“I’ll take good care of Henri. I’ll chat with him and tell him all the obnoxious shit you do. I’ll be sure to give him plenty of ammunition against you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Come on. Let’s see if we can get Lance to part with Tony.”
“Remington?”
I turned back and looked at Corbin.
“Be careful.”
“Always.”
After multiple attempts to get Lance to part with Tony, I gave up and focused on all the players we’d gathered. “Does everyone understand their role?”
“I went over everything just like you told me to,” Lance said.
“I need to hear it from each of them.” I was all right with delegating the briefing, but I needed confirmation from every person there that they understood their orders.
“Yes, boss” and “Yes, sir” echoed around the room.
I made eye contact with each man, letting him know I expected him to follow orders precisely. If any of them fucked up, there would be hell to pay. “All right. I want everyone to move into position.” This is the point where all I could do was pray.
I grabbed Lance’s arm and held him back as everyone filed from the room. “You okay?”
“Yeah. You?”
I huffed. “I don’t have a choice.”
“You don’t have a choice in what you show everyone, but what’s in here”—he tapped my chest—“is different. If you weren’t a little concerned, I’d be damn sure you were a fucking robot.”
“Lance, I…”
He clapped me on the shoulder. “It’s a solid plan. We’re good to go.”
“Be safe. Don’t put yourself in more danger than you have to.”
He rolled his eyes. “You’ve been telling me that for years.”
“And you haven’t listened once.”
34
Henri
I hadn’t been back at Remington’s house long when I heard the front door open. No way could Remington already be done with his business. Had he changed his mind and come to see me before things heated up?
“Henri? It’s Corbin.”
I tensed. Remington had said Corbin could be irresponsible, but he hadn’t said anything to indicate he didn’t trust him, so I supposed I should trust him too. I stepped out from the kitchen where I’d been stress eating right from the carton of dark chocolate brownie ice cream.
Corbin locked the door behind him and headed my way. When he saw the ice cream, his eyes lit up. “I don’t suppose you’re willing to share?”
He looked at the ice cream and then at me. “Oh, yeah. Sure.”
“Or I can look around to see what else Remington has.”
“No, really. I shouldn’t eat all this.”
He snorted. “You have to deal with my brother, so you probably need every bite.”
“Did he send you here?” I asked.
“Yes. He asked me to stay with you until he returns.”
“So you’re not… involved in whatever’s going on tonight?”
“Fuck no. Remington won’t let me in on it. He thinks I’m still a kid.” Corbin scoffed as he got himself a spoon and dug it into the ice cream.
I knew we were basically the same age, but he seemed younger, probably because he hadn’t been forced to take on the responsibilities of life like I had, though in his case it sounded like no one was giving him the chance to prove himself. I wasn’t sure what I should say. I shouldn’t involve myself in Remington’s family issues. “I’m sure he’s trying to protect you.”
“I know that’s part of it,” Corbin said before digging in for another big scoop of ice cream. After he licked the spoon clean, he tapped it against his lips. “But it’s more that he doesn’t trust me.”
“Do you want to tell me why?”
Corbin studied me for a moment, then grinned. “Yeah, I do. I see why Remington likes talking to you.”
“Talking is not the reason we got together.”
Corbin grimaced. “I don’t want to think about my brother that way, but just so you know, he would never stay with a man as long as he has with you if he didn’t enjoy the time you spent together out of bed.”
Was that really true? I wasn’t going to let myself believe it. Remy had hired me. It wasn’t like he’d gone on a date with me and decided he really liked me. This was a professional arrangement.
However, it was true that he seemed to enjoy the moments when we lay in bed cuddling or chatted by the fireplace or read together, and the day he’d taken me around the city had been magical, even if he had worked from dawn to dusk almost every day after.
“Remington is a control freak,” Corbin said. “He thinks he has to be in charge of everybody and everything. I’m sure you’ve noticed.”
“I… um… I’ve noticed.” Heat filled my face as I thought about the ways Remington had shown me his need for control. I was a rent boy who blushed when I thought about sex. What the hell had I been thinking going along with my cousin’s scheme?
If Remington hadn’t come along when he had, God knows what would’ve happened to me. I was so fucking glad I’d had a chance to be with him. Even if I never saw him again after our time was up, he’d have given me an amazing two weeks and taught me what good sex was like, what real pleasure was all about.
“I don’t like being told what to do,” Corbin said. “So I haven’t always followed Remy’s orders precisely like he wanted me to. I fucked some things up, and yeah, my mama spoiled me. That doesn’t mean I can’t ever grow up, but no matter what I do, Remy won’t believe I have.”
I could see the pain in Corbin’s eyes, and I wished I could do something to make the situation between him and Remington better. I had a feeling they were both at fault, Remington for not allowing or accepting change in his brother and Corbin for not following directions. Something about
