Gage's jaw tightened. "Are you certain she's your mate?"
"You keep askin' me that, Gage, what do you think?"
Gage swore under his breath. "Then it's war, Remy. She's one of ours, and if they come at one of us, they're goin' to have to take us all on. I'll call the boys."
"Have one of them stay on her manager and that jackass who keeps starin' at her. I don' like his expression. It isn't admiration," Remy pointed out.
Gage turned to observe Durang and Butterfield. They kept putting their heads together whispering, all the while watching Bijou perform. The crowd had gone wild with her last song and now was eerily silent, as she sang a weeping, bluesy ballad that was heartrending. There was something about her voice that crawled under the skin, sank deep into bones and stayed there, making anyone hearing her feel every emotion as she poured her heart out.
Clearly her manager and Durang had heard her many times and weren't quite as enamored with her as the rest of the crowd. Butterfield stared at her with an ugly expression on his face, one that had Remy's leopard snarling and raking at him all over again.
"I'm goin' to have Angelina dig around a little into both of their backgrounds and see what she can uncover," Remy said. "Butterfield doesn't want Bijoux doing this, but he can't exactly kill the golden goose."
"Do managers take out insurance policies on their big-name clients?" Gage asked.
Remy turned his head slowly to look at his brother. Their eyes met. Remy swore and stepped out of the club to use his cell phone. He wanted the information fast. He needed it. Bijou's life could very well depend on it. Angelina was very good at her job, and he had no doubt he'd know a lot more about Bijou's manager and his shadowy friend within the hour.
Remy stepped back into the club just as the band swang into a sultry, steamy number. Bijou's voice seduced the crowd until they appeared almost mesmerized. He'd seen her do the same thing at a concert, a few years back when he couldn't stop himself from going to see her perform. Curiosity, nothing more, he'd assured himself.
She stood on the stage and looked ethereal, beautiful and so not of the world, Remy hadn't believed it was actually Bijou. Her hair fell to her waist, thick and glossy, the kind of hair a man got lost in. She'd been far too seductive to equate her with the gawky teen he'd caught glimpses of when she hung out with his sister. She was even more beautiful now.
Remy found he didn't dare look at her, not if he was going to protect her. There was an undercurrent in the room his leopard sensed that kept the cat prowling close to the surface. It was an expectation, an awareness of danger. His belly was in knots, his muscles coiled and ready. He didn't know for certain where the threat would come from, but it was safe to say, it would come.
Remy frowned as two of Drake's men shifted positions. They were acting as bodyguards for Bijou, and he wasn't entirely happy about it. Joshua Tregre had shaggy sun-bleached hair and piercing green-blue eyes. He was a man with a strong build, carrying the heavy muscles of their kind--a leopard--and he was fast. Very fast. Remy appreciated that trait, but he knew how dangerous the emerging of a female leopard could be, and just how difficult it could be on any male in the vicinity.
Elijah Lospostos was a steely-eyed, far too handsome man, with a wealth of gleaming black hair spilling into eyes the color of mercury one moment and as dark as night the next. He was tough and extremely dangerous, a good man to have on Bijou's side--but he also was an unmated leopard. Drake had chosen both men to work at Bijou's club on her nights to perform because they were dangerous and fast and could protect. The leader of the lair hadn't known Bijou was leopard as well and that she was entering the Han Vol Dan.
Remy gritted his teeth and took a long, slow look around the room. What had the two leopards up front, close to Bijou, seen that he hadn't from his position in the back of the room? He shifted, his gaze scanning the large overcrowded club. He spotted several male leopards in the room, not surprising because their lair was small, but most of the males were unmated and that added to the undercurrent of danger.
The song ended and the crowd went wild, clapping and stomping feet. Bijou smiled and gracefully made her way to Arnaud's table as the band went into an upbeat, dance melody. A few couples bravely took to the dance floor while others sipped at their drinks and tried to work up the courage to ask for Bijou's autograph.
Remy frowned as Arnaud rose to hold her chair for her. She shouldn't be sitting with him, she should be with Remy--under Remy's protection.
"You're rumbling," Gage cautioned. "Remy, this is turning into a bad situation. Have you thought about asking her to leave with you?"
He'd thought about throwing her over his shoulder and just taking her out whether she liked it or not, but it wouldn't earn him any points with her. No way was she going to be reasonable if he said he needed to talk to her. The time to talk had been when she woke up.
"She's only got one more set and she's done," Remy said. "If we're lucky we can get through that, and I'll get her out of here and have the talk with her."
Gage snorted. "Yeah, I'm sure you'll be talkin' to her."
"I have to tell her about her leopard."
"And if for some reason her female never emerges?"
Remy took a deep breath. "Then she'll think I'm crazy, and I'll have to prove to her I'm not. Either way, she's mine and I'm goin' to tell her the truth about what I am and what she is."
Gage's gaze shifted to Bijou. Her profile was to him and she was laughing. Lights shifted over her face as she leaned toward Arnaud and said something. "Are you certain she's your mate? This isn't about sex? Because she's beautiful, Remy, and it would be easy enough to get things mixed up."
"Damn it, Gage." Remy's frustration nearly exploded at his brother. "Quit askin' the same damn thing every few minutes. Nothin' has changed and nothin' can change. I've marked her as mine. She is mine. There's just a little matter of persuadin' her, and it's done. I don' care if her leopard emerges or not, she belongs to me and no one and nothin' is goin' to stand in my way. Is that clear enough?"
Gage shrugged, hiding his grin and deliberately goading his brother further. "Lust has a funny way of colorin' a man's perspective, brother, but since you're so certain and all, I've got a text from the boys sayin' they're on the way, so we should have reinforcements soon."
"Good. The feelin' of impendin' doom is not goin' away." And if his brother kept asking him the same question over and over, doomsday was going to start with Gage.
Remy spotted the older couple, Mr. and Mrs. Chambridge, from the cafe in the crowd seated at one of the tables in the middle of the room. Emile and Thereze were there as well, Emile looking mesmerized.
Cooper's table was growing louder and more obnoxious by the moment. He knew if Bijou was singing, the bouncers would likely throw the men out, but she was on a break and they were getting away with their noise. He ground his teeth together and held on to his foul temper with every bit of discipline he had, commanding his leopard to back off and let him handle things.
His jaw ached permanently now. He could feel the roped muscles coiled and ready. Fur itched beneath his skin and the tips of his fingers and toes burned. He tried breathing away the fire, but the more he tried not to look at Bijou, the more his gaze was pulled in her direction and his body hardened beyond his comprehension. He didn't have that kind of gut-wrenching reaction to a woman, ever, not until now.
He was the kind of man who could walk away any time he needed to--fully intact. Until Bijou. That was how he knew the leopard mating ritual was real. He had become fixated on her, his body reacting almost before he scented her or saw her. Having other men around her was torture, but knowing other male leopards were close to her was worse. Yeah, Gage had it right when he said Remy had it bad.
His phone vibrated and he pulled it out to check it. There was nothing like an ongoing investigation running through the night, but his sense of urgency kept increasing and he always trusted his gut instincts. Angelina had sent him information on both R
ob Butterfield and Jason Durang. She hadn't found out yet if there was an insurance policy on Bijou taken out by her manager or his company, but even in that short period of time, she'd uncovered quite a bit on both men.
Ron Butterfield had a gambling habit that over the years had caused him grief. Twice his home had been broken into and everything destroyed because he'd failed to pay back a loan he'd taken out from the wrong person. Once he'd been beaten senseless, and several times over the years he'd been accused of embezzling from his own company.
Butterfield's friend Jason Durang had a long record of assault. He'd come in contact with Butterfield when Butterfield briefly served time in prison for embezzlement. Butterfield hired Durang the moment Durang was out of prison, but no one seemed to know what the man actually did for him. He had a reputation for being an enforcer, and he'd been hanging around Butterfield for the past four years.
Remy handed his phone to his brother and let him read the data Angelina had provided. "She's still diggin', but I don' think there's much doubt that Butterfield has an insurance policy on Bijou."
Remy took a deep breath. He didn't want to say it aloud and breathe life into the idea, but it was a perfect time for a copycat killer to dispose of someone who was in their way. If Bijou was considering firing Butterfield, and if he continued to push her to do something she didn't want to do, she had to be considering it, then his money train was over and she was of no more use to him alive.
Gage's eyes met his. Remy read the same thought. He shook his head. Things were getting worse by the minute. Bijou's life hadn't improved much even after her father had died. He tried not to snarl as he turned his head to look at her. She lifted her head. The impact of her amazing eyes on him was frightening. He could fall into her eyes and stay there forever. She smiled at him and nodded, and just like that his breath slammed out of his lungs and his blood surged hot and wild through his veins. She stood up with her fluid grace, looking more sensual than ever and began her rounds through the club before she took the stage again. She spoke briefly to the people at each table, smiling and listening to the various comments and greetings. She was gracious, royal even, occasionally signing autographs before moving on.