“I don’t—”
“You can’t fight it. Do you think I wanted to fall for Marco?”
I snorted. Niall’s boyfriend was an ally of the Marchesis, and the two of them had loathed each other until they were forced to work together. Now they were almost sweet. It was more than a little disgusting.
“We warned you your time would come. And I told you—”
“I do not want to discuss this.”
“Fine. Go call Lucien. Let me contact the others.”
How dare he… “I’m the one who gives the orders.”
“Then go give some to Emilio.”
My mouth dropped open, and I was glad Niall couldn’t see me. I pressed my lips together and composed myself.
“I’ll update you once I’ve talk to everyone,” Niall said.
“Good. Do that.”
“And if you want to talk about—”
“No. Just let me handle things the way I handle them.”
“You don’t have to sacrifice your happiness, you know.”
“Goodbye, Niall.” He was wrong. Too many people were counting on me.
I paced the balcony as I called Lucien, constantly surveying the area around the house. There was a small cove, not far from the spot where the intruder had been, that my men had used the night they’d taken out the majority of the trafficking ring. Was that where the bastard had come in?
“I’ve got a New Orleans problem,” I said when Lucien answered.
“Devil told me you suspected as much.”
“Tell me what you know about Jimmy Wayne Thibodeaux.”
“JW is a slimy, thieving bastard who usually keeps to the bayous. Most people that know him would rather take a chance with a gator.”
“I just had an intruder on my island. He said JW sent him.”
“Damn. I wouldn’t have pegged him as someone who’d get involved with Swain. He usually sticks to more local endeavors. Maybe he wanted to expand.”
“I understand you have some connections in New Orleans.”
“I do. A cousin of mine married into the Theriot family. They don’t like JW or the way he does business. He’s not fond of working through proper channels.”
In other words, he didn’t take orders from them when he should.
“Will they expect something in return if they assist us in getting rid of JW and anyone else who’s involved?”
“That’s likely, but I don’t think they’d ask for something you wouldn’t be willing to give. Your help in bringing down the rest of JW’s organization, such as it is, or something similar.”
Lucien liked rules and order. He ran his business the old-fashioned way, and he thought nothing of criminals who had no code.
“So the Theriots work like your family does?”
“That’s right. They have lines they don’t cross. They’re an honorable family.”
Which to Lucien meant they didn’t harm children, they respected family bonds, and they mitigated collateral damage.
“Find out what they know. I’ll work with them.”
“You’ll hear from me soon.”
“I owe you.”
“Keep my cousin occupied with this so I don’t have to listen to him recount his honeymoon, and we’ll be even.
I laughed. “With Leo out of commission, I could use Devil here if he wants more island vacation time.”
“He will when I tell him there’s no choice.”
I smiled as I ended the call.
The head of my security team texted me to let me know the body was taken care of and they’d found a small boat anchored far offshore. He thought it too difficult a swim against the current, but I wasn’t as skeptical. I’d seen plenty of men do impossible things.
I told him to stay on high alert, and he assured me he would.
I looked down the length of the balcony. There was no light on in my room. Was Emilio there?
If he’d defied me and gone somewhere else—
What are you going to do? Punish him?
I’d love to.
I imagined him squirming around and whimpering as I brought my hand down on his ass. It would be fucking delicious. My cock swelled as I stalked along the balcony. I needed to see that he was safe. I needed to feel him against me. I wasn’t about to admit it to them, but the assholes on my team were right. I couldn’t fight this.
Why now? Why Emilio?
I knew there was no answer to that, just like I knew he was mine.
When I reached the sliding door that led into my room, I paused. Emilio was there, sitting on the bed wearing a cropped lilac t-shirt and very gray sweatpants. Dalton really had outdone himself.
I wondered if Emilio still had his swimsuit on underneath or if he had nothing under there at all. I intended to find out. Sometime I’d make sure he wore that swimsuit just for me. Right then, I wanted him naked.
I didn’t make a sound, but he turned toward me, jumping when he saw me through the glass. I slid the door open and stepped inside, locking it behind me, not that it would do much good, but it might give me an extra few seconds if someone made it all the way to the house. They would be sorry if they did. No one was going to hurt Emilio.