Close Cover (Masters and Mercenaries #16)(55)

“Oh, sweetie, they don’t honestly believe that.” Lila shook her head in sympathy. “That’s an excuse they give to take what they want and leave. It’s the same thing as the ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ excuse.”

“Tell that to my husband.” Laurel’s eyes narrowed. “And Will. He said roughly the same crap to Bridget.”

“Neither one of them…” Lila began and then sighed, one shoulder shrugging. “I just think it’s different.”

No, she didn’t. Well, she thought it was different, but there was no “just” about it. Lila had intended to say something, but she’d stopped herself. “What’s different about Remy?”

“Besides the fact that he doesn’t exactly belong with the rest of us?” Lila asked.

“What does that mean?” She didn’t like the implications.

Lila crossed her arms over her chest. “Come on, Lisa. You have to see it. He doesn’t fit in. Can you honestly see bringing him to family dinners and taking him to church with you? Look, this family has come a long way. He’s not the man I see you with. You need someone educated. Someone who fits in with your family. The man is basically a mercenary. He takes whatever jobs come his way.”

She’d never realized what a snob her sister was. “He’s been doing that to save money. And he protects people.”

Lila nodded like Lisa had made her point clear. “People who can pay him outrageous sums of money.”

“No, you don’t get it both ways. He can’t be bad because he doesn’t have a ton of money and bad because he gets paid a lot of money. Pick one.”

Lila’s head shook. “I didn’t say the man was poor. God knows he’s not. I’m saying he’s uneducated and doesn’t fit into a successful family. Laurel married a Harvard-educated lawyer. I don’t particularly care for what Bridget does but there’s no way to deny she’s successful at it. I’m dating the CEO of a company.”

She exchanged a look with Laurel. They both hated Brock. When had Lila gotten snobby and rigid? What had happened to make her that way when the rest of them were laid back? Yes, they were successful, but Will didn’t judge. Laurel didn’t. Mitch and Bridget were super chill. Mitch constantly complained about how he hated to deal with other lawyers, much less hang out with them because they were successful.

“Remy is excellent at what he does and he’s responsible.” She felt the need to defend him.

Lila’s eyes rolled. “Somehow I don’t think sleeping with a client makes him professional.”

The whole room went quiet and Lila flushed. Laurel looked over at their sister, her jaw dropping.

“What?” Lisa asked and then shook her head. “I don’t care what he’s done in the past. We’ve all done things we’re not particularly proud of.”

But there was something about the way Lila had flushed… How would Lila know gossip about Remy’s past? And if she didn’t know about his past then she must be talking about the here and now. Why would Laurel have gasped and looked shocked unless Lila had been spilling something she shouldn’t have?

Of course now she could look back and see that she was really the idiot in the room. Why had her brother suddenly gotten comfortable with her staying alone the same day Remy Guidry had moved into her building? He’d stopped showing up every single day. He’d stopped pushing her to move in with one of them.

Because he’d solved his problem.

That was why Remy had been at Cherry Pies that night. He’d followed her. He’d gotten her a job where he could watch over her.

Why had he pushed it? Why had he slept with her when it was obvious he hadn’t meant anything except to pass some time on his final job? Why had he taken it that far?

“I heard a rumor,” Lila started.

Lisa shook her head. Now that she knew, she wanted to know all of it. “No, I get it. How much?”

Laurel frowned. “How much?”

“How much did Bridge fork over so Remy would follow me around twenty-four seven for…gosh, it’s been a week already. It would likely last longer if I hadn’t caught on. Like how much?”

“We only want to protect you, Lisa,” Laurel said. “It wasn’t a bad thing.”

“It was a hundred grand,” Lila replied matter of factly.

“Lila!” Laurel admonished.

Lila shrugged, her expression going perfectly stubborn. “She should know. They broke up anyway. Now she can move on to find someone more suitable. Someone who doesn’t think it’s fine to take money for being professional and then turn around and sleep with his client.”

Put like that, it did sound bad. Achingly, heart-breakingly bad.

She’d been sure he’d wanted her. When she’d been in his arms, she’d felt like a different human being. God, she hadn’t even been afraid of the dark when he was there. It was like the rest of the world melted away and he was all she needed.

Had he sat up bored while being forced to hold her at night? Had he wondered when it could all be over, and as time had gone by, he’d gotten more and more irritable? That made sense because how long did he expect he could pretend to want someone he didn’t care about?

He was good. She would give him that. It had taken a whole three hours to get into her panties, and then she’d done absolutely everything he’d wanted her to do. She’d taken the job he found for her, stayed in when he wanted her to, become his perfect submissive, and all he’d had to do was tell her she was pretty and make up some bullshit poetry.