“We’re here.” Ambrose and I stepped out into the open.
“Thank God.” Dax was much too pale. He’d clearly been terrified.
“I told you the scream was Carlotti,” Lance said. Tony was sitting on his shoulder and chattered his agreement.
Dax pulled Ambrose into his arms. “We found the bastards who helped him escape and took care of them. One of them was already dead. Apparently, he hadn’t been quite loyal enough. When we realized Carlotti was headed here, we tried to call, but neither of our phones had service.”
“How many times have I told you to get a satellite phone?” Ambrose asked. “You can’t be bound by fucking service areas.”
Dax ignored him. “What happened to Carlotti?”
Ambrose and I both looked at the water.
“Oh my God,” Lance said. “You’re kidding.”
Dax grinned. “I told you he had a pet alligator.”
“He’s not a pet. He’s a colleague.”
As we were talking, Gerard emerged once again.
Tony jumped down from Lance’s shoulder and snagged a bag of mango slices from his pocket before scrambling to the ground.
“No!” Lance shouted.
The little monkey would hardly qualify as a snack for the gator, but I wasn’t sure that would stop Gerard from snatching him up.
We all called Tony, but he continued toward the huge beast. When he was a few feet from Gerard, Tony jumped up and down excitedly, then tossed several mango slices toward the gator.
Gerard seized one in his teeth, and I would swear he nodded at Tony before turning around to head back into the water.
“Thank you,” Ambrose called, and the rest of us responded with the same as the alligator slipped under the surface and disappeared.
“Was Tony really thanking Gerard?” I asked.
“Of course. Didn’t you want to thank him?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I did.”
27
Ambrose
We gave Dax and Lance a ride back to where they had left their vehicle. On the way, they explained to us that Carlotti had apparently threatened some of Ambrose’s neighbors, demanding they tell him how to get to the cabin. He probably wouldn’t have found us if we hadn’t left, but then we might not have found him either. He would’ve died eventually, lost out there in the bayou, but I’d needed to know for certain that he was dead. In the end, I hadn’t been sure I could actually watch, but as horrible as it was, it had brought closure.
I looked at Eric and hoped that closure would let us figure out how to move forward from here. My stomach knotted at the thought of Eric leaving, but I also knew I didn’t have much to offer. What if he wanted to close everything about this chapter of his life?
“Remington is going to want to talk to you,” Lance said when we dropped them off.
“Not today.”
“I think you can put him off until tomorrow. His only other option is to come all the way out here, and I don’t think he’s going to want to do that, so you better call him first thing.”
“I will.”
“First thing does not mean five a.m.,” Dax said.
“It would do him good to wake up then.”
Dax huffed. “It’s on you if you try it.”
“Thank you,” Eric said, extending his hand to my twin.
Lance clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re family now. We always protect family.”
He and Eric hugged, then he headed toward his SUV.
“Don’t fuck this up,” Dax said, holding my gaze.
I remembered saying the same to him about Travis. Was this wonderful yet horrible feeling that I thought might destroy everything inside me what Dax had felt for Travis? The desperation to be with someone I thought might reject me?
“How did you do it?” I asked him.
“Follow your instincts, your real, deep-down gut instincts.”
I nodded and waved him on.
The silence between Eric and me felt heavy and awkward as we drove back to the cabin, but I couldn’t make myself say anything. Adrenaline still pumped through me from how close to death we’d both come. Carlotti could have shot us both.
As if he knew where my thoughts were headed, Eric reached for my hand. “We’re safe now.”
We were safe from Carlotti, but I wasn’t safe, not loving Eric the way I did, not feeling dependent on him being around when I had no actual control over him. I could subdue him and tie him to my bed, but I didn’t want that. I wanted him with me because it was where he wanted to be.
I debated whether to go to the cabin where I felt safest or the house where Eric would be more comfortable.
I chose the house. I could always retreat to the cabin when I needed to, but the house was where I wanted to make a new start with Eric. Could I really do something like that for myself after years of thinking I didn’t deserve it?
I pulled up in front of the house, but when I got out of the truck, I stood there staring at the door. I couldn’t make my feet move.