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Lance started to say something, but I shook my head. “Don’t. Do you tell me everywhere you go?”
“No, but I was worried about you.”
I knew he truly was. He wanted to know I was safe, and I did love him, but he was infuriating as hell.
“Feel like drinking more?”
Lance’s grin told me he was trying to make amends, and him inviting me out was the closest I would get to an apology. I might as well go since Beau wasn’t coming back tonight. He’d told me he’d pick me up at seven the next morning for work. Being out with Lance was always entertaining. Tony drew plenty of attention, not that Lance didn’t get plenty of looks himself.
“Sure. Where do you want to go?”
“Let’s just walk around and see what calls to us.”
I stood up, about to say I’d go change when I realized it had been a few moments since I’d seen Tony. “Where’s the monkey?”
Lance glanced around, then we looked at each other. Remington absolutely hated Tony being loose in his house. We both called his name as we ran upstairs. We found him in Remington’s music room. He was standing in front of Remy’s cello, tapping on the wood and seeming to enjoy the vibrations it made. If Tony harmed that cello, Remington would probably shoot us on sight when he returned and dump our bodies out in the bayou.
“Tony, get away from there,” Lance scolded. “You know better.”
Tony glanced at Lance and then back at the cello. My brother quickly scooped him up. Tony chattered at him, showing no contrition.
“Hold on to him while I change,” I said. “I won’t take the blame for anything that monkey does.”
“You watch yourself, or I’ll let him loose and swear I was never here.”
I think Remington can tell the difference between the kind of destruction I would make from the kind made by a monkey.
Lance leaned his head to the side and frowned. “I’m not so sure.”
Lance and I ended up at one of my favorite bars. It looked too run-down to attract many tourists, even though it was right in the heart of the Quarter. They made the best Sazerac in town, and the inside was always dark and cool.
Archie, the owner, was working the bar as usual. In my mind, he didn’t really sleep. I would think he was a vampire, except he didn’t fit the image, being somewhere in his midseventies, round, and balding.
Lance waved at him and kept walking.
“You little shit. You know you can’t have that monkey in here,” Archie called. This was a debate they had again and again. Since he’d acquired the little monkey, Lance didn’t go anywhere without Tony.
“You know you love Tony,” Lance hollered back. Archie flipped him off. “If anybody questions it, I got your back. You know that.”
It was against city ordinance to have a monkey or any other animal that wasn’t certified as a necessary assistant to their human in a bar, but this was a city where no one even tried to hide the fact that all you needed to get around an ordinance was the appropriate bribe. Archie knew he had nothing to worry about. The Theriots would take care of any problems he had. His business license was secure, even if Lance brought in a whole troop of monkeys.
We managed to find a booth toward the back of the bar where it was quiet enough for us to talk, not that I was looking forward to Lance grilling me more. Before he had a chance to start in on me, Archie showed up with a Sazerac for me, a beer for Lance, and a bowl of cherries and orange pieces for Tony.
Lance fake punched Archie’s arm. “See? You love the little guy. I knew it.”
Archie rolled his eyes and headed back to the bar. Lance and I didn’t talk much as we finished our first drinks. A waitress brought over another round before we even had to ask.
I thought about Beau saying I was used to everything being done for me, that I never had to put out effort, never had to work. He was right, but I wanted to take part in the family business. I was willing to risk everything because I liked the lifestyle we had, though I had to admit I didn’t hate working at Beau’s shop as much as I’d expected to. Yes, I had to get over being sweaty and dirty, and after two days, I was still sore as hell, but I liked the buzz of work in the shop. I liked being around so much activity and listening to the banter between the people who worked there. I wanted to be part of something, not just a doll that sat on the shelf while everyone else took care of things.
