Page 14 of Lane (East Dremest Mafia #5)

ALTON

There was a lot going on in my head. After the night I had with Raiden and Lane, I was unbelievably happy. Happier than I’d been in a long time.

We didn’t do more than kiss that night. They dropped me off at Jordan’s building so I could get my car. We shared another kiss before I left. There was a pang in my chest as I drove away. They both lived in the same place while I had to leave, not knowing what they’d do without me.

There was no talk of how this would work. If they’d be together without me, or if I’d be with one of them without the other. There were logistics to figure out.

I shook my head and walked back into my kitchen to fill my mug with coffee again.

It was Saturday morning, and I didn’t have anywhere to be.

It was good, and it sucked at the same point.

Free time wasn’t plentiful in my line of work, especially being on call for Jordan.

Yet, I couldn’t help thinking back to my time with Raiden and Lane, wondering what they were doing.

It was my own fault. I should call or text and ask them to go out. I felt unmoored like I didn’t know where I stood. We really needed to talk.

I brought my full mug to the window overlooking the street out front.

In the back, I had a small yard. It wasn’t big, but it was mine—my little piece of frozen grass.

It had snowed last night, and then there was a layer of ice on top of it.

The streets were plowed and salted. I’d rather stay inside, where I was warm.

A small part of me knew I could be warmer somewhere else.

I pushed it away. If they wanted to spend time with me, they’d be here.

I still couldn’t get over finally kissing Raiden though. Lane was the catalyst we needed, but we weren’t pushing him away. He was integral. I also loved how they were different, not only in looks but personality too.

A sudden banging on my back door jolted me, my arm moving, splashing coffee over the rim onto my hand. Luckily, the creamer I put in had cooled it slightly, so it didn’t scald me.

“Shit,” I muttered and returned to the kitchen, placing it on the counter.

The banging continued. I didn’t have time to tend to my hand. Few people knew where I lived: Jordan and his men, my sister and her husband, and the people I worked with.

I rushed to the door. Then I paused. Didn’t Jordan try to drill into me that I should never open a door without a weapon? I had no peephole here, which was my own fault.

Reaching into the kitchen drawer, I pulled out a knife. It was as good as I was getting. I had a gun, but it was tucked upstairs in a safe in my bedroom.

With the knife in hand, I opened the door, ready to stab who was on the other side. Instead, I got Raiden, who held Lane up while Lane bled from the leg.

“What happened?” I asked, opening the door wider. I couldn’t let my emotions get the best of me.

“Would you believe me if I said a squirrel attacked me?” Lane asked, his voice strained.

“Did he hit an artery?” I ushered them inside, followed by Jordan, Oleander, and Vincent.

“He got shot for being a smart-ass,” Jordan bit out.

“What?” I yelled and followed them down the hall.

Off the main hallway on the first floor was a bedroom I converted into a medical space for this purpose. It wasn’t often I used it. Depending on where Jordan and his men were when they were hurt, they could be closer to me than their building. The room was equipped the same as the one Jordan had.

Flipping on the lights, I started pulling out the supplies I’d need, then washed my hands and put on gloves.

“I’ll give you that,” Lane said as Raiden helped him onto the table. “I could have been quiet, but he was being an asshole. We both knew he wasn’t going to buy from you. It was almost like he was sizing you up to see if you were really a threat.”

Jordan leaned against the wall near the door and crossed his arms. “I don’t disagree.”

Lucky for me, my neighbors had all met Jordan before, and if they saw him bringing in someone bloodied, they’d stay quiet. He’d paid them nicely before for it.

Lane lay on the table while I grabbed scissors and cut open his jeans.

The bullet went through his outer thigh.

Nothing major was hit. There was blood, of course, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was when he came inside.

I also could have been overreacting because it was Lane. I would have done the same for Raiden.

Instead of asking for more details, which I wouldn’t be given, I went to work on the wound.

They talked, but I drowned them out. Whatever they said went in one ear and out the other, while I focused on Lane.

I’d heard a lot of conversations over the years, none of them fazing me.

Jordan knew I wouldn’t breathe a word of what I’d heard.

If I was going to do that, I would have a long time ago.

Once Lane was stitched, I placed gauze over the wound and began cleaning the room. I didn’t get far.

Lane’s hand grabbed my wrist as I walked past. “Al, look at me.”

I stopped and met his eyes with mine. “I’m okay.”

“I know because I took care of you.”

“You did, but I need you to see and hear me. I’ve dealt with worse.”

“That’s not the comfort you think it is.”

He offered me a lopsided smile. “Yeah, but I’m touching you, so I’m calling it a win.”

“You’re incorrigible.” I hated it, but I had to pull away to finish cleaning. I wanted to touch him with my bare skin. The gloves would get in the way.

Lane wouldn’t listen and immediately stood once I was done. He limped to the door, where Raiden caught him around the waist again. “I’m all right, Ray. I can walk.”

“You should sit.”

“Sure.”

“Stay here tonight,” Jordan cut in.

“Huh?” Lane asked.

“You and Raiden. We’ve already dealt with the asshole who shot you and the men he was with. I’m going home to shower the blood off myself and wrap my arms around my partners.”

I hadn’t looked closely at Jordan until then.

He had blood splattered on the front of his jacket and white shirt.

He usually changed, but with Lane shot, he probably rushed to leave once he killed the men who caused this problem.

I had no doubt he killed them. Jordan wasn’t the type to let people walk away for this.

“You’re serious,” Lane said. “I didn’t see that coming.”

“Jesus, just stay the fuck here,” Jordan growled. “Let Alton watch over you and return home by Monday morning. We have shit to do.”

“Aye, aye, captain.”

Jordan stepped forward, fisting Lane’s shirt. I started to move toward them, but Oleander reached for me and shook his head when I looked at him.

“I’m a breath away from killing someone else,” Jordan said as he got in Lane’s face.

“You want to be my second, then learn I’m the one in charge.

You don’t get to talk to me that way in any situation that isn’t just you and me in my building.

You’re lucky we’re where we are right now.

That disrespect will get us both killed.

” He shoved Lane as he let him go, causing Lane to stumble a step.

Lane wasn’t scared or even irritated, at least from what I could see. “I’m sorry. You have to remember I wasn’t allowed to have a voice in anything. Now I got ahead of myself and forgot what I’ve learned.”

“I’m not trying to dictate your life, but there has to be rules, and that’s one of them. You can’t become a liability. If something happened to you, fuck, I’d have to answer to Hartley, and that’s worse than if I took a goddamn bullet.”

“I’ll do better next time.”

“See that you do. I can’t kill you, but I can make your life a living hell.” If Jordan took Lane out, I wasn’t sure if Hartley could forgive him. “Let’s go,” he barked at Oleander and Vincent. They filed out of the room, my back door slamming shut so hard it rattled.

The trees in my yard and the alley behind it provided cover. Not much in winter with the leaves gone. It was still something.

“Second?” Raiden asked, his voice dripping with anger. I turned to look at him and saw the way his eyes were intent on Lane. Raiden’s hands fisted by his sides. “You couldn’t have fucking told me that?”

“Why would I, when I have no clue if it will happen?”

“You want to be in a relationship with Alton and me, right?”

Lane nodded.

“Part of that is fucking telling us shit. Jesus, Lane. Do you understand the kind of target that puts on you being second-in-command to Jordan?”

“I don’t do things in small measures. Why would this be any different? Besides, what other role did you see me in? Manning the security desk like Barry? Only being there for negotiations? Doing administrative shit?”

“You’d be safer that way.”

Lane crossed his arms as if he closed part of himself off to Raiden.

This was the first time I’d seen him angry.

“I’m not going to let you tell me what to do or make me feel guilty for trying to make a name for myself, outside of the one I had with my pretend father.

You live this life too, Raiden. Do you think I’m about to tell you not to play a human shield to Jordan?

No, because it’s your job, and I wouldn’t dare tell you that.

Maybe extend the same fucking courtesy.” He left the room, limping down the hall, slamming the back door behind him.

If one more person did that, it would probably fall off the damn hinges.

I stood there, not sure what to say. Raiden was upset, rightfully so.

I didn’t like either of them in the jobs they had, but I understood the danger that came with them and accepted it.

At least with Raiden, I did. Although he wasn’t mine when I had.

As time went on, I got used to him being in danger.

There wasn’t anything I could do about it.

We weren’t together then. Even now, I wouldn’t.

Raiden enjoyed his job. I couldn’t ask him to give it up.

“Don’t have anything to say?” he asked me, flexing his hands, his eyes on the door Lane left through.

“No. You’re both grown men. I accepted long ago you could be hurt or even killed. Doesn’t mean I like it.”

I started for the door. Lane should come back inside. Not only was it frigid out there, but he was in cut-up jeans with blood on them and no jacket.

Raiden caught my arm before I could leave. “How do I do this?” He didn’t need to elaborate. The pain he felt was laced in his tone.

“You let him make his own decisions and support him. Lane is smart, as are you. I trust you both to return home every day in one piece.”

“I’m supposed to accept he might die?”

“It’s the life you lead. You both chose this. All I can do is patch you up if you get hurt, or rush you to the hospital when it’s beyond my capabilities.”

He pulled me to his body, embracing me in his strong arms. His cheek pressed to the side of my head. His heart pounded where my hand landed. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“I know. You have to apologize to Lane though.”

“I will.”

I gave myself a minute to hold him back. This was another side of Raiden I hadn’t experienced before, another layer finally visible to me.