Page 31 of Hartley

“I’m not surprised. I make it a point for people to know my name.”

She tsked. “You better take care of these boys. They were raised by a great man, have good heads on their shoulders.Hartley more than the other.” I heard Forest chuckle behind me. At least she didn’t upset him. Mrs. Morris had always been in our business though, so this was nothing new. And she never kept her opinion to herself.

“I assure you; they are well cared for. Now, if you’ll excuse us. We’ve had a long day and need rest.”

“It’s noon. You should come over for lunch.”

“While we appreciate the offer, we really must be going.” That was as nice as Jordan was going to be. If she kept pushing, kept delaying our exit, that niceness was going to wear thin real fast.

“Fine, but you stop in and see me next time you’re here.”

“We will,” I replied with a smile. The only way to get rid of her was to agree to whatever she wanted. Not that I always held true to it, but it got her shuffling back to her house.

Forest leaned forward. “Remember when she bought binoculars, and we caught her sitting on her front porch with them up to her eyes, not even trying to be subtle about it?”

I chuckled. “Pop went over there and took them from her before her husband did. Told her she couldn’t do that. She didn’t understand why.”

“Then Mr. Morris stopped by the next day and thanked Pop for what he did, even though she was pissed her binoculars were gone.”

“She kept threatening to buy a new pair.”

God, this was nice being here with my brother and the men I loved. There was a lot of bullshit and, of course, danger lurking, which was the territory lately, but having Forest by my side on the land we grew up on with our nosy neighbor was a comfort. A big one.

Jordan put his arm around my waist to usher me toward the SUV.

Right. We had to get out of here and back to the hotel. At least there were walls there and only so many ways in and out. It was easier for the guards to watch over us and ensure our safety. With that fucker not too far away, there was no telling what he would do.

Hopefully, Vincent and Julia would get and keep eyes on them, so we knew where they were. Although, I had a sinking feeling it wasn’t going to be that easy. Not in this volatile world Jordan thrived in and where we found ourselves orbiting. I still wouldn’t have it any other way. He was worth it.

15

VAIL

Jordan put Lane in another room with Sheldon and Oleander on him while Reghan and Raiden’s room connected to ours, and Albert and Rory were on the other side. Julia and Vincent would stay near Lane’s father and brother, monitoring them. I didn’t envy them staying awake all night.

“I couldn’t have my own room?” Ava asked, standing in front of us.

“With everything going on, we don’t think it’s safe for you to be away from us,” I said. “And with Julia not here…”

“I understand, but…” She turned to look at the rollaway bed brought up by the hotel staff. Jordan could have ground his teeth to dust at the idea of letting Ava out of our sight.

“It’s not ideal for us either,” I reminded her. “We wanted this to be a getaway, but circumstances have changed.”

I wanted to give her everything she ever wanted, but it couldn’t be here and now. Not with people after Jordan and us in an unfamiliar hotel. If we were back home in Jordan’s building, this would be a lot easier. Hell, I could envision him giving her an apartment when she graduated high school. Itwas a ways off, but at least we’d know she was safe inside, if not on the same floor.

We had plans to show Ava and Jordan around the small town we grew up in. Where the schools were, where Forest and I would get in trouble, and other places. It was all shot to hell now.

I sure wouldn’t have wanted to stay in the same room with my parents when I was younger. No, we weren’t her parents. I probably wouldn’t sleep tonight over worrying about her. If she was in here, she was safe.

My phone rang, so I pulled it out of my pocket. Shock rocked through at seeing my mom was calling. “Hello?” I answered. If she was calling, that meant she wanted to see me, right? Would want to meet Jordan and Hartley?

“Vail, are you outside our home?”

“No, why?”

“There’s a big vehicle parked on the street and your father thought it might be you.”

I switched the phone to speaker. “What does it look like?”

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