Page 22 of Lane

Lane stepped in front of Jack, getting in his face. “If you ever try to grab me again, I’ll kill you myself.”

Even in his position, Jack still managed to say, “I love your fire.”

“Yeah, well, my fire is spoken for, and my men don't like to share.”

“My misunderstanding. If you find yourself not fulfilled…” I dug the gun harder into his temple. “You know where I live.”

Movement caught my gaze as the man Jordan threatened lashed out, trying to hit Jordan. My boss didn’t play and fired his gun, putting a bullet in the guard’s head. The big guard fell to the floor as two more men rushed in with their weapons drawn. No way in hell was I letting Jack go now.

With the new men focused on us, they didn’t hear Sheldon and Vincent sneak up behind them.

“Nighty night,” Sheldon said after jabbing one of the guards in the neck with a needle.

Vincent clocked the other with his gun, knocking him to the ground.

Sheldon tsked. “You have to do a better job hiring people, Jack. Their attention to detail is terrible.”

Jack vibrated with anger against me as Jordan got in his face.

“Our deal is off. The money you gave me is for my fucking inconvenience for this shit show. You better never step in my path again. I won’t hesitate to kill you. Touching Lane was a mistake. I told you he was mine.”

“You're sucking more than two men?” Jack taunted. “Some fucking organization you run.”

“No, motherfucker, but the man with the gun to your head will do a lot worse than he is now with one word from me.”

“People don't fuck with my boyfriends,” Lane added casually. “Raiden will kick your ass from one side of this home to the other. Not that I need him to. I can handle myself, but it makes me hot just thinking about him spilling blood.”

I leaned close, trying not to think about Lane calling me his boyfriend. It was only to rile Jack up, nothing more. “If you come near my boss or anyone in his organization, I will take you out without a second thought. You won’t see me coming.” I released him, shoving him away. I wanted nothing more than to get the people I protected out of here.

We weren’t stopped as we left. No one else came after us. I needed to have a talk with Jordan. It all had to do with how I reacted when Jack grabbed Lane’s wrist. It would have been way worse if Jack or the others tried to hurt him.

I still didn’t know what I was doing or where this was going. Lane obviously wanted Alton and me. Alton and I hadn’t done anything. Ever. He flat-out rejected me. I wasn’t sure where we stood, but I could only handle one thing at a time.

This wouldn’t be the same as when my brother began dating Barrett. He was a detective at the time. Lane lived in the same building as us. Jordan was starting to have him help, which made me unnecessarily irritated. Anything could happen to him. That was part of the problem. I was overprotective where Lane was concerned.

The drive home was done in silence, which suited me fine. I could get lost in my thoughts and try to figure out how to approach this situation with Jordan.

9

ALTON

The morning went by in a blur. Patient after patient had been in with flu, strep throat, the list went on. The nurses had been administering rapid tests on those who presented with symptoms. Even my lunch break was only fifteen minutes long due to us running behind. We were a well-oiled machine, but some patients liked to talk. As much as I should cut conversations short, I delivered the level of care I did by knowing about them and their families. It was a personal experience to sit with a doctor they trusted. If I rushed each person out the door, why would they keep returning?

I glanced at my screen to see who my next patient was, nearly spitting out the drink of water in my mouth. The reason for the visit was listed as a follow-up. Why did he come here instead of calling or texting me? None of Jordan’s men booked appointments in my practice.

Exiting my office, I found the room he was located in and knocked on the door before entering. Lane sat on the exam table, squirming on the paper that lined it.

“Hey, Al,” he said with a grin. “Can’t they make something more comfortable and less noisy than this? It doesn’t set the mood right.”

I closed the door behind me, sat on the rolling stool, and scanned my badge to log into the system so I could detail our visit. “I’m not sure what mood you’re hoping to set, but this is a medical office.”

“This is a lot of wasteful paper. Use a sheet. Maybe that’s not the best idea. You’ll rack up the cost of detergent, water, and unless you’re doing it yourself, the fee for a company to handle it.” I could listen to him talk all day. He fascinated me with the things he said. Not necessarily this topic, but how his mind worked. We were on a schedule though. There was only a fifteen minute window I had with him.

“Lane, why are you here? Are you still not feeling well?”

“I’m fine. I just wanted to talk to you and over text didn’t feel right.”

I turned on the stool to fully face him. “What would you like to discuss?”

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