Page 137 of The Price of Forever

JORDAN

“Come on, gorgeous. Let’s go shopping.” Eli’s voice over the phone made my stomach lurch. The man called all the time, and I did my best to only answer sparingly.

“Eli, I’m really tired….” I looked at the clock. It was eleven thirty a.m. Clearly, I was running out of excuses.

“I have the perfect powder for that,” he said with an evil chuckle.

“You know I don’t do that stuff.”

“Fine. Take a nap. Then can we go out to dinner?”

I tried to keep our public outings to a minimum, especially since Seven told me about how my last outing with Eli had leaked. Damian and Axel called me personally to impress upon me the severity of Eli’s crappiness. Not like they needed to tell me. I’d done my best to play it off as a money grab, just a chance to sock away some money for the rainy day fund. But when my brothers not only offered to replace whatever Eli was giving me, but double it? I had no reasons left to give them.

I couldn’t be spotted with Eli again. That was absolutely not how this whole undercover mission was supposed to go. I was terrified that Cora would find out, too. I’d just started to gain some sisters—I didn’t want to lose them, too. But Axel promised me he wouldn’t tell her—he just didn’t want me to associate with Eli anymore, unless he came into the club.

“Can’t we just have a cozy night in?” I asked. That would be better than being out and about on the town. I needed to get closer to him, on the off chance he revealed something damning about the SEC case. The last couple of times we met, I’d picked up an errant statement or two about his involvement. Juicy tidbits, for sure, but nothing like what he admitted in front of me during that first house party. Maybe if I got him alone, I could steer the conversation back in that direction.

“I have things to do, people to see, gorgeous,” he replied coolly. “I need you out with me.”

“Fine. Let’s do lunch. Maybe eating will perk me up,” I said. Already, my stomach was in knots. Eating would be impossible while I wondered at every turn whether someone would snap a picture that could somehow make it back to my brothers. I hadn’t spotted the camera the first time.

“I know just the place,” Eli said. “I’ll send you the address.”

Lately, he’d been pushing for more alone time, for kisses, for things I didn’t want to give him. I’d figured this would happen eventually. I just prayed I could continue finding the perfect excuse to dance around it whenever it came up.

I called Trojan, who already felt like my big lumberjack brother after over a week of him following me around. His gruff voice answered, “Hello?”

“You busy?”

“Not if you’re calling.”

“Can we do a lunch thing with Eli? I’ll try to make it quick.”

“Yeah. I’ll come pick you up. Hang tight.”

I got ready while I waited for Trojan, slipping into a bodycon dress that I paired with my leather jacket. Sexy, but simple. I worked on my makeup next and put my hair into a sloppy topknot to finish it off. When Trojan texted that he was outside, I double checked that I had all my recording devices in my handbag, then hurried downstairs to the waiting SUV. My bare legs turned to goosebumps at the chilly air as I slipped into the backseat, pulling the door shut.

Trojan smiled down at me, hulking and bearded at my side. “Sup, Jordy.”

I smiled, sinking back into my seat. “Oh, nothing much.” To the front, I called out, “How are you, Liam?”

I’d found out from Trojan that Seven had purchased this vehicle for close protection use only. No more Harry and Legs for these trips. I could only assume that Liam, as the new hire, was being hazed by doing chauffer duty.

“Doing fine. Living the dream.” He squeezed the wheel, squinting ahead of him as he merged into traffic.

“That’s a lie,” Trojan informed me. “He hates driving. But Seven’s the boss.”

“I guess he is.” I crossed my arms, looking out the window. I didn’t want to think about Seven, much less talk about him. But the fact that he sat so heavily on my mind every day, despite my best intentions, didn’t help much with moving on.

He was all I could think about. Especially while we waded deeper into Eli’s treacherous world.

I wanted him at my side. As my partner. My confidante. My lover. My Seven.

But he was able to step away so cleanly, so easily, that it made me wonder if I’d been the stupid little infatuated girl who was blind to the fact that he’d never been invested at all.

The ride to the lunch spot passed quietly. I was dying to ask the same question I asked every time I sat at Trojan’s side. I made sure my wireless recorders weren’t turned on before I asked.

“How is Seven doing?” We were a block away from the restaurant, so I knew I could just dart out if I didn’t like the answer.

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