Page 39 of Man of Honor
Gage’s smile was faint, like he knew exactly what I was thinking.“I can't do much for Ben. I’m no good for anything but muscle and moral support, but after Boone died, I knew it was time to come home.Besides, Vegas wasn’t anything like I thought it would be.The weather's warm, but the people are ice cold.Nothing felt real out there. Even me.I worked the bar scene for a while, but then I figured, if I’m gonna bust my ass, it might as well be here.At least I understand people here.”
I turned that over in my head before asking, “Why bust your ass at all?You were in Vegas. You could’ve been rolling dice, not cracking heads.” I leaned forward, elbows on my knees, and locked eyes with him.“Why do you keep doing this to yourself, Gage?”
His mouth twisted into that signature smirk of his, and I braced myself for the brush off.But then, just as quickly, thesmirk faded.“You really wanna know?” he asked, sounding chagrinned.
"If you want to tell me." I didn't want to push too hard.Last time I overstepped had led to the worst case of blue balls I'd ever had.
He laced his hands over his flat belly, tipped his head back, and gazed up at the night sky, like he was gearing up for a long story.“You ever hear of Atticus Beaufort?” he asked vaguely.
What the…
“Tell me."
His smile flickered, like he hadn’t expected me to go along with it and wanted to reward me.“Atticus was a Jesuit priest back when Eden was still a monastery,” Gage said, warming to the subject."Dedicated his whole life to God and the people of this parish, until one day…”
“Met someone pretty, huh?” I interrupted with a grin.
“Bingo.” Gage chuckled, twitching his eyebrows like we were sharing some private joke.“The daughter of a wealthy ship builder.There's still a portrait of her somewhere in the attic.Rosalind. That was her name. The way Boone told it, Atticus nearly went crazy from lust and grief.He left the church, married the girl, and inherited her family's fortune...and he spent the rest of his life trying to atone for it.Hoping to buy his way back into heaven, I guess.”
Gage's eyes were gleaming when he finally dropped them back to mine.“That's the Beaufort legacy. Atticus made damn sure every one of his descendants would use their money and power for the good of the parish.Most tried; Boone succeeded. He saved dozens of kids.My brothers and I got a second chanceat life on the condition that we did something with it.They already have...but me? I’m not smart, and I’m not particularly talented.I’m only good at one thing. The only way I can prove that I deserve to be part of this family is by fighting for it when it counts.”
“So, you guys are…what? The justice league of Devil’s Garden?” I quipped, hoping to lighten things up with a levity I wasn’t feeling.
Gage let out a small huff of laughter.“Something like that.”
“You don’t earn a place in a family, Gage,” I said quietly.“That’s a job. Hell, it’s what I do every day.It’s not the kind of weight Boone should have ever put on a kid.”
Gage shrugged. “Small price to pay for family."
“You’re a long way from Gotham, Batman.”
“Am I?” His lips twitched into a grim little smile.“Doesn’t feel so different these days.”
“Is that what you were doing the night you showed up half-dead at my doorstep?Looking for trouble just to prove you're doing something?"
It wasn’t the first time I’d asked, but he clammed up every time I broached the topic.I figured he wasn't going to answer this time either, but he surprised me.
“I made a promise to Ivy,” he said slowly, choosing his words with care.“In a small town like this, she’ll never be at peace unless she knows that asshole won't come after her again.I know what that's like. My dad waited eight whole years to come back and finish the job on me, remember?"
“You found the guys who tried to abduct her?” I asked sharply.
“More like they found me,” he said, wincing.
“You shouldn’t have been poking around at all.” My fingers clamped around the armrests of my chair so hard the wooden finish began to crack.“This ain't the same town it used to be.The street thugs you used to fight on Saturday nights are long gone, replaced by hardened criminals who run drugs and girls across state lines.Christ, you’re lucky they didn’t slit your throat and dump you in the bayou.”
My body broke out in a cold sweat just thinking about it, and the obnoxiously unconcerned expression on his face didn’t help.
“Always figured I’d end up there sooner or later,” he said with a laugh.“You gave me more time than I ever thought I’d get.I’m not going to let Ivy grow up looking over her shoulder the way I did.”
“Gage…” I groaned, scrubbing my hands over my face.“You need to leave it alone. Let us handle it.”
“Like you handled it for Ben?” He rolled his tongue across his teeth and gave me a cynical smile.“I never finished telling you about Atticus, and how Rosalind was engaged before she met him.They say the guy never got over it.Went to his grave cursing anyone named Beaufort.You know what his name was?”
“No.”
“Josiah Vanderhoff.” He enunciated each syllable, heavy with irony.“Folks think we’re just two rich families arguing over who controls the parish, like dogs over a bone.But it goes back a lot further than that.I wasn’t joking when I said Vanderhoff came out of the womb hating our family.”
I grunted, surprised.