Page 92 of Crazy Rich Cajuns

Leo looked at Bennett.“You got it?”

Bennett nodded, feeling his heart pounding.

“What?”Owen asked again.

“I’m the Leo,” Bennett said.

Leo grinned and grabbed another fry.Clearly, he wasn’t worried about what Kennedy might have done to it.Sawyer tentatively took his lead and also reached for one.

Owen shook his head.“You’re the Leo?What the fuck does that mean?”

“I’m the one who’s figured out what he wants.The stuff I’m doing might seem like a dream and a risk, but…it’s really not.Not for me.I know how to get it done.I’m the one who wants the steady, predictable stuff.Who doesn’t want the spotlight or the headline and can just be behind the scenes.I can be the rock.”He looked at Leo.“Right?Kennedy needs to be the Ellie.”

Leo just smiled.

Owen nodded.“Oh.That.Sure.”

Bennett looked at him.“Really?Just like that?It’s obvious?”

“Of course.We’re all that for our girls.”

Josh nodded.“Yep.We’re…”

“Home,” Sawyer filled in.He met Bennett’s eyes.“Our girls came here, needing something.They found it here with us.I mean, they balance us out, too, and give us plenty.Hell, Juliet’s already home to me.”He got a goofy grin on his face that Bennett would have never believed if he hadn’t seen it himself.“But yeah, we gave them a place where they could settle.”

“It’s confusing,” Josh added.“Because Kennedy was the one already here and you’re the one who came in.But yeah.Now you’re gonna be the one she comes home to and that helps settle her.”

Bennett swallowed hard.“She’s always seemed settled.”

Owen snorted and finally gave in, reaching for a fry.“Nah.I mean, she’s always here but that’s not the same as being settled.Being content.Knowing that you’ve found your place.She hasn’t had that.”

Bennett marveled at how laid-back these men were even when discussing big, deep issues like this.

“That’s why she’s always turned me down when I’ve wanted her to do more with the business.Maybe buy in.Or go to school and get a degree.Oranything.She knew that Autre and Boys of the Bayou wasn’t everything she wanted,” Sawyer said, happily digging into the shrimp as well.

Apparently, Kennedy hadn’t made this food.Or at least she hadn’t messed with it.Bennett wondered if that meant she was moving past the tormenting.

“You tried to get her more involved here and she always resisted?”Bennett asked.

“Sure.She’s as much a part of Boys of the Bayou as any of us.But she didn’t want to take more on officially.I think maybe she always knew that there’d be a time when she’d want to try something else.”

Bennett blew out a breath.“This might not work out.This might not be what she wants.”He wasn’t sure how he felt about it all, actually.Did he want Kennedy to become a successful politician?Could he be a politician’s spouse?

But the answer was easy.Of course he could.Whatever Kennedy wanted, he’d be there.

“It might not,” Leo agreed.“And that’s what Leos are for.To be the place you come home to no matter what happens.”

“You think Kennedy will end up coming back and settling down again here eventually?”Bennett asked.For some reason that idea bugged him.He didn’t want her to settle for less than what she truly wanted.And he wasn’t sure he could just wait around for her to try all this new stuff out the way Leo had for Ellie.

But Leo laughed.“No.That girl’s not coming back.At least not for good.Not back to the life she has now.”

Bennett shook his head.“So…what do I do?”

“Remember what I told you about the four categories of men in her life?”Leo asked.

“I do.”

“Be the fourth kind.”