Ambrose (The Theriot Family 5)

I continued to watch as I pondered how to handle the situation. I could always call in my favor from Ambrose, but I wasn’t sure it was wise for me to see him again.

The men finished unloading and drove away, but I stayed put. I wasn’t sure I wanted to risk approaching the shack, and I certainly wasn’t going to do it until they were long gone and I was certain no one else was going to show up to pick up the crates they had left.

LePlatt was nothing but a petty criminal compared to Carlotti. His name was widely known in the criminal world. All he had to do was appear, and doors opened with people ready to do his bidding. I wasn’t even sure the Theriots could get him out of my parish. They’d recently had an altercation with him, but they’d settled it without an all-out war. Still, no matter how much I wanted to avoid Ambrose, I was going to have to seek him out. What other choice did I have?

I’d spent way too much time over the last month thinking about him. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get him out of my mind. The haunted look on his face when I’d asked him how he would go about eliminating me still bothered me, and the way he’d smiled at me and teased me still made my cock stir. I hated myself for wanting him, but I couldn’t help it. He’d become my primary fantasy fodder. I’d jerked off again and again imagining him fucking me, thinking of how rough he’d be, how little he’d say, and then envisioning it all again but with me topping him, opening him up, pushing inside him, watching the ecstasy on his face as he came with my dick buried in his ass.

When I felt as confident as I could that no one else was going to show up to collect the drugs and possibly see me moving through the woods, I got out of there. I made myself dinner as soon as I got home, then managed to convince myself to wait until the morning to call Ambrose.

The next morning, I had to handle a call about a domestic dispute first thing, so it was almost lunchtime before I had a chance to make my call. I parked on the side of a deserted road and pulled out my phone. There was no way in hell I was going to make a call like this anywhere near the station or where anyone else might hear me.

I brought Ambrose’s contact up, and before I could talk myself out of it, I placed the call.

“Good morning.” His rich voice had me hot with just those two words. “I didn’t expect to hear from you again.”

“You owe me.” I blurted the words out without thinking. Why hadn’t I planned what I wanted to say? This wasn’t the time to let my nerves show. Why did this fucking man affect me so much?

He’s hurt, and you want to fix him.

“You’re calling in your favor? I didn’t expect to actually hear from you. I got the impression you never wanted to see me again.”

“I didn’t,” I lied. “But I have a situation here.”

“Tell me about it.” I could hear the smile in his damn voice.

“You know how you said if I just took down one guy in LePlatt’s operation, someone would replace him? Well, the same rule applies to taking down a small-time dealer.”

Ambrose was silent for a moment, but I knew better than to rush him, so I waited until he spoke. “You’re telling me someone has taken LePlatt’s place?”

“Yes, an enemy of yours. Valentino Carlotti.”

“Fuck.”

I heard the unease in Ambrose’s voice. I pushed my advantage. “You not only went back on our deal, you made things worse, and now you’re going to help me fix it.”

“You’re right. I am.”

I pulled the phone from my ear and stared at it before bringing it back. Had he really agreed to help me just like that?

I heard a dog barking in the background. I’d been under the impression Ambrose preferred to be alone, completely alone, without even a pet. “Do you have a dog?”

“No.”

“I hear a dog.”

“The longer you keep me on the phone, the longer it’s going to be before I can start my research on Carlotti.”

Why was he being so cagey? “I’ve got information for you.”

“I can get my own.”

I heard another sharp yip. “You have got to be the most fucking stubborn man I’ve ever met, and that is definitely a dog.”

Ambrose gave the put-upon sigh I’d heard a million times while we were staked out, waiting for LePlatt to show up.

“It’s Travis’s dog.”

“The one LePlatt’s men used to trick him.”

“Yes.”

More sharp barks. “What’s going on with her?”

“She wants attention.”