"I need your help." Remi hoped her father was right about Cain's creativity. "My father and Mano are working on something, but they haven't had much luck."

"Remi," Cain said, winking at Emma when she took a step toward them, "we've known each other a long time. If you need anything, just ask. It's that simple."

"This has nothing to do with business." She glanced at Dallas before giving Cain her full attention. "But until we talk, please tell Emma to be careful on any future lunch dates."

"You know how I feel about Emma. Give me a hint so I can sleep tonight."

"Not here, not now, but I promise first thing in the morning." Remi pointed to Shelby, not caring if she could see her. "I have your word it'll stay between us if I'm wrong?"

"You've got no worries, no matter what it is. Go on and get Dallas home, and we'll talk tomorrow."

Emma kissed Remi's cheek before following Cain out to the car.

"Anything wrong?" she asked when the door closed, leaving them alone in the back.

"If there is we'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out. You had lunch with Dallas, right?"

"I told you about it, remember?"

Lou headed out of the Quarter but wasn't driving them to Jarvis's.

They were going to their house. "Did she ask any strange questions?Anything on the verge of snooping?" Cain asked, not questioning their direction.

"You mean more about business and less about girl talk?"

"I'm not asking to be insulting."

"I know. You're asking because of that serious and sudden talk you just had with Remi. What's the problem?"

"I don't know if there is one, but it sounds like Remi's trying to find out some information on Dallas, or she has Ramon working on it."

"How romantic," Emma said, clearly being sarcastic.

"Something must've prompted it, la.s.s. Don't go crucifying her yet."

"Did you do that to me?"

"I didn't have to." Cain laughed at the menacing glare Emma had plastered on her face.

"Why's that?"

"After our first date, I knew all I had to about you, and I was right."

"So I didn't send off warning bells in your head?" Emma moved closer and lifted Cain's arm around her shoulder.

"In my head and in other parts of my anatomy," Cain teased. "I saw past the clumsy waitress and into my future and the mother of my children. I had no reason to question what was in my heart."

"You," Emma ran her hand up Cain's leg until she reached her crotch, "are a very romantic soul, but I think you took a little longer to see all that in me. The night we met was more of a question of whether to fire the hayseed or not."

"And give someone else a shot at you? Not on your life," Cain said,then tapped on the window. "Are we going to study more paint swatches?"

"We're going to study something, and eventually it'll require more painting, but it's more to rev you up for a threat I made today."

"Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like this, Mrs. Casey?"

"Trust me, baby, you can't be any madder about the situation than I am. I wanted to show you something,then I want you to talk to our contractor in the morning. However you decide to handle the situation I'll gladly back you, but it needs your unique persuasive charms."

They drove through the new gate and Cain spotted the van across the street already in place. The guards waited in the car as Emma took Cain's hand and led her through the front door. From the time they made it inside until they stopped at the stairs, Cain counted over a hundred holes in their walls, most of them in her study.

"What about upstairs?" Cain asked Emma.

"The maid hasn't made it up there yet, since this part took so long after I left here this morning," Emma said. "I'm sure it's the same mess."

Cain smiled finally and kissed her. They stood outside the house now, but the bugs inside were undoubtedly operational. The agents in the van were probably testing them.

"Let's get going then. I wouldn't want you to come down with something," Cain said.

As soon as they were back in the car Emma said, "His name is Jimmy Pitre, if you remember, and I told him you'd call when I had the sweep done. This is going to set us back some."

"I'll take care of it, la.s.s, even if I have to make a trip to Home Depot and fix it myself. What kind of deal did you offer this guy?"

Emma told her about the five-thousand-dollar penalty for every device they found.

"You should've set an extra charge for every one you found after a hundred," Cain said.

"Thanks for inviting me tonight." Dallas held Remi's hand as they walked down Bourbon Street toward her house. "I really like Emma and Cain."

"They're a great couple who've already had their share of heartache. It's good to see them together again."

"Together again?Were they separated?" Dallas took her key out of her small evening bag and handed it to Remi.

"It's a long story." She unlocked the outer door and held it open for Dallas. "Maybe next time I'll get into it more. I don't like to talk about my friends out of turn."

They stopped at the door to the house, and Dallas placed her hands on Remi's shoulders. "It's still early. You have time now if you want to come in."

"I have some meetings in the morning so I have to get going." She unlocked the next door. "I'll call once I'm done."

Dallas moved her hands up until they were behind Remi's neck.

"Why does that sound like a brush-off? Did I do or say something to upset you?"

"I have a lot on my mind, and I'm not brushing you off. As soon as I'm done I'll give you a call." Remi kissed her,then waited for her to slide the deadbolt on the door into place. When Dallas's expression had turned to one of sadness, she'd almost given in.That's something I can't allow myself to do until I know all your secrets, Dallas Montgomery.

"Where in the h.e.l.l have you been?" Bob said menacingly as he dug his fingers into Dallas's arm when Remi's footsteps faded away.

He'd been waiting for her inside the door in the shadows, she was sure, so he could keep out of sight if Remi had accepted her invitation to come in. She didn't answer and tried to pull away, not in the mood for Bob's games. "Answer me, or do I need to remind you who owns you, sweetheart?" he asked, tightening his hold. "I'll put the bruises where no camera will ever find them."

"You remind me so much every day, I'd think you'd be tired of it by now." Dallas winced as the pain got worse right before he let go.

Taking no chances that he'd touch her again, she moved around him and put as much distance between them as possible. "I had dinner with Remi Jatibon. It was a spur-of-the-moment invitation, so I didn't have time to call you. Since you told me to be nice, I thought you wouldn't mind."

"You're finally using your head and appealing to her more basic needs. I'm glad to see you're not playing hard to get. We both know better. But make sure you check with me before you go making any stupid moves."

"I leave all the move-making up to you," she said, suddenly feeling tired. Now that Remi was gone, she just wanted to be alone.

"Think you can smart off now? What, you get one dinner invitation and you believe you've found a guard dog to protect you from me?

Do I need to remind you she didn't even make it through the door?"

"Not everyone is out to get something. This was dinner, and unlike most people I have to deal with, Remi wasn't expecting me to pay for it on my back." She glanced at the rock on her coffee table and took a deep breath. "Those days are over, if I can help it."

"I'm out to get all I can, and we're taking another step next week.

The studio called, and we have an appointment. Let's hope your little girlfriend hasn't moved on to a newer flavor by then, and you end up with a more lucrative contract than before." He crossed the room and stopped in front of her, then ran his finger down her cheek to her neck. "Whatever happens,don't start thinking this perverted b.i.t.c.h can help you get rid of me, because that'll never happen.

We're partners for life, baby. I've seen to that."

When Bob left, the air in the room seemed to return. Dallas slumped against the chair she'd been standing by and gave in to the tears she seldom shed in front of anyone, not anymore. Bob was an a.s.s, but he wasn't wrong about a whole list of things. She belonged to him; he wasn't going away voluntarily, and Remi had already moved on.

Something had happened while they were in Pescador's that had changed Remi's demeanor toward her. If she'd ever had a chance with Remi, something had s.n.a.t.c.hed it away before anything came of it. Too tired to climb the stairs to her room, she stretched out on the sofa and cried.

Dallas had learned early that life wasn't fair. Fate showed her glimpses of what was possible,then just as quickly took them away.

She would've done better never to know any kind of happiness was possible, because then she'd have nothing to compare the misery to.

She wouldn't have any memories of her mother singing her to sleep, picking wildflowers in the meadow near their house, or how good it felt when Remi held her on this same couch.

That's all they were, memories so fleeting she could almost convince herself they were simply strings of fantasy.

Chapter Twenty-Seven.

The mansion off the road in Long Island had been in the same family for three generations. Guards carrying machine guns and large dogs roaming the grounds dissuaded unwelcome guests from impromptu visits. The beautiful gardens and buildings were purchased with blood, drugs, and no conscience.

Junior Luca sat on a bench that overlooked the water, the one place on the property where he felt comfortable to talk freely because of his staff's constant sweeps for listening devices."Nunzio, you in New Orleans yet?"

"I just got back from dinner with Rodolfo and Juan. I thought I'd call before I take a shower. After spending the night listening to that idiot Juan, I can use one."

"Yeah, well, while Rodolfo's making nice with you, he's breathing down my neck about money. We're tapped out, and I can't bleed any more cash out of the East Coast operations. What kind of timetable are you looking at down there?"

"I ran into Remi and Cain at dinner tonight, and they said they'd sit down with me Tuesday. They acted pretty chummy, and they're both holding the line that they're negotiating some other deal." He stood at the window peering out at the night sky. "I talked it over with Kim, and she's ready to go when it comes to what we talked about before."

"Boy, the last f.u.c.king thing we need is to get into a p.i.s.sing contest with Cain Casey. Tell Kim to rework her plan and get back to me, but I can tell you right now, Tuesday's too late."

"I think you're wrong there, Papa. Tuesday will give me all the time I need to put things into motion not only for this deal, but for our future dealings in the South." The gla.s.s felt cold against his hand, but he'd flipped the air conditioner on. He couldn't sleep unless it was cold.

"What's on your mind? Or should I say who?" Junior Luca asked.

"If I move, it'll be with the help of the Colombians."

"I don't want to owe anyone any favors after this plays out."

"Look at it this way, if they help us they're going to be doing us a favor. But if I let them take care of business when they're here, then what they'll owe us in return is going to be so much more. We have a lot of enemies in common, and letting them get involved on our terms will drive our price down in the end."

"Don't forget to keep me in the loop, and if not Cain, then who?"

"Remi.That'll make Cain and Ramon see it's in their best interest to talk to me," Nunzio said.

"We'll see."

Nunzio threw his phone on the bed and took one last look at the view before he closed the curtains. The phone landed near Kim, and she placed it on the nightstand as she turned up the volume on the television. "He doesn't agree with you," she said.

"He doesn't trust me. That's different than disagreeing with me."

He sat down so hard the mattress bounced.

"Give him a few days to fully appreciate how this plays out. When Junior gets everything he wants and is making more money than he ever dreamed, he won't take you for granted again."

Nunzio laughed and scrubbed his face with his hands. "This is Junior Luca we're talking about, right? He's not about to give in that easily, no matter how successful I am."

Kim pointed the remote at the TV and turned it off. "Then how about if I take your mind off it some other way?" She rolled toward him, put her hand on his crotch, and squeezed.

The blatant come-on made him forget his father, Remi, Cain, and, most importantly, his wife.

"Am I too early?" Remi asked when she was led back to the dining room to find Emma and the children having breakfast. "Or is Cain just sleeping in?"

"Cain's meeting with our contractor this morning, but she said she wouldn't be long, so please join us." Emma was cutting up a waffle for Hannah, who was doing a good job of shoving bacon in her mouth. "Hannah, slow down before you choke and Remi thinks we're not teaching you any table manners."

"Cain tells me you've got a birthday coming up, Hayden," Remi said. "What's on your wish list?"

"A Corvette, but Mama says I have to wait a few years," he joked.

"Think Emil would consider helping me out with some boots?"

Remi crossed her feet at the ankles and gave him a good view of her black alligator boots, polished to perfection. They'd been a gift from her father's personal guard Emil, who knew as much about trapping gators as he did about keeping Ramon safe. "I'm sure if we ask him realnice, he'll put you in some new footwear." Remi opened her arms when he came around the table and hugged her.