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“This is Corbin,” Henri said. “He’s Lance’s younger brother, and Beau is his boyfriend. Corbin, this is Julian. He’s gotten caught up in your brothers’ latest… situation.”
Corbin rolled his eyes. “I just heard all about that. Lance is impulsive as fuck, but he was right not to leave you alone. I wouldn’t have either.” Corbin held out his hand for me to shake, and I accepted it.
“Are you done plotting?” Henri asked.
“I am. I decided not to stay for the tell-Lance-off portion of the meeting.”
Henri smiled. “Wise decision.”
“Will he… Is everything okay?”
Corbin laughed. “As much as it ever is around here.”
I wondered what it would have been like growing up in their family. “Do they argue a lot?”
“They’re brothers, so yeah. We all fight.”
I’d never experienced that. “I was an only child.”
“Me too,” Henri said.
Corbin snorted. “You were lucky.”
“You love your brothers,” Henri insisted.
“I know. Overall, they’re pretty great, but they’re obnoxious as fuck.”
“That I have noticed,” I said.
I heard a door slam, and Lance appeared in the kitchen. “Let’s go.”
“Oh no,” Henri said. “You need to stay and settle this. I hate dealing with Remy’s pouting after you leave.”
“Henri, you’re probably the only one he’ll be willing to talk to right now.”
“Hey,” Corbin said, holding his hands up in a surrender posture. “I didn’t do anything.”
“He’ll find something to argue with you about. He’s in that kind of mood.”
“He’s worried about the necklace,” Corbin said.
Lance ran a hand through his hair. “I know.”
Their tension was only making mine worse. I wanted to finish my cake, but I wasn’t sure I could swallow anymore. “What are you doing with the necklace?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
“Then take me home.”
Lance frowned. “That’s what I’m going to do.”
“No. I want to go to my own home whether I’m part of this or not.”
“You’re in danger, and you’re staying with me.”
Henri stepped between us. “Lance, why don’t you—”
“Henri, I appreciate you entertaining Julian while we talked, but it’s time for us to go.” Lance grabbed my arm and started tugging me toward the door.
A screech behind us stopped him in his tracks.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Corbin asked.
We turned to see Tony jumping up and down on the counter, looking as angry as he had when I’d taken his snack at the library.
Corbin whistled. “Damn, Lance. You really are messed up over Julian. You almost forgot your monkey.
“Shut up.” He pointed a finger at Corbin. Henri and Corbin both snickered as he scooped Tony up and grabbed me again.
“Watch yourself, Lance,” Corbin said. “You don’t want to screw this up.”
Was he talking about the situation with the necklace, or was he talking about me?
When we got to the car, Lance seemed confused about how to keep control over me while also giving Tony the attention he wanted. Knowing that going with him was inevitable, I simply got into the car. Tony settled on the console between me and Lance and poked Lance’s arm to get his attention.
“Tony’s not going to like it if you have to spend all your time subduing me,” I said.
“I’ll tie you up if I need to. You’re not leaving my house.”
Fear froze me in place. I really was at his mercy. I had no doubt he was armed, and Tony would likely obey his commands in a serious situation. I could try to escape, but what were my chances? How the hell did I really know anything he said was true?
He didn’t pull that necklace out of the air.
No, but he could be working with the person who’d hidden it there.
“Look at me,” Lance ordered.
I did. It was dark in the interior of the car, so even when I faced him, I couldn’t see his face clearly enough to read anything there.
“You need to stay with me to be safe. I wish…” He shook his head.
“What?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
I had a feeling it really did. The air was charged with emotion. I no longer wanted to run. I wanted to reach out and touch him like he was the one that needed to be soothed.
“I need you to promise me you’ll stay put, and you’ll do what I say.”
“I understand I’m in danger, or at least you sincerely believe that, but—”
He gripped my shoulders hard. “This isn’t some idea I have in my head. I’m not blowing this out of proportion. The men that want this necklace would kill you on sight without a second thought, and if they think you know something useful, they will take you and torture it out of you, and they’ll enjoy it.”
I swallowed hard. Tears burned behind my eyes. “Why is this happening?”
“Because I was a fucking idiot and didn’t just handle things the way I should.”
I stared at him for a moment. Had he really said that?
I wanted to blame him, but I didn’t really. “Even if I’d cooperated from the beginning, they still might suspect I knew something.”
