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“No. This is my city and while not every police officer is on my payroll, enough are that this will be turned into a gang hit with no threat to the public. There will be a story spun about a gang thinking they could break away from the one they were affiliated to, so they came here. The gang took offense and came to handle their business. No mention of my name will be involved. All citizens on the street will erase any video they may have recorded and they were paid handsomely for their troubles. East Dremest remains mine and the citizens remain loyal to me.”
I couldn’t resist saying something. It was too easy. “You’re pretty sure of yourself, Jordy. Did you show them your cock as a bonus while you were at it?”
Instead of glaring at me and telling me to shut up, he laughed. It was the oddest sound coming from him. “Rest assured, if I showed them my cock, they most certainly would have invited me inside for the night.”
“Oh, ewww,” JJ said. “Did you really have to say that?”
“Where do you think you get your genetics from?” Jordan asked.
“And on that note, I’m leaving this conversation,” JJ said. “When talk turns to my old man’s cock, I’m out.”
Romeo rested his head on my shoulder and laughed. I opened my other arm for Tristan, who came readily and held us both. Jordan offered us a bed for the night and as much as I would rather be in Romeo’s bed, I was so fucking tired. We took Jordan up on his offer, the three of us drifting off to sleep knowing we were completely safe tonight and for many nights going forward. No matter what happened, we weren’t in it alone. We had Jordan and his guards as well as our families and friends. Our support system was solid.
32
ROMEO
Dash had been glued to my and Tristan’s sides for the past four days. Not that I blamed him. We had been in an awful situation where any of us could have died. He even took us with him to his sessions with the band, making sure the new guards assigned to me and Tristan were along as well.
I was still riddled with guilt from Bruno and Tye being killed. Bruno had been with me for a while and Tye was new on my detail. Neither of them deserved the fate they were dealt. Caius was a new guard, the one who drove us to Jordan’s after we ran from my uncle’s house. He was ridiculously calm but no less intense than the others. And big. Then again, most of Jordan’s men were.
My grandmother wasn’t lucid enough to know who I was when I visited. I didn’t tell her about her son passing away. That was the nice term for it. In reality, Jordan killed him. Markus was someone I was glad no longer walked this earth, except when it came to my grandmother.
Tears welled in my eyes as I sat with her and watched the TV in her room. Instead of complicating her life since I wasn’t sure if she knew of my existence or not, I told her I worked for the nursing home she lived in. The staff was also aware of mywishes. I was her blood relative but wasn’t to be spoken about that way.
Her care was handled for the rest of her life. I spoke with the people in charge and told them I would take care of the bills from now on. The passing of my uncle made the news, much like Jordan said it would with the story he’d crafted. The nursing home heard as well so it made sense for me to handle my grandmother’s financial needs. Plus, I had the money to do it. Even if I didn’t, I’d find a way.
Dash was currently downstairs in our home—I referred to my place as ours—with Tristan, taking care of the leftovers from lunch. I’d been in my head, still thinking of the other night and the carnage we’d witnessed. Tristan coped better than Dash and I did. He was there to reassure Dash we were all right and would put his arm around me every time he saw my anxiety trying to take hold.
My journal sat on my lap, the pages open and written on in front of me. I wrote another poem today, a way to get the thoughts in my head onto paper. It helped purge them from my mind, but I wasn’t sure the scenes of that night would ever leave.
It was Dash and Tristan who pulled me from the shock of what happened. Their warmth, their steadfast support, and their love. I couldn’t thank them enough for being there for me as I cried in their arms throughout the night while we lay on one of Jordan’s spare beds.
Jordan came in at some point to sit as well. He stayed in the corner of the room, in a chair near the tall windows, and he watched over us with one of his guns on his lap. I found out the next morning when Dash brought it up to JJ, Jordan had been in their room at one point too, watching over them. JJ tried to wipe the tear away without us noticing, but we did. Dexen and Greer drew him close and held JJ. The relationship with his father wasbeyond complicated but it was obvious they both cared for each other.
I didn’t hear Tristan and Dash enter the bedroom where I currently was or see them until Tristan ran his fingers through my hair. Peering up at him, he offered me a small smile.
Dash walked around the other side of the bed and sat beside me. “What are you doing, angel? I thought you’d be in the shower.” The hot water beating on my shoulders helped ease some of the tension from my body. But I couldn’t get in there yet. I had to write these words down, my personal therapy.
Tristan and Dash only knew about my journals from conversations, not having seen them before. I held it up for Dash. “The more I write, the better I feel.”
Tristan climbed on the bed and sat behind us, peering over Dash’s shoulder as Dash took the book and read what I’d written aloud.
Long hours drift by
My soul aching to cry
To mend the wounds within
Even those some consider a sin
It was us who fell
I knew all too well
If he wasn’t there
With his vicious stare
