Remy had gotten an alert through his security feed—a few motion cameras that were on the perimeter of the cabin. The guy was closing in from the rear.
Or, correction, the foolthoughthe was closing in. Coming up for a sneak attack.
Not happening.
Remy had slept far longer than he’d realized. Sleeping hadn’t been something he intended to do, not with the clusterfuck surrounding him and Jacqueline, but he’d fallen intoa heavy, contented sleep after the fucking mind-blowing sex with her. He’d awoken suddenly, senses humming, with the certainty that danger was coming.
He always got that adrenaline kick right before something bad happened. Probably because he spent too much timewithbad things occurring in his life. Even before he’d reached for his phone and checked the footage, he’d known that he needed to prepare.
There were lots of ways that he could play the scene. He could send a warning shot outside that would make the fool scamper back. He could rush out and attack his prey head on. Or…
Or I could roll out the welcome mat.
He rather liked to do the unexpected, so Remy figured he’d go with the third option. Once Remy reached the first floor of the cabin, he marched straight for the back door. He unlocked that door.
That should make things easier.
He made certain all the lights were still on in the kitchen. After all, he wanted a nice view of his visitor. Remy glanced around and picked the perfect spot to wait for the prick—uh, his guest. The waiting spot was a few feet to the right of the door.
He took up his position, he pulled out his gun, and he kept it aimed at the door.
Sure enough, less than five minutes later, that door swung open. A man rushed inside. He didn’t even slow down when he entered the kitchen, but barreled forward.
Remy advanced from his hiding spot and kicked the back door shut. “Yeah, dumbass, you need to freeze.”
The dumbass didnotfreeze. Instead, he whirled to face Remy.
And the dumbasssmiled.“Aw, come on,” he chided as he ducked his head toward Remy. “Is this really the best way to greet your best friend in the entire world?”
Chapter Eight
Hell.
Remy glared at the man before him. “Constantine.”
The light hit his dark hair as Constantine Leos dipped his head forward. “The one and only.” His brows wiggled as he took note of the gun. “Want to tell me why you’re aiming a gun at your bestie?”
“You shouldn’t be here.” He did not lower the gun. “You should be far, far away from here.”
“Oh? Really?” Constantine pretended to ponder that. “Far away, you say?”
“Yes,” he gritted out from between clenched teeth.
“That why you ditched my ass the last few months? Why you seemingly vanished on me without a trace? After all the shit I did for you? You wanted to befar awayfrom me?Me? The man who always had your freaking six no matter what?” Anger broke through what had been a mocking mask on Constantine’s face. “You might as well have been my fucking brother. Ibledfor you, man. Then you turned your back on me. You left me. You—”
“You don’t need to be here.” He could not deal with this situation right now. “I don’t know how you found me, but you need to take your ass back out and get on your motorcycleor your four-wheeler or whatever you used to get through the woods and go away. It’s not safe here.”
Constantine laughed. “Since when have either of us cared about safety?”
Since the time I thought you’d been killed because of me.Remy studied the man before him and tried to figure out what the hell he should do next.
“You got Fabian’s granddaughter stashed somewhere in the cabin.” Constantine nodded. “You think she’s gonna lead you to the twenty million? Figure you’ll just keep it all for yourself once you get it and disappear into the mist?Thatwhy you don’t want me around?”
“No, dumbass.” Remy surged toward him. “I want you gone because I’m tired of you getting hurt and having your life thrown to shit because you have the misfortune to be my friend.”
“Youronlyfriend,” Constantine pointed out. But he frowned at Remy. “Wait…are you…oh, hell, no. No.” A hard, negative shake of his head. “You didn’t ghost me because you were playing a martyr.”
Constantine needed to get out of there. “Look, I’m kind of dealing with some shit right now. Bad guys are coming—”