Page 69 of Jordan

“I’m not concerned about that. Don’t interrupt me before I finish.”

He nodded. He would have interrupted had I not said something.

“Now that I’m with Hartley and Vail, I don’t have a desire to wear anything but what Hartley creates for me. This brings us to your position. I don’t require a stylist any longer, although if you’d like to continue working for me, I have another position in mind.” I didn’t but could quickly think of one if needed.

His shoulders fell, and his gaze dropped to the floor. “Was I not doing a good job?”

“This has nothing to do with you. Why are you upset? I thought you’d be happy. This isn’t the life you envisioned, at least not the part where you work for me.”

“It’s not, but I enjoy helping you.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “You do?”

“Yes.”

“I figured you’d want to take more classes and pursue a passion.”

“I do once I figure out what that is. Until then…”

“What if I keep you on as a consultant? You can work directly with Hartley and help him with pieces for me. I’ll pay you, not him. That will free up your time to take more classes and live the life you should.”

A noise from above drew my eyes up.

Romeo peered down at us. “Holy shit. You’ve… You’ve fucking softened. Now that you’re with Vail and Hartley, you aren’t as rigid.” My spine stiffened. Romeo must have noticed because he added, “I don’t mean that in a bad way. You’re still the asshole down the block, who acts as a fucked-up father figure to me, but you were just really nice to Tris. I appreciate that.”

Instead of replying, I focused on Tristan again. I didn’t have time to evaluate my softening or whatever the fuck it was and if it existed.

Tristan smiled. “I’d like that.”

“Very well. Your pay will remain the same. I expect to hear from you in one week’s time.”

“Okay.”

With that, I turned on my heel and went toward the back door, listening to Raiden call Albert to bring the car around as he followed me. Now that I’d delivered a gift for Pepper and spoke with Tristan, I had to handle Barrett and whatever the fuck he wanted.

31

JORDAN

Reghan was lucky he was off today. If he was on, I wasn’t sure Barrett would have lived long. Either that or Reghan would have fucked him into submission.

“Five minutes,” Raiden growled low beside me.

I wasn’t ready to fly off the handle yet. Yes, Barrett was being a royal pain in my ass and was five minutes late, but I’d learned cops didn’t always arrive when they said they would. Barrett knew damn well the kind of man I was. He didn’t constantly keep me waiting, which meant he was hung up.

Finally, eight minutes past when he said he’d meet us, the door opened, and he walked through. His hair was a mess, like he’d run his fingers through it one too many times.

He dropped down at the table in front of us. “Sorry, I got a call.” Glancing around the room, Barrett took in the space, making sure no one was listening.

I owned the restaurant and knew it was clean. We were in a corner, my and Raiden’s backs to the wall. No one could sneak up on us and we were close enough to the kitchen where we could leave through there if needed.

“Talk,” Raiden bit out. He and his brother needed to work out their aggression. They were dedicated to me, which I appreciated, but I’d rather they save their anger for when it was warranted.

“After you told me Leeland’s ex was definitely sleeping with the officer, I paid her a visit. When I heard a struggle inside, I broke the door down. Too bad I didn’t have a camera in my hand because I got a hell of an eyeful. She had her foot pressed to our officer’s neck, and a gun pointed to his head. The moment she saw me, she released him, put the gun down, and put her hands up. He tried to tell me she forced him, but he was naked, and his dick was so hard he could have punched through a wall. I told them to get dressed, then laid it out for them.”

He took a sip of the water that had been waiting for him and continued, “I asked point-blank what she was after. If she didn’t tell me, I was going to arrest her for assaulting an officer and a host of other charges. She quickly sang. Her bills had been piling up and she couldn’t pay them. Leeland didn’t leave her a dime. She was pissed about that. It didn’t matter how long they’d been divorced. She thought if she could frame you, she could blackmail you. She was going to ask you for money to get them to drop the charges.”

“I hadn’t heard from her or him.”

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