Page 2 of Jordan

Xaiden Dremest – Business owner, ex-fighter, Dexen’s brother, Val and Corbin’s partner, and Cody and Olivia’s adopted father

Val Dremest – Mechanic, Xaiden and Corbin’s partner, and father figure to Cody and Olivia

Corbin Dremest – ER doctor, Xaiden and Val’s partner, and father figure to Cody and Olivia

Hale Pierce – Dancer at Untouchable, Milo’s brother, and Danny and Simon’s partner

Danny Pierce – Dancer at Untouchable and Hale and Simon’s partner

Simon Pierce – Guard at Untouchable and Hale and Danny’s partner

PROLOGUE

JORDAN

The monitor showed the security feed of my building. Every corner, every crevice, I had eyes on. There were cameras not even he knew about. He thought I didn’t see him or know what he was currently doing. He was wrong.

Malik held a gun to my only child’s head. My son, who shared the same name as me. Jordan didn’t think I cared. He thought I didn’t love him because I kept my emotions locked down.

Now I had a situation to deal with. One involving my blood.

The man I loved could end my son’s life with the pull of a trigger. I couldn’t let that happen.

Attempts on Jordan’s life were numerous at times. That was what happened in my world. I was the boss. Every threat affected me, especially when it involved my son.

There were few men I could still trust within my organization. Too many knew what Malik was doing and didn’t alert me to his deceit. I had others on their way here. The men my son loved would arrive soon, a backup I didn’t realize I so desperately needed until everything went to shit. There was a lot I could handle on my own, and most I did. Faced with this situation, I was afraid I’d lose everything.

Each step I took to get to the room they were in had my heart beating faster. Dread weighed me down, a pressing force reminding me I created this situation. Not directly, but my actions led here. I was the one who made the decisions. Who put the wheels in motion, even if I didn’t foresee it would come to this. I was the one who put my son in danger.

Malik was supposed to help me protect Jordan, not threaten to end his life. He would pay dearly.

The guards I employed didn’t stop me as I walked past them. They knew I’d kill them without a second thought if they did. I’d deal with them when I was certain my son was safe. If they were smart, they’d run far and fast before I could get my revenge for them following Malik instead of me. What a fucking mess that was going to be to wade through. Who to keep. Who to kill.

Reaching into my pocket with my free hand, a gun tucked into my other one, I pulled out the key card and slid it into the door. There was a soft beep and click. I eased the door open to find Malik with his gun pressed to Jordan’s temple, my son’s body a shield protecting someone I trusted above all others.

“Let him go, Mal,” I said, my voice and hand steady, even though it was far from how I felt.

There was a tremble in his hand, shaking the gun against Jordan. “I did this for you. Do you know that?”

“Did what?” I asked. I knew the answer, as sick to my stomach as it made me.

“I wanted the flash drive. I heard you listening to the voicemail on your phone. The one you play over and over. The last one your brother sent you. He threatened you.” Malik’s voice broke, causing emotion to climb up my throat. I couldn’t let it be seen. No weaknesses would be visible. “He said if you ever went after Perry, there was a safeguard in place. That Greer and Peyton knew about it.” Perry was my nephew; someone I wouldn’t hurt.

“How long have you known?”

“A couple of months.”

“So that isn’t why you kept Alan alive when I told you to kill him?” Alan was a plague on this earth. Once a dancer at Untouchable, the exclusive club Dexen Dremest, one of my son’s partner’s owned, Alan had held another dancer hostage. He should have been dealt with back then. It was my fault. I knew Malik kept him alive, but not why. I thought he had a valid reason. It was another mistake I didn’t address.

“He’s smart. I knew it was in our best interests to keep him above ground. He’s been helping me. Hacking the Lynxes’ security and whoever else he could, funneling cash into accounts we set up.” Ah, yes, the Lynx brothers. Greer was my son’s other partner. The brothers weren’t terrible men. I just didn’t like them. At all. They stood in my way. I had no use for them. Greer loved my son. Greer’s brother, Peyton, was in love with my nephew. For that, I’d let them live.

“We have more money than we know what to do with now,” Malik continued. “I split it with him. But you and me, we can get out of here. Far away. Just the two of us. We can have the life we were always meant to. Once we have the drive, there’s nothing holding us here. There’s no leverage against you. I can kill your rivals. Put fear into them like they’ve never seen. I have a plan to take care of it all.”

“You know I can’t do that,” I told him, my voice quieter than before. “I have to stay in Dremest. I have a business to run. My son is here. My family.”

“I’m all the family you need,” Malik whispered. He wasn’t unaffected. Every part of him shook. “You’d choose your son over me? After everything I’ve done for you? The drive is the last piece. What we need before we can take everyone else down. Then we’re free.” Oh, Malik, how I wished this wasn’t the path you chose. My heart was shattering in my chest. Every word he said, the emotion he poured into them, was breaking me.

“The flash drive doesn’t worry me. It never has.” When it came to my family, my blood, they got more leeway than others did. The flash drive contained information about me that in the wrong hands would be incriminating. “If it made my brother feel better, makes my nephew feel safe, I’m fine with him having it. I won’t hurt him. I won’t give him cause to use it against me. This life I lead, it’s full of shit I can’t escape. I loved my brother. I love my nephew, even though he grates on my last fucking nerve at times.”

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