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Chapter 9 Fatherly Instincts

"Remy, look I'm sorry. Give me a call when you get this message."

"Hi, Remy it's Mariah. I hope you're not angry. Come home."

"Never mind, I'll see you when I see you."

These were just some of the messages left on Remy's phone over the course of the week to finally Mariah had grown pissed and stop calling completely. Remy Lebeau did not return home the following day to Mariah's immense displeasure. Quite frankly he didn't come home the following nights afterward. Officially as of today, two months had gone by with them not seeing and barely speaking to each other and finally after the previous week's altercation, silence had eventually filled the gap that was ever so growing.

She was highly angry that he would have the nerve to not return her phone calls or act like the victim in all this. She was never the type of woman to push her pride to the side but she found herself doing just that for this one man. The woman driving the new Lexus frowned as she punched the gas heading toward her destination just thinking about the Cajun man that had stood her up ever since she came into this town. She had, had enough and last night was the last straw. She would be done with Mr. Lebeau. It was over.

Tears were brimming at the fronts of her large brown eyes as her vision began to blur and she quickly sucked it up.

"You don't deserve this girl." Mariah said to herself as she quickly wiped her nose and checked her makeup in the rearview mirror.

Deciding that she at least owed him some closure, Mariah would continue on this little mission of hers and solve the great mystery about Belladonna's past bad deeds. She booked a flight to Paris where she would pick up on Bella's trail using the information of the bank and address listed on the USB. Mariah was now driving down the street in a rental that she had purchased, headed toward the Lebeau mansion to speak to the head papa himself about why he broke ties with the Assassins. From what she gathered so far Belladonna had taken funds and ran to Paris but the question remains as to why the tie between the two guilds were broken?

Seeing the mansion come into view she slowed down toward the gate seeing a bunch of men come toward the front with weapons drawn. She smirked and pushed her shades up on the bridge of her nose as her knuckles tightened from the tension she held while gripping the wheel. She pulled up to the gate and rolled down her window.

A man in a dark black suit approached the car hiding his gun from view. He bent down to look at her through the window. "What can I do for ya mam?"

Mariah put on her best smile. "Hi, yeah I came to see Jean Luc Lebeau."

"Do you have an appointment?" He asked as he stood up to his full height.

"No, but I-"

"Sorry mam you can't see him unless you have an appointment." He said as he twirled his finger and indicated that she turn around.

Mariah's smile turned into a frown and she got out of the car and took off her shades. "Look he knows me, tell him its Remy's girl-"

"I don't care who you are lady. This is your last warning." He said as another guy came over to see the commotion.

Now she was pissed and she quickly sucked her teeth before tucking her Chanel shades in the car. She got back in the vehicle and drove backwards putting some distance between her and the guards. She punched the car into park and got out of the vehicle making sure it was a safe distance away to not receive damage.

"You want to do this the hard way. I'm in no mood for your bullshit." She muttered as her Louis Vuitton heels stepped on the gravel and walked up to the gate again. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail with a fierceness. Her black tank top fit her body along with her True Religion skinny leg jeans and she marched back quickly toward the gate.

"Mam didn't we tell -" the guy said before his mouth flew open at what he saw. The woman had flew up into the air and over the gate headed towards the house.

"Open Fire!" He yelled. Bullets ripped through the space as she dodged them all and landed on the ground. She quickly used her elemental powers to lift a chunk of the earth from the nice manicured lawn to use as a shield. From the looks of it men were everywhere. On the roof tops, at the door, coming from the sides of the mansion, and running from the gate in her direction. She was now surrounded and she quickly incased herself in a dome of dirt and rock. After a while the bullets stopped flying and seeing this as her opportunity to strike she went to work.

Mariah unleashed a wave of fire from around her hitting the men and distracting others as she ran up to a few and threw in some good punches. She quickly ran to the door and punched the man aiming his gun at her square in the face causing him to misfire and drop his weapon. Three other guys ran at her and she roundhouse kicked one into the driveway pavement. She did a back flip and her heel hit a man's cheek nicely causing a welt across the man's face. His body flew into his partners knocking him away, leaving one man standing. He ran up to her and began attacking her with punches. He missed all of them but got a hold of her hair and pulled.

She squeezed her eyes from the pain of having her long hair yanked from her scalp and she quickly twisted his wrist causing him to let go of it. She then used his now twisted wrist to propel him into the guys coming straight for her form the yard. She quickly turned around and kicked the front door open. When she opened the door ten more men were rushing toward her with weapons drawn. She weaved in and out of them dodging their attacks. Finally, she grabbed one and threw him into the wall putting a dent in it. Another guy came and punched at her but she jumped out of his way and back kicked him in the head sending him sideways into a wooden foyer table. She then ran to another guy and punched him so hard that she could feel his nose breaking. The man yelled as blood rushed from his nose onto her fist. She pushed him away and punched another guy in the gut sending him cowering away.

She hissed and looked at her fist to see her knuckles were bruised from that last attack. Not to mention blood was on them and she quickly wiped it on the back of a chair.

Suddenly, three more guys came at her with weapons drawn and they began to fire. Seeing this she ran like a bat out of hell towards the wall and ran up it to flip over their heads. She landed and side-swept them causing the men to fall to the hard wood floor. When their bodies fell she kicked them one by one in the face and pushed her body upright to look at them. She jumped over their bodies and ran down the hallway trying to remember the way to Remy's father's study where she was sure he was watching.

She ran through another door into what seemed to be a large waiting room where men came rushing in from the other side. She smirked at them as she flexed her fingers ready to get rid of the tension she felt. This was going to be good.


Jean Luc Lebeau was highly pleased at the news at the appearance of the young woman now in his house whipping the dog shit out of his men new recruits. He was notified of her vehicle when it was ten miles out and approaching but until she got out of the car he was notified of who she was. He asked his men that he not be disturbed while he plotted his new business venture with Wall Street. He was in a whole new stealing venue. Bonds and stocks. But this time he was robbing Wall Street.

He however, stopped what he was doing when he was notified of the woman's identity. He wasn't sure what she was capable of but he knew it had to be something for her to have caught Remy's attention in such a way. And he was not disappointed. He now walked down the hallway surrounded by his henchmen approaching his entertainment room. When the double doors opened he smiled at the sight before him.

The woman now stood in the middle of the room with her heel locked around a man's neck connected to the wall. She was so small to have done a complete 70 degree kick, locking the man in place as he sputtered what looked to be his teeth. Her head whipped to side at the sound of his men guns clicking. The frown had left her face and she retracted her foot as the man slumped down to the ground.

He clapped as he assessed the damages. All of his new men were laid out groaning and attempting to stand. Others were crying and bleeding from various places around her petite form as she fixed herself up. Holes were in walls from bullets and bodies, glass and water seemed to be spilt on the floor, expensive paintings were ruined, furniture broken and ripped, and wood chinks were everywhere. But she stood in the middle looking as if nothing had occurred.

"Well, I must ask what brings yo' here, Cher?" He asked as he playfully looked at her.

Feeling a lot better and attempting to wipe the blood from her knuckles she looked back at him. "I need to speak to you about something important."

His left eyebrow went up into question at her. "Oh really? What can I do for yo'?"

She looked at the men around him holding weapons aimed at her. "I would like to discuss this in private please. It is about your guild." She asked watching his men with a skeptical look.

Nodding he turned around and beckoned for her to follow him. "We can take dis in my office." And the men parted for her to step through and follow the man. She eyed them warily as they gave her nasty wary looks before looking back into the room where all hell had broken loose.


The two now sat comfortably in Jean Luc's study as he sat down in his chair and carefully analyzed the young woman sitting across from him. "So what brings yo' here an' witout my son? I assume he doesn't know yo' are here."

She sighed at his correct assumption before nodding. Jean leaned back further wondering what she could have to say to him that wouldn't be said in Remy's presence. "I must say dis is out o' character. Despite my son an' I's relationship, I taught him well ta' never leave a fille unattended."

Mariah frowned before going straight into the matter at hand. "Well you keep him very busy these days. Besides, I came here to ask you what exactly did Belladonna do that would make you break ties with the Assassins Guild."

His eyes narrowed at her tenacity. "What business o' it is yours?"

Rolling her eyes she went on. "Well it is my business since we are engaged. You can choose to tell me or I can do what I'm good at and get it another way."

He sat forward and regarded her calm form. She was just as spicy as Remy but very much so blunt. He smirked at her ultimatum. "Well it wouldn't be very gentlemanly o' me ta' send a woman away. Especially one dat seems so hell bent on speaking wit me. It's going ta' take a while getting rid o' da stains from my floors."

He laughed as he pulled out a file. "I showed dis ta' Remy. I'm surprised dat yo' aren't working wit him on de matter. But Remy was always a lone wolf for dese sort o' tings." He leaned across the table and handed it to her.

Mariah flipped it open and looked through pictures, lists, and files of what seemed to be missing transactions and items. Jean leaned back in his chair thinking back on the matter. "Everyting was fine a year ago. We were working 'togedder' jus fine. We took and dey cleaned up. It was a very profitable arrangement." He laced his fingers together thinking about the ordeal as a frowned marred his features.

"I noticed bout' halfway into da' pact dat tings were missin'. And tings I do mean money and other objects. It started as small amounts but I'm no fool. I keep track o' every penny spent. I looked into it an' I saw dat money was bein taken between intervals o' time. I froze de accounts dat we had and was notified o' transactions bein attempted but de tracer wasn't given. I couldn't tell where it was goin. A few o' my men hacked de system an' saw de money bein' moved into another account in Belladonna's name."

"It seems however I wasn't de only one experiencing de problem." He said as he sat up and looked at her leaning up some. "I was approached by a man named Raul who was at de time one o' de underlings in the Assassins Guild. Apparently, he saw the same tin' happen to his accounts. He o' course accused me o' stealing."

"Whoa, question." She said. "What do you mean by 'at the time'?" She asked.

"Raul is apparently de new leader o' de Assassins Guild. I don't know why she was kicked from de guild but she is de reason I ended ties wit em. No one steals from us and gets away wit it. I sent my men out fo her but apparently she ran scared an' has never been seen again."

Mariah thought on this. Could it be that she knew more than anyone right now on the whereabouts so Belladonna? She was sure that Remy must have been way ahead of her but apparently not. According to his father, they didn't know where to even go to find her.

"It is very uncharacteristic fo' a guild ta' get rid o' their own but she was outed and replaced by him."

Mariah rolled her eyes at this. "You say it's uncharacteristic but yet it seems to happen a lot around here." She said looking at him with the knowing look.

His eyes narrowed. "Watch it gal. You're lucky I'm even takin' liberties with yo' right now. And what de hell do yo' kno anyway."

"I know that whatever you did to Remy, it was enough to cause all the hatred of hell aimed in your direction. I know that you did one of the worst things a parent could do which is abandoning their child, no matter what age." She said darkly.

He growled at this but she cut him off. "Look I'm not here to talk about that but if you must know you have a long ways to go before you can be all buddy-buddy with Remy." She looked down at her hands at the next part she was going to say knowing that if Remy knew she was telling him this, he would find her and wring her neck. "But, just because you have a long journey doesn't mean the road is blocked."

Jean Luc once again found himself in complete surprise at the girl in front of him. He regarded her as she looked down and played with her hands. Apparently she wasn't supposed to spill this information to him but she had. He sighed and took his large hand and ran it through his white and black hair. He decided that he would meet her half way since she was kind enough to leave him privy to this information. He stood up in his nice black suit and went to his beverage bar. He poured himself a quick shot and took it. He turned and offered her a shot but she held up her head and declined. After a few more minutes he poured himself a glass of Jack before going back to his seat.

"If it's one ting dat I regret in ma' life..." He said as he stared at his reflection in the glass. "It's not having my son's back when he probably needed his papa de' most." With that said he tossed back his drink. Mariah watched as the once prideful man seemed to vanish and in his place was now a man that was hurt beyond compare. She watched him try to pull himself together before continuing.

"I have gone through a lot in my life. My wife died o' breast cancer wit' no children. Back in de day, dere wasn't all dis support, research, an' treatment fo' it. After she died, I threw myself into ma' business. It was all I knew an' before long I saw myself turning into de same man dat my father was." He laughed a little at this as he looked at his empty glass.

"When I came across Remy, I saw myself in de' young lad. He was ambitious, talented, an' a smooth talker. A little rough around de' edges but he had de potential I wish I had when I was his age. I took him under my wing and I gave him everytin' my father didn't give to me. I raised him as my own. Hell! Blood couldn't make us any closer!" He said as he looked up at her. She just sat and watched him with an aching heart hearing the man go on about his child that walks around pretending he didn't give a rat's ass about the world and the people in it sometimes. Especially when it came to his father but she knew otherwise.

"Remy had grown up ta' become a fine young man. His talents aided de family guild business an' we were booming! Dere' was no stopping us!" He said prideful. Then suddenly his smile turned downward. "Until I made de decision to cast him away over business and banned him from his own home." He looked up at her with almost tears in his eyes. "Please if it means anyting, and you will hear this from me only, I love my boy! I never stopped." He said.

Mariah had stood up and she came over to him. She grabbed his large hands and held them in hers. "I know, Mr. Lebeau. I think Remy knows too but he's too stubborn to see it as well as the fact that he still loves you too." Suddenly her phone went off and she patted the man's hand letting go to reach in her pocket. Her heart raced at the thought that it could've been Remy. She was sadly mistaken when it was just her flight reminder. She would be departing in a few hours. Sighing she closed her phone and turned to the man.

"Mr. Lebe-"

He stood up and walked over to her. "Please call me papa mi' petite o' at least Jean." He said as he grasped her hands in his.

She smiled a sad smile and without her doing the dam fractured as tears spilled as she looked up at the man. "I don't think I deserve that." She said.

The man quickly wiped her tears away. "Now, now mi petite. What's with these tears? We both can't be in here bein' a bunch o' basket cases. Beside, you'll ruin yo' beautiful smile, no?" He said as she laughed at how amazingly he sounded like Remy just now. Like father like son.

"I'm afraid Remy and I aren't on good terms these days." She sighed and took a deep cleansing breath.

Jean Luc was not happy about this. "What?! I'll have a sit down wit de boy!"

"No, no!" She said as she reassured him. "Just if you see Remy, can you please tell him something?"

He picked her hands up and kissed the back of them. "Anytin'."

"Can you please tell him that, if he's still wants to try I'll be waiting in France for him." She said as she looked up at the man who's heart seemed to mirror her own. "Also, to let you know I do have a lead on Belladonna but don't tell Remy that."

Jean didn't know what to make of the situation his boy was in. But he vowed then and there to act like a father by telling his son what pig he was if he let the little one leave out of his life. She had come so far and was willing to battle his whole house just to help him. Not to mention she seemed for more capable of getting to the bottom of things than anyone else here. He would not have such a gem to be unclaimed by his house. She would be a Lebeau if he had anything to do with it. "But of course, mi petite." He promised. "On mi wife's grave, yo' have mi forever loyalty."

She smiled and without thinking she gave him a hug. He returned it and they both pulled back. He watched her fix herself up. "Ugh, I'm a mess!" She joked. "Alright you take care ok! My flight leaves in a few hours."

He ushered her to the door with a smile. "I'll be sure to contact yo' mi belle."

She stopped at this. "How would you be able to contact me? I didn't gi-"

He laughed at this. "Dear girl, I'm Remy's Papa. He had ta' get his skills from somewhere, no?" He boasted as he laughed and escorted her though the hallways toward the front. "I kno' everytin' dere is to know about yo' my little Florida orange." They reached the front door and they stood on the front porch looking at the driveway where her car sat. Men were outside fixing his lawn and trying to put down the damage she had done.

She blushed looking at the hell she had done to his home. "Sorry about the mess." She said and she quickly used her powers to fix some of it taking down the dirt and rock dome.

"Ne t'inquiète pas." (No Worries) He said. "Besides mi men…dey needed dis lesson in why we don't get lazy and always update ourselves in every aspect. Also, dey seem to got a lesson o' Southern Hospitality to a woman. Besides dey were just trainees pointing ta' his men when she was referring ta' his home. You have quite de' muscle for a little lady and I could really use someone like yo'."

She laughed and walked down the stairs taking this as her cue to leave before he continued with his recruitment speech. "Bye, papa!" she said as she reached through the window and unlocked her door.

"See you later. Cher! And I expect a grandchild when yo' get back! Skip de weddin! I'm getting' ole!" He said as he watched her put on her shades, start her engine, and leave like the tornado she was blowing in, though, and out of his home.

Jean Luc Lebeau looked at one of his men with a smile before laughing and calling upon Jac. "Please call mi son, it seems we are due fo' a good ole fashion sit down." With that said he turned back into his home to prepare for the battle that he was sure to have with that boy of his.


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