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“Thanks, but we’ll go outside and figure out what to do,” Dexen replied.
“See you later.” Val gave us a wave and returned to the Taurus. I wondered how much he liked working at PJS considering he seemed to be at home under a car. Then again, JJ was the same way and fit in nicely at PJS.
We stepped out into the cold air, and I stared up at the sky. Gray clouds drifted overhead. No rain or snow. Just gloom. Typical for this time of year.
“What now?” I asked. We could go to JJ’s dad’s building. Ask to see him. Would we be granted entrance? Probably not.
“Fuck if I know. JJ gets called whenever his dad has to talk to him. If I thought for one second he’d hurt him, we’d already be there. No matter how much of a prick that man is, he wouldn’t kill his own son. Tear him down emotionally, make him miserable, sure. Physically hurt, no.”
“I wish we could find a way to break him free from his dad but at the same time, how many hits have been taken out on JJ because of who his dad is? How many times has he been shot at? Even if he breaks away completely from his dad, people still know who he is. At least this way, he has some protection thanks to the asshole who shared DNA with him.”
“There’s no good way to look at it. JJ was born into this life. As much as he’d like to change who his dad is, he can’t. The only thing we can do is protect him.”
God, I hated just standing here, waiting, knowing JJ was so close yet we couldn’t get to him.
Dexen’s phone rang in his pocket. He took it out and looked at the screen. “It’s Jordan Sr.” He put it on speaker. “Hello?”
“Where are you?” he bit out.
“At JJ’s shop but he’s not here like he should be, thanks to you.”
“He’s not with me either. You have to get here. Come in through the parking deck.” He rattled off a code to enter to get access. “Remember the guy you saw at the bar at the steakhouse, Barry? He’ll be waiting. My son is in trouble and I need you here. No one knows but me, Barry, and another one of my guards. If you run into trouble on the way up, follow Barry’s lead. Come armed. I’m not sure who I can trust.”
“How do we know you’re telling the truth?” I asked, my hands shaking, fear creeping through my veins.
“If I wanted you dead, Greer, I would have done so long ago. Jordan is my blood. I wouldn’t end his life. Get here now.” He hung up without saying anything else.
My eyes met Dexen’s. “We don’t have a choice. We have to go.”
“Did you think I was going to argue with you?” We both rushed toward my SUV and got inside. “If this is a trap, we’re walking into it together. At least we’ll be armed.” He popped open my glove compartment and pulled out the two guns I kept there while I started the SUV and pulled out onto the street.
32
JJ
I’d left Greer and Dexen back at the fortress under the guise of needing to work at the shop. I even went there with Val and started working on a car. I figured I’d get something done so I wasn’t completely full of shit, then I’d head out and confront my dad.
Only, I didn’t get far because Malik showed, saying my dad wanted to see me.
We were in the same expensive Maserati with the same older driver. Everything was status quo like it always was when I got summoned. I grumbled the whole way, irritated like I’d normally be. I didn’t want to show my hand, let Malik know I wanted this to happen. I needed to confront the asshole. Both of them, but it was better to do it with them together rather than separately.
The building loomed, casting its shadow down darker than any cloud ever did. Fuck, I hated this place. Hated everything about this city. I should get out of here once and for all, but I couldn’t abandon my shop and the people who’d come to depend on it to service their vehicles. I could move my employees wherever, but some of the customers wouldn’t want to go to a new location.
Familiar guards had their posts as I walked into the building, their itchy trigger fingers waiting for the moment when they could finally shoot me. I had no love for them. Unless they wanted to die, they didn’t dare raise a gun to me. My dad would have their head if they did without a very valid reason.
I thought everything was normal, until we got in the elevator and Malik hit the button for the floor that was two down from my dad’s.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
He stood stoic beside me, not saying a word. He didn’t have to tell me shit, but I asked anyway.
The doors opened revealing a long hallway with gaudy gold carpeting. Sconces lined the walls, lighting the corridor in a muted white. There were doors with numbers on them every so many feet. Not many, which led me to believe these were bigger residential apartments. I’d been here countless times but never cared about what was inside. The less I knew about what my dad did, the better.
At the end of the hall, Malik produced a key card and used it to open the door, quietly ushering me inside. The room was dark. I didn’t go far, not sure of what I’d walk into. The light from the hallway only illuminating so much. Malik came in behind me and closed the door.
The muzzle of a gun pressed to the back of my head. “Move,” Malik growled, nudging me with the barrel.
My steps were measured as I carefully walked. There were no sounds outside of our shoes scuffing along the thick carpet. The room smelled sweet like flowers. Almost sickeningly so. It reminded me of the funeral for a great uncle I went to when I was younger. This horribly, cloying scent that seemed to settle over my skin.
