“If I show you it, you have to stop calling me creepy and accept me as part of your family.”
JJ reared back. “What?”
“I’m in love with Forest. Forest’s brother is in a committed relationship with your father. If Forest and I get married, we’ll be related. Accept your fate, or you don’t get to see my closet of death.”
“Jesus. You’re right. I hadn’t thought about that. Fucking hell, you better be worth all the aggravation you give me. Also, I’m going to need a vial of something to prove I was in there. I bet not many people get to see the inside of it.”
“They don’t. The answer is no to the vial. Instead, I’ll let you stare at all of my babies, but you can’t touch anything. If you’re lucky, you can sit on my meditation pillow.”
Poor JJ didn’t say anything for a few seconds. Then… “You have a meditation pillow?”
“And one for Ollie,” I said.
“You have many layers, Sheldon. Way more than I gave you credit for.”
“Thank you. You may see my closet now.”
JJ stood and followed Sheldon into the bedroom. I’d already seen the closet, so there was no point for me to again. It was Sheldon’s safe space, even though if there was an earthquake and the bottles fell, whoever was in there would probably die. At least, that was my best guess.
I started going over the list I’d made to see which items I could get done quickly and check off.
Not even ten minutes later, I heard Colleen’s voice coming from Sheldon’s phone. It wasn’t her talking to them. It was one of her guided meditations.
As slowly and quietly as I could, I tiptoed into the bedroom with my phone out and the video on. The best sight emerged. Sheldon and JJ were sitting on the pillows, facing each other with their eyes closed. Sheldon was in a half lotus while they meditated together. After I got a video, I took a few pictures. The best part was how calm they were while so many deadly vials surrounding them. Not just that, but also syringes, weapons, all kinds of things.
They didn’t know I was there, so I crept back to the table without them noticing.
In all the shit that had been happening, I was glad Sheldon had a way to decompress. That he could do so with JJ, a man who used to be completely unnerved by him, was another great moment to witness.
I doubted they’d become close friends, but there was nothing wrong with having allies who could be counted on. JJ didn’t want to be a part of his father’s business. That didn’t mean he didn’t want to be a part of his life. Getting along with Jordan’s guards mattered. Being here did too.
Hartley had told me Jordan and JJ didn’t always have the best relationship. It was nice to know they were able to work it out and make it so they could spend time together.
27
SHELDON
We’d been down this road before, more times than I could count. Someone was after one of us. We didn’t know who it was. Our lives became searching for the motherfucker who was threatening us. It was a shitty situation not to know who your enemy was.
Lists were made. There was one for the people I’d disemboweled. Another of the people I’d personally killed. A third for murders I’d been involved in, but didn’t deliver the final blow. And none of these were the poisonings. Those were how most of the people I encountered died. But when we went back years, let’s just say the lists weren’t short.
I was tired of the bullshit, so I started leaving my bike out in the open or one of the Navigators, going to places just to see if someone would fuck with me. No way was I doing that with Forest, but I’d readily use myself as bait. Except, no one took it. I also didn’t tell Forest what I was doing. He’d yell, I’d feel horrible, then apologize. He’d tell me never to do it again, which I would. I’d do whatever it took to keep him safe.
“This is ridiculous,” Oleander said from my side. He had the day off from guarding Vail, so he tagged along with me while I stood on a street corner a few blocks from Jordan’s building. Ihad a cup of coffee and casually leaned against the outside of a small market.
“When we want someone to shoot at us, they don’t.” I must have said that too loudly because a woman walking past gasped. Whatever. She was in East Dremest, not the middle of nowhere. Shit happened here. Less with Jordan around, but it still did.
“Because you want them to,” Oleander replied. “You can’t will it to happen. Besides, even if it did, we’d have to track the person down to see if it was for this specific reason or just because we’re making ourselves targets. There are probably a lot of people out there who’d love to kill us.” He shrugged like it was no big deal. Meh, guess it wasn’t. We were used to being targeted.
“I could ask Jordan to stand out here with me.” Okay, so I was getting desperate. I didn’t want to risk anyone’s life, but for fuck’s sake, I needed a break here.
“No one would be bold enough to take a shot in broad daylight on a busy street. If someone wants him dead, they won’t do it with a crowd.”
I threw my cup in the garbage and glanced up in time to see a guy pause on the sidewalk to look at me. “Got a problem?” I asked.
“I think I know you.”
“Depends. Are you a piece of shit or a good person? The way you answer that will tell me if you’ve seen me before or not.” I guessed I wasn’t feeling polite today.
