“I will do everything in my power to keep him from ever being hurt again.”
“Fine. Let’s make a plan to get Elandra and Guidry and anyone else on her payroll.”
We spent the next few hours working through several scenarios, one where we’d head into the swamp and meet our enemies in their own territory, and a few others where we lured Guidry and Elandra into the city and took them out in one of the warehouses my family owned. We made contingencies on top of contingencies until my head was swimming, but surprisingly Remy didn’t fight me taking the lead. Could he see the change in me? Or did he only think I could handle it with Beau backing me up?
Henri stayed with us, snuggling against Remington or sitting in his lap. He occasionally contributed to the discussion, backing me or Lance up when Remington went at us and soothing Remy when he struggled with being contradicted. The man was a saint to put up with my brother.
When the plan was as solid as it could be before we knew Elandra’s next move, Remy dismissed us. I stood, intending to leave with Beau, but Remington called me back. “I’d like to talk to you. Just the two of us.”
Beau studied me, and I saw the question in his eyes. If I said the word, he’d stay, but I was going to have this conversation with Remington sooner or later. The mature thing to do was get it over with. “Go on. I’ll see you at the shop later.”
“Call me if you need anything.” He shifted his focus to Remy. “Don’t hurt him.”
I thought Remington would explode. No one talked to him like that. Instead, he just nodded. “You have my word.”
Damn. Beau really was something else. I watched his ass as he retreated, and Remington had to clear his throat to get my attention. I hadn’t even noticed everyone else leaving, but it was just me and my oldest brother now.
“I think you’ve had an even more exciting week than I have.”
I was sure there was a dreamy smile on my face. “Possibly.”
“Last time you mentioned Beau, you told me you hated him.”
I shrugged. “That changed.”
“What happened to your motorcycle? Did you have another wreck?”
“No.” I didn’t want him to have one more irresponsible thing to pin on me, but now I had no idea what to tell him. “It… um… it wasn’t running right.”
“Uh-huh.”
Shit. I could lie easily to everyone but Remy… and now Beau. I was in trouble.
“Why don’t you tell me the real reason you went to Beau?”
Now I was really stuck. If I wanted to show how grown-up I was, I should tell him the real reason, but if I did, he would have more proof that I wasn’t capable of being responsible.
“Corbin?”
“You won’t like it. Can’t you just trust me that the problem is solved now.”
“And you and Beau? I’m supposed to accept that too?”
“You told me he was a good man.”
Remington shook his head. “I said he was a good mechanic.”
“You don’t offer work to people you can’t trust.”
“I trust people I work with not to betray me. That doesn’t mean I want them touching my brother.”
Remy was worse than Pop sometimes. “I don’t need you protecting me.”
“Because you have Beau now?”
“No, because I can hold my own.”
Remington glared at me for a while, then finally sighed. “Yeah. I guess you probably can.” For Remy to say that, he was basically singing my praises.
“I parked your car in the public lot at the casino. I wanted everyone to see me in it.”
Color actually drained from his face. “No. No. No.”
I held up a hand. “It’s fine. Do you think I would even try to pretend it didn’t happen if I thought you’d notice? Someone scratched the door. Beau and I fixed it.”
“Beau let you—”
“Yes. He wanted to show me what he was doing.”
“You… I’m trying to actually picture you working in a body shop.”
“I wore coveralls and everything. Look.” I held out my hands, showing him the grease stains under my nails that just wouldn’t go away.
Remington smiled then. “Lance and Dax must be right. Beau is good for you.”
“And you do like him.”
“I never said—”
“You didn’t go at him when he stood up to you. Only family gets away with that, and not even all of us.”
“Fine. I like him.”
“I like him too,” Henri said, entering from the library. He must not have wanted to leave me to Remington’s mercy for too long.
Remington frowned at him. “You’re too easy on people.”
“You know that’s not true. You know if someone gives me a bad feeling I won’t have anything to do with them.”
Remington pulled Henri into his arms. I smiled at them and thought about the last time I’d seen them snuggled together and how much longing I’d felt. Now I had Beau, and I intended to keep him.