Page 76 of Lane

“No,” Jordan growled. “I would have killed them if they were.”

“Tomorrow is the third day,” I reminded him, not that I had to. Jordan would remember.

“I’m not giving him a fucking penny.”

“Nor should you. If we don’t do something, he’s going to escalate. This was only a warning.” If they had wanted to kill all four of us, they could have. Ulrich wouldn’t hire shitty shooters. If he was doing this, asking for so much money, he’d make sure his ass was covered in all aspects.

Jordan gripped Raiden’s shoulder tightly, then left the room, speaking in the hallway with Reghan. I watched Alton stitch Raiden. Every movement was done quickly and with precision. Alton’s hands didn’t shake. He didn’t falter in anything he did. Even though it was Raiden on the table, a man he loved, Alton treated him like he would anybody else. That was who Alton was. Life was precious, except maybe the people’s who were after us. Alton didn’t mind us hurting them.

“You’re done,” he said, applying the last of the dressing to keep the wound covered.

Alton turned to clean up, but Raiden gripped his wrist and held him in place. “Thank you.”

Alton’s shoulders relaxed. “You don’t have to thank me. I’m just glad it wasn’t worse.”

“You do a lot for not only Lane and me but my brother and everyone else who works for Jordan. You’re appreciated more than you know.”

“I’m just doing my job.”

“No, you could get in trouble for helping us, and you know it, but you don’t care. You do what you have to so we’re okay.”

“Every one of your lives is valuable. I care about making sure you’re all healthy.”

“Come here.” Raiden tugged on his arm, pulling him down so he could kiss Alton. “I love you.” My heart melted a little. It wasn’t the first time he said it. Hearing the words was still a novelty, even if they were directed at Alton.

When they broke apart, Raiden beckoned me closer to do the same. His lips met mine in a brief kiss before he uttered the same words to me.

“I love you too,” I whispered. “Next time, don’t put your body on mine though. I don’t want you hurt.”

“And you think I want you shot again? Hell no.”

“While you two work that out, I’m going to clean up the area,” Alton said.

Raiden slid over so I could climb on, lying on my side to be closer to him. My head went to his chest. The beat of his heart was strong and steady beneath my ear.

“Fuck’s sake,” Jordan growled. “I get that you could have been hurt worse, but you’re all fine. We have shit to do, a plan to make changes to. Lane, I need you to call Ulrich and tell him we’ll meet him tomorrow.”

“What happens after that?” I asked.

“That’s why we need the goddamn plan updated,” he bit out and left the room.

Before this, the plan consisted of digging around as much as we could and finding him before the three days were up. That didn’t work out in our favor. We still had no idea where he was and now, he shot at us.

“Shit,” Alton muttered. “I forgot to pack a few things I’ll need for work tomorrow.”

“You’re not going to work,” I told him.

“I have to. I have patients to see. Sheldon will be with me. I’ll be fine.”

I opened my mouth to object again when Alton’s hard gaze met mine.

“I won’t do this with either of you,” he stated firmly. “I understand that you want to protect me, but we have jobs to do. You deal with this shit with Ulrich and I’ll take care of my patients. I won’t stop what I do out of fear. Every time I leave my house I could be killed. We never know when our last day will be. I’ll be damned if I spend each moment wondering if my time is almost up. This is nonnegotiable. Got it?”

I swallowed and nodded. I didn’t like it, but I understood where he was coming from. Raiden and I risked our lives daily. Alton just wanted to be a doctor to the people who depended on him.

32

RAIDEN

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