Page 100 of Healed
“What’s the name of that restaurant?” Lucien asked.
“Liuzza’s” Havoc said. “Best damn pretty-much-anything they offer in the city.”
“Yes, indeed,” Lucien said. “I want that seafood muffaletta next.”
“You’re just now finishing the last bite of that sandwich! It’s a freaking foot long and full of shrimp!”
“Yep. And I think I need the seafood muffaletta next.”
“Man, that’s a lot of food,” Charlie said. “The sign said it weighs sixteen pounds. It feeds six to eight!”
“Or one gator! And yes, it is a masterpiece! Garlic butter soaked and toasted muffaletta bun, a layer of fried catfish, a layer of fried shrimp, a layer of fried oysters, a layer of fried soft shell crab, a layer of fried crawfish tails. Cocktail sauce andtartar sauce between the layers; what’s not to love?!” Lucien said.
“Why didn’t you get it when we were there?” Havoc asked.
“I needed to be sure I could move fast. If I’m really, really stuffed, the gator don’t move so well,” Lucien said with regret.
“Hey, look, is that him?” Bane asked, focused on the house, instead of the incessant banter of his nephews.
“It’s somebody, him or his wife,” Havoc said, his eyes now locked on the house and he wiped his hands on his sixth or seventh napkin and dabbed at his mouth. For as rough around the edges as he was, he had impeccable table manners, even when there wasn’t a table present.
They watched as the driver’s side door opened and a woman got out. She was dressed to the nines and wore heels so high it looked like she might teeter off of them at any given moment. Her hair was bleached so blonde it was almost colorless. Makeup on so thick, that if she wore it that way every day, there was zero chance her skin had felt the sunlight in years. She turned back to the car and shrieked at it. “Can you get out and get the damn door?! I told you I wasn’t digging for the keys! It messes up my nails. GET THE DOOOOR!” she screeched again.
The passenger side door flew open and a man got out. He was dressed as nicely as she was, and was actually an attractive man. “If you keep screaming at me like that, I’ll put you through the damn door!” he yelled.
“Yeah, right. Then you go live on your teachers’ salary! Daddy would put you out of my house so fast!”
“It’s not your house. It’s ours!”
She laughed almost hysterically. “Yeah, like I’d allow you to have anything!”
“Fuck you,” he spat.
“No, fuck you! And open the fucking door!” she screamed.
The man opened the door, bitching about it the entire time, then went inside the very large, very expansive house, giving the woman time to get inside, then slamming the door behind them both.
“Holy fuck,” Havoc exclaimed. “I’d shoot my fucking self, if I was either one of them.”
“I’ll just kill them. Nobody will mind. Hell, nobody will miss them,” Lucien said.
Bane eyed the area they were sitting in. The sun had set and it was getting darker. The street lights that would normally light the area were out, as was par for the course in New Orleans. And the bridge he needed to take to cross the bayou to get to the house was a few blocks down, and even darker on the side they were on. He looked again, to assure himself that no one even gave a damn that they were there, then he got out and started walking the half a block to Bayou St. John, where he would then turn East and go over the bridge to the mansions sitting on the other side.
“Hey! Hey, wait!” Havoc called out, hurriedly getting out and running to catch up with Bane.
“You better hurry if you want a part of this,” Lucien said, leaving the truck behind.
Charlie reached for the keys Havoc had left in the ignition, shoved them in his pocket, then got out, too and fell in behind them. He had no idea what would happen, but he knew one thing. These males loved Daisy and they were here to make sure these horrible fucking people knew that whatever they faced was because of the trauma they put her through. And that meant, that he needed to be a part of it. Because if anyone ever tried to harm Daisy in any way again, he’d likely be spending the rest of his days in prison, and that would be okay, because he knew that Daisy’s family would take excellent care of Carson while he paidfor whatever he had to do to protect the female he loved. “I’m coming, too!”
Bane started across the footbridge.
Havoc and Lucien intentionally gave him enough time to cross, then lingered for another few minutes before they finally crossed, laughing and talking, giving the impression they were just buddies on their way home.
Charlie was smart enough to realize they were giving the impression they didn’t know each other. So, he took out his phone and pretended to be having a conversation as he lingered at the front of the foot bridge. When he was sure there was no one else around, he finally crossed the bridge, still talking on his phone. Waving his arms around to make it look like he was having an animated conversation with whoever was on the other end.
When he finally made it to the other side, he hesitated for a moment, not quite sure where they all went. He knew the house, but wasn’t sure that they’d all gone there.
A couple of pairs of glowing eyes, glaring at him, let him know at least two of them were squatted down near the wrought iron fence surrounding the professor’s back yard. He nonchalantly made his way in that general direction, until he was confident he, too, was hidden in the shadows and rushed to join them.
