27. Corbin
CORBIN
R emington stepped through the door wearing a beautifully tailored pinstriped suit with a gray silk pocket square.
Of course he would dress like that for a flight home from a tropical island.
At least he hadn’t forced Henri to be uncomfortable.
The younger man was wearing khaki shorts and a thin, white button-up shirt.
His cheeks were pink from the sun, and he looked so happy.
I wanted to be that relaxed with Beau. I think I could be, but we had to get through this shit first.
“I understand we’ve got an issue to deal with,” Remington said. “One that no one bothered to tell me about until now.”
“You were on vacation with your man,” Dax said. “We weren’t going to bother you.”
Remington glared at him. “Let’s get this started.” He turned to Beau, and I tensed. “I understand you’re as deeply involved in this as the rest of us.”
“That’s right. I am.”
He gestured toward the living room. “Take a seat.”
Beau bristled. He did not like taking orders, but thankfully, he joined me on the sofa without protest. He wouldn’t be afraid to talk back to Remy if he felt the need, but he knew now was not the time.
Once we were all seated, except Henri, who insisted he wanted to unpack—though I suspected he wanted to escape Remington’s foul mood—Remington focused on Lance. “I’m sure what you told me in the car barely scratched the surface. What the fuck is going on?”
Before Lance could answer, I spoke up. “I know more of the details than Lance does. He got all his information from me or Beau.” I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen Remy look so shocked. “I’m the one who captured a prisoner so I could confirm my suspicions.” I glanced over at Beau. “He helped.”
Beau snorted. “I did, but he’s the one who made the takedown.”
Remington looked from one of us to the other. I could tell he knew there was more that wasn’t being said. Remy was the shrewdest person I knew. Very little got past him.
“Was this guy sneaking around here?” Remington asked. That’s when I knew Lance really hadn’t told him much.
“No, he was at Beau’s shop.”
Remington frowned. “What were you doing there?”
“Let’s stick to what’s important right now.” Remington sputtered, but I didn’t let him get any momentum. “We heard a noise outside and discovered a man trying to break into Beau’s car. Dax can tell you more about what he was planning since he’s the one who did the questioning.”
My cousin nodded.
“But before he does, you should know this started long before tonight. Beau, why don’t you give us the rundown.”
He smiled at me before he started speaking. I felt Remington’s eyes on us as Beau explained about the body in the car, the attempted arson, and the realization that the threat wasn’t confined to him. Then he detailed his and Louis’s visit with Ambrose.
“So we knew Guidry had to have someone behind him,” Beau explained. “He’s not smart enough or well-off enough to handle this himself. Last night, when Corbin got a good look at the guy we captured, he figured out the connection.”
“Elandra Landry,” Remington said.
Lance grinned. “I told him that much.”
Remington scowled at our brother, then focused back on me. “What brought you to that conclusion?”
“I could tell the guy was a Landry. He looked eerily like Clark and Charles. No way in hell was he not related to them, and all the shit that’s been going down: vague threats, setting people up, going for people who are our friends or associates is totally Elandra’s style.
Remington frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Like how she got to Dawson.”
“How do you know she’s the one who got to Dawson? We suspected she’d killed him, but we’ve never been sure.”
“I was sure.”
Remy’s face turned red. “Why didn’t you tell us that?”
“I didn’t know you were questioning it.”
“But we talked about—Fuck. You weren’t there.”
I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. “Exactly. Maybe next time I will be.”
Remy blew out a long breath. “What happened with Dawson?”
“Elandra sent her daughter to seduce him and make him start questioning his loyalty. She made him think the Landrys would be willing to make an alliance with us, so when she came for him, I’m sure he thought she was there as a friend. He didn’t even try to defend himself, did he?”
Remington shook his head. “No, it was obvious he hadn’t put up a fight.”
Dax spoke next. “I don’t think Elandra believes in attacking head on unless she has to, but eventually she’s going to come for each of us if we don’t take her out first.”
“So you’re the one that questioned whatever Landry scum thought to move against us last night?” Remy asked.
Dax nodded. “His name was Eugene.”
“Was?” Remington asked.
“He won’t be causing us any more trouble.”
“But Elandra is going to ramp up her vendetta,” Lance added.
“Then the sooner we end this, the better,” Remington said.
“Eugene confirmed everything Corbin and Beau suspected, and he told me where Guidry’s been keeping himself. It’s not all that far from Ambrose’s place.”
“He’s out in the fucking swamp?” Remy asked.
“Yeah.”
“He grew up out there. Same as me,” Beau said. “We’ve known each other our whole lives. He’s always been a little shit, and he’s always let people with more money and more power lead him around by the nose. Nothing’s changed now.”
“Sounds right from what I learned,” Dax said. He gave a detailed explanation of what Blackjack had dug up for us about Elandra and her connection to the place.
“Shit.” Remy sighed. “I’d much rather do this on our turf.”
Dax laughed. “Your suits won’t blend in so well in the Bayou, will they?”
Remy flipped him off. “I like to look my best.”
“You like to look like exactly what you are, a fucking mob boss.”
He turned his attention back to me. “I still don’t understand how you got involved in this.”
Beau shifted, laying a hand on my thigh. “He got involved with this because I asked him to.”
Remington tensed, and I felt the air thicken. No one said a word. I don’t think anyone even breathed.
“Corbin needed some work done on his motorcycle.”
Beau and I had agreed we’d use the excuse I originally dreamed up if Remington found out I was spending time at his shop. I glanced quickly at Lancelot, but he was too busy feeding Tony snacks to let on that he knew the real truth.
“And?” Remington asked.
“I wasn’t inclined to do the work since he’d been less than amiable when he’d been in my shop before.”
Lance snorted, apparently paying attention now. “Imagine Corbin being less than amiable.”
Now it was my turn to send a rude gesture his way.
“Get to the point,” Remington demanded.
Beau faced him down confidently. He didn’t rush or look bothered by Remington’s obvious annoyance. It was sexy as fuck. If I hadn’t been so nervous about Remington’s reaction, I would’ve been hard as steel.
“I could’ve slapped on a surcharge, but what difference would that make? Corbin could pay whatever price I named, so I made a bargain with him. I asked him to work at the shop for a week. I wanted to see if he would get his hands dirty and do some manual labor.”
Remington glanced back and forth between the two of us, looking more confused than angry now. “And he did it?”
“Don’t look so fucking surprised,” I snarled. “I did it, and I learned a lot.”
Lance laughed “He’s basically a new person. It’s uncanny. Beau has a damn good effect on him.”
The smirk on Dax’s face let me know that either Lance had shared my business with him, or he’d deduced for himself that there was more going on than me just working with Beau.
“And that’s why you were at the shop late last night? Because you were working there?” Remington didn’t look like he believed that for a second.
“No,” Beau said. “He was there because he’s mine.”
Remington rose to his feet. “What the fuck, Beau? When I made you an offer?—”
“No.” I stood too and took several steps toward my brother.
“I want this. For the first time, I didn’t get help from anyone, take money from anyone, or follow along with something that was preplanned for me.
I chose to accept Beau’s offer. Then I realized I didn’t hate Beau at all. I’m in love with him.”
“Corbin! I’m so happy for you.” That was Henri. He must’ve come back down when he heard raised voices.
Remington glanced up at his man and started to say something, but Henri held a hand up. “Think very carefully before responding.”
“Fuck. You’re against me, aren’t you?”
“No,” Henri said. “I’m here because I want to put an end to these threats. Let’s all listen to Beau.”
Beau nodded to Henri and then faced Remy again. “I love your brother, and that’s something I take very seriously because I’ve had very little love in my life. I don’t have a family like yours. The bond you have is awesome, but Corbin deserves to live his own life.”
I held my breath as I waited for Remington’s reaction. He glared at Beau for several seconds, but finally he said, “You swear not to hurt Corbin?”
“I will do everything in my power to keep him from ever being hurt again.”
“Fine. Let’s make a plan to get Elandra and Guidry and anyone else on her payroll.”
We spent the next few hours working through several scenarios, one where we’d head into the swamp and meet our enemies in their own territory, and a few others where we lured Guidry and Elandra into the city and took them out in one of the warehouses my family owned.
We made contingencies on top of contingencies until my head was swimming, but surprisingly Remy didn’t fight me taking the lead.
Could he see the change in me? Or did he only think I could handle it with Beau backing me up?
Henri stayed with us, snuggling against Remington or sitting in his lap. He occasionally contributed to the discussion, backing me or Lance up when Remington went at us and soothing Remy when he struggled with being contradicted. The man was a saint to put up with my brother.
When the plan was as solid as it could be before we knew Elandra’s next move, Remy dismissed us. I stood, intending to leave with Beau, but Remington called me back. “I’d like to talk to you. Just the two of us.”
Beau studied me, and I saw the question in his eyes. If I said the word, he’d stay, but I was going to have this conversation with Remington sooner or later. The mature thing to do was get it over with. “Go on. I’ll see you at the shop later.”
“Call me if you need anything.” He shifted his focus to Remy. “Don’t hurt him.”
I thought Remington would explode. No one talked to him like that. Instead, he just nodded. “You have my word.”
Damn. Beau really was something else. I watched his ass as he retreated, and Remington had to clear his throat to get my attention. I hadn’t even noticed everyone else leaving, but it was just me and my oldest brother now.
“I think you’ve had an even more exciting week than I have.”
I was sure there was a dreamy smile on my face. “Possibly.”
“Last time you mentioned Beau, you told me you hated him.”
I shrugged. “That changed.”
“What happened to your motorcycle? Did you have another wreck?”
“No.” I didn’t want him to have one more irresponsible thing to pin on me, but now I had no idea what to tell him. “It… um… it wasn’t running right.”
“Uh-huh.”
Shit. I could lie easily to everyone but Remy… and now Beau. I was in trouble.
“Why don’t you tell me the real reason you went to Beau?”
Now I was really stuck. If I wanted to show how grown-up I was, I should tell him the real reason, but if I did, he would have more proof that I wasn’t capable of being responsible.
“Corbin?”
“You won’t like it. Can’t you just trust me that the problem is solved now.”
“And you and Beau? I’m supposed to accept that too?”
“You told me he was a good man.”
Remington shook his head. “I said he was a good mechanic.”
“You don’t offer work to people you can’t trust.”
“I trust people I work with not to betray me. That doesn’t mean I want them touching my brother.”
Remy was worse than Pop sometimes. “I don’t need you protecting me.”
“Because you have Beau now?”
“No, because I can hold my own.”
Remington glared at me for a while, then finally sighed. “Yeah. I guess you probably can.” For Remy to say that, he was basically singing my praises.
“I parked your car in the public lot at the casino. I wanted everyone to see me in it.”
Color actually drained from his face. “No. No. No.”
I held up a hand. “It’s fine. Do you think I would even try to pretend it didn’t happen if I thought you’d notice? Someone scratched the door. Beau and I fixed it.”
“Beau let you?—”
“Yes. He wanted to show me what he was doing.”
“You… I’m trying to actually picture you working in a body shop.”
“I wore coveralls and everything. Look.” I held out my hands, showing him the grease stains under my nails that just wouldn’t go away.
Remington smiled then. “Lance and Dax must be right. Beau is good for you.”
“And you do like him.”
“I never said?—”
“You didn’t go at him when he stood up to you. Only family gets away with that, and not even all of us.”
“Fine. I like him.”
“I like him too,” Henri said, entering from the library. He must not have wanted to leave me to Remington’s mercy for too long.
Remington frowned at him. “You’re too easy on people.”
“You know that’s not true. You know if someone gives me a bad feeling I won’t have anything to do with them.”
Remington pulled Henri into his arms. I smiled at them and thought about the last time I’d seen them snuggled together and how much longing I’d felt. Now I had Beau, and I intended to keep him.