Page 36 of Cowboy

“You’re home,” she murmured sleepily.

“I’m home, baby. Home where I belong. With you.”

“I love you, Cowboy.”

“I love you, too.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Whatever storm the Gulf was brewing up had come in with a vengeance during the night. The men were up well before dawn, already out placing the sandbags and securing the property. Those from Belle Île had moved to the main property just to be safe. No one was going to G.R.I.P. today.

“Looks like it’s a tropical storm, but not hurricane strength yet,” said Sly speaking to everyone in the cafeteria. “I think we continue to monitor the weather and just sit tight.” He turned to Ace, who stepped forward.

“We don’t want to ruin anyone’s breakfast, but we do have some things we have to discuss. Our team has been trying to find out the connections between Constantine and Dimitri and what this ‘pack’ could be.”

“But I thought that Christopher said at the casino that Constantine hated Dimitri. How could there be a connection?” asked Autumn.

“That is what he said, but since he lied about other things, we wanted to check a few things on our own. Almost everyone knows that Dimitri is as dirty as his father or dirtier. When we reached out to our contacts at the FBI and Homeland, they also agreed that Constantine had changed his ways, but he was still being watched.”

“Why? I mean, if they knew he changed, why watch him?” asked Autumn.

“Because he and Dimitri are related,” said Ace.

“What? No,” said Autumn, shaking her head. “No, that can’t be. Why wouldn’t he have told me that? They talked all the time about wishing they had a child because they had no family at all. They said they thought of me as a daughter. If they were related to him, why not treat him like family.”

“Because Dimitri was the one who attempted to kill Annette the first time and ended up killing their child.”

The silence in the room was deafening. Autumn couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Why wouldn’t they tell her so that she could avoid this man?

“Autumn, Dimitri is Constantine’s nephew. We know for sure that he and his brother split the businesses of their father when they were younger men. Even back then, Constantine was not into selling flesh. He didn’t mind transporting stolen goods or drugs, but not women and children. We think his wife convinced him to back away from the shipping side of the business and buy the casinos and other businesses.”

“But they don’t have the same last name,” said Autumn.

“He used his mother’s maiden name. Legally changed it about thirty years ago,” said Ace. “It’s one of the reasons we didn’t see the connection right away.”

“Well, it makes sense that Dimitri was in the casino acting like he owned the place. Maybe he thinks it will be his, or he’s going to buy it,” said Cowboy.

“It won’t be his,” said Ace. “The stipulation of the sale was very clear. It could not be sold to Dimitri or any company connected to him. It was to be sold to one of eleven people who had expressed interest, all reputable businesses. Then the money would be divided up to the charities.”

“But what does any of this have to do with me? I mean, I have no idea what that ‘pack’ is he’s talking about, and I wouldn’t have known anything about his will. He didn’t discuss those things with me, nor did Annette.”

“We’re just not sure at this point,” said Luke. “But Dimitri being related to Constantine makes everything suspect. The bodyguard said that they met in his office for almost two hours a few weeks back. He said Constantine asked the bodyguards to stay outside the office, but he and Dimitri met.”

“What about?” asked Autumn.

“We have no idea. It might be helpful to know that,” said Eric.

“Check the video feeds,” said Autumn. She looked at Keith and nodded. “I mean, if he can read lips, I know that he always had the video feeds on. He said once that he always kept the sound off because he didn’t want anyone to hear the conversations, but that the security team could keep an eye on whoever he met with.”

“That sounds like a man who was paranoid,” said Cowboy.

“Maybe,” shrugged Autumn. “Or, maybe he was discussing family business that he didn’t want others to hear. I keep thinking, though, if he was as bad as you say when he was younger, why didn’t he kill Dimitri when he attempted to kill Annette?”

“Another great question,” smirked Hex. “Ace? Are there any other nieces or nephews? Maybe someone else that’s holding a grudge?”

“Not that we’ve found so far. We’ll let you know.”

The room returned to the loud breakfast-time banter. Autumn was more confused than ever. Why would Constantine put up with all the bullshit from Dimitri? None of it made sense to her.

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