Chapter 12

Triana was reeling.

Remy might not have said the words, but in every way that mattered, he’d broken up with her. The fears that had been building in her heart since the night before had turned out to be true, and now it felt like something inside her was dying.

She didn’t remember the drive back across the lake bridge, barely even noticed the rain drumming on the roof of Remy’s car as they headed into the city. Heck, she didn’t even realize they’d made it back to her mother’s shop until Remy came around to help her out of the car and walk her to the door. At least it wasn’t raining by then.

She looked down in confusion and saw that Remy was holding her hand. If they were over, she didn’t need him walking her to the door or holding her hand. She started to pull her hand away when Remy stopped suddenly, his posture rigid and tense.

“Stay here,” he said.

She opened her mouth to ask him what was wrong, but he was already running the last dozen feet toward the door of the shop so fast he was practically a blur. She was going to tell him the door would be locked, but she didn’t get a chance as he jerked it open and disappeared inside. A moment later, she heard the sound of glass breaking.

Triana’s heart lurched.

“Mom!”

Heedless of Remy’s order to stay where she was, Triana raced for the door. She had no idea what the hell was going on, but her mother was in there. She’d be damned if she was going to stand there and do nothing.

She ran into the shop, absently wondering why it wasn’t locked like it usually was. The interior was illuminated only by the glow of the lone streetlamp outside and the neon in the windows, and she skidded to a halt, trying to make sense of the blurs of movement she saw in the near darkness as well as the grunts, growls, and curses she heard. The only thing she knew for sure was that Remy was in there, and he was fighting with someone.

Triana took out her cell phone to call the police when the lights suddenly came on, making her vision sparkle with stars. When it cleared, the image that met her eyes was enough to almost make her want to turn off the lights again as she saw her mother coming out from behind the counter with her baseball bat at the ready and Remy facing off against the three big goons from the other day. Well, actually there were only two of them now, since the third was rolling around on the floor, groaning and cradling a cast-wrapped hand against his chest. The cast looked like it had been crushed in a trash compactor. The other two men were still coming at Remy hard though, and this time they were armed. Triana’s heart almost stopped as she saw that one of the men held a gun, while the other held a long, wicked knife.

She hadn’t realized her feet were moving in that direction until her mother yelled at her to stop. Every pair of eyes turned her way, immediately followed by the barrel of the gun.

All Triana could do was stare. Why was everything moving so fast, but she was moving so slowly?

There was a deep growl, then the sound of her mother screaming, followed by a blur of movement as Remy smashed into the guy with the gun so hard the man bounced off the wall behind him and the gun went skittering across the floor. But going after that guy left Remy with his back to the man with the knife, who used the opportunity to take a savage swing at him.

“Remy, behind you!” Triana yelled.

Remy ducked and swung around, bringing an arm up to block the knife. She watched in horror as the sharp edge of the blade sliced through his upraised forearm, slinging blood across the room.

Triana expected Remy to gasp in pain and drop to the floor, but instead, he stepped back and kicked the guy in the chest hard enough to send him rolling across the floor…and straight into her. She went down in a heap of arms and legs, punching and kicking at the man, terrified he might still have the knife.

Everything went crazy after that. There was shouting and swearing; then she was being pulled to her feet by someone really strong. She almost took a swing at the person until she realized it was Remy.

“Are you okay?” he asked urgently, his eyes full of terror as he gently ran his hands over her, apparently looking for injuries.

Triana couldn’t answer him because all she could see and comprehend was the blood running down his arm.

He must have decided she was okay, because he turned to go after the men now fleeing the shop. Like hell, Triana thought. There was no way she was going to let him go anywhere with his arm bleeding like that. Slapping one hand over the wound, she buried the other in the fabric of his T-shirt and refused to let go.

Remy let out one of those growls like her father used to, then tugged at her hands. “Triana, they’re getting away!”

Triana held him tight, digging in her heels and refusing to let go. “You’re bleeding!”

Remy opened his mouth to argue, but closed it again as her mom came over to put her hand on his shoulder. “Let them go, Remy. We know how to find them.”

He clenched his jaw but nodded. Triana sagged with relief, only to tense again when she saw blood seeping out from between the fingers she had wrapped around Remy’s forearm.

“We need to call an ambulance,” she said, hearing a voice rising high in panic and realizing that it was hers.

Her mother gently peeled Triana’s hand away from Remy’s T-shirt, then did the same to the one clutching his forearm. “We don’t need an ambulance, Triana. I have a first-aid kit in the back room. I can patch him up just fine here.”

Triana released his arm, swaying a little on her feet, suddenly queasy. She’d seen a lot of blood in the crime lab, but none of it had come from someone she knew, much less a man she was falling in…

“Remy needs to go to a hospital, Mom. He needs stitches,” she said.

Triana had taken enough first-aid courses in college to know that.

Her mom shushed her and steered Remy over to the counter. “He doesn’t need a hospital or stitches. I used to fix up your dad after he’d get into fights down at the club. This is just a little scratch.”

Triana stood there in disbelief as her mother disappeared into the backroom, coming out with a first-aid kit in a big green canvas bag that looked like something an army medic would use. Inside it were forceps, clamps, retractors, and even scalpels. What the heck was her mother doing with a setup like this?

Triana was even more confused at the calm, confident manner her mother displayed as she pulled out the various pieces of gauze and bandages she wanted. A moment later, her mother snapped on some gloves and went to work, apparently not fazed at all by the amount of blood or the deep cut. Then again, now that Triana looked at the wound more closely, she realized it wasn’t nearly as bad as she’d thought. It wasn’t even bleeding that much now.

She glanced at Remy to see that he seemed as surprised as she was by the sudden appearance of Dr. Gemma, Voodoo Medicine Woman.

“Maybe I should run down to the emergency room and get this looked at anyway,” he said cautiously. “I’m sure it would make Triana more comfortable.”

Her mom made a tsking sound as she wrapped the wound in a thick bandage as though she’d done it a hundred times. “You know as well as I do that you don’t need stitches, Remy. Triana is a big girl, you know. She’ll figure it out soon enough.”

Triana frowned, wondering what the heck that meant, but before she could ask for an explanation, her mother announced she was done and began cleaning up. Triana moved to check the bandage, worrying there might be blood soaking through it, but Remy was already heading for the door.

“I’m going to pay our lawyer friend, Kenneth Murphy, a little visit,” he said.

Triana started to follow him but then forced her feet to stop. “Remy.”

He hesitated at the door for a moment before turning to look at her. She wasn’t sure what she expected to see in his face. Maybe she was hoping there’d be some sign that what had transpired at dinner had all been some big misunderstanding.

There was no such sign, merely a closed-off expression convincing her she’d been right. What had started out so hot and fiery between them had already burned out.

“Be careful,” she finally said, hoping he wouldn’t do anything to the lawyer that would get him into trouble.

Remy gazed at her for a long moment, then nodded before turning away and walking out. With his departure, Triana felt another thread connecting them snap. The pain that caused hurt more than she could have ever imagined.

Turning, Triana walked past the counter and up the steps to her room, ignoring the look of confusion on her mother’s face. She wasn’t in the mood to talk at the moment.

Tears pooled in her eyes, running down her face as she sat down on the bed. She was never going to see Remy again and she wasn’t sure she’d ever get over him.

* * *

The windshield wipers on Remy’s Mustang were fighting a losing battle trying to keep up with all the rain pounding the glass as he and Max drove into the SWAT facility. Ophelia had strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane during the night, and weather experts were now predicting landfall would be around Lafayette, Louisiana, a hundred miles west of New Orleans. But the storm outside was nothing compared to the one raging inside his head. That particular tempest was definitely a Category 5 catastrophe.

He hadn’t slept at all last night. Instead, he’d lain in bed staring at the ceiling with eyes that let him see every tiny detail in the darkness, wondering how things had gotten this messed up. He’d started spending time with Triana because she was a friend, she was beautiful, and he’d been attracted to her more than he’d ever been attracted to anyone in his life—even Jess. It wasn’t supposed to be anything more than a week filled with fun.

But somewhere along the way, he’d been dumb enough to let things go too far, and now everything was screwed up because he’d done the one thing he never intended to do—fallen in love with her.

Last night had been an absolute train wreck. He couldn’t believe some of the shit he’d said to Triana. He’d wanted to make her realize there wasn’t going to be a future between them, but he’d never meant to hurt her. That was sure as hell what he’d done though.

It had been bad enough during dinner when he’d as much as come right out and said he’d been in love once and never wanted to be again. He’d seen how much that had hurt her. Hell, he’d felt the pain in his own heart just like he had felt the twinge in his finger when she’d cut hers. But then later, after the break-in at her mother’s shop, he’d walked away from her even though he’d known how freaked out and scared she was. What the hell was wrong with him? Who walked away from the woman they cared about and left her to deal with all that fear and confusion completely on her own? That wasn’t who he was, dammit. At least not the kind of person he wanted to be. He’d told her he had to leave so he could go after Murphy, but that was bullshit. He’d left because it had been too hard to look at her anymore.

Besides, chasing the lawyer had been a bust. The man wasn’t at the office listed on his website, and when he’d gone to the man’s home address—which he’d found after snooping around the office for a while—it was to find signs of a hasty departure.

Remy shook his head, trying to clear it, which was difficult to do with the way it was spinning.

It had never been like this before. He’d walked away from plenty of women in the past, and it had never been a big deal. With Triana, it was definitely a big deal. He’d never felt this shitty in all his life.

This morning had been even worse than last night. He didn’t just feel shitty; he actually felt sick. Like he was going to throw up, which he hadn’t done since he was a teenager. Werewolves didn’t get sick. He’d told himself yesterday it had been the burgers, then the seafood, but if that was the case, why was he feeling so crappy now? He hadn’t eaten anything this morning.

“Remy!”

Max’s voice jolted him out of his reveries and he looked over to see his pack mate regarding him in concern. That’s when Remy realized they were almost at the SWAT facility. Crap, he didn’t even remember the drive.

“Dude,” Max said. “I called your name three times. You were frigging muttering to yourself like a psycho.”

Remy opened his mouth to crack a joke about talking to himself being more entertaining than talking to Max when his friend leaned over to sniff him. A moment later, he sat back, making a face.

“Are you okay? You’re putting off a strange scent I’ve never smelled before.”

Remy scowled. “Is that your polite way of saying I didn’t shower enough this morning?”

Max shook his head. “I’m being serious. You smell…I don’t know…kind of sick or something. To tell the truth, you don’t look so hot either. You’re sweating and your face is pale. Do you feel okay?”

Remy was about to blow it off, because…well…he was a guy, and that’s what guys did. But he knew it would be useless because Max was a guy too. His friend would keep poking him until Remy told him what the problem was.

“Not really,” he admitted. “I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“Because you were with Triana fixing things, right?” Max asked hopefully.

Remy ran a hand through his hair, then quickly gripped the wheel tighter when the front tires of the car hydroplaned a little as he drove through a big patch of standing water. This wasn’t supposed to be a bad storm, but there were areas of this city that tended to flood any time there was more than a light shower. With this much rain, it was going to be ugly.

“I wish that was the reason,” he said after a moment. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t anything that enjoyable.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” Max muttered. “What happened?”

Remy shrugged. “Triana and I went to dinner and the subject of relationships came up. Without meaning to, I kind of told her that I’d been in love once and didn’t have any inclination to do it again.”

Max didn’t say anything for a moment. Based on how Max had reacted yesterday, Remy wouldn’t be surprised if his friend punched him, regardless of the fact that he was driving.

“I know we talked about this yesterday and that you felt it could never work between you guys, but dumping her right in the middle of dinner?” Max blew out a breath. “That’s pretty fucked up, even by your relatively screwed-up social rules of engagement.”

Remy sighed. “I know. I cringed the moment the words were out of my mouth, but by then it was too late to do anything.”

“That’s bullshit,” Max said. “Maybe you should have just nutted up and told her you’re a chickenshit who’s simply afraid to fall in love again.”

Remy snorted. “Oh yeah, that probably would have worked. Unfortunately, since you weren’t around to give me advice last night, I went with my own instincts, which seem to be rather impaired when it comes to Triana.”

Max groaned. “Oh hell, what else did you do?”

Remy told him about the lowlifes at Gemma’s shop and how he’d dealt with them, then the strange way Triana’s mother had behaved after seeing him sliced open, and, most important, the way he’d walked out on Triana afterward.

“Damn,” Max breathed. “When you want to sabotage a relationship, you really go all out.”

Understatement there. “Even though I thought I was doing it for the right reasons, I still went to bed last night feeling like a complete shit.”

He pulled into the parking lot of the NOPD SWAT facility when Max hit him with a question that completely caught him off guard.

“You think that’s why you’re sick this morning? Because of the way you treated Triana last night?”

“I’m not sick,” Remy said firmly. “I’m just tired.”

As he parked in one of the visitor spaces at the end of the first row of vehicles, Max leaned in and gave him another sniff. “Could have fooled me. You don’t smell right, dude. I think we should call Cooper.”

Remy frowned. “Why the hell would we call Cooper?”

“Because he always knows what to do about this kind of weird shit. Besides, you remember how screwed up Cooper felt when Everly didn’t want to have anything to do with him. Well, I think you’re going through the same thing, except worse because this time you’re the one trying to walk away from the person who’s The One for you.”

Remy wanted to tell him that was just about the dumbest crap he’d ever heard, but unfortunately, he couldn’t tell Max he was wrong. None of the other members of the Pack who’d been lucky enough to find their soul mates had ever tried to resist the attraction. For all Remy knew, Max could be right. This crappy feeling in the pit of his stomach just might be his body’s way of saying he was making the dumbest mistake of his life.

He remembered Max laughing at his big plans to tell the cosmic forces behind the legend of The One to fuck off. Maybe this was how the cosmos responded to dumb-ass plans like that.

Not that he intended on listening to his body. He might hate the way this was all going down, but he still believed separating himself from Triana was the best thing to do.

Remy was still thinking about that as he and Max walked into the SWAT facility. They hadn’t even shaken the water off their rain jackets when Brooks and Drew met them in the hallway.

“Don’t bother drying off. You’re going right back out,” Drew said. “We have reports of some of the streets in Bywater already starting to flood. I need you and Max to get over there with some of my guys to help people evacuate from the worst of the low-lying areas.”

Remy and Max immediately fell into step with several of the local guys who passed them in the hallway and headed toward the back door. Going back out in the rain was fine with him. It would give him something to occupy his mind instead of thoughts of Triana. Because right then, that was definitely something he didn’t want to think about.