Page 35 of Jordan

He shook his head, falling right into Sheldon’s trap. “But I want her. I want it all.” That greedy fucking asshole.

“Then you need to find a different woman to dominate you where you won’t be at the mercy of Mr. Altair. You can’t build anything here.”

“I shouldn’t.” He sniffed and wiped his nose again.

“What do you think you should do?”

“Leave, but we had a deal.”

“The meeting is set,” I cut in. “But if you try to set up shop here, I’ll kill you.”

“You won’t do that, right?” Sheldon asked Leeland.

Leeland’s gaze bounced from Sheldon to me and back. “I need the money, the power.”

I erased the distance between us and pulled the knife from my pocket, flipping it open until the blade gleamed under the fluorescent lighting. Pressing it to his ear, I said low, “If you try to make a move on what’s mine, there will be nowhere you can hide. I have connections everywhere. I gave my word that you would meet her, and I’ll honor it, but you better stay the low-life piece of shit you are, or all deals are off. If you try to increase your business or think you can steal some of mine…” I sliced the knife over his ear slowly. Blood rose to the surface and seeped from the wound before it dripped onto my hand.

Leeland didn’t cry out. He was smart enough not to. “Surely we could come to an understanding.”

“I don’t think you realize who you’re fucking with,” I seethed. Pulling my hand back, I took the knife and stabbed it into his ear and twisted. That time, he did scream. And I grinned as his blood hit me from the force of the knife.

I left the knife there and gripped the slimy hair on the back of his head. “If you take one step in my goddamn city again, or try to take what’s mine, I won’t hesitate to kill you. Slowly. Painfully. And you’ll never get your cock anywhere near her.”

I released him and pulled out my knife, slicing more as I did so. I let the blood drip to my hand, then the floor. Fuck, that felt good.

Two of my men stood on the other side of the door when I exited the room with Sheldon. They would put some gauze on Leeland, escort him back to the sewer he crawled out of, and have the room cleaned.

Before returning upstairs, I stopped in one of the bathrooms to clean up. I didn’t need Vail and Hartley seeing blood on me.

16

JORDAN

I was still riding high from drawing blood from Leeland. He had it coming for a while. After what he’d confessed, he was lucky to walk out of my building alive. With Hartley and Vail here, I didn’t want anyone near them but the people I trusted.

The only reason Sheldon didn’t watch over my home was because I needed him to concentrate his efforts elsewhere. I also needed him to be available at the drop of a hat. He couldn’t do that if he was watching over me and where I lived. Or Hartley and Vail as it currently was.

Raiden was where I’d left him when I returned to my floor. The scents in the space drew me toward the kitchen where Vail was removing something from the oven.

“That smells good,” I told them.

They turned in unison. Vail’s eyes widened while Hartley sighed and stepped around the island to get closer to me.

“I’d ask where you were, but by the blood on your cheek, I already have a guess.”

Lifting my hand, I went to swipe away the blood I’d missed when I cleaned up, but Hartley took my wrist in his hand to stop me.

“Not with your bare hand. You do realize the diseases you could contract from blood getting into a cut on your hand or elsewhere, correct?”

“I hadn’t thought about it.” When I was making someone bleed, I didn’t put gloves on or think about contracting a disease or virus. I got my blood checked regularly, thanks to my doctor. I’d been fine so far.

“Please take better care of yourself. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I care about you, as does Vail.” His eyes dragged over my face and neck but stopped at the base of my throat. “Maybe change, since you have a bit of something on your collar.” Jesus. I hadn’t realized Leeland’s blood got everywhere. I was in too much of a rush to get back here that I didn’t take a thorough look at myself in the mirror.

I nodded and headed upstairs to my bedroom, stripping my clothes in the attached bathroom. Like much of my home, it was muted dark shades and smooth, clean lines. The bathroom had white marble countertops with a bit of gray mixed in. The same black marble that adorned the floor downstairs continued up here, except the floors on the second floor were heated. I didn’t like my bare feet encountering cold floors unless it was summer.

Reaching into the shower, I turned the water on to get it hot, then stepped inside. The spray fell over my skin, washing away what I should have gotten to begin with. I grabbed the body wash and began cleaning myself with the loofah, ensuring I got everything. If I’d been covered in blood, I would have had to use the clean room downstairs where there were showers, plenty of bleach, and solid white walls and flooring to easily spot if any was missed in the cleanup.

Early on, before I had the money to line the pockets of the cops, I was raided multiple times. This building was the first one I purchased as I started moving up in the life of crime. The cops homed in on that room but found nothing. No one had used it yet, so it was as clean as the day the tiled floor was installed. But it also made me realize I had to play the space off as a locker room of sorts. The second time I was raided, I’d had it outfitted as such. Off to the side were lockers and a bench, small but there. The size of the showers was much bigger, but I could say it was for the staff to clean after exercising in the gym I had built in the next room over. The gym got used to this day. I went down there, as did most who worked for me. Them being in shape benefited me.

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