Page 48 of Lane

“That’s me.” I stepped forward.

“Follow me, please.”

The four of us entered the elevator, making the employees going upstairs wait. The doors opened on the top floor, and we exited to an office area with cubicles on the main part of the floor. Offices lined the perimeter.

Heads turned our way as we walked past. I kept my eyes straight ahead. We were shown to a conference room with black leather chairs and a glass conference table.

A man in a suit walked in a minute later with a guard at his back, who closed the door behind them.

“Lane, it’s nice to meet you.” The man in the suit extended his hand, which I shook.

“Ethan, I presume?”

“You presume correctly. Let’s get right down to business. This isn’t my only meeting today. I know what Jordan has, and I know what I want and am willing to pay. The question is, how low is Jordan able to go in his price? I won’t allow him to take advantage of me. It’s bad enough he didn’t think it was worth his time to show up and sent you in his place.”

“Please don’t speak to me as if I’m some lackey Mr. Altair sent here. You know my name, which means you did your research. If you didn’t, then you’re a foolish man who probably shouldn’t buy expensive firearms. You’re right, I’m here in place of Jordan. Make no mistake, I have the full authority to accept or decline any deal with you. I won’t be played, and I’m not here to bullshit. Do I make myself clear?” Huh, I kind of liked this super powerful side of myself.

He gave me a stiff nod.

“Good, let’s get to it.”

We worked for the next half hour. Ethan listed the weapons he’d like to purchase, while I did a mental calculation of how much they would cost Jordan to obtain and how much we couldmark them up to make the deal worth our while. It wasn’t a small price. Then again, Ethan already did business with Jordan. This wasn’t news to him.

It took another fifteen minutes for us to come to an agreement. I stood first after shaking his hand. No one would look down on me.

“I have to say, you’re nothing like I’d imagined,” Ethan said.

“Really? What did you picture?”

“I’d heard a lot of rumors about you but none of them had you this cutthroat.”

“Yes, well, I call upon whichever side of me is needed. Since you decided I was beneath you when you walked in, you got the side who wasn’t going to take any of your shit. Now if you’ll excuse us, I have other deals to broker. Good day.”

Before he could say another word, Raiden was at the door, holding it open for me. We filed out, past the watching eyes, to the elevator we rode down to the lobby in, where the man behind the desk drooled over Kayli.

It wasn’t until we were in the SUV and down the block that I let out a sigh of relief. “Holy shit.”

“You did good,” Sheldon said.

“Better than good,” Raiden cut in. “You did amazing. Jordan’s going to be happy.”

A smile stretched my lips. I passed another one of Jordan’s tests. I closed the deal at a fair price for Ethan, while we also made a decent chunk of cash. It was a great day.

20

RAIDEN

“You’re beaming like your kid just won the science competition,” my brother said.

“I do feel like a proud parent, but I’m a proud boyfriend. You should have seen how easily Lane handled the meeting.”

Barrett padded into the living room on bare feet. “Everyone gets to have fun but me.” He dropped onto the couch.

“What’s the matter?” I asked. “Don’t like being in PR?”

“Don’t make me hurt you, Raiden.”

I laughed. It was so much fun to rile him up.

---