Timon Landry lay on the floor with a hole through his chest. Tony was nowhere in sight. Hopefully he was in a good hiding place. Lance barely jumped aside in time to avoid a bullet from Clark who apparently realized we weren’t on his side. I ended him, and I didn’t stop shooting until I put down everyone who looked ready to come for us. By that time, the men with me had subdued or eliminated everyone else.
I made my way to where Lance sat on the floor using some crates for cover. “Are you all right?”
He waved his good hand dismissively. “I’m fine. Where’s Tony?”
The little monkey immediately came out from behind another crate, screeching with excitement. Lance scooped him right up, and I rolled my eyes as I opened the crates to look at the goods that had been brought in.
As we’d expected, they contained military-grade assault rifles and grenade launchers. Whether the Landrys had planned to keep them for themselves or sell them, they would have been a pain in the ass for us. We didn’t need these in the hands of our enemies and didn’t want them in the hands of kids. If anybody was going to have weapons like these, it was going to be my family and those who allied with us.
I looked around for the man who’d shot Charles and saw him lying on the floor in a pool of blood. He wasn’t going to be answering any of my questions. That was unfortunate, but overall, the night was a success. Elandra Landry hadn’t shown up. I hoped she would get far away from New Orleans and stay there. We’d lost the gunrunners their importer and their cash for the night. Hopefully that would make them question defying our rule of the city. If not, we’d come for them more directly. No matter how badass they thought they were, no matter what weapons they had, New Orleans was mine, and they weren’t taking it from me.
Cleaning up after we’d neutralized the threat to the family business took a while. We had a lot of bodies to deal with. It was nearly six a.m. before I got back to my house. I found Corbin in the living room watching a movie and eating popcorn. I’d come home to my father’s house and seen him just like that so many times when he was a teenager. It made me smile.
“Is Henri upstairs?” I asked.
“Yes. He’s asleep. He needed vodka to cope with being worried about you, but I made him drink some water and take something before I put him to bed.”
“How long ago?” I asked.
Corbin frowned. “Maybe three hours.”
“Hopefully when I wake him, he’ll still be drunk and not hungover.”
“Yeah, I was a little worried about that. I was sure you’d want to see him when you got home, but he was terrified. He couldn’t stop thinking about you not coming home. He did insist on a shower before bed. I was worried he’d fall down and crack his head, but he managed.”
“You watched him in the shower?” My hands curled into fists. I didn’t like that at all.
Corbin rolled his eyes at my display of jealousy. “I took care of him. He’s not my type. You know that.”
His type were bad boys who got him into trouble or women who didn’t care when he didn’t call or even remember their names. They came seeking him.
“Thank you.”
Corbin’s eyes widened, and I hated that me thanking him was so shocking. I needed to do better by him.
“You’re welcome. It wasn’t like this was a hard assignment.”
“If someone had gotten in here, you were his main line of defense. I think that’s really damn important.”
“But you got to be in the middle of the action.”
I’d texted with him to confirm that things had gone as they should. “I was, but we’ve got more investigating to do, and you know what…”
“What?” He looked suspicious as hell.
“I think you would play the role better than Lance.”
His eyes went wide. “He fucked it up?”
“He can’t turn off his need to assess everyone, so they thought he was a cop. You’re better at appearing relaxed.”
“So next time?”
“We’ll see. Go home and get some sleep.”
“Are we meeting up later this morning?” he asked as he got to his feet.
“Let’s hold off until early afternoon.”
As soon as Corbin was gone, I hurried upstairs. I needed to see Henri. I needed to be inside him to remind myself my world wasn’t all death and darkness.
Henri was sleeping on his stomach, spread out like a starfish in the center of the bed, face buried in my pillow. I watched him for several moments. The streetlight shining through the window made his hair look like it was on fire, and his long lashes glittered against his cheek. Finally, I couldn’t wait any longer. I stripped, dropping my clothes right where I stood, then I pulled the covers back and climbed onto the bed.
Henri shivered and stirred, but he didn’t wake. I settled between his legs, pushing them wider. He groaned and wriggled his ass.
He was so fucking beautiful all spread out like that for me. I took hold of his ass cheeks and pulled them apart, exposing his hole to me so I could swipe my tongue across it. Henri lifted his hips as though seeking more. I teased him, fluttering the tip of my tongue over his hole.
“Remy?” his sleepy voice asked.
“You damn well better not think it’s anybody else.” I pushed two fingers inside him. “Who does this ass belong to?
“You.” He blinked and turned to look at me. “You’re safe?”
“Yes, and now I need the spoils of my victory.”
“You can have anything you want from me.”
His confession threatened to overwhelm me. I tugged on his hips until he brought his knees under himself giving me better access. Pleasure. That’s what I would focus on, not the confusing emotions swirling in my head.
“Open your legs more.” He did as I said,
