Page 63 of Lane

RAIDEN

“Well, that was uneventful,” Lane said as we stepped up to the elevator in Jordan’s building. It was our home too. For some reason I still called it my boss’s building because it was.

We’d just gotten back from an assignment and were still in the garage. There were always guards down here to protect the area. With this being an open space from the back and the front, anyone could walk in. There would be hell to pay if they didn’t belong here.

“Not enough excitement for you?” I teased.

“Not even close. The highlight was a dog sniffing my leg.”

“And Jordan got paid.”

He waved me off. “Yeah, whatever. I shouldn’t want something to happen.” In the next breath, his eyes widened, and he grabbed my arm. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just… You know what? Never mind.”

“Hey,” I said, taking his hand in mine. “It’s okay to want excitement on the job. I know what you were getting at. You don’t have to worry.”

“I’m sorry.” He wrapped his arms around me and laid his head on my shoulder. “That was shitty of me, no matter what you say.”

I embraced him back. Having the men I loved in my arms was the best thing in the world. Just being near them soothed me down to my soul. “We’re fine, Lane. Honest.”

We had eyes on us. The guards who were down here could grow bored. I remembered when I was new and had to work my way up. These shitty positions sucked. They were important but dull as hell.

My phone rang, which immediately had me tensing. Very few numbers rang through silent mode.

Releasing Lane, I pulled my phone from my pocket and saw my brother’s name on the screen. “Yeah?”

“We’re moving. Are you back?”

“In the garage.”

“Stay there.”

Just as I hung up, the elevator doors opened and Albert raced out, running to where Jordan’s Maserati was. Vincent was out next with Sheldon behind him.

“Jesus,” I muttered, and jogged to the Navigator I just parked, so I could pull it up to the curb behind the Maserati. Rolling the window down, I yelled for Lane to get in.

Sheldon rolled up behind me as the other elevator opened and Jordan stepped out with Reghan and Barrett. This had to be big if he was bringing the ex-detective along. Barrett didn’t go out with us normally.

Lane picked up his phone and called Vincent as I followed Albert out of the garage. Switching the phone to speaker, Vincent answered without a hello.

“The alarm’s been triggered at the steakhouse. It’s not open yet. Only the prep cooks are there.” Jordan owned a restaurant in the city. It wasn’t too far from here.

“Which alarm?” I asked. There were two. One would go off if someone tried to break in. The other was manually pressed by one of the staff because they were under threat.

“Not the one we’d prefer.”

“Shit.”

“Any video?” Lane asked.

“It’s been cut. We have no feed from inside.”

“Do you know anything else?”

“No.”

“Thanks.” Lane hung up.

We sped along the East Dremest streets, weaving in and out of the lanes before Albert cut down a side road that would save us time by avoiding traffic lights. The road was bumpier and narrow, but we’d gone down these streets so many times I could do it in my sleep.

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