Easy Charm

I chuckle and pull her into my arms, kiss her head, and just enjoy having her against me for a moment. She’s been pulling away from me lately, which also has me on edge.

I need to touch her.

“Are you going to kiss and do gross stuff?” Sam asks while shoveling pasta into his mouth.

“Not right now,” I reply and back away from Gabby. She won’t look me in the eye, and I’m done playing this game. I tip her chin up so she has to meet my gaze. “We’re going to talk later. Something is up with you, and I want to know what it is. I won’t be late.”

Before she can answer, I leave through the back door and head into the city. One way or the other, I’m going to know the score with Gabby before I fall asleep tonight.

***

Ben’s house is in a nice neighborhood in New Orleans. All of the homes are large, surrounded by massive green oaks and tall wrought iron fences.

And Ben’s home is simply impressive. I have no idea what the man does for a living, but whatever it is, he does well at it. I pull into the driveway behind a black Mercedes and cut the engine. I’m not stupid. I’m well aware that this is most likely an ambush.

I’m just hopeful that I can take at least one of them before the others kill me.

I can probably take Declan.

“Hey, man, come on in,” Beau says when he answers the door and leads me through the house and down to the basement, where the others are shooting pool and watching a baseball game on a big screen TV.

Mariners are playing the Angels.

Eli is leaning over the pool table to take a shot. Declan is staring down at this phone while perched on a bar stool and Ben is pulling beers out of a fridge behind the wet bar. They all wave and say hello, looking nonchalant and innocent.

Not one of these fuckers is innocent. I like them all, but they’re not innocent.

“Welcome to impromptu guys’ night,” Ben says as he passes me a beer and claps me on the shoulder. “Sorry for the short notice.”

“It’s totally fine,” I reply calmly. Ben is as tall as the Boudreaux brothers, but a little leaner, less broad in the shoulders. He’s also a solid brick of muscle, and from the stories I’ve heard, he’s no one to fuck with. And he may not be a brother by blood, but he’s been friends with all of them since they were small kids. “Thanks for the invite.”

“Here’s a picture of her!” Declan says and holds his phone up for all of us to see. “Blonde, leggy, pouty lips.”

“Who is this again?” Eli asks as he examines the photo.

“She owns one of the clubs in the Quarter,” Dec replies and sips his beer.

“And she doesn’t fall for your charms?” Beau says with a wide grin. “Good for her.”

“Yeah, it’s a love-hate relationship.” He shrugs as if it’s of no consequence, but I can see that it’s not. He likes her.

And it sounds like she doesn’t like him much.

“Damn it, I’m off my game tonight,” Eli mutters as he walks away from the table and Beau steps up.

“You’re out of practice,” Beau says mildly.

My eyes are on the game on the TV. Mariners are up, three to one, at the bottom of the sixth.

“I can see if the Cubs are playing,” Beau offers. I simply smile and shake my head.

“No, it’s cool. Are you a Mariners fan?”

“Nah, this was the first game I found,” Ben replies. “Would you like a tour of the house?”

“Are you going to kill me and bury me in the basement?” I ask. Declan snickers and Beau and Eli exchange glances, but Ben’s face remains perfectly calm and sober.

“Not right away,” he replies and then a smile slowly slides over his face.

“Not that that’s terribly reassuring, but sure, I’d love a tour. Your place is beautiful.”

“Thanks.” Ben turns to the brothers, nods, and leads me out of the room.

He’s a man of few words.

“The house was built in 1875,” he begins. “By one of my great-grandfathers.”

“So you inherited it.”

“I did.”

He leads me upstairs and shows me around the first floor, then leads me through the rest of the house. Finally, he gestures for me to follow him outside and to a guest house out back.

He really is going to kill me.

“So, you’re not going to bury me in the basement. You’re going to bury me in the back yard.”

He simply smiles back at me. A cold smile that would make most men’s blood run with ice.

I simply raise a brow and follow him into the building, then whistle at the sight of the exercise equipment and fighting ring. “This is impressive.”

“This is where I find my balance,” he replies quietly. “Look, the other guys might want to kill you, and if you fuck up, I will too, but I just wanted to talk to you alone.”

“Fair enough.” I cross my arms over my chest and wait for the other man to speak. Ben frowns and looks down, then looks back up at me with pure possessiveness.

“I’m sure you’ve already received a few fuck with my sister and I’ll kill you talks.”

I nod, but I don’t smile. It’s not funny.

“So I want to give you mine. Gabby is as much my little sister as she is the others. I’ve known her since the day she came home from the hospital. She’s amazing.”

“No lie.”

The door opens behind me and the other guys walk in.