Page 6 of Tell Me

“Brooks,” he said with a slight inclination of his head. “It’s been a long time. I thought you’d deserted us. Gone to LA to make your fortune. Or was it LA for a vacation and back to New York to make your fortune?”

Right. So he knew I’d been in LA and that I was back in New York. Of course he did. Nothing got past Dominick Landry. Including the list of people arriving at Louis Armstrong Airport, apparently. I cursed myself for not having thought of it—he’d probably known I was coming since I first booked the ticket—but then let it go.

I didn’t have time for a fight, and I didn’t have time for all this casual catching-up bullshit.

“Both, actually,” I said, fighting to keep my voice even. “But now I’m back. And I need a favor.”

One perfectly plucked eyebrow lifted. “A favor? You’re gone for ten years without a word after you threw my generous offer in my face and now you come back, again without a word, and demand a favor?”

My hands clenched at the reference to the last time I’d seen him, when I had in fact thrown an offer he made in his face, but I carried on. “That was a long time ago, and I was a different person then. But I’m still your daughter.”

He moved around the desk and sat in the chair, his hands steepled in front of him. “Still my daughter, yes. But the last time I checked, you were no longer my problem.”

I marched right up to him, too angry to stop myself. Not his problem? Not his problem? I slammed my hands down on the desk and leaned toward him, letting every ounce of my anger shine through my eyes. “Not your problem? You tried to sell me to the highest bidder, Dad, and use me as a spy to end one of your wars. You didn’t see me as anything more than a fucking tool, and now you’re going to pretend to be upset that I saw you for what you were and put a stop to it? You thought I’d just keep my mouth shut? You didn’t raise me to be that girl, and you know it.”

He got to his feet so quickly I nearly stepped back in shock, and shoved his face toward mine. “I raised you to understand that family was the most important thing, Brooklyn Landry. I raised you to do as you’re told when the family needs you.” His voice was a hoarse rasp, the smooth elegance long gone.

Ah. There was the father I knew.

I gave him the coldest smile I could summon. “In that case, you’ll appreciate the reason I’m here. I have family in trouble, and I mean to save them. But I need your help. I need that army you promised to give me if I ever needed it.”

He leaned away, his face going from furious to confused in a heartbeat. “You have family in trouble?”

Okay, so they weren’t actually my family. But what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

“Yes. There’s a war brewing in New York and the people I love are in the middle of it. I need men, Dad. And you’re the first person I thought of.”

Would that be enough? He’d always wanted to be the number one man in my life. The guy I thought of first in any situation. I’d always laughed at him when he said it, but I was handing it to him now. The gift he’d been asking for since I was old enough to withhold it.

He dropped into his chair again and pasted a mask over his face. “The first person you thought of was a man you hadn’t talked to in ten years?”

“Yes,” I ground out, my skin itching at how long this was already taking. I thought I had a few days to get back to New York, but that wasn’t going to happen if my dad insisted on carrying this on forever. I needed men and I needed them now. I wanted to be back on my way to New York five minutes ago.

I did not want to discuss my feelings about my father with him. Or my ten-year absence and the decision that led to it.

His eyes flickered like he’d been able to hear what I was thinking. “How many men do you need. Where? When?”

“One hundred,” I said, the number already clear in my head. “Soldiers that know how to shoot and fight on the streets. I need them now. I’ll be taking them with me to New York. I’ll return them next week.”

I saw the respect grow in his eyes, the surprise that I’d been able to give him details that quickly... and then I saw it fade.

“One hundred men at the drop of a hat? Immediately? Brooks, you ask the world.”

Okay, time for the flattery. “Only because I know you can deliver.”

He snorted at that, then stood and walked toward the door. Opening it, he took a moment to look back at me over his shoulder. “At one point, Daughter, I would have done just that. But you turned your back on me, and my operation. So I don’t think I’ll be able to satisfy your request this time. I’m not going to risk any of my men on a daughter who ran out on us the first chance she got. You can see yourself out.”

I watched him slide through the door and disappear, my mouth dry and my blood burning. He couldn’t satisfy my request?

He couldn’t satisfy my request?

That fucking son of a bitch. Granted, he’d never been someone I could count on. He’d been hot and cold, a constant source of emotional whiplash. Abusive one moment and loving the next, and never someone you’d want handling anything for you.

It was why my mother had left him, and why I’d chosen New York over New Orleans, even after he offered me everything he did.

I’d hoped for better this time. Hoped maybe he’d changed.

But evidently I still couldn’t count on him.

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