He rolled his eyes. “I really liked you better when you weren’t in charge.”
“Well, get used to it because Pop’s going to be taking less and less of a role. He deserves a nice retirement. He’s worked hard his whole life.”
“So it’s your turn to lord it over the rest of us?” Lance was thirty-two years old, but sometimes I didn’t think he’d changed a bit since he was fifteen. Would he ever grow up?
“Change your attitude or get out.”
“Out of your house or out of the family business?”
“Both.”
A few weeks ago, Lance had taken off without permission and had shown up on the private island of one of our allies. He was lucky he hadn’t gotten himself killed, and he’d managed to ingratiate himself with the men there by playing a pivotal role in the takedown of their enemies. Still, I had to figure out how to keep him in check. He wasn’t all trouble. His tracking skills were off the charts. He was a damn good fighter, and he had an excellent head for business when he used it.
Lance sighed and flopped onto a stool at the kitchen island. Tony jumped from his shoulder onto his lap. He petted the little monkey’s head, and Tony preened. I refused to think Tony was cute. He was a little demon.
“Have you got any fruit?” Lance asked.
I stared at him, wondering if maybe he was high. “What?”
“Fruit. Tony’s hungry.”
“You want me to get a snack for your monkey?”
“You don’t want him to be sad, do you?”
It was easier to just give in. As I started to check to see if I still had some of Tony’s favorite mango chips, our much younger brother, Corbin, showed up. He was technically our half brother, but I never thought of him differently than Lance. Our stepmother was fantastic—the love of my dad’s life—and I’d never once resented her.
Corbin was even more of a pain in the ass than Lancelot. He thought he knew way more than he did, which I suppose was normal for his age, though he was only one year younger than Henri, who’d shown none of Corbin’s immaturity, at least not in the time we’d spent together. Why did I already feel like I knew Henri so well?
Lance was a ball of unrestrained energy, ready to fly off in any direction at any time, but he understood the seriousness of our actions. Corbin was far too undisciplined. I loved Pop and my stepmom, Marjorie, but they’d spoiled Corbin, and he needed to learn that in the real world there were serious consequences. It was going to fall to me to bring him to heel.
Corbin had clearly been asleep. He’d taken forever to answer the phone, and he looked like he’d fallen out of bed and driven right over. He was wearing an oversized t-shirt that might’ve once belonged to me. On his leaner frame, it fell halfway to his knees. He was small like Marjorie, and he also had her blond hair.
“Remy,” he whined. “Did you really have to get me out of bed? I’d only been asleep for, like, an hour.”
“I haven’t been to sleep at all. I’ve been working, and that’s what you’re going to do now.” The fact that I’d taken time with Henri was irrelevant.
“Fuck me. You’re worse than Pop.”
“Exactly what I said.” Lancelot raised a hand for a high five.
“Are you two assholes done?” I asked when they’d slapped hands and Corbin had also taken a seat.
They both gave each other a look that said Remington’s got a stick up his ass again. I was used to it. I wasn’t going to change, but I sure as hell hoped they were.
“Is Dax coming too?” Corbin asked as he yanked open a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. Lance must have found them along with the mango chips while I was letting Corbin in.
“Nice breakfast, and thanks for asking first,” I said.
“He’s on his way,” Lance said, answering Corbin’s question. “Dax called me bitching about being disturbed while he was with a woman because you needed a tow and then being woken up by you telling him to get his ass over here. Why didn’t you call me?”
I glared at him. “I did. You didn’t answer.”
Lancelot frowned. “Oh, yeah. I was tracking a lead, and my phone was turned off.”
“At least you were getting work done.”
A noise came from upstairs, probably Henri shifting position in bed.
“Is someone else here?” Corbin asked.
“Yes, the someone whose phone I used to call Dax because the burner phone you gave me hadn’t been charged. He’s sleeping, and he’s none of your business.”
I saw Lancelot’s brows shoot up. Fuck, I’d been too defensive. I didn’t need anyone knowing just how interested I was in Henri. That would give Lance leverage over me.
“Ah, shit,” Corbin said. “I forgot to check.”