Page 70 of Emeric

Oleander grinned. “Me too.”

32

OLEANDER

When was the last time I was giddy? I hadn’t felt this happy in so long. I had two men I loved. That was right. Loved! I’d already told Emeric, and now we were going upstairs in Jordan’s building to find Sylvan and tell him too.

Ideally, we would have all been together when we said it. Emeric was overcome with the need to say it, and he did. If Sylvan had been there, he would have told him too. Hopefully, Sylvan wouldn’t get mad.

The elevator dinged as we arrived on the fifth floor, where Vail’s kitchen was. The moment we stepped off, the aroma of delectable food hit us. It was always a treat to visit Vail here. As his personal guard, I had the luxury of tasting a lot of what he cooked. I didn’t like to call myself a favorite, but I was. There was no gloating on my part except on the inside.

We entered the room to find Sylvan with a red sauce-splattered apron. He grinned when he saw us, then rushed over with a spoon.

“Here, try this. It’s almost finished.”

First, Emeric took a taste, then I did.

“My god, Syl, that’s good,” I told him. It hit all the right spots, making me want to moan at how amazing it was.

“That’s one of the best sauces I’ve ever had,” Emeric said.

Sylvan graced us with a radiant smile. “I’m glad you like it. Vail had this delicious recipe. At first, I was reluctant to change it.”

“But I encouraged him to,” Vail added. “The whole point of us cooking together is to learn from each other.

“No, it was for me to learn from you.” Sylvan placed the spoon in the sink, then returned to the stove to stir the pasta.

“If you think I haven’t learned anything from working with you, you’re very wrong. You’re a great cook, Sylvan.”

“Thank you.”

My phone started vibrating in my pocket. I pulled it out to see a call from Sheldon. “Yeah?”

“Downstairs, now. Lawson found someone, and Barrett and Reghan picked him up.” Sheldon hung up.

My eyes lifted to Sylvan, then Emeric. “I have to go. We’ll talk when I get back. No one is to leave, including you, Vail.”

“I know the drill,” Vail said. “Go.”

I turned and rushed out the door, hitting the button for the elevator. If it took more than thirty seconds, I would start running down the stairs. It didn’t, saving me the exercise. That wouldn’t have been the first time I did it.

Sheldon, Vincent, and Jordan were on it. I entered, and the doors closed. There was no point in asking what else they knew. I’d be filled in on the ride there.

When we arrived in the garage, Jordan’s Maserati was already idling, ready to go, and as were two Navigators. Lane and Raiden were in one. Sheldon and I would take the last one while Vincent rode in the Maserati with Jordan.

We’d done this enough times that we moved smoothly into the vehicles and out onto the street in a line so no one could fit between us. Traffic wasn’t light; however, Albert had mastered the art of pulling out in front of others without causing an accident. That was what happened when he’d been driving Jordan for as many years as he had. There were countless times we had to go quickly. Once the cars in the lane stopped for Albert, the rest of us pushed out before they could cut back in.

“Fill me in,” I told Sheldon.

“Lawson called Jordan with a name, so Jordan sent Barrett and Reghan after the guy. It took them a bit, but they caught him on the street with enough drugs on him to signal an intent to sell. They took him and had him secured.”

“Did Lawson say how he found him?”

“He was digging in spaces very few do, and the name came up, along with a history of the guy asking about Jordan, the guards, Emeric, Lana, basically anyone connected to the boss, including himself.”

“Ever since he pulled up in front of the building and entered like an average person, he tied himself to us.”

“I don’t think he cares,” Sheldon said. “He wants to drive this person out.”