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“If he hears anyone approaching his property, he shoots first and asks questions later.”
“But you said it was fine if you visited.”
“That’s if he’s had warning. I called him, but he didn’t answer. Sometimes he goes on hunting expeditions and doesn’t take his phone, and reception is shit out there at the best of times.”
“So you’re saying he might shoot us?”
“As soon as he realizes who we are, it will be fine, and who knows, he might check his messages before we get there.”
“That’s—”
“Just keep your head down when I tell you to, and it’ll be fine.”
How was he so casual about this? “How will he know?”
“That it’s us? He’ll recognize my car, but honestly, twins just know sometimes.”
I shook my head. “I mean how will he know you and I… That we…”
Beau chuckled at my inability to get words out. “I know that at times you and Beau have been really close. Brothers often have a special bond, unless one of them is a total asshole.”
“Sometimes Beau is an asshole.”
Dax laughed. “I mean really an asshole. You know, like if Jean-Charles was your brother.”
I thought about what Rob had wanted me to do to get Jean-Charles off his back. That definitely wasn’t brotherly.”
Dax frowned. “Travis, what’s wrong?”
I shook my head, trying to push the memory away. “Nothing. I’m fine.”
I didn’t think he believed me, but he didn’t push any harder. “With twins, the bond is much stronger. It probably sounds crazy, but we can sense what the other is feeling… or at least we could until Ambrose shut me out.”
I laid a hand on his thigh. “I’m sorry.”
He sighed. “It’s okay. Things are slowly getting better. I hope eventually our bond will feel like it used to, but I’m not sure how much further his recovery can go unless he’s willing to step out of the bayou for something other than planning an attack with the family.”
“Maybe something will change that.”
Dax sighed. “I wish I knew what.”
We were silent for a few moments, then he squeezed my hand. “Tell me what made you looked so scared when I mentioned Jean-Charles.”
“I don’t know if I can talk about it.”
“Okay, but if you want to, I’m here to listen.”
If he’d pushed me, I would have protested, but his acceptance of me moving at whatever pace I wanted made me feel safe. “I never intended to tell anyone this, but when Rob couldn’t meet the quotas LePlatt demanded, LePlatt sent Jean-Charles to shake him up. Jean-Charles made it very clear what would happen to Rob if he didn’t come up with the money in the next twenty-four hours. I hid during the whole encounter, but I heard every word. Rob came looking for me when Jean-Charles left. He told me there was no way he could get the money, so he was going to offer Jean-Charles the use of my body as payment.”
“That motherfucking bastard. I can’t believe—”
“I’m here with you now. It’s okay.”
“Nothing about this is okay.”
“I told Rob no. It was the first time I’d ever had the courage to do that. He told me I would do exactly as I was told, then he locked me in a closet and refused to give me food or water. He left me there until just before Jean-Charles returned the next day.” As I talked, I fell deeper and deeper into the past until it was like I was there, watching the whole scene play out again…
Rob jerked me out of the closet and forced me to shower and fix myself up. When Jean-Charles demanded his money, Rob said, “I need a little more time, but you can have him until I’ve got the money.”
Jean-Charles stared at him like he was crazy. “You think I’m fucking gay? What do you want me to do with him?”
“He sucks dick like nobody’s business. Just close your eyes and you won’t even notice the difference.”
“LePlatt wants the money you owe him, and we’re not in the business of waiting around to take payment.”
“I can give you some of the product back.”
Jean-Charles shook his head. “You take the product. You buy it. That’s how this works.”
Rob had gone white as a sheet. I had tried to shrink into myself and disappear. Thankfully, Jean-Charles never looked at me after his initial assessment.
Rob cleared his throat and managed to speak again. “If you don’t want the boy to fuck, you could hurt him. I hear you like to cut people. You’d enjoy messing up his pretty little face.”
Jean-Charles shook his head. “It’s your pretty face I want to mess up.” He glanced at me again. “My boss might want him.” The thought of that made my stomach turn. I’d never met LePlatt, but I’d heard rumors that when he was done with men or women, they disappeared, and no one ever saw them again.
