As I walked past him, I laid a hand on his arm, leaned down, and said softly, “This isn’t your fault.”
He glared at me as I’d known he would, and I crossed the room and sat on the sofa next to Corbin. Dax sank into an armchair next to Remington, and we all waited for my older brother to talk.
“As I told you all, Carlotti contacted me.”
“He made the contact himself?” I asked.
Remington nodded.
That was both good and bad. For him to be making his own phone calls meant this was a priority to him, so he was taking it very seriously, but that also meant he saw us as worthy of his attention.
“He told me he expects his cousin returned to him, happy and healthy, by midnight.”
“Or what?” Corbin asked.
Dax and I both glared at him. He needed to take a more serious tone.
Corbin held up his hands. “What? I just want to know what the consequences will be because I’m guessing we’re not giving this guy back unless we get some guarantees and get to keep the necklace.”
“We don’t want the necklace,” Dax said. “It’s too hot a commodity. We need to get it out of our hands.”
“Julian wants us to return it to the museum.” As soon as the words were out, I knew I shouldn’t have said them.
Remington glared at me. “You’ve gone from trying to get out of even entering the library to wanting to do the bidding of the librarian you profess to hate? I don’t have time for your shit.”
“The museum has a replica. We could switch them and give the replica to Carlotti instead.”
“You’re proposing we break into the museum and steal the replica of the necklace that’s already been stolen?” Corbin stared at me. “I knew you were fucking crazy, but—”
“And when Carlotti finds out he’s got a fake?” Remington asked.
I shrugged. “It’s the museum’s fault. They didn’t put the real one on display.”
“No way in hell are we adding any more danger to this,” Dax said, but I could tell Remington was thinking about it. He respected history and artifacts the same way Julian did. That was how he’d known his contact.
Ultimately, though, my older brother shook his head. “As much as I’d like to see it properly returned, it’s too risky.”
“Shouldn’t we worry about our midnight deadline right now?” Corbin asked.
Remington nodded.
“Then, like I asked, what are the consequences?”
It was a bad sign when my younger brother was the one to get us back on track, though he really had grown up a lot recently. Some of that was thanks to Beau.
“He said they’d take something precious from us.”
My heart pounded. Julian. I knew he wasn’t the only candidate for their revenge, but if they thought he had a role in this, that could be what they meant. They’d think he’d be easier to get to than one of us, and he’d have less chance to escape.
Henri was nearly as vulnerable, though, and that had to be killing Remington. Now I knew how that felt. Shit. Did that mean I really was in love with Julian?
“What did you tell him?” I asked.
“I told him I’d be willing to meet to negotiate and would consider returning Davide as well as the necklace in exchange for them staying in their own territory.”
Dax frowned. “I take it he didn’t go for that.”
“His only response was to reiterate the midnight deadline before ending the call.”
“So what do we do?” Corbin asked.
Remington ran a hand through his hair, messing up his usually careful style. “I don’t know. If we give in, they’ll encroach on our territory and do everything they can to bring us under their thumbs, but if we don’t comply, we’re in greater danger since they’re likely to be more aggressive in their approach. It would’ve been better if we’d never called attention to ourselves.”
“No.” I shook my head. “They did a job in our territory, one that is the focus of police attention. You were right to look into it, and your friend was a fucking bastard for setting you up like this.”
“Yes, he was, and if he weren’t already dead, I’d think about killing him myself.”
“But he is, and we’re here, and we need a plan,” Dax said.
Remington scowled. “We’re not giving in.”
“Damn right we’re not.” I said. “You know me. I’m always up for a fight.”
Remington looked at me with anger burning in his eyes. “You will not engage in—”
I held up a hand. “I know how serious this is. I’m not going to fuck this up.”
“You never think you’re going to—”
“Goddammit, Remington. Julian’s life is on the line. Do you think I’d play games with that? I think I’m in love with him.” It was a rare thing for me to shock my brother, but I had.
Corbin tried to hold in his laughter but failed. “Don’t tell me you didn’t see that coming.”