“I just want to go home.”
“Why don’t you come have a drink and something to eat, then you can tell me all about meeting Lance.”
“If you have other things you need to do, you don’t have to—”
“Trust me. I don’t have anything better to do than getting to know the man Lancelot is interested in.”
I shook my head. “He’s only interested in how I can help him with this situation.”
“Are you sure?”
“I guess he also wants to make sure I don’t die because he made me help him.”
Henri smiled. “I think there’s far more to it than that.”
The conversation was getting uncomfortable, so I changed the subject. “Does he really take Tony everywhere?” The monkey climbed up on the kitchen counter and picked up a banana chip from a small pile Henri must have poured out for him.
“Yes, he does. Remington hates it. He doesn’t like for Lance to bring Tony here. He swears Tony is going to tear everything up. He’s really not very destructive, but he is rather curious. The first time I ever met him—”
“Lance or Tony?”
Henri chuckled. “Both, actually. I woke up in Remington’s bed, and Tony was standing there looking at me.”
“Oh my God, that must’ve freaked you out.”
“It did. Remington failed to mention his brother had a pet monkey, so I sat there trying to figure out how on earth one had gotten into the house.”
“Is it like this with Lance and Remington all the time?”
Henri smiled. “Yes, but you get used to it. Eventually, you’ll even think it’s cute.”
“But are they really… I mean, I’ve heard that…”
“They’re mobsters. Criminals.”
“Well, yes. That’s what I’ve heard. My only contact with Lance has been him trying to bribe his way into the library to get information about that stolen necklace.”
Henri nodded. “I’m not going to say they’re conventionally what would be called good, but they have honor. They follow a code, and if you’re under their protection, no one will ever treat you better.”
“And you’re engaged to Remington?”
Henri’s smile lit up the whole room. “Yes, I am. We’re going to get married in the fall.”
“That’s… Congratulations.”
“I promise you, if you give them a chance, you’ll see there are plenty of nice men in the world far worse than them, even if they don’t regularly break the law.
That was probably true. “I just don’t think I can…”
“Why don’t you tell me about meeting Lancelot? Wine?” He held up a bottle of white wine, and I nodded.
“Is that his real name?” I asked as I accepted the glass Henri held out to me.
“Oh, yes. Trust me. He lives up to the drama of it.”
“I’ve noticed. The first time he came into the library, he had Tony with him.”
Henri smiled as he took a sip of his wine. “I heard about that.”
“He thought I was going to let him go through a collection of hundred-year-old newspapers with a monkey sitting on his shoulder. He even pulled out snacks for Tony, and there’s no food allowed in the library.”
Henri shook his head. “That doesn’t surprise me.”
“I told him to leave and not come back.”
“And he took that as a challenge?”
I took another drink before answering. “He sure did. Though the second time he came back, he left Tony in the car—with the engine running of course so he didn’t overheat. He also brought me flowers and tried to bribe me by agreeing to donate to the library, but then Tony came in anyway. Apparently he can open car windows?”
Henri laughed. “He sure can.”
“Tony came running in, then things went downhill from there. Lance tried to bribe me with beignets and broke into my house and talked me into taking him to the library.”
Henri looked like he was barely holding back laughter. “That sounds just like Lance. So the necklace was in the archive?”
“Yes, and Lance wouldn’t let me call the police to report it. He refuses to turn it in.”
“He can’t.”
“That’s what he told me, but I don’t—”
Henri laid a hand on my arm. “Lance will say just about anything to charm someone or to get what he wants, but he’s not lying about this. I don’t know all the details.” He rolled his eyes. “Remington likes to protect me by trying to shut me out of most of his business, but he’s told me enough that I know the people behind the theft. They will retaliate. It doesn’t matter the circumstances that landed you with the necklace. They’ll come after you and make sure you hurt before you die.”
The room began to spin around me, and the edges of my vision went dark. “He… he wasn’t exaggerating?”
Henri laid his hand against my back. Tony began to chatter at me like he was trying to comfort me as Henri helped me to a seat at the kitchen island. “It’s going to be okay. Lance and Remington will take care of things. Stay there. I’ll bring you some water. “