Chapter 26 The Big Easy

Magnum

The air buzzed as we walked into the staging area for the Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras parade. We'd flown out to NOLA in the company jet with a few members of the West Coast KS crew, and now we were looking for my sister among the many volunteers rushing about with last minute preparations.

"This is fantastic," Wren said next to me, her eyes wide as she took in the towering floats adorned with lights and over the top decorations.

"This ain't the half of it," I said as I squeezed her hand. The last few days had been rough, but I'd managed not to fuck her brains out as we'd prepared for the trip. I'd been busy searching for Gavin, and I might've come home after she was already asleep in a futile effort to reduce the temptation.

Somehow, by the grace of God, I'd managed to sleep next to her and keep my dick in my pants. Didn't mean I didn't want to fuck her. I did, but it didn't seem right if I couldn't offer her more than meaningless sex. She deserved all the love and affection garbage that I was absolute shit at giving.

"I'm so glad you convinced me to come." After Wren found out about the kids at Kenny's mansion, she was hell bent on bringing him down. She didn't want to go anywhere and insisted we work day and night to free them. In actuality, we needed time to prepare for our next move, and the trip would hopefully distract her from the heavy stuff.

She also didn't like the idea of me covering the cost, but I'd told her my sister wanted to meet her and she'd agreed.

A guy I knew from the neighborhood recognized me and stopped in front of us. "Hey, Antoinne! It's good to see you. Wazzam?" He glanced at Wren who smiled nervously back.

I locked hands with him and lifted my chin. "Not much, dawg." I didn't correct him calling me by my given name. Happened all the time when I was home. "We're looking for my sister."

"Thought I saw her down there working on the checkerboard one." He pointed down the long row of floats.

Eventually, we found the Krewe of Honor float that my sister had organized this year. A long double-decker bus painted in black and white squares with golden chess pieces adorning the sides. A giant black horse in the shape of a knight piece guided the ship in the front. An excessive amount of metallic fringe trimmed the edges.

My sister stood on the floor bossing everyone around as usual. Short little thing, looking beautiful with her long curly braids and her overly done makeup. My tiny sister was a force of nature, and she would not be ignored.

She turned and saw me, her eyes flew wide, and she ran straight to Wren. "Welcome to the Big Easy." Her arms wrapped all the way around and embraced her. Wren stiffly hugged her back. "I'm Sylvie. This is Julian." She pointed to my brother who had been off to the side but joined the group as we arrived .

"Nice to meet you both." She smiled and shook his hand since he didn't offer her a hug. Even though she was nervous, I felt way too much satisfaction in knowing Wren was meeting the decent half of the Beaumont family. They weren't perfect, but Julian and Sylvie were a lot less messed up than me and Gavin.

"And you?" Sylvie made her way over to me. "Good job showing up." She jumped up on her toes to wrap her arms around my neck.

I lifted her up and spun her around. She felt a little lighter than the last time I'd seen her. "I always show up," I reminded her.

"And I'm always amazed." She smacked my chest, and I just smiled at her. She loved to give me a hard time, but she knew I always came through for her, even if it was last minute and unexpected.

"Where are your kids?" Wren asked Sylvie.

"My husband has the critters for the night. They're making a king cake and watching the parade on TV. They've already been to daytime activities. Nighttime is for Mama." She was laying her Southern drawl on thick and moving her hands to emphasize her words. "Now, this year the Krewe of Honor is doing a chess theme, and you are the pieces. So here ya go." She slapped a blue cape and a crown against my chest. "You're the king." She scowled at me and set her shoulders forward. "Put it on, Mag. No excuses." Sylvie always got these elaborate ideas and went overboard, but it usually ended up being a great time.

"Where's the shirt?" I asked her .

She gave me the disapproving head tilt. "No shirt. It's Mardi Gras. Sexy time." She wiggled her boobs and I looked away. She was wearing a low-cut green dress that was barely held together by the laces in the middle.

"Jeez, Sylvie. Warn a man."

She laughed and turned to Wren, handing her a short purple dress just like hers. "You'll be the queen." Wren looked thrilled as she held up the costume that looked more like a barmaid's dress than a queen's gown. Good lord. Wren in that outfit would kill me.

"Go ahead, now. Put them on." She shoved a crown in Wren's hands and shooed us behind some dressing curtains. "I'm making the brothers the knights." She winked conspiratorially and sashayed away toward Steel and the rest of the team.

I took off my shirt and put on the cape and the crown. I came out and waited for Wren. She rounded the curtain wearing a purple version of Sylvie's dress with leather laces holding the bodice together over her boobs and a short velvet skirt lined with an old-world cotton lace. She had a purple, gold, and green crown on her head and I had to smile. "Good to see you in Mardi Gras colors."

"Does it look alright?" She tugged at the short skirt. The dress also had that same lace around the cuffs.

"It looks stunning." Too fucking good because all the men were going to be after her ass. Wren smiled back at me, and I knew I'd made the right choice bringing her here. Felt good to see the worry wrinkles gone from her brow, even if it was only temporary .

Sylvie came running back up to us. "Ooh, you look great. Here's our throws. I got these beads from a specialty store. See they have little Krewe of Honor horse heads hanging from them and doubloons to match. You put them in this pack and then toss them out to the crowd." She handed Wren a purse with a long strap and shoved all the throws in it.

"How fun." Wren eagerly took the bag and wondered at the cheap plastic trinkets.

Everyone else got made up in their costumes, and I had to admit, Sylvie was right. With the whole krewe together, it looked like the quintessential good-time Mardi Gras float.

"Let's go!" Sylvie ordered us to climb to the top deck of the bus.

"After you, milady." I swung my hand out for Wren to go first.

I took a seat with Julian to my right and Wren to my left. Brandy, Stella, and Fiona were also here with Steel, Helix, and Kane. Celeste and Vander thought the parade was too exposed for them, so they stayed back to manage the business in California.

I didn't see why Kane had to come, but Stella said it was proper to invite him as he might become part of the team someday.

"Still no sign of Gavin?" Julian asked me. He was wearing a shirt under his cape, and I realized I could've just told Sylvie no, but it was too late now.

"Nope. You think he'll come home for Mardi Gras?"

He shook his head. "I never know what Gavin is gonna do next. "

"True. Sylvie looks fragile to me. She alright?"

"She didn't tell me direct, but I heard from Jameel that the cancer's back. She's gotta fight it again."

"Fuck." Last year, my sister had cancer in her digestive tract and they were able to remove it. "That why she's going so hard on Mardi Gras?"

"Possibly. Although she was always a nut."

The excitement in the warehouse reached a fevered pitch as someone announced five minutes till the start of the parade.

Wren was vibrating in the seat next to me. She'd seen a commercial of girls having fun in a casino, and now she was the queen of a Mardi Gras float on Fat Tuesday. I wanted to hold her hand, but Julian and Sylvie both thought she was Gavin's girl, and I didn't want to have that conversation on top of a float, so I just put an arm around the chair behind her.

"Like you with Wren," Julian said quietly.

"Not with her."

He glanced at my arm around her chair. "Think she'd be good for you," he offered casually and shrugged. Julian had a skill of saying a lot with a little.

"I hear you, brother."

He grinned and nodded. "'Bout time."

Sylvie handed us cups of sangria and party music blasted from the speakers. "Here we go. I'm so excited."

This was a chill krewe. Kane was the only one who rubbed me the wrong way, but he was keeping his distance from Wren for now .

We were about to roll when another group came up the stairs. I recognized Keegan Knight, Steel and Vander's brother. He headed up the Atlanta office of Knight Security. Behind him was Auggie Provatorova and his wife Haven, and behind them was...

Fuck me. Fucking hell.

Three women from Keegan's office, two of whom I'd slept with before, one who I'd rejected because she didn't seem like she could handle me at all. She was clingy when she was trying to get with me, and I knew she wouldn't be cool with the brush off when we were done.

Jesus, fuck. This float suddenly felt a lot smaller.

The girls saw me and made a B-line in my direction. I could not tell you their names, but they all came and started putting their hands on me, saying my name, saying they were happy to see me again. Now, normally, I might've been happy to have some options for the end of the parade, but tonight was for Wren.

I turned toward her, but she was gone. She'd worked her way over to Kane and was chatting him up. My first instinct was to go and claim her, but again, not my girl. I had no right to her. If she wanted Kane, she was free to date him, marry him, fuck him. Whatever she wanted.

Of course, I'd have to kill him if he even touched her but...

Cheers from the crowd lining the street drowned out the cheesy music Sylvie was playing on the float, and we rolled out onto Royal Street. The action distracted the women from Keegan's office, and I took the chance to back away from them. I stood in the middle of the float and watched Wren. She looked to Kane with questioning eyes as he showed her how to throw the beads.

I could just imagine she was worried they were expensive and tossing them out was wasteful.

He nodded for her to try it. She braced herself then let one fly. A girl in the crowd caught it and cheered. Wren waved back, eyes bright, mouth open, teeth shining, tits bouncing.

I'd rescued hundreds of people, saved thousands of lives, had plenty of celebrations for successful missions, but I never in my life felt the true joy of giving something to someone like this.

Swear to God, man. I'd give Wren a thousand Mardi Gras parades if it made her light up like that every time.

Another song with the word "night" in it played on the speakers. My sister did that every year. As we rolled through the French Quarter, the crowd became more rowdy. Drinks were flying, music blaring, and the real party was in full swing.

Wren started to dance. I was instantly hard. Watching her have fun, I could handle, but one wiggle of her hips, and I was toast. One of the women I'd been with before came up to me and tried to get me to dance. I gave her the evil eye.

"What's your problem, Mag? You were always up for a good time."

"Tonight's different."

She followed my gaze to where Kane was standing behind Wren.

"Who's that?" she asked .

"No one. Give me some space, alright?" I looked into her eyes, and she nodded before she slinked away.

I didn't like Kane guarding my girl like that, but at least she was safe. As we turned onto Bourbon Street, the vibe ramped up, and girls were flashing their tits for beads. The chicks from Keegan's office pulled their dresses down, and someone threw beads at them as they squealed in stupid delight.

Wren watched the whole thing with her mouth wide open. I hadn't told her about that because it didn't always happen. Depended on the timing and the route, but Fat Tuesday on Bourbon Street? Yeah, it was gonna happen. Bourbon Street was mostly tourists looking to play up the hedonism and indulgence. Locals didn't participate.

Wren looked down at her own top like she was considering it. Kane watched with hungry eyes, waiting to see if she'd do it.

The crowd chanted, "Show your tits."

Oh, hell no.

She bit her lip and leaned forward. She reached for the top of her dress, and I was there in a heartbeat. I nudged Kane out of the way. My arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her back. "No, baby," I said low and deep in her ear.

She arched her neck to look back and scowl at me. "I wasn't gonna do it."

"Sure, Rebel. You were just faking it."

She spun around, and her mouth turned down in a frown. "Stop teasing me. "

I wrapped my hands behind her back and pulled her close. She pressed her palms to my bare chest at first then pulled them away like she'd touched a hot stove.

"You're cute as fuck right now."

"I wasn't gonna show my boobs." She peeked up at me, checking to see if I believed her, which I didn't.

"No, you weren't because I wouldn't allow it."

Oh, that lit a fire in her eyes. "What if I wanted to do it?"

"I wouldn't allow it," I somewhat repeated.

She tried to back away, but I tugged her close, knocking her off balance so she was forced to brace her weight with her arms on my chest. "Since when do you allow me to do anything?"

"Since I married you."

"That's not real."

"Hush, baby. Your poker face is sucking again." She looked around, confused. No one here thought we were married, but I was just playing with her.

"Do your sister and brother think I'm married to Gavin?" I glanced at Sylvie, who was pretending not to watch us, but I'd seen her staring when I first pulled Wren aside. Julian was fully immersed in the parade and not paying attention to us at all.

"They know the truth. I don't lie to my siblings."

"What's the truth?"

"They know you were Gavin's girl, and I stood in for him at the courthouse. They know he's missing in action, and right about now, I think they know there's something going on with us."

"And you're okay with that? "

"I'm okay with that. I want them to know the truth."

"Is something going on though? Or is it nothing? Because you said you don't feel anything." She glanced at Sylvie and then at Keegan's office bunnies, who were staring at us, not trying to hide it.

"When I'm around you, maybe I do. A little." I lied. Wren had awoken a lot of feelings in me I didn't want to look at or acknowledge.

"Like what?"

"Hmm." Of course, she was going to make me do that, and of course, I didn't have the vocabulary for it. I decided to just tell her the truth as it seemed to work best with her. "Watching you throw beads at Mardi Gras stirred somethin' in me. Made me want to take you all over the world so you could do every stupid tradition known to man. Throw pennies in a fountain, kiss the Blarney Stone, lock a padlock on a bridge, ride a camel, smoke a hookah, pet a giraffe. I could pretty much watch you enjoy anything and die a happy man."

"Why?"

The eternal question. Why? Why this girl? Why this time in my life when I was set in my ways and too old to redeem? "I don't know." I thought back to the day I met her. "Seeing you with Gavin. You were all repressed, locked up under your pearls, frustrated and tearing at your own skin, but I saw it under there. In your eyes when you looked at me. The little rebel inside itching to get out and play. That part of you connected with that part of me cuz I'm all rebel. Ain't no part of me that conforms to someone else's demands, except maybe Vander 'cause he won't give me the gigs I want if I break too many of his rules."

"You follow the law."

I laughed. "It's a surreal balance. When I'm here living like a civilian, I mostly follow the law. When I'm on a job, laws don't apply. They're paying me to be a criminal. It's sanctioned killing."

"I'd like that opportunity, just once. One sanctioned kill." Shit. She always shocked me when she talked like that.

"Not happening."

"It could happen."

"The reason I'm allowed to do what I do is because I've trained with elite teams for years. I know how to do it without hurting anyone else. I know how to keep my calm under pressure. You," I tapped her nose, "will panic."

"I won't."

"You don't know that. Anyway, this is way too heavy for the party. I want you back at the railing throwing your beads and doubloons. No flashing."

"You are no fun."

We laughed and made our way over to the edge of the float. Kane got wise and backed off. Everyone else read my body language and gave us some distance.

Then I watched my girl toss some throws at her first Mardi Gras.