I passed them on–and then grabbed Brooks and ran.
But I remember the message.I see you.I see what you’re doing, and I don’t approve.
I found out later that Brooks had seen girls in Dom’s basement, and had tried to help them.That was why he’d been beating her.She’d seen something he was trying to hide.
And now he’s smuggling them again.Or still.Honestly, it doesn’t matter.If my father’s message to Dom back then was about the smuggling, and today he’s worried about what people are doing in New Orleans, then that means...
I blow out, half amazed and half horrified.
If my father is talking about Dom’s smuggling ring, and mentioning Corinne in the same breath...
Then he might be more helpful than I realized.
Although that doesn’t solve the problem of him expecting me to find a wife.Because that complication is still there.Find a wife and settle down, or I can’t have access to the family’s power anymore.
And without that access, I can’t help Brooks.
Only my father wants me tomarryBrooks, which would mean she also had the protection of the family.
Except that she will never in a million years marry me if she knows it’s my father’s idea.
And I...
Would sell my soul to marry the girl.I’ve been in love with her since I was sixteen, and have done terrible things to try to protect her.Hell, I’d do worse things.I’d sell my own father if it meant keeping her safe, and I wouldn’t bat an eye.
So marry her?
Yes.
But I’ll do it for reasons my father has never even considered.
If she’ll have me.
If I can get her back alive, rather than in a box designed by Dom Landry himself.
I slide out of my chair and make for the exit, my thoughts on Brooks and my hands reaching for the girl already.I’m tired of letting Dom control her life–and mine.
I want her back, and I want it now.
Because I’ve spent too many years being separated from her.I want her back within reach, and I’m tired of fucking waiting.
***
I get home to find Kate and Camille rushing out of my house and into the driveway like someone is chasing them.Camille has car keys in her hand–did they bring a car, or are they stealing one of mine?–and Kate is on the phone, talking so quickly I can’t understand a word she’s saying.
I reach out and grab Camille as she tries to pass me, yanking her to a stop and forcing her to look at me.
“Where the fuck are you two off to?”
She bites her lips and narrows her eyes like she’s not going to tell me, but Camille has never had Brooks’ confidence, and she gives up within seconds.“Out.”
I let my face reflect my suspicion.“First you show up to my house and use it as your safe space without permission.You eat my food, you distract my men.And now you’re rushing out without any explanation?”
She meets my eyes, and though I can see that she wants to look away, she fights to maintain the stare.“Brooks needs us.And we didn’t distract your men, Lucien.We’ve been busy.It’s not our fault if they’re not working hard enough.”
She jerks herself out of my grasp and runs for the car Kate is getting into, and I have enough time to realize that they are in fact stealing one of my cars before my brain registers what she’s just fucking said.
Brooks needs them.
