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But my brain wasn’t getting hung up on that. No, my brain was churning with ways to get out of this mess. “What if I can give you something even better than my life? Something that will sustain you much longer. Much, much longer.”
“What the hell could that be?” Marcello outright laughed, full-bellied, as if I were a comedian or some shit.
But I was serious. My life on the line? Damn straight, I was serious. “I’ll be honest with you, I’m not totally positive about this. I’m only hearing about your situation now, but if I can make it work, will you wipe my slate clean?”
“I’m intrigued.” He stood and walked around the table, entirely too close for my comfort, but I stood my ground. “Fine, but if you don’t return with this thing…I’ll lock you up and torture you for as long as I can possibly drip one ounce of life essence from you. I can make it easy or painful. You sure you want to take this bet?”
Nothing I loved more than gambling.
Luc got right in my face. “Austin, what are you doing?”
“Trust me.” I stared into those beautiful brown eyes and bet our future.
Marcello thought I was talking to him. “I don’t,” he said. “And why should I?”
“May I?” I pulled one of the chairs out. When Marcello nodded, I sat and folded my hands together on top of the table. I had to get him to understand where I was coming from. At least a little. I told him a little bit of Luc’s story while Luc paced and complained behind me. “It was your family, your people, that did this to Luc. I’m trying to fix it. And maybe I can help you, too.” As if I could guilt this man into anything. But…
Marcello crossed the room and opened a cabinet in a dry bar. He poured himself a drink and then turned to face me. “Fine. But you only have until this time tomorrow. Twenty-four hours. Capiche?”
“I understand.”
“And don’t think there’s anywhere you can go that Jude won’t find you.” His smile was very shark-like. And I believed him.
I thanked him and promptly left out the front door.
It was a short walk up the drive and out on the street, but once there, I took stock of the situation. “Shit. It’s going to be a long walk back.”
“Back where?” Luc stood beside me with his hands crossed over his chest.
“I know you’re not happy with me, but I think I’ve got this. We need to get back to St. Ann Street, though. Like I said, trust me, this is going to fix my problem. And give us time to focus on yours.” But damn. I was hungry and tired. And still broke. “Unlike you, I need to recharge, and what money we had before is gone for the most part.”
“We can go back to the river and see if I can help again.”
“I hate asking you to do that.”
“But it’s something we have right now. Come on. Get going…” He shooed me down the street.
Frenchman Street
First, we hit the riverfront. A little busking on Luc’s part and I had money again. That was dangerously too easy. I headed back to Clover Grill, and this time, I ordered what Luc wanted. Country fried steak, hashbrowns, and a fried egg on the side. Like before, I let him enjoy it while inside me, but that gave me another idea.
When we finished eating and walked back outside, it had to be nearly four in the morning. And I was tired. Without Jude-the-goon chasing me, I felt more at ease, but we were on a time crunch. Still, I had to rest. And it was actually too late to do what I needed to do. The sun would be coming up very soon. “We’ll put the plan in place tomorrow night. I have to sleep first.”
“Let’s head home.”
“Great idea. In fact, I have a ton of great ideas.” I wiggled my eyebrows. “Just you wait.”
We climbed in my back window, avoiding the landlord, because that was a problem for another day, and I didn’t want to chance it. I took a quick shower and climbed into bed naked while Luc watched the show. “You look like you want something, Luc.”
“Oh, I very much want something. Austin.”
“Then take off your clothes and get into bed.”
“It’s not that easy.” He shook his head, but the want in his eyes was unmistakable.
“We’ve got this. Like the busking and the diner. Come on.” I flipped the blanket open so he could see all of me lying there in my naked glory, with my hard cock weeping with the thought of having him any way I could get him. But he stood there scowling instead of getting sexy with me. “What?”
“I don’t like seeing all those bruises all over you.”
