Ice_Reaux - Laura Wright Page 0,38
“You know about that?”
“My cuz.”
“Right, Raphael.” He shrugged. “I am, but I can multitask. You know that.”
Reaux nodded. “I do. But I’m not talking about how you regularly take on two females at once.”
“Pity.” He grinned.
“I’m looking for a male. Hybrid. Was born with the name Tate. Came out of the Benson labs as an infant. His brother is called Ward, and he worked with Christopher. Maybe still does.”
“The guy who turned on the Benson assholes and got Cammy and Ice out of that lab? We’re looking for him. Sure he has a shitload of info to share about that assassin.”
“Yeah, that’s this Tate’s younger brother.” And Karen’s son. Hopefully when they found him, he’d be willing to talk. Not to mention forgive the one who had given him life. Reaux slipped a piece of paper across the desk. “This has time, date, place of birth, possible coloring. Mother’s name and situation.”
Irek stared at it for a moment. “You want to know if he’s dead or alive?”
Reaux nodded.
“And if he’s alive…?”
“Just where to find him. Don’t engage. Don’t bring him here.”
“You got it.” He gave Reaux a broad smile. “So? When are we going out? New Orleans, or hell, even that shit bar in town? I could use a wingman.”
Reaux sniffed. “You never needed a wingman.”
“True. But I sure as shit enjoyed it.”
“It’s good to see you, brother.”
“You too.” He stood up, gave Reaux a hug.
“Hey, is there a back way out of here? It’s a little crowded out there.”
Irek knocked his chin in the direction of the open window. “Like old times.”
Chuckling, Reaux headed straight for it. But just as he slipped through, he caught sight of a female and child walking hand in hand a few yards away. They were moving toward the bayou.
Karen and her cub.
CHAPTER 5
“Three, please,” Karen told the grinning boy, his hands already caked with mud. “And make them extra thick.”
“With cheese?” Caleb asked.
“Cheese, onions, pickles—”
“Ketchup and mustard?”
She laughed and spread the blanket on the damp ground, then opened the picnic basket. “Just make it the works, darling. Three mud cheeseburgers with everything on them. For here. Not to go.”
He laughed too and took off down the shore. Before setting out the actual food she’d brought, Karen settled in on the thick rug and tucked her knees to her chest, inhaling the bayou deeply. A few hours ago the rain had cleared out, and left behind the most brilliant sunshine. She closed her eyes for a second and let it soak into her skin. It was warm for January. Had been for the past week. And she was going to enjoy it with her boy.
“He looks like you.”
The male voice startled her, and she turned around. Reaux stood a few feet away. Where had he come from? And how hadn’t she heard him? “Hey,” she said.
He was dressed casually, in jeans, and a white T-shirt that molded to his broad chest and thick biceps. He looked relaxed. Handsome. Though seeing him shirtless and slightly sweaty the other day was pretty difficult to top.
Not that she should be thinking like that. Granted, she wasn’t like the other females. She couldn’t scent his musk. But she was a…female. And she had eyes. And a sex drive, even though she’d never gotten to use it. And Reaux was pretty much the sexiest male she’d ever encountered.
“I saw you heading this way and I thought…” He shrugged, and the corners of his mouth lifted into a grin.
“You’d check up on me?” Her heart flickered in her chest. Felt like a candle being lit. “That goes way beyond your duties as my ‘ear.’”
His brows lifted. “Your ear.”
“You know. I talk, you listen.”
“Ah. Well this ‘ear’ was meeting up with a friend and I just saw you and the cub heading toward the bayou.”
He sat down next to her, and once again that candle-flickering feeling erupted inside her. It was a strange and unfamiliar sensation. Not like what she was used to: fear or anxiety or dread.
“You hungry?” she asked him. “I have sandwiches and fruit. But Caleb is also whipping up some killer mudburgers.”
“As tempting as that sounds…” His gaze moved over her face. “I didn’t come by to hijack your picnic lunch.”
“No?”
He shook his head.
Something was happening. Between them. In the air. If she didn’t know how strongly he felt about her not having sexual feelings for him, she would’ve sworn he wanted to kiss her. Granted, she hadn’t been kissed all that much in her younger years,