched his expression, how he stayed calm like I did, not demanding information or trying to bribe it out of me. “I have an odd fascination with medicinal compounds. I’ve studied, read, and done my own analysis to understand more than the average person.”
“Yet you work as a…”
“Server.”
“You’re not being utilized.”
“I have no desire to be a pharmacist.” I’d thought about it once, but then saw the money it would take to go to school, and that was the end of it. I barely had enough to keep the electricity on in my small apartment.
My best friend’s parents told me I could live with them.
That wasn’t the life I wanted. I had to go out on my own to prove to myself I could do it.
They were the safety net in case I fell.
They gave me the courage to try. Not everyone had that in place.
If I failed, I’d still have a soft place to land.
“Do you like your job?” Jordan asked.
“Does anyone?”
“I do.”
I chuckled. “I’d think so. Why do it if you don’t?” It was well known what he did. There was no point in pretending I didn’t have a clue.
“Work for me.”
That brought me up short. “What?”
“Quit your job and work for me.”
“Why the hell would I do that?” I wasn’t in the business of being arrested. The last thing I wanted was to wind up behind bars like my father.
“Because I’ll pay you a hell of a lot more, give you a place to live, and keep you out of prison.”
“I think you misunderstood. I didn’t do anything to end up there in the first place.”
“You just eavesdropped on a private conversation between two cops, then told me, a man they would love to arrest, what they said. They wouldn’t look too kindly on that.”
“I have no allegiance to them. Why would I help them now?”
“You have a past,” Jordan stated. “We all do.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card, setting it on the table. “Call me when you’re ready for an upgrade.” With that, he left.
I sat at the table for another half hour, staring at the card before I stood and went out the door.
Instead of walking the rest of the way to my apartment, I hailed a cab and gave the driver the address to the building Jordan owned.
When I got there, a tall man walked up to the cab and asked what my business was.
I handed him the card, said his boss was waiting for me, and told him to pay for the cab.
Jordan waited for me when I entered the building. “You took longer than I expected.”
“I don’t make life choices on a whim. Can we discuss your offer?”
“Let’s go upstairs.”
That began my relationship with Jordan. It was one I hadn’t regretted since I’d met him.