My lovely bride walked closer, Jaxon the one who jumped from the back passenger side of one of the vehicles first.
I couldn’t hear what they said, still concentrating on watching the road. But I could tell they were both animated. The true hot bloods of the family.
Just something else I loved about her. Yes, loved.
I walked around the front of the vehicle, waiting as Alexander approached. His eyes were covered in dark shades much like mine. When he stopped a couple of feet in front of me, I sensed he was pissed.
So I straightened up as all loyal, respectful men working for a crime syndicate should do.
“Don’t beat up on him,” Emmeline said as she made her way toward us. “He did fight off the bad guys a few times and saved my life. A regular hero.”
Her last few words dripped of sarcasm and unable to help myself, the words just flowed like our usual banter. “Would you have preferred I left you in a heap on the road?”
Jaxon burst into laughter. “I can see nothing has changed in the last few days. You guys hate each other. Perfect. Thanks for keeping our sister alive, my friend.” He walked up to me with his arm outstretched for a handshake.
I felt like I was robbing the family store.
Which I was.
Alexander slowly removed his sunglasses, taking several deep breaths. “Maybe now you will choose to face the obstacles in your life instead of running from them, Emmeline. We could have lost you.”
My hackles rose immediately, and my lovely bride sensed my condition, throwing out her hand to keep me from ruining my career.
She sauntered toward her brother, the Don of the family, and all the soldiers who’d lined up by the SUVs with weapons in their hands cringed.
“You’re right,” she stated without a second of reservation. “I should have made my point clear so I’m going to do it right now. I adore my family, every single member, even if most of you are overbearing. As in most of you.” She didn’t mind tossing shadeto Jaxon and Alexander, which forced me to bite back a laugh, but also tossed some my way with a flick of her eyes.
I threw up my hands in surrender while Jaxon was enjoying the hell out of himself.
“So here’s what I will say. I am completely aware of the danger our family will continually be in from time to time. That means I need to be extra cautious.”
Alexander started to intervene and she stopped him.
“Let me finish.” Her sigh was heavy and she threw out both arms indicating the entire area. “This trip has provided in graphic detail the reason caution needs to be taken. I’m not making light of the danger I placed myself in, but I did have certain… circumstances that pushed me into needing some privacy and time alone, neither of which I’m allowed most of the time. From here on out, no running. I’ll accept my security detail, although it might not be needed.”
Emmeline didn’t catch what she’d said until a few seconds afterwards.
But I caught it.
And so had Jaxon.
He walked closer, cocking his head to the side. “What does that mean? From what we witnessed at the church, Donatello managed to drop plenty of dead bodies, but I think we both know there are more.”
The way he was stating the words meant Francoise and his team hadn’t ventured into the open. Interesting.
“Trust me. Your sister is a weapons expert,” I added, maybe just to earn brownie points.
Which I did, Emmeline’s face lighting up. “Thank you. You’re not so bad yourself as a partner.”
Now I was grinning as well.
“Yes, there are more. I have no doubt both our sister and her… protector are well aware that being alone in a rainforest for vipers isn’t in either of their best interests. However, I understand your reservations, Emmeline, and you’re right, we’ve been particularly smothering. That won’t happen again. As long as there’s direct, decent communication between all of us.”
Was there more of an amused look on Alexander’s face? I think there was.
“Fair enough,” she told him. “We will always have enemies, which means we’ll need to maintain a level of protection around our loved ones. At this point, I won’t mind getting home. It’s been an adventure, but I’m a little tired of being shot at.”
“Okay. So we’ve established several important details including that we need to hunker down and determine the best elimination tactics to use on our enemy and that having security around isn’t such a bad practice. Why do you suddenly think you won’t need anyone to protect you any longer?” Jaxon’s question was met by a frustrated laugh.
