Corbin (The Theriot Family)

“Is everything okay?” Sam asked.

I ran a hand over my hair. While the note was addressed to me, I couldn’t be sure whoever had sent it wouldn’t go after my staff as well. I owed them honesty. “It’s a threat.” I showed it to Sam and then to Joey.

“Shit, boss,” Joey said. “Who would do that?”

The list wasn’t incredibly long, but I had made enemies both in my previous business and in prison.

“I have a few ideas.”

“Marley?” Sam asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. He has no reason to run me off.”

“But he could have been forced to leave it by someone else.”

“I know, and that’s probably what happened.” I turned to Joey. “Were you the first one here today?”

He nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Did anything look unusual or like someone had been here during the night?”

“No, sir. I would’ve told you right away.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “I’ll take a look at the security footage and make sure I don’t see anything, and I’ll make a call to Marley. I’ll let you know what I find out.”

Sam and Joey nodded, and I motioned for them to get back to work. “We’ve got customers waiting on us. I’ll take care of this.”

Once they’d left, I went in search of Leland, another mechanic who worked for me. He hadn’t seen anything suspicious, but he promised to let me know if he did.

I got in contact with my security company. When they pulled the footage from the night before, it was all useless. They swore it wasn’t their fault and insisted someone on my end must have turned off the cameras. Either someone had disabled them when they broke in, or the company was lying out their asses. I figured those things were equally likely.

I called Marley, but he didn’t answer. I left him a message telling him to call me back, or I was going to track him down. I couldn’t spend any more time worrying about the note. I had no doubt Corbin would be back to pester me tomorrow afternoon. I needed to focus on finishing the repairs on Remington’s SUV so if the little shit showed up tomorrow, I could send him on his way. It was a shame he’d be leaving without the spanking he deserved.

Three

Corbin

I managed to avoid seeing Remington for the rest of the day. I sent him a text saying the car wasn’t ready, but I’d get it soon. I hoped he’d be too distracted by our growing troubles with the Landrys to ask for more details, but the next day his call woke me up. He didn’t even bother with a greeting. He just started in about needing his SUV for some reconnaissance work that night. “I need you to get my SUV back from Beau before tonight. If he hasn’t finished it, lean on him.”

The last thing I wanted was to be told off by Beau again. “That guy is an asshole. Can’t you use somebody else?”

“No, we most certainly cannot use someone else. He owes me because I helped get him out of prison, and he’s damn good at what he does. If there’s anything he can’t do for me, he’s got connections to people who can.”

“When I stopped by yesterday, he told me not to rush him. That he’d get to it when he got to it.”

Instead of being angry with Beau, Remington acted like it was my fault. “Assert yourself.”

I had, or at least I’d intended to. I’d thought he’d respect me because I was a Theriot. “But shouldn’t he—”

“People don’t bow down to us automatically. You’ve been given everything your whole life. People aren’t going to give you their obedience. You’re going to have to take it.”

Just what I needed, another lecture about what a spoiled brat I was. “I want to be a part of whatever you’ve got going tonight.”

Remington was silent for several seconds before saying, “You can be our driver.”

I knew in his mind he was making a concession by allowing his kid brother to drive the getaway car, but I wanted more. I wanted him to stop excluding me from all the exciting shit he and Lance and our cousin Dax did. I wanted to argue, but then he would push me out completely. What did I have to do to prove myself to him? “All right, fine. I’ll have the car.”

I called Beau’s shop and talked to one of the other mechanics who said I could pick up the SUV just before closing time. That meant I had several hours to wait around. I didn’t need down time. All I’d done after getting home the night before was think about Beau, his self-satisfied grin when he’d caught me watching him, and how fucking sexy he was. I hated how much I wanted him.