20. Eric
ERIC
A mbrose slid from the bed and pulled his laptop from the backpack he’d brought from his cabin. “I’m not letting you go. You might as well accept us as we are.”
“This isn’t going to be easy.”
Ambrose looked over his shoulder as he clicked keys on his laptop. “The meeting or…”
“Us. All of it. Carlotti. The fact that I’m the fucking sheriff of this parish, and you’re…”
He grinned. “A dirty criminal?”
Heat flushed my cheeks. “Don’t say that when we’re about to…”
Remington’s face came into view on the screen. Then the camera refocused, and I saw Lance, Dax, and Corbin there as well. The sight of them all sizing me up was enough to make me forget all about playing games with Ambrose.
These were the scariest men I’d ever faced. I needed them to remain on my side if I had any hope of fulfilling my promise not to run again.
“Is this a staring contest, or are we having a meeting?” Ambrose asked.
“We should talk as a family before the sheriff joins us,” Remington said.
I started to leave the room, but Ambrose grabbed my arm. “He stays.”
“We’re not sharing private business with an outsider, particularly one who is in law enforcement.”
“Damn, have you been working on your I’m-in-charge voice. You sound even more officious than usual.”
“Ambrose.” Dax used his I’m-warning-you tone.
“Eric is part of this operation.”
“So are several of our informants, but they aren’t here today.”
“Either talk about the plan, or I’m done,” Ambrose shouted.
Dax frowned. “Have you eaten today?”
Ambrose’s hand tightened on my arm, and I knew he was about to hang up on them.
“Pizza is on the way.”
“Thank God,” Dax said. “Anytime he gets like this, feed him.”
“I’d gotten the impression he just ate roots and sticks and shit out in the bayou.”
Ambrose glared at me. “I don’t need you joining them.”
“I’m serious. You were proud of being the wilderness expert, and I didn’t think you needed things like regular food or a working toilet or?—”
“My compost toilet works quite well.”
“Don’t let him get away with that,” Dax said. “Demand better.”
Corbin frowned. “Why does Eric need to use?—”
Lance snorted. “Keep up. They’re obviously together.”
Corbin’s eyes widened. “Wait a minute?—”
Ambrose held up a hand. “We are not talking about this.”
“Maybe he’ll confess after he eats,” Dax said.
“Eric is mine. End of discussion. Now, we need a plan to kill Carlotti.”
“We do,” Remington agreed. “And if all of you will shut the fuck up, I’ll explain it to you.”
I had no doubt Ambrose would be giving input, but Remington’s tone silenced everyone.
It was amazing to see all those strong men defer to him.
But I understood it. He had an aura of command.
It was clear he expected to be listened to.
I wondered if he’d conveniently been born with that or if he’d learned it.
I also wondered what he was like when he was alone with Henri. Being a leader all the time had to be exhausting.
“We have put our plan in motion to deprive Carlotti of all his support. As you already know, he’s deeply in debt. His creditors are about to call those debts in.”
“How did you manage that?” Remington’s brows rose, and I realized I was probably expected to be a silent participant.
“Through our connections,” was all he said.
I didn’t think there was any point in asking for more information from him, but Ambrose wasn’t ready to let the subject drop. “If we’d had those kinds of connections a few months ago, you would have used them. Who are we working with now?”
Remington turned to me again. “This information does not get shared with anyone. You’ve seen our work. You know what happens to those who go against us.”
Ambrose growled. “No one is touching him.”
“Then you better be right to trust him.”
There was nothing like having my life threatened by the bad guys I’m working with to get rid of worse bad guys. How the hell had I ended up here when I thought I was moving somewhere slow and quiet?
“I consulted X,” Remington said.
How much did he think I was going to get from that?
“He had shit on Carlotti?” Ambrose asked.
“X has contacts who work with several of Carlotti’s most elusive creditors.”
Lance snorted. “He would. Is he sending his guys to work with us?”
“Yes. You’ll get to see your special friends again, or at least some of them.” Sarcasm dripped from Remington’s words.
Ambrose laid a hand on my shoulder. “Lance took off without Remy’s permission and inserted himself into one of X’s operations. Tony went with him. It was a lot of fun .”
I could only imagine.
Remington continued, ignoring Ambrose and Lance. “Between X’s contacts and our inside informant, we’re nearly ready to arrange a meeting with Carlotti.”
“Are you sure we can trust this informant?”
“I am.”
“How can you be that certain? How did you get in contact with this man?”
“He was working with the FBI.”
“Then how did you…”
“They owed me a favor.”
Lance’s eyes went wide. “The FBI owed you a favor?”
Remington nodded.
“And you’re not going to elaborate on that?” Ambrose asked.
“No.”
“How the hell do you know he’s not informing on us too?” Lance asked.
“Because I have an understanding with his handler, and I’m offering a much better extraction option.”
I could feel Ambrose’s tension rising. “I don’t like this. I don’t think we can trust this guy.”
Remington scoffed. “You don’t trust anybody. I’m not even sure you trust all of us.”
Ambrose ran a hand over his hair, leaving it spiked up on top of his head. He looked around at each member of his family. “I do trust you. You might make some stupid ass decisions, and you might have grown a little bit too soft living your cushy lives?—”
“Indoor plumbing does not qualify someone as having a cushy life,” Dax said.
Ambrose huffed. “There are a few men from my unit I would trust if they were here and…” He turned to face me. “And I trust Eric.”
Corbin gasped dramatically. Dax grinned, and Remington simply nodded.
“Then we’ll trust him as well. But we’re going to need help because we need this to reach farther than our territory.
We need to bring down the people Carlotti works with around the world.
To do that we need people in several places, and there aren’t enough of us to spread out. ”
I didn’t like the idea of using an informant Ambrose didn’t know, and who was this X?
I knew better than to ask, but I hoped Ambrose would tell me later.
How much do they know about him? How could they be certain they could trust him?
I knew Carlotti’s influence wasn’t confined to the Houston area, but how far reaching was his power?
Ambrose blew out a long breath. “Fine, but I want reassurances Carlotti and his top men won’t walk away from this. He sent a man after Eric. No way in hell will I let him live after that.”
I shook my head. “I don’t need you risking yourself to get revenge for my sake.”
Ambrose turned to me. “No one harms you and gets away with it.”
“Does anyone have any questions now?” Dax gestured toward the screen.
“I have a lot of them,” I said.
“He means questions about whether Ambrose is in love with you,” Corbin said.
My pulse accelerated. The room seem to spin around me. In love with me? I knew he wanted to protect me. I knew he wanted to keep up whatever we had between us. But love? I’d fallen hard for him, but I wasn’t sure he could love anyone.
“Eric is mine,” Ambrose declared. “We’re here to establish a plan that will keep him safe. That’s what we should focus on.”
I could tell how happy Dax was to see his brother claim me outright instead of withdrawing and hiding. Even if what we had didn’t last, even if Ambrose’s conviction that I was his ended when Carlotti was dead, the heartbreak would be worth it knowing I’d helped him come out of hiding.
Remington gave more details for our plan. “Carlotti contacted me. He gave me an out to end the war that’s brewing between us.” Ambrose started to speak, but Remington held up his hand. “What he demands in exchange for not obliterating us is for us to give him Eric.”
“What?” I thought Ambrose might explode his face turned so red.
“Once all our pieces are in place, I’m going to set up a meeting with Carlotti, pretending to acquiesce to that demand.”
“Fuck no!” Ambrose banged his fist on the table, making the image of his brother and cousins waver.
“Eric will only be there as bait.”
Ambrose growled. “Eric will not be anywhere near that meeting.”
It was time for me to step in. “I want a part in this,” I said. “I’m willing to do whatever is necessary to end Carlotti’s reign. I want this man out of my parish and unable to hurt anyone else.”
Ambrose ignored me. “Lance, where was the safe house you arranged?”
Lance looked between the two of us, and Tony pointed to the screen and chattered.
“I think Tony wants to see Eric again.”
“Eric won’t need to be anywhere near Carlotti for this to work,” Remington said
“I want him on the other side of the world from that man.”
“No. I will be there.” We glared at each other, and Dax snickered.
Ambrose turned his anger on his brother. “If it was Travis, would you agree to this plan?”
Dax’s smile widened. “You admit it, then? You feel for Eric what I feel for Travis?”
“I care about Eric, and I’m not putting him in harm’s way. Quit acting like that’s okay.”
“Travis has no training to prepare him for this kind of mission. Eric is a sheriff with years of experience in law enforcement.”
“Maybe you should call Devil,” Lance suggested. “He can tell you what it’s like to love a cop.”
I shook my head. “Devil? X? This is getting to be too much.”
Remington smiled for the first time that night. “Devil is a distant cousin. His family is in the same line of work.”
“And he’s dating a cop?”
“A former cop. He’s a private investigator now, and they’re married.”
“Wow.”
“Don’t worry,” Dax said. “It’s possible to make it work.”