Not waiting for a reaction, afraid his rubber legs might give out, he wrapped his arm around Saria’s shoulders. She seemed to sense how weak he really was because she slipped her arm around his waist and walked with him to the house. Jerico and Evan dropped in behind them, walking backward, facing the members of the lair as they guarded Drake and Saria.

Remy slowly stood up, frowning at the others. “What the hell were you all thinking? If you had killed that man, I would arrest you, leopard or not. Idiots.”

“Maybe their problem is bad blood,” Joshua taunted. He stood in the shadows, his weapon ready, his eyes hard. “I haven’t seen much worth saving here, Remy. Cowards. Fucking cowards.” His gaze settled on the two older men who were in the back, both holding shotguns.

The two men looked at each other. One spoke. “Who are you?”

“The name is Tregre. Joshua Tregre. I believe you’re my uncles.” Joshua spat on the ground. “Although it leaves a bad taste in my mouth to admit it.”

The older of the two men sucked in his breath. “You’re Renard’s boy.” The two men exchanged another look. The older one pushed past Elie Jeanmard and stood in front of Joshua, clearly not intimidated. His face was lined and worn, his once blue eyes faded to gray. He studied Joshua carefully, almost suspiciously before letting out his breath and nodding his head as if he approved of him. “You look like your father.”

“You think I don’t remember you, Uncle Beau?” There was bitterness in his voice. “Mom never once talked of that night, and she only said good of you and Gilbert, but I remember. My leopard remembers. You betrayed us and that monster of a grandfather killed his own son. I saw it and every night when I go to bed, I still see it. So don’t think for one moment I’ve forgotten because I was little.”

“Leopards don’ forget, boy,” Beau answered wearily. “None of us have forgotten that night. The old devil took our wives. He would have killed them too. Neither Gilbert nor I ever considered that he might kill Renard. Your mother was at risk, but not you or Renard, at least that’s what we believed, and we figured Renard would just cack. Renard refused to allow his wife to bring you back. He sent her runnin’ with you while he fought the old man. It was worse after that for all of us. My wife killed herself and Gilbert’s run off.”

“Why didn’t you just kill the bastard?”

Beau shook his head. “You don’ know what it’s like livin’ with a monster.”

Joshua shook his head. “Your sons?”

Beau gestured toward two grown men just rising after swearing allegiance to their new leader.

“And your daughter? One of you has a daughter. There have been rumors.”

“Rumors the old man could never prove. We told him she died at birth.”

“What a waste, hiding your daughter, living like rats. You need to meet a man named Jake Bannaconni.” There was bitterness in his voice.

“Joshua.”

Drake’s quiet voice penetrated the anger and disgust. Joshua sucked in his breath and turned toward the man who always had provided calm when rage got to be too much. Turning his back on his uncles, he strode toward the house, his shoulders stiff with outrage.

Drake watched him come, judging his mood. “I’m sorry, Joshua, for putting you in such a bad position. I recognized the surname, but didn’t investigate. I should have asked you before putting you . . .”

“I would never have let you come here without backup. The minute Jake told me where you’d gone, I was already packing.” Joshua looked him straight in the eye. “And as long as you’re staying here, I will be too. No one lifted a hand to help my mom, least of all that family.” He looked Drake over and suddenly grinned. “I think you should get back inside before you make a fool of yourself, boss.”

Drake smiled back, swaying slightly. Joshua Tregre had always been a puzzle to him. On one hand he was quiet but confident. There was little arrogance in Joshua, and, unlike some leopards, he rarely was in an altercation. But, there was something very lethal about him. A good man to have at your back, Drake had always felt he would make a bitter, relentless and merciless enemy. They’d worked together for several years and never once had Joshua said anything about his past to him—or to any of the others on the team.

Drake stumbled and nearly went down, shocking himself. Joshua caught him as Remy shut the door on any audience.

“Put the stubborn son of a bitch down on the couch,” Remy ordered. “Our fearless leader has dripped blood all over the floor.”

“I’m not your damned leader,” Drake denied, groaning as Joshua helped lower him to the couch. “I think your sister is a pain right now.”

“Hey!” Saria protested. “It’s not my fault you think you’re a white knight.”

“For future reference,” Lojos said helpfully, holding a bag of ice to the back of his head. “Everyone thinks Saria is a pain. And for your information, poor Jules didn’ hit my sister. He would never hit a girl, let alone Saria. Neither Gaston nor Jules would harm a woman.”

“No one here would dare hit my sister,” Remy said. “Any one of us would kill them. Theirody would be buried so deep in the swamp no one would ever find them.”

There was an edge in Remy’s voice that had Drake turning his head to study the set features. Yeah, he could believe the brothers were capable of getting rid of anyone hurting their sister and Remy was letting him know.