Corbin had clearly been asleep. He’d taken forever to answer the phone, and he looked like he’d fallen out of bed and driven right over. He was wearing an oversized t-shirt that might’ve once belonged to me. On his leaner frame, it fell halfway to his knees. He was small like Marjorie, and he also had her blond hair.
“Remy,” he whined. “Did you really have to get me out of bed? I’d only been asleep for, like, an hour.”
“I haven’t been to sleep at all. I’ve been working, and that’s what you’re going to do now.” The fact that I’d taken time with Henri was irrelevant.
“Fuck me. You’re worse than Pop.”
“Exactly what I said.” Lancelot raised a hand for a high five.
“Are you two assholes done?” I asked when they’d slapped hands and Corbin had also taken a seat.
They both gave each other a look that said Remington’s got a stick up his ass again. I was used to it. I wasn’t going to change, but I sure as hell hoped they were.
“Is Dax coming too?” Corbin asked as he yanked open a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. Lance must have found them along with the mango chips while I was letting Corbin in.
“Nice breakfast, and thanks for asking first,” I said.
“He’s on his way,” Lance said, answering Corbin’s question. “Dax called me bitching about being disturbed while he was with a woman because you needed a tow and then being woken up by you telling him to get his ass over here. Why didn’t you call me?”
I glared at him. “I did. You didn’t answer.”
Lancelot frowned. “Oh, yeah. I was tracking a lead, and my phone was turned off.”
“At least you were getting work done.”
A noise came from upstairs, probably Henri shifting position in bed.
“Is someone else here?” Corbin asked.
“Yes, the someone whose phone I used to call Dax because the burner phone you gave me hadn’t been charged. He’s sleeping, and he’s none of your business.”
I saw Lancelot’s brows shoot up. Fuck, I’d been too defensive. I didn’t need anyone knowing just how interested I was in Henri. That would give Lance leverage over me.
“Ah, shit,” Corbin said. “I forgot to check.”
“You want more responsibility, but you can’t even find me a working phone?”
“Dammit, Remy. Everybody makes mistakes.”
“You make more than your share.”
Corbin huffed. “No, I—”
I cut him off and turned to Lance. “I’ve got more evidence the Landrys are behind the gunrunners moving into our territory.”
Lancelot sobered. “Seriously?”
I heard the rumble of a motorcycle engine. Dax had arrived. “I’ll explain once he’s inside. I only want to tell this once.”
Someone knocked, and I checked the peep hole. I doubted anyone but Dax would get by the guard I’d posted at the street, but I was ever cautious.
It was Dax. I opened the door and gestured for him to join us in the kitchen. He sat beside Corbin. “Do I get snacks?”
I threw up my hands. “You might as well raid my kitchen like everyone else.”
Corbin was happily sharing chips with Lance, and while I was gone, they’d helped themselves to cans of soda.
Once Dax had a soda as well as a bag of tortilla chips and spinach-and-artichoke dip, I told them about witnessing the man talking to Charles, then shooting him and leaving him for dead. The only details of the evening I left out were the ones related to Henri. That was my business and my business only.
I was sure Connor and Sully were well aware of what had happened in my car, but they knew the price for gossip.
“Fucking Landrys.” Dax clanged his can down on the counter. “We should rid the city of the rest of them.”
I held up a hand. “I’m as eager for their demise as you are, but we’ve got to play this in such a way that we rid ourselves of two problems at once, and wholesale slaughter is not on the table.”
“How about a little bit of slaughter?” Lance asked.
I glared at him.
“Lighten up, Remy,” Dax said. “Surely you can let us have a little bit of fun.”
I rolled my eyes. “For starters, we need to bring someone in for interrogation. Someone high enough in their organization to know things but low enough not to be missed for a while.”
Lance nodded. “I know exactly the guy. His name’s Stubby.”
Corbin looked like he wanted to add something, but he didn’t. I was glad he’d taken a mostly silent role so far. If it were up to me, he wouldn’t be at this meeting, but my father insisted he be included in any significant business, and that wasn’t an argument I could win. Corbin wasn’t ready to play with the big boys, but I was going to have to make him ready really damn fast.
“What else have any of you learned?” I asked my cousin.
“Talk on the street is Clark Landry is scared as shit of these gunrunners. They’re making him help them settle some scores. Maybe he refused or tried to get out of their deal, and that’s why they shot Charles. Clark’s weak. We might be able to turn him, especially if that asshole killed his brother.”
That was a good lead. I wanted these men out of my city. We didn’t need the kind of weapons they were selling, and I didn’t need anybody on my turf who didn’t want to follow my rules. But now that the problem had become more complicated, we were going to have to move slowly and deliberately. That was hard enough for me. For the rest of them, it might be damn near impossible.
7
Henri
When I came awake, bright light was shining into the room. It took me a moment to remember where I was, then the night came back to me. I knew the warm presence at my back was Remy, the man who’d wrecked his car last night.
When had he gotten into bed? I’d woken sometime in the night or rather the early morning and used the adjacent bathroom. Remy hadn’t been with me then, but he was sure as hell there now, surrounding me with his warmth. It felt amazing, something I could far too easily get used to.
Was it after noon? Should I leave?
Not without your money, stupid.
Right. He hadn’t paid me yet, but… something made me feel uneasy about talking to him again. Maybe I would feel better if I were dressed. Of course my clothes were disgusting, but it wasn’t like I had something else to wear. If only I could take a shower in his luxurious bathroom… But I wasn’t about to do that without permission.
Confronting Remy while dressed, even in dirty clothes that wouldn’t look nearly as impressive in the light of day, was better than naked.
I slipped from the bed and began looking for my clothes.
“Come back.” Remy’s voice was rough with sleep but still commanding.
I hesitated.
“Henri.”
I lifted my pants to find my phone. I wanted to know what time it was. My phone wasn’t there. My heart rate increased.
“Your phone is in my office. Don’t worry. I’ll give it back to you when we go down to get something to eat.”
“Y-you took it?”
“I did. I like to know who I’m in bed with.”
I’d known this was a bad idea. “That’s… You can’t.”
“It’s done, and I think you know very well that I can do whatever the fuck I like.”
I did, and it terrified me, yet when I looked up at him, even knowing what he’d done, knowing what he could still do, part of me wanted to climb right back in bed with him, pull him on top of me and… “What time is it?”
Remy shook his head. “Not time for you to be out of bed.”
“I thought you wanted me gone at noon.”
“I said you had to stay until at least noon. I never told you I wanted to get rid of you.”
“What did you do with my phone and—” I stopped myself from mentioning my license and the money that was in between the case and the phone. Possibly he hadn’t looked.
“Your license and money?”
&n
bsp; “Fuck. You found those?”
“I did. Like I said, I wanted to know more about you.”
“So you’re just shamelessly admitting to stalking me while I slept?”
He nodded, showing absolutely no remorse. I hated to admit it, but his confidence was more than a little hot.
“Come back to bed, Henri.”
“Do I have a choice?” I needed a real answer to that question. If he wanted to keep me there, I couldn’t exactly run from him naked with no phone. I doubted I’d beat him to the door anyway.
“Do you want a choice?”
“What kind of question is—” I stopped when he raised his brows and gave me a too-knowing look. I thought I wanted a choice, but did I? Was I so eager to go back to my sad apartment where any day I was sure the water stains on the ceiling would grow large enough that water would begin to run down onto my bed? Did I want to go back to the streets tonight and see if I could drum up some more business? No. I needed the money he’d promised me. With it, I could make a start at turning my life around.
I could stand there stubbornly confronting him naked, just like I’d feared, or I could climb back into that warm bed and enjoy the way his body felt next to mine. I chose the bed and Remy.
“That’s better.” He pulled me against him. I felt his hard cock against my thigh. He was so warm, so big, so manly. “Did you want…”
“Yes, but we’re not going to now. I’m going to feed you, then we need to talk.”
My fear returned. “Talk about what?”
“I have a proposition for you.”
While that didn’t settle my nerves, at least it appeared that I’d checked out okay when he stalked me. Other than my debt, which I would’ve owned up to if he’d asked, and my current profession, I hadn’t done anything worth noticing.
“Will you give me my phone back after you proposition me?”
He smiled. “I will. I needed to make sure our meeting last night was truly a coincidence. I found no evidence to make me think otherwise.”
“Why would it be anything else?”
“In my line of work, it pays to be cautious.”
Did he think I was some kind of spy or something? “What exactly is your line of work?”
He raised his brows. “I think you know better than to ask that.”
I did. I really did.
He slapped my ass lightly. “Let’s go have some breakfast or lunch or whatever you want to call it. We can talk more once we’ve eaten.”
“I thought you wanted me back in bed.”
“I wanted to know you would obey me.”
“That’s…” I wanted to yell at him, to tell him he couldn’t make assumptions like that. I wasn’t his to command just because he’d hired me to stay the night, but there was a part of me that really liked his possessive nature and his need to have control. Those were qualities that had always filled my fantasies, but I hadn’t thought I’d ever meet a man like Remy.
We both rolled out of bed, and I grimaced when I thought about putting on my clothes again.
Remington grabbed them from my hand. “I’ll have those cleaned. I’m sure I can find something for you to wear.”
I looked up and down his tall, muscular frame. “Nothing of yours is going to fit me.”
He chuckled as he pulled out a t-shirt and tossed it to me. “This will do.”
“No pants?”
“Do you need any?”
“Is anyone else here?” I’d thought I’d heard voices when I’d woken in the night.
“No. I’m the only one who lives here, and I don’t have any visitors.”
“Or any wives hidden in the attic?”
He rolled his eyes. “No wives. Why are you shy all of a sudden?”
“Just because I sell myself doesn’t mean I let anyone—”
He held up a hand. “I was teasing, and even if you didn’t care, I don’t share.”
“Good, because I don’t… I choose my clients.”
He turned to face me and took my hands in his. “Let me make this clear right now. I don’t have any less respect for you than I would if you were a waiter or an accountant or a doctor.”
“Thank you, and you… you really don’t share?”
“Never. I’m possessive of everything I want. And I want you.”
“You’re… really something else.”
“I am.”
I pulled on the t-shirt, which came halfway down my thighs, and we went downstairs.
“How about an omelet?” he asked as he opened the fridge and studied the contents. “I’ve got pancetta, spinach, bell pepper, and I’m sure I have an onion or two around here. Maybe a shallot.”
“You cook?”
He looked back at me, startled. “Of course I cook, though an omelet will hardly show off my skills.”
“I just wouldn’t have thought…”
“You don’t grow up in my family without learning your way around the kitchen. Cooking was always part of life.”
“I thought maybe you hired someone to cook or something like that. You seem…”
“Wealthy? Oh, I am, and we did have a cook growing up, but that didn’t mean my mom and dad didn’t also spend time in the kitchen. I have two brothers, and they were both taught to cook as well, although the youngest one… Let’s just say if he’s cooking, you probably want to order out.”
“Hopefully he has some other talents.”
He huffed. “I’m hoping so too.”
I couldn’t hold back a smile. I’d created a picture in my mind of an arrogant man who got everything he wanted and ran some sort of criminal empire, but now I had a new image of domesticity: Remy arguing with his brothers and cooking with his family. How did I reconcile the two?
“So, an omelet?”
“Yes, that sounds fantastic.” I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had food that wasn’t ramen, pasta, or something frozen.
He poured a mug of coffee, which seemed to have magically appeared in the carafe, and asked me if I’d like some.
“Yes, thank you. Did you get up and make it before I woke up.”
He shook his head. “The machine is programmed to make coffee every morning. If I don’t have a cup first thing, the day goes downhill from there.”
I used the cream and sugar he offered, and when I took a sip, I was sure it was the best coffee I’d ever had.
Remington smiled, true warmth on his face. “Good, isn’t it?”
“Amazing.”
“I get the beans straight from a fair-trade farm in Peru.”
“Wow. That’s… I’m going to need more than one cup.”
“Yes, you will. I’m going to expect you to be very energetic later.”
Later? Surely I would only be there a few more hours.
I felt fidgety as I watched him cook, and it wasn’t just the excellent caffeine. Being with him like this, sitting at his kitchen bar, was strange. When we were in bed, I could fall back on the personality I’d created for my job, but now I felt like a kid playing pretend. Remington was a prince treating me like the finest guest in his castle. It made no sense.
“You can relax, you know. This isn’t meant to be a formal brunch.”
His words helped my unease. I glanced down at the long t-shirt of his I was wearing with nothing underneath. “I guess not.”
Remy had pulled on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt that was tight enough to let me see all the muscles in his chest and back. It made me long to touch him again.
He didn’t talk much as he made our breakfast, so I just sipped my coffee and stared at his strong hands as he expertly chopped vegetables. When he turned to face the stove, I studied the lines of his back. He was so perfectly formed, and his ass… It was absolutely drool worthy.
I wanted to walk up behind him, squeeze his cheeks, and rub myself on him. Being with him wasn’t like work at all, and that made it far too seductive. I needed to get out of there. I was starting to spin fantasies no one in my profession should
have, but the food smelled so good. My stomach growled in anticipation. I would stay long enough to eat and get my phone back. I really couldn’t leave without it. I couldn’t leave at all if Remington didn’t want me to.
When the omelets were done, Remington handed me a plate, then sat down beside me with his own.
“Go on. Try it. I want to be sure you approve of my skills.”
“I don’t think you’re a man who needs anyone’s approval.”
“No, but I’d like yours anyway, especially since you were so skeptical.
“I wasn’t skeptical. I was surprised. I just thought a man like you would have servants.”
He gave me a sly smile. “What kind of man do you think I am?”
This was moving us into dangerous territory. “Wealthy, arrogant, demanding, scary.”
“You got me there. I could have servants do anything I don’t want to do for myself. I have people I can call who’d be here at a moment’s notice to do whatever I told them without question, but I’m not the kind of man who is afraid to get his hands dirty. I don’t ask people to do work I wouldn’t be willing to do myself.”
I didn’t think he was talking about cooking. I had a feeling he was referring to things that were a lot… messier, a lot more evil. He was a man who would kill without hesitation. How much danger was I in?
“You look like a frightened rabbit. Are you afraid I’m a fox come to eat you up?”
Instead of answering, I took a bite of omelet and groaned. It tasted like heaven. He wasn’t kidding. He really was an awesome cook.
“I take it you’re impressed?”
“I… Yes, and I’m not worried I’m in danger. I know I am.”
“You’re smart. I like that, but I told you last night I’m not going to hurt you.”
He’d been true to his word so far. “I know, and I’ve done everything you’ve asked, but that doesn’t mean I’m safe with you.”
“Perhaps not, but you’ve enjoyed what we’ve done. I have more to ask of you now.”
“You said you had a proposition for me.”
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