Lancelot by Silvia Violet
Lancelot
Earlier that day, I’d accidentally seen Corbin fucking his boyfriend on the kitchen counter of a house they were supposed to be touring. It was convenient for me to have a real estate license for some of our business ventures, so I’d been stuck acting as their agent. At least I wouldn’t have to go through that again since they’d decided to buy that house. Maybe the sturdy counter had swayed them.
I wasn’t thrilled about having to see him again on the same day. I’d rather allow some time for that memory to get out of my head, but I knew it was important to him to be a full part of the family business, and that meant he’d be there to hear about whatever shit Remington had gotten us involved in.
Corbin chattered about the house and how great it was and all the design plans he’d come up with—how he’d had time for so much planning I wasn’t sure—I would have assumed Beau had worn him out. At least Corbin’s constant babbling kept things from feeling awkward on the drive to Remington’s house.
When we got there, Remington’s fiancé, Henri, was sitting on Remington’s lap in their favorite reading chair. He started to jump up, but Remington kept an arm around his waist and drew him in for a kiss before releasing him.
“You don’t have to leave,” I said. “I don’t mind talking in front of you.” Over the last few months, Henri seemed to have gotten quite comfortable around the family, but I knew inviting him to be part of our business discussion would piss Remington off. Henri was a lot stronger than he looked, but Remy preferred to treat him like a princess who needed protection at all times.
Remy glared, but Henri smiled at me. “Thank you, but I’ve got to leave for class.”
Henri had gone back to school to finish up a design degree, and Remy was super proud of him for it.
“See you later.” Henri grabbed his backpack and headed for the door.
“What about Dax?” I asked. “Shouldn’t he be here?”
“He’s at Beau’s shop,” Corbin said.
Dax preferred riding a motorcycle to driving a car, and he’d never shown a particular interest in mechanics. “Why?”
“Sam is visiting her family this week.”
I stared at my younger brother, not understanding what that had to do with anything. Dax had never filled in for Sam before. I doubted he knew a tenth of what she did about cars. “I know, but everyone else is there, right?”
Corbin glanced at Remington and then down at his hands. “Dax is feeling protective. He’s still not convinced someone from Travis’s past isn’t going to resurface.”
“Wait. He’s there because of Travis?” How had I missed that?
Remington huffed. “Don’t worry about that now. You said you wanted an explanation, so sit down and listen.”
I gave Remington a mock salute. “Yes, commander.”
“You’ve already fucked things up today. Do you really want to make it worse?”
Corbin’s eyes widened. “What did you do?”
I punched my younger brother’s arm. “Don’t look so fucking excited.”
“I’m just glad it’s not me this time.”
“Don’t worry,” Remington said. “I’m sure it will be your turn again soon.”
Corbin flipped him off as the two of us crossed the hall to the living room. We knew the rules. Remy’s library was for relaxing, not for business.
We took our seats, but several seconds passed without Remington saying anything.
“Are you going to tell us, or are you expecting us to guess?” As soon as I spoke, Tony looked up from the treat he was eating on Corbin’s lap and glared at Remy.
Remy pointed a finger at him. “Don’t you start.”
Tony told him off, then returned to his snack.
“Does he have to be here?” Remy asked.
I just raised my brows in response.
“If you two weren’t so codependent, you might have gotten the information we need.”
“If the librarian wasn’t such a prick, he would have enjoyed meeting Tony and would have seen that my baby wasn’t going to cause any trouble.”
“Hold on,” Corbin said. “You took Tony into a library? What the fuck?”
I started to speak, but Remington held up a hand. “Let me start from the beginning.”
Neither of us protested, so he continued. “A few days ago, a necklace was stolen from the Musée de Tresors.”
Corbin nodded. “I saw that, but what does it have to do with us?”
“See?” I gestured toward Corbin. “That’s what I said. We don’t do jewel theft.”
“Are we branching out?” Corbin looked like an excited puppy. “Can we do, like, an Ocean’s Eleven thing and break into a vault and—”
“No.” Remington looked ready to kill us both.
“He’s no fun,” Corbin told Tony.
Remy banged a hand down on a side table. “This is serious.” Corbin and I both straightened in our chairs. “Normally, if I heard someone had stolen a necklace, I wouldn’t worry about it, but this piece was valued at thirty million.”
Corbin whistled. “Are we going to let someone operate in our territory and reap that kind of benefit?”
“That depends on who it was,” I said.
Remington inclined his head toward me. “Yes, it does, and in this case, rumors reached me saying the theft was orchestrated by Valentino Carlotti.”
“Fuck.” Corbin’s mouth dropped open.
Valentino’s branch of the Carlotti family operated out of Houston. His grandmother had insisted her husband move her to a warmer climate, so they left New York and established a new line of the family business in Texas. They’d been growing more powerful over the last few years. Valentino was ruthless. It was rumored he’d shot his own brother through the heart for betraying the family by sharing a secret with his girlfriend. He treated those who worked for him as completely expendable, and he was known for toying with his enemies. We did not need the Carlottis in our territory, but we also didn’t want a war with them.
“Now do you understand why we can’t ignore this.”
I did, but that didn’t mean I liked operating in the dark. “Why didn’t you tell me all this before you sent me on this crazy errand?”
“Wait.” Corbin frowned. “Are you talking about your trip to the library? What does that have to do with Carlotti?”
Remy sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m getting to that. I didn’t tell you because I’m not sure if the rumors are true. I was told there’s proof, but I need to see it first. That’s why the acquisition is urgent.”
“If you’d told me, I might have—”
“I wanted you to go in thinking it wasn’t that serious. I thought there’d be less chance of you making a scene.”
Corbin looked back and forth between the two of us. “Why didn’t you ask me? Lance always makes a scene.”
“You and Beau were busy.”
I huffed. “Very busy.”
His eyes went wide. “It was you?”
“What was me?”
“I heard something on the porch when we were at the house. Did you come back to the house and see us…”
I held up a hand. “Never speak of that again.”
Remington rolled his eyes. “Can we concentrate on what’s important here?”
“Certainly. You chose to withhold information, and I went in thinking—”
“That nothing matters but you and how you want to do things.” I narrowed my eyes and stared at him until he slumped back against his chair. “You screwed this up.”
“I didn’t work as quickly as you’d like, but I will get the information.”
Corbin gave an exasperated sigh. “Would one of you please tell me what the hell the library has to do with any of this?”
“I have a contact who says he has proof of Carlottis’ involvement, and he’s left the proof at the library.”
Corbin looked as confused as I’d been. “Why?”
Remington shook his head. “That’s not important. What matters is that we get our hands on the information, evaluate it, and determine our next move.”
“So Lance didn’t get the information because he took Tony with him into the library?”
“You know how he gets when I leave him in the car.”
“I warned you the guy was uptight, and I told you not to take that damn monkey with you.”
Tony scolded Remington and climbed up onto my shoulder.
I glared at my brother. “You’ve insulted him. You need to apologize.”
“Lancelot Theriot, you better tell me everything that happened right now.”
“Julian, Mr. Uptight Librarian, didn’t like Tony, and he was very rude. He also told me snacks weren’t permitted and ordered me to leave, but Gwen, a woman who works the front desk, gave Tony some peanuts and talked to me. She said Julian’s worried about the library. They might lose their funding and all be out of a job. She told me how to win him over, so I came back with flowers for him and an offer to help protect the library.”
“With Tony?” Corbin asked.
“No, I left him in the car, but he opened the window and came in anyway. The security guard was chasing him, Julian was furious, and I had to leave again.”
By the time I finished, Corbin was laughing so hard tears were running down his face. “I would’ve given anything to see all that.”
“Please understand, I sent him to Platt Historical Library,” Remington said.
“Oh my God. That makes it so much better.”
“There is nothing good about any of this,” Remington said. “Can you two quit acting like children and take things seriously? We do not want these men operating in our territory.”
His words sobered me. “I’ve got a plan.”
Remington gestured at Tony. “I hope to God this plan involves somebody babysitting this—”
“Wait,” Corbin interrupted. “Why is the info stashed at the Platt?”
“Andy used the library because it was a place where his presence wouldn’t be questioned by the staff or anyone who might be following him.”
At least that made some amount of sense, but Corbin still looked confused. He studied Remington for a moment. “Why didn’t you go get the information?”
I laughed. “Because Remington has already been banned from the library. I guess you’re next.”
“Damn. How did you get banned from the library? I’m sure you didn’t bring a monkey.”
Remington huffed. “I simply insisted I should be able to take some materials home to study over the weekend, but Julian told me no materials could leave the library. I tried to make him understand that I was going to treat them as well as any of the librarians did, but he didn’t want to listen, and neither did the director when he called her. I decided I had to get more persuasive.”
“Shit. Did you pull a gun on the guy?” Corbin asked.
“Weapons may have been involved.”
I snorted. “Talk about something I’d have paid to see.”
Remington blew out a long breath. “It was not my best day.”
“Does Henri know about this?”
“No, and he isn’t going to find out.”
I loved when Remy gave me leverage over him. “He won’t if you allow me to correct this problem without any more insults and if you watch Tony while I do it.”
Corbin smiled. “I think that’s going to be a hard choice.”
“What’s your fucking plan?” Remington asked, and I knew I had him.
“Gwen, the other librarian, told me Julian loves beignets, and he often comes in early. First thing tomorrow, I’m going to take him some.
“Jesus Christ. What did I tell you when I sent you there?”
“To get the information no matter what.”
“I fucking hate you sometimes.”
I scowled at him. “That is literally what you said.”
“What else did I say?”
“To not be noticeable.”
Corbin sniffed. “You actually thought Lance could do that?”
“I was desperate.”
“I can tell.”
I scowled at them. “Fuck you all. I’m doing this my way.”
Remington snarled. “Do not do anything to get the police involved.”
“I’ve not been arrested yet, and I don’t intend to ever be.”
“Arrest is not the issue. We need to stay off the radar on this. We can’t let Carlotti know we have any suspicions he’s involved. I don’t want to jeopardize my contact. He’s also a friend.”
“You could have told me that to start with.”
Corbin huffed. “You know Remington likes to keep the details to himself.”
“Watch it.” Remington’s voice was like ice.
“You do. That’s not always wrong, but sometimes we need to know everything if we’re going to be useful.”
“Our baby brother is right,” I said.
“I have a lot of people relying on me to keep them safe, including the two of you.”
I shook my head. “I’m in this with you. You don’t have to protect me from anything.”
“Me either,” Corbin added. “I know Pop wants you in charge, and I guess since one of us has to be you’re the logical choice, not just because you’re the oldest but because you—”
“Have sense and self-control.”
Corbin grinned. “That’s part of it.”
“But we’re here for you,” I said. “Talk to us when you need to.”
“Fine, but if I’m going to talk, you need to actually listen.”
I grinned. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Me too,” Corbin added.
We stood, and we all hugged until Remington pushed us away. “Enough of that sentimental shit. Go home. I expect you to have the information we need tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, brother dear.”
“What can I do?” Corbin asked.
“Talk to Blackjack and see what he can find out about this necklace and why Carlotti wants it.”
Corbin looked thrilled to be fully included. “Aren’t they just after the money?
“There are lots of ways to get money. I think it’s more than that.”
“Then let’s find out.”
Corbin and I headed out. I dropped him off at Beau’s, then pulled out my phone and made a call. On the off chance I didn’t succeed with the beignets, I needed to find a copy of Down by Lilac Creek. If Blackjack couldn’t find me one, then one didn’t exist.
* * *
I woke up the next morning at an ungodly hour. Did Julian really get to work as early as seven some mornings? What time did he get up? How did he function? He probably went to bed at nine like an old man. I imagined him tucked into bed in a pinstriped pajama set reading a thick book, glasses perched on his nose. Why the hell was that so hot?
I felt my forehead with the back of my hand. Surely I’d developed some sort of delusional fever. No, my skin was surprisingly cool considering how hot it already was.
I arrived at the library just after seven with a box of beignets and two coffees. I’d almost gotten a tea as well. Julian seemed like a tea drinker, but I bet he drank coffee too. Didn’t all academic types pour coffee into themselves to stay awake while frantically studying minutia that would put anyone to sleep?
There weren’t any cars in the lot. I hoped that meant I’d beaten Julian there, though I suppose he could have walked, carrying a canvas tote bag full of books and eating an apple like a librarian in a picture book. Damn. That image was hot too.
Surely I was building his presence up in my head. He couldn’t really be as sexy as I imagined him.
A few moments later, a car pulled into the lot. It was an ancient Honda Civic that sounded like it was near death. I smiled when I saw Julian in the driver’s seat. When he opened his door and stood up, he turned toward my car, giving it a skeptical glance. The tint on the windows kept him from identifying me. I waited until he neared the door, then I grabbed the beignets and the drink tray and approached him.
“Good morning!”
He startled and dropped his keys.
“I would get those for you, but my hands are full. I brought you beignets.”
He glanced from me to the box in my hand then to my car. “Where’s the monkey?”
“Tony is spending the morning with my brother.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Bringing you beignets.”
“I told you no food was allowed in the library.”
“Surely you have a break room or someplace where you eat lunch. “
“I… um…”
I loved how flustered he was, the color in his cheeks, the way he kept looking at me then away. He wasn’t as hot as I remembered; he was way hotter. If my arms had been free, I’m not sure I could have resisted pushing him up against the door and kissing the hell out of him.