Page 68 of Hartley

“You two don’t have to stay,” Vincent said. His eyes were closed, more relaxed now while Alton worked to close the wound.

“There’s nowhere else we need to be,” I told him. “Now sit there like a good boy and let Alton take care of you.”

Vincent opened one eye to half glare at me. “If I didn’t like you…”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re so scary.” I grinned, trying to lighten the mood. It wasn’t a great situation he was in, or Lane for that matter. Either I made jokes with them, or I worried myself sick.

I hadn’t gotten to know Lane well yet, although I had plans to. He grew up with a shitty family. No, that wasn’t a horrible enough word for what he’d been through, and we only were aware of the edge of that nightmare. At least he had his mother until she passed.

Now, he’d have all of us. We were loud, annoying, and way overbearing, but we had good intentions. When we got himback, I was going to smother him with attention. I was going to take annoying to another level.

And because I was thinking of ways to be annoying, I asked, “How was Raiden?”

Alton’s head lifted. “Why? He wasn’t hit.”

“No, but with Lane missing…” I even dropped my gaze and shrugged for effect. It was no secret there was something between Raiden and Alton, but there was also a definite interest in Lane where Raiden was concerned.

“Hartley, spit it out.” Alton didn’t say it in anger, more in frustration.

“It’s just that there was something between them the last time they were in a room together. I’m not sure what, but Raiden was concerned about Lane when I told Lane about the DNA results and accidentally elbowed him.”

Alton swallowed slowly, his throat working. “Raiden and Lane?”

“I don’t think there’s anything going on yet, if you’re wondering. It was a vibe I got from the way Raiden reacted to Lane’s distress.” It really wasn’t distress but that sounded better than me bruising Lane.

“Whatever’s between them is their business. I have too much on my plate to worry what they’re doing.”

Vincent scoffed.

“What?” Alton asked, back in doctor mode. “Are you in pain somewhere else?”

“No, but you should pull your head out of your ass, so you and Ray finally get together. God, you’re all fucking fools. There’s so much eye fucking around me lately, I get hard from just being in the vicinity.”

I choked out a laugh, not expecting him to say that. “Subtle.”

“Who has time for subtlety? I could have been killed today. The only reason that asshole got the jump on me was because I was in the middle of a conversation with Lane and not paying attention like I should have been, something I’ll kick myself for until I’m no longer breathing. One of those bullets could have ended me though. Everyone needs to tell the ones they care about how they feel. This job we do isn’t easy. I don’t care if you’re the doctor, the chef, or the designer. You’re part of this world of crime and uncertainty. That means anything can happen at any time. There’s no point in wasting what we’re given because we’re too fucking afraid to admit what we feel.”

“Are you sure you’re doing okay, Vinny?” Vail asked. “That was a mouthful.”

“Yeah, V, I’m good. Just sick of watching these idiots act like teenagers, not sure how to tell their crush they like them. That’s you too, Doc. You and Ray are always eyeing each other up like you can’t stand to be so far apart in the room but at the same time, scared you’re going to get burned if you’re close.”

Alton shook his head as he bandaged Vincent. “I’m not talking about this. As for Raiden, there’s nothing between us. Nothing he wants anyway.”

“Maybe he does but being one of Jordan’s main guards doesn’t lend itself to living the kind of life he’d want to give someone. As far as Lane, when we get him back, if you really want Ray, you’re going to have to find a way to make it work. It won’t be easy, but it’ll be worth it.”

32

JORDAN

Usually, I hated leaving Vail and Hartley. It was like pulling off my fucking arm and leaving it behind. Essential and missing. But this was for a good reason. We had a solid lead as to where the Everharts were. And this time, I made a call on the way.

“Why the fuck are you calling me?” Barrett yelled into the phone, a spare he had that wasn’t traceable to the police department. I had Reghan’s phone. Not even a burner. We rushed out of the building so fast we didn’t stop to grab more than guns and people, as well as a shirt for me.

“Say that to me again and I’ll fucking slit your throat,” I seethed into the phone.

“Jesus, why the hell areyoucalling me?”

I growled and said, “We found them and are on our way there. If you come, you do it alone.”

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