Rico didn't know how or when or why, but he knew it was true. The knowledge shook him with uncertainties, making it difficult to concentrate on the reason for the meeting.
Babineau regarded him with open interest. "Colin mentioned something about tracing a phone call. Could you give me some more to go on?"
Through gritted teeth, without mentioning who the involved parties were, though Babineau, being a detective, had probably figured that out for himself, Rico laid out what he knew. Someone had used a stolen phone to make a threatening call. Was there any way to find that thief to discover the degree of threat?
"And you're sure this isn't a prank?"
"Pretty damn sure if I'm sitting here with you."
Their brother-in-law nodded. A handsome guy. That had never surfaced in Rico's thinking before, but now those good looks and calm, resourceful manners rubbed him the wrong way because that's how Amber would see him, too.
Son-of-a-bitch!
He wanted to lean across the table and rip the man's throat out for getting between the knees of a frightened teen and leaving her with a child. A child Rico loved and didn't want to lose if Babineau got wise to who she was. No wonder Amber had tried to keep Rico out of it. He was too bull-in-a-china-shop thoughtless to handle the delicate nuances the situation demanded.
"I'm not a techie," the detective began. "But if you like, I could ask some questions to the right people and see what they'd do in such a case. Sorry I can’t be more hands-on help."
"That's okay." Rico figured he'd already had his hands on more than the Terriot prince was willing to forgive him for. "I'd appreciate it."
Alain leaned in. "If you think the parties involved are in danger, you need to tuck them away someplace safe until we figure out the nature of the threat."
He was the threat Rico was concerned with at the moment, but he nodded at that advice.
Babineau said his good-byes, leaving Colin to stare at Rico as if he'd grown another, less intelligent head.
"Want to tell me what's going on with you?" Colin asked.
"What do you mean?" An unsuccessful bluff.
"C'mon, Red. I know you. You were calculating ways to chop our very nice brother-in-law into steaks. What aren't you telling me?"
Rico studied his brother cautiously. "Can I trust you with something that's not my secret to share?"
Colin sobered at his tone. "Sure."
He took a breath then extended his phone. "Does she remind you of anyone?"
Colin looked then leaned forward for a closer study. "Amber's kid?" He blinked in surprise but didn't appear overly shocked as he murmured, "Holy hell."
"What? Col, what do you know?"
"It's not my secret to share." Colin settled back in his seat, uneasy with whatever he kept to himself.
"Her life could be in danger. I need to know."
"Babineau. She's . . . Babineau's kid."
Rico turned the cell and studied the photo, distress wadding up inside him. "You sure?"
"Yeah."
"How are you sure? It's important, Col."
His brother blew out a breath then confided, "He told me when he'd just started on the force that he met a working girl, just a kid herself, and while he was trying to reform her, they had a thing. Then she just disappeared on him."
"You saying she was a whore?" His tone dropped a lethal degree.
"I'm not saying it. That's what he told me. He said she was a nice girl in a bad situation, but she dumped him when he tried to make things better for her." He sighed. "Guess now I know why."
"She ran off, not the other way around?"
Colin shrugged. "That's what he said. Still sounded kinda torn up about it. A knocked-up hooker and a rookie cop? Nothing good could have come from that. Probably what she was thinking."
Rico's hand caught the front of his jacket, jerking him halfway across the table. "Don't you call her that!"
Instead of trying to wiggle free, Colin remained motionless, understanding softening his gaze. "We're talking about a long time ago, Red. People change. We did. What she was isn't what she is. You know that."
Rico released him to scrub his palms over his own face. "I don't know what to do, Colin. I'm not smart like you. I'm not good at figuring things out. I just make a mess of them."
"You said the kid's in danger?" At Rico's nod, Colin mused, "I guess I'd want to know if the two things were related. If not, let it go. If it is . . ." He shrugged.
"That's not real helpful, Col."
"It's not my problem. Are you making it yours? I guess that's the real question. Do you want to get involved?"
"I already am."
Colin's brows soared at this simple admission. "Then I guess I'd want to know why it's so important to her to protect that secret. And I'd want her to know I'm the guy who can keep it and help her with it. Are you that guy?"
"I'm thinking yes."
Colin didn’t laugh. "Okay. Then I'd want to know if she thinks you are."
Rico snorted. "No one in my entire life has ever thought I was that guy. Why would she? Why would she want to trust me with something this important? With her kid?"
"Probably the same way I trusted you with my sister back at the lake, when I was too much of a coward to protect her myself."
Rico's jaw dropped at that quiet admission. "What?"
"You know it's true. I'm all big ideas, big plans, deep thoughts, but you're all heart. I think too much, you feel too much. I wait, you just jump in. Thank God you did that day, or Lucy would have drown while I was still struggling over whether I should disappoint my dad by breaking his rules. You don't see the rules, just the results. And that's not always a bad thing, Rico. Just like weighing all the angles to protect yourself isn't always a good thing. With Mia, I just jumped. I never gave a shit about the rules. So why are you thinking about them now?"
"Because it's not just me and Amber. It's that kid, too. I've got to put her first.” He got all growly again when his brother chuckled. “What?"
"Mia was right. You and Amber. So, what are you going to do about them?"
"Anything I need to to keep them safe, whether she likes it or not." He scowled. "Now what are you grinning about?"
"My little brother just grew up."
"Shut up, Colin." But the words pleased him, making him feel, for the first time, capable of making good on his promises. If he could get over one big obstacle. "She’s going to fight me. She's not going to want my help. Other than throwing them in a sack and carrying them off to our mountain, I'm not sure what else to do."
"Have an answer before she makes the objection. Out flank her so she can't get through your logic. She's not a foolish female. She'll listen if you make the right argument." Colin paused, then just blurted out, "Are you thinking about her for your mate? Is that where this is going?"
Rico sighed heavily and spoke the truth. "I wasn't thinking about it at all and then, boom, I can't think of anything else. It's burning me up inside. I don't know what I'll do if she doesn't want me."
"Do all the right things to make sure she does."
A bitter laugh. "If there's a right way, a wrong way and a stupid way . . . You know me, Col."
"No," his brother murmured with a hint of amusement. "I don't think I do. But I think I'm going to enjoy being surprised." Before Rico could respond, he added, "I think I know someone who can help you. You gonna be home later?"
Long enough to shower, change and hotfoot it over to Evie's school to make sure she got home without a hitch. Did he have it bad, or what? He didn't care, as long as he had Amber James and her daughter.
* * * * *
Keeping his cool around Auguste James, or whatever he used for his last name, did nothing to ease the grinding agitation building in Rico Terriot. He tried to ignore his lover’s good-for-nothing-but-trouble brother as he met with the Patrol group to discuss their lack of progress regarding the death of their friend. Professionals as skilled as the three Trackers had been ghosts when they’d been alive, and though his surface injuries had healed, Rico ached to the bone with a punishing sense of failure.
He didn’t have the time, or the energy, for any physical training, so he had his group leaders assemble their crews to advise them on the QT that invaders had snuck into their city and killed one of their own. On his watch. They were to tighten up security measures and be on high alert, to not engage any questionable doings but to bring them to their group leader who would in turn relay them to him. Which would do a whole damn lot of good since he’d done next to nothing toward reaching the goals set for him.
He had no idea who in his crew was feeding information to their enemies. Personal dislike and knowledge had him targeting Gus, but instinct told him no respectable enemy would trust the likes of Amber’s brother to be loyal when put to the test.
Dragging and disheartened, Rico returned to his apartment, having forgotten all about Colin’s promise until a quiet voice spoke from the interior of his supposedly-empty rooms.
“Your brother asked me to talk to you.”
“Holy crap, Savoie. You ’bout gave me a heart attack!”
The tall, dark and lethal leader of the New Orleans clan eased out of the shadows like a cool breeze. His sudden appearance backed Rico up a cautious step. Savoie had that effect on everyone, like being suddenly confronted with a neighbor’s vicious attack dog in your yard . . . off his leash. Max had been nothing but kind to his family since they’d followed their king into his city. He’d housed them, taught Cale and Colin some mystical trick to save their lives, and was a solid presence at their side. But there was something creepy-cool about the elegant former thug in red tennis shoes that inspired a shiver of respect. And trust.
Under Savoie’s unblinking stare, Rico sat across the table and confessed his tenuous control of the Patrol leaders, his failure to uncover the traitor, and their violent introduction to the Trackers from the North. And after all that, all Savoie said was, “The fact that you’re alive is a credit to your clan. That three of them are dead, a miracle.”
Rico couldn’t argue that. “Why would they torture a good man like Poteet unless it was to get something on you?”
Savoie shrugged beneath his expensive coat. Knowing his way around the couture racks, Rico admired the fit. “He and two of his associates tried to rob me a few years back. They acted on greed, him out of desperation. That’s why he survived. I gave him a chance and a job, and he’s never let me down. I don’t know what these animals wanted, unless it was to rile me, which it did.” A bright, fierce flame lit in the cool green eyes. “And it’s not sitting well with me to do nothing, even though I promised MacCreedy and your brother I would, so those monsters in the North think I’m still in the dark.” He studied Rico’s face with an eerie insight. “You got more to say on that.”
Not a question.
Since Savoie wasn’t the kind to kiss and tell, the Terriot prince spilled everything. From his suspicion of Auguste to Amber, her secrets and the threat against her daughter. Everything but the identity of Evie’s father. Savoie listened without comment then, when Rico had purged all but that one thing, Max agreed. “You’re right to fear for their safety. Those we’re fighting have no problem hiding behind or threatening the innocent. Are you able to protect them?”
“So far, but not enough.”
“It’s hard to do the things we must while fearing for those we love.” Max smiled slightly when Rico didn’t argue his conclusion. “I can help you protect them, but from what I know of your Amber, she won’t be easy to convince that she needs it.”
Your Amber. A quiet laugh. “No kidding. But keeping her safe is all that matters.”
Savoie nodded. “You let me know. I’ll make it happen. I’ll find out about her father and who he was involved with.” His stare intensified. “It won’t be news Amber will want you to hear.”
“I know.”
“Or that you’ll want to hear.”
“I know that, too. Just do it. I can’t wait any longer for her to tell me, not when their lives could be at stake.”
Savoie nodded again and stood. He pressed Rico’s shoulder. “You’re a good man . . . for a prince in the House of Terriot.”
Rico got to his feet, grinning. “And you, for the leader of a bunch of rabble.”
The Shifter’s sudden, loud laugh startled him. “This from a leader of that same rabble.”
Rico blinked. Yes, he guessed he was. And that filled him with an unusual sense of pride.
* * * * *
An unfamiliar car was parked in tight next to her little house.
It was late, well past eleven. She’d texted to let Rico know she had to work overtime, and he’d responded with a brief “K.” It wasn’t her daughter she worried about. It was facing Rico Terriot without her child’s buffer between them.
Of course, it was all in her mind, but her lips seemed to tingle all damned day. That kiss. That smoking hot, explicitly personal kiss. What had he been thinking? Awkward enough to overhear the conversation between him and Evie about . . . love, then for him to demonstrate it so . . . so wonderfully. Right in front of her child!
He’d backed her into an emotional corner, and she didn’t know whether to fight her way out or completely surrender.
He met her at the door, not even giving her time to inhale before branding her again with a tender assault on her mouth and her sanity. All exhaustion and worry fell from her shoulders as she clutched at his. So broad and strong and able to carry any weight. Except the one he wanted to take on without knowing what he was getting into.
Without breaking from her lips, he took her bag, stripped off her coat and dropped both on a kitchen chair. Then he pressed her close, letting her collapse into the firm support of his chest and arms while his mouth continued its luscious communication. Warm, damp pressure, the slip and slide of his tongue to prove he had prurient intentions even though the situation prevented them. She lost herself in the luxury of his embrace then reluctantly allowed him to lean back and smile.
“How was your day?”
She palmed those glorious shoulders then the hard, strong line of his jaw, fingertips adoring his cheekbones. “Improving like you wouldn’t believe. Evie?”
“Supper made and devoured. Homework done. New phone set up with all the necessary numbers. Appropriate TV programs watched, and put to bed at a reasonable hour after teeth brushed. I tucked her into yours. I hope that’s okay.”
“Very okay,” she whispered, layering over his lips again in appreciation. He began to escalate the heat factor, pausing when he felt her smile.
“What’s with the flashy convertible? Not exactly the color I’d expect from such a macho man.”
He grinned wide. “It’s a BMW. Snappy Rocks Blue Metallic. To match the color of her eyes.” She started to laugh, catching his reference to her angry tirade over him buying anything Evie desired on their shopping trip, but grew serious when something fleetingly moved in his expression. “It was love at first sight.”
Then he was all smiles again as he relayed the reaction of her daughter’s schoolmates as they saw him parked out front, rare winter sunlight gleaming off the paint job, top down to appreciate the mild afternoon, as he opened the passenger door of the expensive sporty car for her to slide inside, all big eyes and smiles, like Cinderella into her coach. Amber could imagine the boys envying the vehicle, but the girls would be drooling over the driver.
Misinterpreting her silence, he quickly assured, “She was belted in and perfectly safe. And what girl doesn’t love wearing my sunglasses and getting her hair windblown?”
She would, and she couldn’t wait to get the chance.
“You look tired. I’d better take off.” Before she could protest, he added, “Unless you want to cuddle up on the couch for a while?”
She towed him into the living room without a word, as eager to snuggle with him as to not be alone. And he understood her perfectly. While she washed her face and pulled on comfortable loungewear, he turned off the lights and sat on the far end of the sofa, boots already off, one long leg stretched down the cushions as he coaxed her to settle between them to recline on his chest. Only a very faraway part of her remembered him spending such a night on this couch with Mia while they waited to hear if Colin would survive the night. Different times.
He leaned back, enfolding her in his arms. Heaven. No talk about things she was trying to avoid, no demands for more than she could provide with her daughter in the next room. Just comfortable, surrounding bliss.
She’d just closed her eyes it seemed when Evie called out, “Hey! Breakfast is ready. I’ve got to get to school.”
They sat up in an awkward tangle of arms and legs, embarrassment impossible in the face of Evangeline’s calm acceptance of the situation.
Over hearty homemade hash and eggs, coffee already poured, she and Rico exchanged contented looks across the table, oblivious to Evie’s glee. When she reentered the room toting her books and flashing her new phone with its glittery pink case, Rico pushed back in his chair.
“I already told Ms. LaRoche that I’d be driving her in. Hope you don’t mind.”
That everyone knew he’d stayed the night because he was wearing the same clothes he’d had on when he’d picked her up the day before? She waited for indignation or upset to rise, but neither did, so she nodded. “Thank you, Rico. For everything.”
She pretended not to see the sly wink he sent Evie’s way. How could she object to the sight of the two of them so happy in each other’s company? She accepted Evie’s hug and kiss and then, as if the most natural thing in the world, Rico’s, both warming and tender on the cheek. But it was the fire in those tawny eyes that flooded heat through every pore and left her hands shaky as she heard the BMW’s engine purr to life while she cleared the table.
She’d just started the dishwater when there was a knock at the locked door. Thinking they’d forgotten something, she opened it to find her brother on the step. Furious.