Close Cover (Masters and Mercenaries #16)(52)

“Assassins lie,” Remy said. It didn’t make any sense. What could he want to talk about?

“Don’t assassins tend to assassinate?” Will asked, altogether too reasonably.

Remy sighed and leaned against the wall. “Yes. I don’t know what happened tonight, but I’m going to find out. Big Tag is already looking into it. Will, I’m sorry. I thought we were safe at Top.”

“It sounds a lot like you were,” Will replied. “It sounds like if you hadn’t been there and you hadn’t moved as quickly as you did, he would have gotten away with her.”

“Damn it, Will. Why the fuck are you being reasonable? I nearly lost her. You should be punching me, fucking firing me.” He would feel better if the man did. There was a restless anger in his gut that wouldn’t go away.

“Remy, you did exactly what I asked you to do. Hell, you did more. You got her a job to distract her from her trouble. A job in a safe place, and then you watched over her. You saved her when the time came. It was always going to come. It’s why we were willing to pay you so damn much. And beyond that, you care deeply about my sister. I can tell. This isn’t merely a job for you. The EMTs talked to me.”

Likely about how they’d found him crying over her body, how he’d begged them to save her. How he’d behaved like a lost child when they’d lifted her from his arms and how he wouldn’t leave her until they’d taken her back for tests.

And then she’d woken up and asked that he not be allowed into her room to see her.

He’d been shut out until Will had come to find him.

“Remy, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that this is truly serious for you. I thought you decided it was the easiest way to deal with her. I didn’t know you’re in love with her. That changes a lot. And I’m calm because she’s healthy and I do believe she’s now taking this seriously. I’m trying to find a silver lining. She can’t pretend nothing is wrong. Now we can sit down with her and try to deal with this. I’m not mad. I’m incredibly relieved that you were there. Now tell me why she won’t see you.”

He groaned. “We had a fight. She told me she wanted to come to Louisiana with me. I told her I wouldn’t allow that to happen.”

Will winced. “Well, that would do it.”

He put both hands up. “It was stupid. I reacted in the moment.”

“Why?” Will asked. “It’s easy to see you care about her. Why are you insistent on ending the affair?”

“I’m not anymore,” Remy assured him. “I was scared. I’m going home to save my family business. It’s a piece of crap bar for the most part, but we own the wharf most of the town’s shrimping and tourist industry depends on. It’s hard work. It’s get up at the crack of dawn and pass out at midnight because you can’t keep your eyes open a second longer. She worked hard to get through school. She should be in an office, not working from dawn to midnight serving drinks and selling bait and making sure the rental boats work.”

“I think Lisa was bored in the office and that a business like that could do amazingly well with a smart woman running the financial side. She’s not afraid of hard work.”

“And then there’s my family. We’re fucked up. My sister recently had a baby out of wedlock. I don’t even know who the father is. My brother. My brother started drinking young, and he’s well acquainted with the inside of a jail cell. My momma. I don’t even know how to explain my momma.”

“My mother was a hardcore drug user,” Will replied quietly. “She left us alone for long periods of time because her favorite vacation spot was the state penitentiary. There are four of us and I’m fairly certain we all have different fathers. You look at us and see something that’s not there. Every family struggles. No matter how shiny the image is, there is tarnish beneath. How we deal with those trials and tribulations—that’s what makes us rise or fall as a family. If you love her, share your burdens with her. That’s what I’ve learned, what my Bridget taught me. I wanted to keep her but I was too scared she wouldn’t want me if she saw the real me. Silly, really. She’d always seen past my walls and then I realized I didn’t need them with her. Do you honestly believe you can drive away from Lisa?”

“No.” He wasn’t lying to himself or anyone else anymore. “Absolutely not. I can’t leave without her by my side. Seeing her like that, well, I can’t leave her again. But she heard me rejecting her and now she won’t talk to me. God. I can still hear her screaming. She was so afraid. Do you think she blames me for letting it happen?”

Will’s jaw went tight and he was silent for a moment. “I’m going to tell you a story that I wouldn’t normally share with anyone outside my family, but you need to understand. I meant what I said. I do not believe Biondo physically hurt Lisa at all tonight. He scared her, but he didn’t harm her bodily. Lisa’s injuries tonight were self-inflicted.”

“What?”

“Lisa has problems with claustrophobia, specifically when dealing with being locked in with no way out and darkness. She can handle a tight elevator. She can be in a small room as long as she knows she can get out.”

“What the hell happened to her?” That scream. It had been beyond calling out for someone to save her. That scream had been from her soul, a desperate, hollow cry.