1. Lancelot
LANCELOT
I thought I’d learned not to underestimate the creative ways my older brother could piss me off.
I was wrong. He was sending me to a library to collect intel on the theft of an emerald necklace from a museum.
It wasn’t even a regular library but a snooty one that housed archives and material only available on request. Remington had dared to tell me I couldn’t bring Tony with me.
If this place was as boring and dusty as the one Remy used to drag me to when we were in school, it needed some livening up. Tony could do that nicely.
I pulled into the small parking lot which was, of course, already full. There was just enough room for me to squeeze in on the end of a row, so I made myself a spot. I was already doing this errand against my will; I wasn’t going to drive around looking for a fucking parking space.
The stone building was cold and imposing. Tony jumped from my shoulder to inspect the huge marble columns, and I had to call him back. He gave me a stubborn look, but I enticed him with a piece of dried mango. He took it from me, climbed up my side, and returned to his usual spot on my shoulder.
“They’ll be plenty to see inside,” I assured him, not that I intended to stay long.
I didn’t like places that echoed with silence.
I liked to see the world moving around me.
I also liked to do whatever felt right in the moment rather than working on Remington’s schedule, but with Remy engaged and my younger brother, Corbin, now seeing a mechanic and working with him at his shop, I was going to be stuck with more and more errands like this.
Maybe it was time for me to disappear for a while.
Things were relatively quiet in our world. Tony and I deserved a vacation.
I opened the tall, heavy door of the library and stepped inside.
As I’d expected, the marble floor and stone walls gave the lobby the chilly, stagnant feel of a tomb.
What kind of person would want to work in a place like this?
It was so quiet the sound of a pen scratching across paper seemed as loud as a motorcycle engine.
I searched the main room for the area I was supposed to approach—The New Orleans City Archive. Remy had texted me with the details I needed. The information was allegedly somewhere in the 1918 editions of a little-known newspaper that had never been digitized.
How had Remy described the librarian I needed to speak with? Persnickety? As soon as my gaze landed on him, I knew Remington was right. This man had a good-sized stick up his ass.
He was within an inch of my six feet, but he had none of my bulk.
Lean was an understatement. If my stepmother were here, she’d insist on bringing him a sandwich and a piece of cake.
His hair was dirty blonde, longer on top than on the sides and ruffled like he’d been running his hands through it.
He was wearing a white button-up, khakis, and a rust-colored cardigan that looked like my granpop might have owned it before this guy found it at a thrift store.
The expression on his face as he scanned the room let me know he was searching for any rule breakers and was ready to deny them access to his precious materials.
He thought he was important, but he would be no match for me.
Despite the chill coming off him and his librarian clothes, I couldn’t deny he was attractive as hell. I wouldn’t mind rumpling up the rest of him to match his hair or tearing off his clothes and finding out what was underneath. He wouldn’t be cold and self-righteous then. I would make him burn.
Tony leaned toward my ear and talked at me. I nodded. “Right. Let’s work our magic.”
The sound of Tony’s chatter had my target looking our way. His forehead wrinkled in what I guessed was disgust warring with anger.
“No animals are allowed inside the library.”
“Not even guide dogs?” I asked as I moved toward him.
He huffed. “If properly trained, then yes, guide dogs are the single exception. We certainly do not allow monkeys in here.”
From the way he was looking at me with his soft blue eyes, I wasn’t sure if he was talking about me or Tony. Rather than annoying me, his disdain only made me more curious about what would happen if I focused all his zeal toward pleasure rather than following the rules.
I glanced at the name tag pinned to his sweater. “Julian, I understand your concern, but Tony here is very well trained. He’s my emotional support animal, so I’m sure you’re required to let him accompany me.”
Julian glared at me as Tony leaned over and tried to extract another mango chip from my pocket. “What duties does he perform?”
Tony succeeded in pulling out a piece of fruit. “He fetches snacks.”
Julian reached for the mango. “No food is allowed in the library.”
Tony took exception to the uptight man’s attempt to take his treat. He screeched loudly and jumped down onto the counter as they played tug of war with the mango piece.
“He’s going to win. You should just give up now.”
“No food. It’s completely against the rules and so are monkeys.” Julian was screeching nearly as loudly as Tony now, and everyone was looking at us. This was probably the most exciting thing that had happened in this place in years, maybe ever.
Tony had reached his limit. He leaned in to bite, and I grabbed him up before he could sink his sharp little teeth into Julian’s hand.
“Get out!” Julian ordered. His hair was even more out of place now. If only the rest of him was as untamed, then I’d know exactly how to handle him.
Tony wagged a finger at Julian and squealed.
“Yelling at Tony only makes him more upset,” I explained. “Think how you’d feel if someone took your treat then yelled at you.”
Julian’s mouth fell open. He stared at me like I might be an alien. “If I… If you… This is a library for serious researchers. I’m not sure how you even got through the door with that… that creature, but if you don’t leave, I’m calling the police.”
Fortunately, my family had more than one high-ranking officer on our payroll, but if I got arrested, Remington would find out, and I’d have to listen to him bitch about how I fucked this all up.
I lifted Tony from my shoulder and tucked him into my coat, being careful not to let it open enough to reveal my shoulder holster. I had no doubt guns were also forbidden in this hallowed space. “Look. I am here to do research. If you could show me to?—”
“No. You will not be handling any of the materials in this library. Putting the monkey in your coat does not make the situation any better. You have been disrespectful and?—”
“Hey. That’s not true. I came in here, greeted you, and?—”
“You brought a monkey into the library.”
“I told you he’s my?—”
“I don’t want to hear any more of that—” He snapped his mouth closed with a horrified look.
“Bullshit.” I drew out each syllable. “I think that’s the word you were looking for.”
“Please do not use language like that in the library, though it’s nice of you to admit it.”
What was it about this infuriating man? I wanted to despise him and the way he was speaking to me. Instead, I was more determined than ever to get him to use every foul word I could think of as he urged me on and begged me to take him.
Shit, now I was starting to get hard. Remington hadn’t said I couldn’t seduce Julian to get what we needed.
“I was simply trying to help you when you seemed at a loss for words. Tony is my emotional support animal, and I need to look through some issues of The People’s Sentinel .
So”—I lowered my eyes then moved them slowly back up his body—“why don’t you show me back there.
” I gestured toward the room behind him where Remington said the newspapers were held. “And help me get on with my work.”
For a second, I thought my plan might work. Julian’s eyes widened, and he raked his teeth over his bottom lip. Sadly, his severe expression returned.
“I would be happy to add harassment to the charges when the police arrive.”
“Aw, cher. You really want me to go?”
Julian picked up the phone on his desk, and I held up my hands. “Fine. I’m leaving, but I’ll be back.”
Julian scowled at me. “You most certainly will not. You are no longer welcome here. I will see that the guard at the door is aware.”
There hadn’t been a guard when I’d walked in.
That meant I’d either arrived at a shift change—unlikely considering the time—or the guy didn’t take his job seriously.
I’d have to take care of that problem after I got what I wanted.
Fussy Julian needed to be well protected from any dangerous criminals who might enter, my relatives excluded.
I straighten to my full height and brushed imaginary crumbs from my lapels. “I’m leaving, but I don’t care for threats.”
“Do not return to this building.”
“Bye now. Take care.” I turned and sauntered away as Tony scrambled back up to my shoulder.
I studied the other library employees. There was an older, balding man in a bow tie at a desk to my left, and close to the door outside a room marked South Louisiana Historical Archives, there was an ancient woman in a glaringly orange blouse.
I was tempted to move closer just to verify she was still breathing.
At the desk closest to the door, the one marked Information, I saw a young woman in her midtwenties.
Her dark hair was pulled back in a perky ponytail, and her navy-blue pencil skirt, light-blue cardigan, and white blouse made her look like she was playing the part of a librarian in a period piece from the forties.
Her smile told me she was a lot more fun than Julian.