7. Beau
BEAU
“ Y ou haven’t answered me,” I growled.
I gripped Corbin’s chin, forcing him to look at me.
That was a mistake.
Once I touched him, I didn’t want to take my hand away. I wanted to rip off his clothes and feel his skin against mine. I wanted to change my mind and make him pay with his body.
He raised his eyes to mine, and they were filled with defiance. “I accept your price.”
My lips curved up, and it was all I could do not to laugh.
I’d dealt with a lot of shit in the last few weeks.
I deserved to have some fun, but there was a limit.
I wasn’t afraid of Corbin’s brothers, not the way most people would be.
If you’d dealt with what I had in prison and from my enemies before, not much would scare you.
Once you’ve seen hell, what’s anyone going to do to you that’s worse?
Still, I didn’t want to piss off the Theriot family.
They were useful allies, and they could put me out of business easily if they decided to.
They also wouldn’t hesitate to kill me —or at least try.
I’d gotten damn good at avoiding attempts on my life once I found out my “friends” weren’t who I thought they were.
I was good at protecting myself, but I liked my life. I already had an unidentified enemy trying to frame me for murder and scare me off. I wasn’t starting over again, which meant I had to solve this problem, and that would be easier if I kept my hands to myself.
I let go of Corbin and stepped away. “I’ll expect you here Monday at seven.”
“Seven?”
“You could come earlier if you prefer. I can go ahead and tell you what to get started on now.”
He looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “I don’t?—”
“Want your brother’s car fixed. All right then, I’ll?—
“Do you have to be such a dick about it?”
I grinned. “I’m not the one who fucked up the car.”
“I’m not either.”
“You left that gorgeous piece of machinery in the public parking area of the casino. What the fuck were you thinking?”
“All I had to do was run in and talk to someone quickly.”
“You wanted everyone to see you, so you made a big show of getting out and prancing into the place, didn’t you?”
Corbin grimaced as he turned away and looked out the window despite it being too dark for him to see a thing.
“Look at me, Corbin.”
Several seconds passed in silence. I was willing to wait as long as I needed to. Slowly, he turned to face me. When our eyes met, I saw the resentment in his. He hadn’t wanted to obey, but he had. That was what was important. For now.
“Have you ever had to work for anything?” He glared at me. Then he said something I never anticipated.
“My family’s respect.”
As soon as the words were out, he started to walk away, but I grabbed his arm, pulled him back, and cupped his face in my hands. “I can teach you how to earn that if you’re not too much of a brat to learn.”
For the first time he didn’t look angry, he looked hopeful. “Are you sure that’s possible?”
“It is if you’re willing to listen to me.”
He laughed, but he didn’t look happy. “That’s the problem. I’m not sure if I am.”
“Then you might have to learn some lessons the hard way.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You won’t hurt me.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“You can say all you want that you’re not afraid of my brother, but I’m not stupid. No one wants to stand face-to-face with him. You’re not going to hurt me.”
“I’m going to discipline you.” As soon as I said that, I knew I’d be looking for any opportunity to put him over my lap, push his pants to his knees, and spank his bare ass.
That was the road to hell, and I knew better than to set one foot on it, but damn, he was calling to me so loudly.
Every protective instinct inside me, every urge to tame his bratty nature, made me want to take steps I shouldn’t.
I wanted him to know I could bend him to my will.
I could make him obey. I could make him beg me for more.
He scowled at me. “Do you really think you can get away with that?”
“Do you want to earn respect or be rescued? Because if you want their respect, you won’t go crying to them because I pushed you to actually work for something.”
“Why are you doing this?” His voice was soft now, and confusion was clear in his eyes.
“Because I can. Because I like challenges.”
“You like seeing just how much you can take advantage of people.”
“And you don’t?”
Corbin rolled his eyes. “I do what my family tells me to.”
I shook my head and laughed. “No. I don’t think you do. I don’t think you’d be in this mess right now if you did.”
“I made a mistake, and I’m trying to fix it.”
“You made a mistake, and you’re trying to bully me into fixing it for you, but I won’t bend to what you want. I don’t have to do what you say, and I don’t care who you are. Is this the first time you’ve ever encountered someone like me?”
His teeth sank into his lower lip, and I wanted to pull it into my mouth and suck on it until it was swollen and bruised.
I wanted to put my mark on him. I was a fool.
I had no business messing with him. I should fix the damn car and send him on his way, but I was in this now, and I wasn’t going to walk away.
“What’s it going to be?”
A second passed and then another. “I agree to your terms, but I’m not answering any more questions tonight.”
I studied him for a moment, then nodded. “Fine. Go home and get some sleep. I’m going to work you hard starting Monday.”
“I should be treated like any other employee. You don’t get to?—”
“I get to do whatever I want because I’m doing you a favor.”
“You’re a mechanic. I want to pay you to fix a car. That’s not a favor.”
“It is when I’m not supposed to let the car’s owner know I did the work.”
“Do you actually want to make me work or are you just looking for a chance to be an asshole to me?”
“If you do what I tell you, there won’t be any reason for me to be an asshole.”
“I didn’t know you needed a reason.”
I grinned at him. This was going to be a hell of a lot of fun. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I held up a finger indicating Corbin should wait while I looked at the screen.
It was my brother. That wasn’t good. I answered the call, even though I’d much rather continue to push Corbin’s buttons.
“I’m scared, Beau,” Travis said.
“What happened?”
“Someone threw a flaming brick through my window. If I hadn’t been here, the place would’ve burned down. I put it out and nothing else happened, but I’m scared to be here by myself.
If he thought I was going to let him come here, he was very wrong. I was willing to help him, but he wasn’t bringing more of his shit down on me, and I wasn’t going to spend my time protecting him when he hadn’t given a damn about me.
“There are weapons in the shack. You’re going to have to deal with things yourself.” I wanted to keep him safe, but I wasn’t going to put more energy into that when I had people here who were loyal to me and Corbin, who was… What? An arrogant brat? Or something more?
“I can’t do that, Beau, I’m not?—”
“If you’d made trustworthy friends, you’d have someone else to call.”
“You said you wanted to help me.”
I had said that, but there were limits. “Are you still going to pretend you don’t know who’s behind this?”
“I don’t.”
“Bullshit.”
“Please, Beau. If you help me, you’ll help yourself. They want you back in prison.”
“That was obvious when they—” I’d almost forgotten Corbin could hear every word I said.
“You can’t just leave me to die?”
Couldn’t I? “Isn’t that what you did to me?”
I considered telling him I had alerted my old crew to his predicament, so he wasn’t as alone as he thought, but I wasn’t feeling very charitable, not when he was trying to guilt me into helping him.
“It’s possible it might be Dale Guidry.”
Guidry had wanted to be part of our crew, but we didn’t trust him.
He was a weasel and a snitch and had been since kindergarten.
When we refused to let him in on any of our deals, he’d started forming his own crew with some of the meanest, coldest men I’d ever met, but when it came to driving and car repair, they were nowhere near as good as us. “You’re saying he’s not dead?”
“That’s the rumor I heard.”
“I thought you weren’t in contact with anyone from before.”
“I… um…”
I should have known better. “You lied.”
“I knew you’d be mad. It’s just Blade. He’s the only one I talk to.”
Blade had been the closest thing to a friend Travis had had in my old crew. He was Travis’s age and full of sass and a lack of respect for his elders. He’d been all for Rob’s plan to start working with drug runners. “And he told you Guidry was back from the dead?”
“Yeah, and that he had it out for you and Rob and everyone else from those days.”
That seemed like an odd rumor for Travis to make up, but even if Guidry wasn’t dead, he’d disappeared with nothing. He would need to have found some money and some balls somewhere in the last five years. It was worth looking into, though.
“Let me know if you hear more. I’ve got some guys I trust keeping an eye out for you. Just keep a weapon close and pay attention to your surroundings.”
“But, Beau, I?—”
“I’ve got to go.” I ended the call, put my phone back into my pocket, and focused on Corbin again. He looked genuinely worried.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing I can’t handle, cher.”
He raised his brows. “It sounded pretty serious to me. Like maybe you could use the help of some allies.”
“If it comes to that, I’ll let you know.”
“You mean, you’ll let my brother know because what good would I be?”
I shook my head. “I meant exactly what I said. I intend to handle this myself, but if I run into more trouble than I can deal with, I’ll call you.”
He stared at me, surprise obvious in his deep brown eyes. I couldn’t look away. I tried to keep from reaching for him, but I didn’t have that kind of restraint. I took hold of his upper arms, enjoying the feel of his muscles under my hands. He might be small, but he wasn’t weak.
I tugged on him. He stumbled and fell against me. As I stared down at him, he licked his lips, and my dick hardened.