Chapter 13 #2
Even with the glowing reviews, my instinct was screaming there was more to the family’s story. With my wild imagination, I envisioned various criminal activities.
Shifting to Google, I typed in the Prince name, shocked to see the number of entries.
There were several on the first page, most glowing reviews of the restaurant, a destination in New Orleans. However, the article at the bottom caught my eye.
The piece had been over a year before. The headline?
Baptiste Prince, Patriarch and Mafia Don Murdered
A cold shiver replaced the earlier wafting waves of heat from my lurid thoughts. The article was brief but powerful.
The father with decades-long ties to the city had been murdered outside a restaurant, the eldest brother taking the helm.
Considered a ruthless mafia family, they’d ruled the entire state and beyond for over a hundred years.
With crimes ranging in the early days from racketeering and extortion centering around bootlegging, progressing to the sale of illegal drugs and weapons along with legitimizing more of their business activities, they were as highly revered as they were feared.
I scoured more articles, finding some from years ago, each one more scathing than the one before. While there’d been accusations over the years, including murder, no court of law had ever managed to convict a single member of the family. That’s how important they were as a family.
The cold chill refused to go away. Even my fingers were stiff.
I’d slept with a monster. Maybe that wasn’t completely fair, but I had to accept Montgomery wasn’t just some fantasy.
He was a dark one and with such fantasies, the ending was usually messy, often bloody, and every once in a while contained death.
The man who’d been so generous to the town had been murdered.
I wasn’t entirely certain how that changed anything.
The truth was right there in my face. How strange that I wasn’t angry at my lapse in judgment or with him.
Now I knew why he’d purposely not shared anything about himself but the basics.
Sitting back in my seat, I reached for my coffee, almost knocking the mug to the floor.
I’d asked the question about who Montgomery really was. Now I knew.
He was exactly as I’d feared.
A very bad man capable of doing heinous things.
Just like I feared with my brother.
While I’d been right about ending what we’d shared before anything had officially started, the ache remained. What was the expression I’d heard Tilly use more than once?
Oh, yeah. Jumping from the frying pan into the fire.
Montgomery
The hot shower had done nothing to ease the tension. In finding two sets of footprints, I’d remained enraged for the full two hours I’d hunted my own property. Finding nothing.
Nothing of use, which boosted my level of anger.
What the scalding water had done was remove any lingering scent of my guest from my skin, although the house itself smelled like her. Damn it. I had assassins on my tail and I was thinking about the amazing sex from the night before.
I certainly needed to get my priorities straight.
“Yeah, I’m serious. I tracked the footprints to the road on the other side.
That’s three miles. There was evidence of a vehicle parked on the side in the snow.
There’s no other reason the assholes cased the property other than that they know I’m in Vermont.
” You bet I was furious. I’d found nothing of use on my trek through the woods.
No sign of shell casings or marks made on trees to indicate a path, but whoever had walked through the forest had done so with a direct line of sight to the house.
Alexander sighed. “Are you aware there’s a controlled hunting area located on the property adjacent?”
I hadn’t been aware, but my instincts were never wrong. “What does that matter? Locals know where they’re going, although I would think the mountains would be a better area to catch whatever the fuck hunters would be interested in killing.”
“Maybe tourists getting lost. You don’t know. The timing is questionable, Montgomery. You’ve only been there two days.”
“It’s a few hours’ flight away from New Orleans. New York even shorter. You don’t know the lengths the Barishnikoff family is willing to go to finish their task.”
“And we don’t know for certain the hit was given by the Barishnikoff Pakhan either. Did you forget he’s in prison? I’ve had his men followed, all channels monitored and if they’re guilty, they’re certainly not broadcasting it.”
My turn to exhale. “There’s something going on. I can feel it.”
“I know you rely on your instincts and by all means, keep a close watch, but don’t panic yet.”
“Who’s panicking? I’m being practical.”
“Then do an old-fashioned perimeter test like Pops taught us when we were kids.” Alexander laughed.
Our father has taught us survival techniques for extreme conditions from being penned in by weather or under direct attack from an enemy, as well as additional, more traditional skills he’d learned as a boy to help keep us alive.
“Fine. Not a bad idea.”
“Just don’t kill any tourists. That won’t be good for the family reputation.”
“I’m not certain we’re well liked in Stowe.”
Alexander laughed. “Little known fact. Pops gave a lot of money to various organizations in town.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“If you’d spent more time around him, maybe the family history wouldn’t seem so foreign. Pops met our mother in Vermont. He vacationed in Stowe decades ago. Fell in love with the place. You don’t know any of this?”
Snorting, I continued pacing the floor of the office, constantly glaring at the security monitors. “Pops and I didn’t share the same views about many aspects of life. We weren’t into casual conversations. You know that.”
“Oh, yeah, another wild child in the family. Well, he wasn’t the asshole you believed him to be. At least not all the time. I bet you’ll find a few plaques on several businesses our parents kept afloat over the years. He set up a grant for new businesses as well.”
“A regular philanthropist. Who knew. Why are you telling me this?”
“To remind you to be kind to the people in town. You never know when you might need them.”
As soon as he spit out the words, my thoughts immediately shot to Fleur.
She’d only been gone a few hours and I’d thought about her at least a dozen times.
Damn it. I’d even fucked up on some accounting paperwork, forced to redo several entries.
“You’re suggesting if I go to war that I use the townspeople as soldiers? ”
“You know what our father always told us. The most dangerous people are those you’d never guess were hiding machetes behind their backs.”
“Ha. I’ll keep that in mind. I’m going to do some digging of my own.”
“That’s fine. Just don’t do anything stupid like fire off a bomb at any Russian mafia you find on your doorstep.” Alexander half chuckled. He knew I wouldn’t let it go.
At least my brother could allow me a smile once and again. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“How’s the leg?”
“Actually, it’s feeling better.” It had been feeling better, although a muscle ache was inching its way into becoming painful.
Between the snow and the distance, the hike had pushed muscles I hadn’t used in months.
Maybe I’d pop a few Tylenol. While my brother gloated, I rubbed my thigh.
Why did I have a terrible feeling I was about to get a cramp?
That was the last thing I needed.
“What did I tell you? Exercise is good for the soul.”
I had no intention of divulging my particular choice of calisthenics consisted of rough and wild passion and not run of the mill exercise. It was none of his business. Besides, he’d never let me live it down if I shared the truth. “Maybe.”
“Don’t worry. If I hear of anything on the dark web, you’ll be the first to know.”
“Right. Why don’t I believe you?”
“Because I know what you’ll do and you’re still recuperating.”
“To hell with that.” The call hadn’t gone exactly as I’d planned, but at least Alexander did have a good idea.
I could booby-trap the perimeter; that would buy some time if anyone had interest in attacking me inside my own house.
Now I’d just need to make a list of items needed before heading into town.
If I was lucky, I could get everything set up before dark. When I twisted, ready to walk out the door, my leg almost gave way. I fell against the edge of the desk, falling directly on my ass.
Disgusted, I glared at the cane I’d left angled against the veneered side.
The ache was more intense, enough so I gritted my teeth and took a few seconds to massage the area.
With numbness settling, I was forced to realize that walking the entire perimeter again so soon wasn’t in my best interest. Fuck. This wasn’t how I’d planned my day.
It took more effort than I cared to highlight even to my own brain to rise to my feet. Still teetering, I snatched the cane, hobbling from the office.
At least I would manage to purchase what I needed.
After grabbing my coat, I noticed a reflection, the sunlight casting a glow on something on the floor.
Carefully, I bent over, snaking the object into my fingers.
As soon as I held it in the light, a smile slowly crawled across my face.
Fleur’s necklace. Unfortunately, the clasp had been broken, likely the reason it had fallen off.
It was obvious how special the piece of jewelry was. The decent thing to do would be to return it. I couldn’t lie and say that the idea of seeing her again, even under the pretense of returning an item, didn’t shove aside the clouds from the events of the day.
Maybe I’d be even more of a gentleman and get the clasp fixed for her. If there were any decent jewelers in town.
At least it would be a decent opportunity to see if the Prince name still held the kind of effect my brother had mentioned.
As I shoved the necklace into my pocket, an even stranger thought lingered in the back of my mind. What if karma was offering an opportunity I shouldn’t pass by?
Like a little gris-gris sprinkled by my grandmother.