Big Easy Temptation (The Perfect Gentlemen #3)(15)

“Yes. It could be a while. I’m sorry,” Connor said over the line.

“Don’t be, buddy. You have a job to do. Go and get it done.”

“And now the good news . . . I hope. I didn’t leave you to your own devices,” Connor continued. “I wasn’t sure you should look into this by yourself and I didn’t know you would recruit Holland. I thought you needed some backup.”

Dax stopped in front of the massive house that had been in his family since before the Civil War. “What do you mean, backup?”

The front door opened and his jaw dropped.

Maddox Crawford held a bottle of champagne in one hand and waved at the tourists shuffling behind him with the other. “Hello, lovely ladies. Welcome to New Orleans. The first drink’s on me.” Mad glanced at a group of older women, who started fluttering like teenagers when he winked their way. Mad flirted regardless of age, beauty, and in some cases sanity. He gave Dax a broad smile. “My brother, welcome back! We expected you in hours ago. I guess someone got lucky last night. By the way, your mother is still as hot as she was when we were teenagers. And she’s making us breakfast. Well, she told the housekeeper to make us breakfast which is totally the same thing.”

“Don’t hate me,” Connor said in his ear. “I’m sure they’ll be helpful. Well, one of them will. Mad will be fun. Gabe, however, has a file for you, which should help. I’ve spent weeks putting that together. It’s everything we know about the case including my thoughts on where we should continue the investigation.”

It was a good thing he’d left it in Gabe’s hands. Mad would likely use it for writing down the phone numbers of women he would never actually call. Still, Connor had meant well. “Thank you for everything. And stay safe wherever you are.”

“Later, brother.”

“Sooner, I hope,” Dax said as he hung up.

Life had been so much easier when they all shared a house while attending Yale. Most of them could have afforded their own places, but it had been so much more fun to live together. They’d all grown up since then, gone about their own lives. It would be good to spend some time with a couple of his best buddies.

Still, having Mad around for anything other than a party seemed like a bad idea now.

Gabe strolled onto the front porch, a sheepish smile on his face. “Sorry. I tried to come alone, but Mad stowed away on the plane. The good news is I tossed off the three strippers he tried to bring.”

“He’s lost all sense of humor since he started working at Bond Aeronautics. Does anyone have orange juice we could borrow?” Mad shook his head. “Screw it. I never liked orange juice anyway. I need something stronger. Bloody Marys all around.”

“Yeah, he’s going to be a ton of fun. Your mother is a gracious hostess, by the way. She gave us each rooms in the east wing. I hope it’s all right. Connor didn’t think you should be alone. He also sent this.” Gabe held out a file.

Mad strode back toward the house. “Hey, Spencer, when is your sister getting in?”

“Leave my sister alone, Mad.” Like that was going to happen. He was well aware that Mad wasn’t the only problem. Gus tended to have a mind of her own and she wasn’t shy about what she wanted.

“I promise only to not make the first move but I never like to let a lady down, you know. God, that bacon smells good.” Mad disappeared behind the door as it swung closed.

“Don’t mind him. Since his dad died, he’s been at Crawford pretty much twenty-four seven. This is the first time he’s taken off since, well . . .”

He knew where Gabe was going. “Since Dad’s funeral.” He was going to cut Mad some slack. Mad had always been there when Dax needed him. “How are things at Crawford?”

“Good as far as I can tell.” Gabe walked next to him up to the house. “The stock is doing surprisingly well. Despite all his bad behavior, Mad has a business degree from Yale. He knows what he’s doing. But there’s a lot at stake. I think he needs to be out of New York for a couple of weeks. I could use the time away, too. I need to be in the boardroom but I’d rather concentrate on research and development. I’ve got all these ideas on how to streamline the new luxury choppers. Sometimes I think I should have followed you into the Navy. At least I would be in the air.”

He likely would have been. Gabe had been flying planes since it was slightly legal for him to do so. He would have made a great fighter pilot.

“I would have loved to see you deal with the training.” Dax slapped his friend on the back.

“Yes, there’s a reason I only think of it from time to time,” Gabe admitted. “So tell me everything that’s been going on.”

He stopped Gabe before they made it inside. “First, you should know I’m trying to keep my mother out of this as much as possible.”

Gabe nodded. “I haven’t said a word, but she’s going to figure it out. And honestly, she’s got information you need.”

“I will cross that bridge when I come to it. I’m trying to walk delicately around her and Gus. Is she really taking that new position at the White House?”

Gabe grinned. “Oh, I think Roman’s insisting on it. Liz is an amazing press secretary, but she’s got to have someone who can run the office so she can worry about Zack and stop playing two roles.”