Authors: Gigi Moore
“
Cher,
I could have ended your son’s life. You do realize that.”
“I know. And it puzzles me why you didn’t.”
“Haven’t I always been good to your family, Helena?”
“You took very good care of us after Ben’s death.”
He knew how hard it probably had been for her to admit that, how much it had probably taken for her not to say what she really wanted to.
He remained sure Carson had poisoned her against him after all this time on the road with her alone and Remy not around to defend himself. He knew all he needed was an hour, or even less, in a room with her alone to get her to see things his way, to get her to come around. He’d always been good at getting his way and making others see things how he wanted them to. He had convinced the council of his unequivocal innocence in the case of Ben Guidry’s death, had he not?
“I would have continued to take care of you, and the boys, had you let me.”
“Under the circumstances that wasn’t possible.”
“We could have worked something out, but you chose to believe the worst of me.”
“You would have killed me son.”
She had no idea how much of a favor Carson had done him. Duane had been dead weight around Remy’s neck for a long time, just like his mother. The best thing the boy had ever done during his time on earth had been to die by Carson’s hand.
Remy chose to evade her accusation and simply said, “I’d do anything to make you happy. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. I will if you give me the chance.”
“I want my sons to be happy and have a normal life. I want them to know love.”
Remy was almost a hundred percent certain now that Carson and Sam had mated with the beautiful Desiree. This knowledge made Remy that much more determined to have Helena as his own. He could not allow two unworthy whelps to achieve what he had not.
“You want what all mothers want for their children. But what about what Carson and Sam’s mother wants? What about what she deserves?”
She didn’t answer for a long time, and for a moment Remy thought he might have lost her, that he had overplayed his hand.
Finally, Helena cleared her throat. “We’ll have to make arrangements to meet somewhere away from the ranch. I don’t want to rouse anyone’s suspicions, but especially not the boys’,” she murmured.
“No, we wouldn’t want that,” he stated, playing it cool and refusing to gloat over his victory just yet. He knew her “boys,” and they would not let their mama come to him without a fight if they knew. The Guidrys stuck together like a little pack onto themselves, he had to give them that.
This meant, whether they thought Helena had come to him of her own free will or not, Carson and Sam would come for her.
This time, Remy would be ready for them when they did.
* * * *
“Well, this is a surprise.” Desiree managed to get out the words without choking on them. Thankfully, the receptionist had called back to let her know of his arrival, and she had a chance to prepare herself for Remy’s appearance at her doorstep.
He smiled. “A pleasant one, I hope.”
Desiree caught herself looking for the fangs that had done so much damage to Sam’s body at the clearing the other night then just as quickly deemed herself silly to think Remy would show his true self to her after operating under the radar for so long.
She swallowed down what she wanted to say and plastered a smile on her face. She couldn’t let on that she knew what this man was and what he had done to the Guidry family. She knew too well of what he remained capable. “Always a pleasure, Remy.” She stood up and crossed the carpeted floor to meet him halfway between the threshold and her desk. She shook his hand and indicated the guest chair, which Remy declined to take.
Desiree arched an eyebrow.
“This won’t take long. I just wanted to stop by before my departure.”
“You’re…you’re leaving?”
“Something has come up back home that I must attend to in person. I have, however, touched base with Tamara also to let her know what is going on and that you and I will continue to work together.”
“That’s good to hear.” Desiree nodded, trying to maintain her professionalism and not jump for joy at his news. “The something at home is nothing bad, I hope?”
“Not at all. It’s just some business concerns that need my attention. The price one must pay when one has interests spread out so far and wide.”
“I can imagine.” Desiree tamped down her relief that she wouldn’t have to deal with Remy so intimately from now on. In most cases, she preferred the personal touch and at least several face-to-face meetings to establish rapport. Sometimes the phone and computer just didn’t do the trick. However, in Remy’s case, she proved willing to make an exception.
“Well, as I have a flight to catch, I’ll leave you to your work and be on my way.” Remy headed for the door and Desiree followed him, almost bumping into his back when he stopped abruptly on the threshold and turned back to her. “I’d heard there were a few mishaps at the ranch. I hope all is well?”
“Mishaps?”
“Sam’s…illness and your sister’s injury.”
He tried to catch her off guard and Desiree knew it, saw the smirk when she looked at him. “Nothing catastrophic. Just nature striking back. They’re both fine, though.”
“That’s good to hear.” He turned his back to her again just as Maia appeared at the door.
“Well, speak of the devil.”
“No wonder my ears were burning!” Maia smiled and proffered her hand, which Remy instantly took. “Did I miss anything fun?”
“Not at all. I’m on my way back to Louisiana.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Is everything all right?”
“Just business, as I was telling your lovely sister.”
“Hope you have a safe trip.”
Remy stepped out of the way to let Maia into Desiree’s office and smiled at them. “I intend to.” He bent his head. “Ladies.”
Desiree counted to five in her head before she closed the door and leaned against it with a long sigh. Keeping up an amiable façade, when what she wanted to do was scratch out Remy’s eyes for hurting Sam, proved exhausting.
“You can’t let the shifty-shifter get to you, Desi.”
“Will you keep it down?”
Maia snorted and waved a dismissive hand. “Oh, please. He’s long gone by now. “
“I certainly hope so.”
Maia crossed the room to plop down into the designer guest chair before her sister’s desk. “So, what did he have to say, other than he’s leaving town?”
“He asked after your and Sam’s health.”
“I’m beginning to wonder if he had spies at The Double R during his time in McCoy.”
“I wouldn’t put it past him.”
“Anyway, that’s not why I stopped by.”
Desiree grinned, taking a seat behind her desk and folding her hands on the surface as she leaned forward to hear what latest trouble her sister was trying to get into. “Why, pray tell, did you stop by?”
“I need some relationship advice.”
“You…” Desiree did a double take and gaped.
“Don’t be so funny. And I probably should rephrase that, since it’s not a relationship yet, but I’m hoping.”
“T. Malloy?”
“His name is Thayne.”
“Well, at least you’ve gotten past the Doctor Malloy stage. That’s a good sign.”
Maia sighed and stood to pace the office, ringing her hands for good measure.
This couldn’t be good, Desiree thought. Her sister didn’t get nervous or out of sorts about much of anything, especially not men. To Maia, men were like panties and socks, to be changed frequently and replaced just as frequently when they got too worn or didn’t serve their purpose.
Maia paused to look at her. “Not a good enough sign.”
“What’s the problem?”
“I went back to the hospital for the first of my follow-up rabies shots.”
“Oh Maia, is everything all right? I thought the results on the raccoon came back negative.”
“They did. That’s the problem. I don’t have an excuse to go back to the hospital.”
Desiree frowned, confused. “Why do you need an excuse?”
“I can’t just go to the hospital to see him without one.”
“How about you’re interested in him and you want to get to know him?”
“I can’t tell him that!”
“Why not, it’s the truth, isn’t it?
“Desi, you don’t understand.” Maia plopped back in the chair, shaking her head and covering her face.
Her sister had always been a bit of a drama queen, but this was a little much, even for her. “Maia, what is it?”
She pulled her face out of her hands and glared at Desiree. “I like him, all right!”
“I still don’t understand. When have you ever had a problem telling a guy you like him?”
“Always?” Maia threw up her hands. “Haven’t you been paying attention?”
“Obviously not.”
“Look, flirting and coming on to a guy is one thing. Sex and one-night stands aren’t exactly relationships, if you know what I mean.”
Sadly, Desiree did, but up until recently, she wasn’t doing much better in the relationship department, so she wondered why her sister would think she was such an expert.
“I mean, don’t get me wrong,” Maia continued, “I’ve been practically a nun, worse than you, actually, since we’ve been out here, and that’s a long layoff for me.”
“I’m not sure whether I’ve been insulted or not.”
“Not. Anyway, what I mean is, sex is easy, it’s physical, but getting in there and baring your soul, that’s a little more difficult.”
“And you think I’ve cornered the market on the baring-the-soul part?”
“More than I have.” She leaned forward in her seat. “You’re stronger than me, Desi. You always have been.”
Desiree shook her head. “No, that’s not true.”
Maia nodded. “Yes, it is. After what happened with Jeremy—”
“You know about that?”
“Not at first. It took a while before it came to me. I mean, I knew something bad had happened, but not what until it was over.”
“You never said anything.”
“I was supposed to protect you and I didn’t.”
“You tried to. You warned me.”
“Not enough.”
“You couldn’t tell me what you didn’t know, Maia.” After a long, awkward silence that Maia didn’t seem inclined to fill, Desiree added, “You didn’t know, did you?”
“No, of course not! Not beforehand. I would have never let you go with him that night.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“You ever wonder why I pushed you so hard to Carson and Sam, that’s the reason.”
“What, you were trying to make up for what Jeremy did to me?”