By midafternoon, I was all keyed up again. I hated this kind of waiting. I knew someone was going to make a move somewhere. It would be so much easier to fight than to sit there not knowing what would happen next.
An hour before the library closed, my phone rang. It was Dax. Someone had set fire to a bar we liked to use for private business meetings. Our ownership was widely known, and Remington wanted me on the scene to lay on the charm for the first responders.
I started to insist he send Corbin, but while my younger brother had learned a lot and was becoming a more valuable part of our team, I was best equipped to handle the situation.
“What’s Remington got you doing right now?” I asked Dax.
“Working my network. Learning all I can.”
“I need you here. Come watch over Julian, take him to my condo when the library closes, and stay with him.”
“It will take me half an hour to get there at least.”
“Hurry.”
“Will do.”
Until Dax could get there, I’d have to trust the men I’d put in place. I headed back to Julian’s desk, not about to leave without explaining the situation, or at least what I could of it, to him.
“I’ve got to go handle something that’s come up. Dax will be here soon, and he’ll take you home and stay with you.”
Julian frowned at me. “What’s wrong?”
“Just some family shit to take care of.”
“Bullshit.” I couldn’t help but remember how he wouldn’t say that word the first day I’d met him.
“As far as I know, no one’s hurt, but I’ve got to go smooth things over with local law enforcement.”
“You really can’t tell me more?”
I wanted to tell him everything. About the Carlottis and about the rest of my life, but this wasn’t the time. “Not now. Be careful. Don’t trust anyone.”
“You’ve got three men here. I’ll be fine.”
“Will you keep Tony for me?” Julian reached for the little creature, and my heart skipped a beat. I loved this man.
I bent and gave him a chaste kiss. I thought he’d push me away since he was working, but he pulled me closer and kissed me back, teasing my mouth with his tongue. I felt a lot lighter as I left the library.
32
Julian
I had to pretend my feet were glued to the floor as I watched Lance walk away. I understood why he didn’t want to give me details, especially here where anyone might come in and my colleagues might overhear, but I needed to know how serious the situation was. How much danger was Lance in? When would I see him again?
Lance had put his number in my phone days ago. I had to resist the urge to text him. I didn’t want to disturb him. He needed to focus on whatever was going on. Dax would arrive soon, and I only had another hour of work before he would take me back to Lance’s place. Dax was scary as hell, but I knew Lance wouldn’t leave me with anyone he didn’t trust, and his cousin definitely looked like he could take down most of an army single-handed.
The library was quiet, which was typical for the time of day, but inevitably several people would come in close to closing time, usually requesting something complex and demanding we find it for them.
About ten minutes after Lance had left, I heard the door open and looked up. A man with a pointy, pinched face in an expensive gray suit paused for a moment to speak with Gwen, then headed for my desk.
I doubted this would be a pleasant interaction, but he was a library patron, and the more people who used the library, the better our chances of keeping it open. I pushed thoughts of Lance and the danger we were in away and put a smile on my face. “Good afternoon. How may I help you?”
“I’m interested in letters written by Shirley Ann Grau to her children.”
Grau was a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and a New Orleans native. I knew we had some first editions of her work and was fairly sure we also had some of her correspondence. “Just a moment. Let me check my records.” As I thought, the materials he wanted weren’t in the main archive. They were stored in boxes in a storage area located behind it.
“Follow me, sir. I have some documents that will be useful for you. You can have a seat here.” I gestured to the worktable in the primary archive room. “I have to step into the back. It will take me just a few minutes to locate the items.”
“They’re not stored here?”
“We have more documents in a different room. We keep only the most frequently used items in this part of the archive.”
“I’d like to come with you to see how they’ve been preserved.”