Chapter 13 Sheldon
SHELDON
There was something wrong with me. Well, there was a lot wrong with me, but I wasn’t going there, at least right now.
I stood in the middle of one of Jordan’s rundown buildings, where we cut up assholes who deserved to die, and I wasn’t in the mood for any of it.
Not the torture or the blood or the death.
My mind was on Forest and how his first day of work was going.
Were the other employees being nice to him?
Was JJ there? Was Kayli doing everything she could to keep Forest safe?
“Tell me,” Jordan seethed, pulling me from my thoughts.
“I don’t know anything,” the guy cried. He was hung naked from one of the beams, blood dripping down his body to the floor. The way he shook made the blood leave him faster.
We found this piece of shit trying to kidnap a woman in the heart of the city.
Who the fuck did that? He wasn’t even a smart criminal.
Luckily, I happened to be riding by on my Ducati when I saw the struggle.
It was easy for me to pull over and throw this motherfucker to the ground.
He began singing like no tomorrow when we got him here, and Jordan started cutting into him.
We were still missing vital information.
“Hey,” I said in a soothing voice to the man and rounded the front of him, my gaze dropping to his crotch. I shook my head. Pathetic. “Who do you work for?” It was necessary to find out if another lowlife employed him.
“No one. I wanted to keep the money.”
“Okay. So the woman was…”
“There are people out there who will pay a lot for women.” Wow. This guy was digging his own grave. There wasn’t even much for me to do.
“Where did you find these people?”
“Online. There’s a website.” We were getting somewhere now. My talking calmly did more than Jordan yelling at him.
“Do you remember the URL?”
He rattled something off, but I couldn’t be certain if it was real or not. Reghan pulled his phone from his pocket and typed in the information. A second later, he shook his head.
“Are you lying to me for a reason?” I asked, keeping my voice even.
“Every person in this room would like to take chunks out of you, and yet you hang here like you have the upper hand. Tell me, or we’ll kill you slowly.
” I reached into the pocket on the inside of my leather jacket to withdraw a syringe.
Holding it up, I analyzed the liquid, marveling at the damage it could inflict. “Do you know what this will do to you?”
“N-no.”
“It will paralyze you, but you’ll remember and feel everything. You’ll watch as we flay pieces of your skin off and toss them to the floor. You’ll witness us taking your body apart one appendage at a time.” That was a lie. This would certainly kill him.
The second website he told us was the real one. That was when I stepped forward and put the needle to his neck.
“I thought you weren’t going to do that!” he cried.
I shrugged. “Did you think I was honorable?”
He was dead in seconds.
“Really, Sheldon?” Jordan asked, anger still flowing through him.
“What? We got what we wanted, and I was able to use one of my pretty syringes.” I failed to see what the problem was here.
“What if I wanted to draw more blood?”
“Oh, well, then have at it. He’s just not moving any longer.”
“Outside,” he growled. I knew that growl. Yes, he had different ones. This one told me I was in trouble. It had to be for more than me killing this fucker though.
“Sure thing, sir.”
In the bright light of the sun, Jordan stripped out of his shirt and put on a clean one. He only got a little blood on himself. “When I showed up here today, you saw I was in a shitty mood, and you still killed this guy.”
“Not for nothing, but that’s your default.”
“Sheldon, so fucking help me. I will kill you where you stand.” He could but wouldn’t.
“I’ll make it up to you. The next asshole I find, I’ll leave him for you to do everything.” It had to be someone we didn’t need to extract information from. Jordan wasn’t known for his patience.
“I did you a favor today,” he bit out. “I listened when you came to me worried about Forest, so I put Kayli on him. This is how you repay me?”
“I’m sorry. I should have known better. Forest has me all fucked up in my head. I’m worried about him.”
Jordan let out a breath, then another. “Listen, I get it. You finally have something with him, and you’re afraid of him getting hurt. No one has shot at my son’s shop in a while. Even if they do, Forest is in an office, not standing on the goddamn sidewalk with a bull’s-eye on his chest.”
“If you’re trying to comfort me, you’re failing.”
Tipping his head back, Jordan stared at the sky.
“If I don’t take a few breaths, my hand is going around your throat, then I’ll have to explain to the men I love why I killed you.
They won’t understand. Forest will be a mess, which will upset Hartley.
Vail will be a wreck because Forest is his lifelong best friend, and Vail likes you.
Why? Who the fuck knows? And I’ll have to deal with it all.
” His gaze met mine. “Fuck up again and I’m keeping you out of my business for a while. ”
I swallowed. Jordan knew what that would do to me. I needed to stay busy, or I ended up pacing at night, and my mind wouldn’t settle. Yes, being with Forest helped, but it was new. Anything could happen. I wanted him with every fiber of my being.
“I can’t keep Kayli on him daily,” Jordan said, this time with a softer tone. “If there was a credible threat, I could justify it. Forest didn’t have anyone on him when he was working his other job.”
“He traveled a lot.” When I knew he wasn’t home, it tore at me. At least with him working in East Dremest, someone could keep an eye on him and make sure he was okay.
“I can’t believe I need to have a conversation with another one of my guards. If you can’t be who I need you to be, you have to tell me. I can’t risk you not being on point when shit goes down.”
“When have I ever not protected you and the others I was with?” He didn’t need to answer because it was never.
“There’s a first time for everything. You’re distracted.”
“Do you think I’ll be better if there’s no one watching his back?”
“I can’t afford for you to protect him. You’re too valuable. There’s a guy I’m moving up. We could use him. Make sure he’s up for the task. Forest is family, and guarding him is important.”
“Who?” I knew all the guards. Sure, there were always people trying to get in. Jordan paid fucking amazing, and the benefits were well worth it. He was still a mafia boss though. Dying while working for him was a strong possibility.
“Not that I fucking owe you an answer, but his name is Micah.”
“Is that the guy who fainted when you threatened to kill Reghan in the lobby?”
It was funny as hell. Reghan was busy shoving his tongue down Barrett’s throat in the hallway while Jordan had to wait downstairs for him to get there.
Barry just so happened to be with us and pulled the security feed up on his phone to figure out where Reghan was.
I didn’t know Jordan could turn that shade of red.
Reghan blamed Barrett when they arrived in the lobby.
Barrett blamed Reghan. Jordan threatened to kill them, but with Reghan, he said he was going to slice his balls off, then his tongue for making him wait.
I was entertained by the entire thing, even the newbie passing out in the lobby when he heard Jordan’s threats.
No one moved to catch him when he fell. We weren’t known for our compassion.
“No,” Jordan growled. “He’s long gone. Micah’s the one who pushed me out of the way yesterday, so I wasn’t shot.
I got a call about a new buyer. With Hart at the studio and Vail in his kitchen, I felt comfortable going.
It was a setup, and they thought they could kill me.
Micah pushed me out of the way as he fired and hit the guy in the head. ”
“The weekend isn’t usually the time for death threats.” Didn’t people rest anymore? It wasn’t the first time it happened, but still. On a Sunday? Let the man sleep in.
“Micah’s being promoted. It was a trial run yesterday. Now I can put him on Forest full time. I wouldn’t trust any of the other new guards with him.”
“Are you sure you can’t keep Kayli on him?” Micah shoved Jordan out of the way, but Jordan was an Altair with a crime organization and was super wealthy. Forest was just… Forest.
“So fucking help me. If you don’t shut the hell up and stop pressing me for every goddamn thing you want, I really am going to make you bleed.”
“Sir, here’s a towel to wipe your hands with when that happens,” Albert cut in with a hand towel. There was also a grin on his face. Jordan’s driver didn’t waste a single opportunity to irritate him. Albert lived for the moments when he could try to get Jordan to relax or, god forbid, laugh.
“You can shove that towel right up your ass,” Jordan growled.
“While that’s a lovely thought, it wouldn’t work.”
I tried to keep a straight face, but the hint of a smile came out. Our days were always better thanks to Albert.
“Get in the goddamn car, Albert.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll make the air-conditioning cooler to help chill your anger.
” He walked to the Maserati without a backward glance.
Albert got away with more than I did. I was a bit jealous of that at times.
I loved to rile my boss up. It was like a sporting event.
We tried to see who was better at it. Albert always won.
“Micah or no one, Sheldon.”
I sighed. I was dramatic like that. “Fine. He’s better than nothing. Kayli would have been preferable.”
“I’m going to send her to you when you least expect her so she can keep my hands clean of your blood.” He wouldn’t. Solid threat though.
“Thank you, sir.” That seemed to irritate him too. He turned and stomped to the car, slamming the door once he was inside.
Reghan slid into the passenger seat. There was no doubt he heard our entire conversation. I didn’t worry about him spreading what he’d overheard. Even if he did, no one would be surprised. My infatuation with Forest was well known around our building.
At least having Micah on Forest would ease my mind a little.
I should have taken it for the win it was, and not kept poking the bear by asking why not Kayli.
If anything happened to Forest, whoever was on his detail better fucking run.
Jordan wouldn’t be the scary person in that scenario.
It would be me, and I knew a lot of ways to make someone scream in pain, begging me to stop doing what I was to them.
It wasn’t always a simple pinch and death. I could drag it out for days.