Page 71 of Jordan

Me: Time?

Jordan: 7. Casual dress, although I know you’ll wear a suit. The mention of clothes was for Vail and Hartley. Vail has been here before but Hartley hasn’t.

I hadn’t taken them on dates. That needed to be rectified. Tomorrow would be dinner with my son. Next week would be a date I needed to plan. Maybe Irene could help me. Or Romeo since he was in a relationship now.

For a few minutes, I felt every one of my sixty years. I hadn’t led an easy life. Nothing about what I’d done, what I’d built, or what I’d accomplished was easily earned. But I did it.

Finally returning to the present, I told my son I’d see him tomorrow and sent a text to Vail and Hartley to let them know.

Barrett eventually finished his meal, told me he’d keep in touch, and was out the door. No one would have seen him inside here talking to me where we were seated. There were no customers yet either. When I wanted the space to myself, I had it. A perk of owning the restaurant.

Raiden shook his head as he focused on eating the rest of his steak while keeping his eyes on the door. Always on the lookout. Always watching my back.

“What?” I asked him.

“Nothing, sir.”

“Speak freely.” Sometimes I didn’t want to hear a word from him or his brother. Others, like now, I wanted to hear what he thought.

“I don’t know why you put up with him. He’s a smart-ass who thinks he’s untouchable. He goads Reghan.”

“They need to fuck and get it out of their systems.”

“That would seem like a simple solution, but I have a feeling it would make things worse.”

32

HARTLEY

I shouldn’t be nervous. It was only dinner. We’d eaten with JJ, Dexen, and Greer before. This time felt different. Maybe it was because we were going to their house, and they weren’t coming here. Maybe because it felt more like a date. Whatever it was, my hands shook.

Vail took my hands in his, I hadn’t realized he’d gotten closer. His shirt was still off, although he wore a pair of nice jeans. JJ said we didn’t have to dress up, but I liked to look good, so I went with a slim fitting pair of slacks of my own design and a soft cream-colored sweater I’d also designed.

“Why are you nervous?” Vail asked. “We’ve met them before.”

My eyes met his as I peered up at him. “It’s a date, right? That’s how this feels.”

“It is, but not in the sense we’re going out with Jordan. It’s his family, even if he doesn’t consider Greer as such.” His lips lifted. I thought Greer was sweet. It was obvious how much he loved Dexen and JJ. He was a big guy but also like a teddy bear, with his kind words and easy demeanor, unless he was looking at Jordan, then everything changed. The hate was mutual. “Do you worry about something happening because of who Jordan is?”

“Honestly, no. I knew what I was getting into by being closer to him. It started out as designing suits, but I had an immediate attraction to him. I couldn’t turn it off if I wanted to. Then to have him show other sides of himself, ones only we get to see, I couldn’t walk away. That doesn’t mean I love what he does. I just take the good with the bad.” I shrugged. Jordan was who he was. I wasn’t willing to give him up because he killed people. Okay, that sounded terrible. I was already in this, unwilling to leave.

“I have a hard time with it occasionally. I know it’s not all he is, but that side of things, the very illegal, incriminating side, it’s not going away. After everything I went through with Gil…”

I squeezed his hands. “Jordan isn’t him.”

“I know. The crimes though, they’re not good.”

“They aren’t but you care about him too much to let that be all you see.”

He nodded. “I do. He’s more than that. Deep down, he wants to be loved and accepted as much as anyone. And the way he cares for us, there’s no comparing it. I’ve never been treated this well. It’s not only him either, Hart. It’s you too. You’re so kind and sweet. The way you touch me like I’m the most important person on the planet, I melt.”

Releasing his hands, I lifted mine so I could cup the sides of his neck. “You are important. You deserve everything good. I’m grateful you let us give you that. While I can’t shower you with gifts, I like to show I care in other ways.” I hated being insecure about money. One day, I’d climb out of the hole I was in. I already had a new customer in Dexen. He liked the way Jordan looked in his suit and wanted one. Hopefully, I would keep getting more and could crawl my way back to where I was before it all went to hell. Dexen was a start. So many wealthy men saw him at his club. He could tell them where he got the suit.

Vail let out a shuddering breath and dropped his forehead to mine. “Thank you, Hart. You’re a wonderful man. I’m one of the lucky two who get to have you close every night.”

I heard Jordan exit the bathroom from his shower but didn’t open my eyes. A hand was placed on my back as Jordan stood next to us. “Are you two okay?”

I nodded but Vail leaned away to look at Jordan. “Thank you for caring for us.”

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