In the Blood [ON HOLD]

"You're Back"

Remi hated traveling. He hated it every time he got back home, leaving him to wonder why he never learned his lesson. A headache was nudging at the back of his right eye, and all he wanted to do was lay down in his own bed and sleep for a solid twelve hours.

He never slept well outside of New Orleans.

But there was no such thing as rest for the wicked. Their plane had landed early this morning, and he and Leon had been making the rounds since then, making sure everything was still ticking along as smoothly as could be expected.

As they walked up the front steps, Leon's phone buzzed. Remi stopped unlocking the door to look over his shoulder, assessing if this was a problem Leon could handle, or if it was something that would delay him from getting some proper sleep.

Leon was frowning at whatever he was reading, his eyebrows steadily getting closer to one another as he got more details. Then he swore under his breath.

"What?" Remi said with a sigh, trying not to let the dread he was feeling creep into his voice.

"Marcus needs to see you about Gina."

Remi closed his eyes, leaning against the door for a second. Then, he turned back to Leon. "What the hell did she do now?"

"She keeps poaching his girls," Leon said with annoyance. "This is the fourth time, Remi."

"I'm aware of that." He growled in frustration. "Does he need to see me, or can you handle this?"

Leon pursed his lips, then shrugged. "I can try. But he did ask for you specifically."

"Yes, well, the benefit of being me is that I'm not at everyone's beck and call. They're at mine," he said, flinging the door open. He should have known better than to leave in the first place. 

He scowled as he went up the stairs, now in an exceptionally foul mood. He did not like having to resolve a problem more than once.

"So what do you want me to say?" Leon called up after him.

Remi paused, looking back down to the foyer where Leon stood with a raised eyebrow. He narrowed his eyes, thinking, then said, "Tell Marcus not to do anything. I'll handle it and if I find Gina or any of Gina's girls with so much as a hangnail, him and me are going to have a problem."

"And Gina?" Leon asked, smirking slightly, which made Remi scowl at him.

This was a bit more delicate. Gina was one of the most influential madams in the city. Half the dirt he had on city officials and other so-called upstanding members of society was from Gina. He had always liked their deal. He had always liked Gina.

She understood the importance of information in a way not many others did. Money wasn't a factor, and he appreciated the ease with which he was able to capitalize on her girls.

His fingers drummed against the reddish, shined wood of the banister. "I'll talk to Gina." He went up the last two steps. "But not today."

Leon snorted, the sound following Remi. He heard the front door shut as he walked into his room. He started to take off his jacket, then stopped, meeting the gaze of his reflection in a mirror tucked into his closet.

He slowly took off his jacket, then his tie, tossing them onto the end of his bed. Swearing under his breath, he turned around just to go right back down the stairs. He undid the first button of his dark grey shirt, then the buttons on his sleeves, rolling them up with quick, efficient movements.

"Tread careful," Moira's voice called from the kitchen as he headed toward the garage.

He hesitated next to the doorway, then leaned back to find Moira sitting at one of the kitchen islands, perusing three separate newspapers. She was still wearing what she had been on the plane this morning.