I rub the back of my neck in irritation. I don’t like being away from Hayden. Shit. The truth is it almost killed me to leave her today to meet with Victor Torasani. I came close to taking her with me. Diesel had sent some of his men to help out. The truth is, I don’t know a fucking one of them, definitely not enough to trust them with Hayden. Then Crusher and Dani walked in. I’ve never been so glad to see two people before. I left him in charge of keeping them safe and told Dani to behave—which will be hard for her. Damn woman is a spitfire.

Still, here I am, waiting in a damn hotel suite, wishing I was back at Hayden’s. I look around the room. One night in this fucker probably costs more than I’ve spent on hotels my entire life. Leather high backed couch, with matching chairs, plush carpeting with mahogany furniture, and crystal lamps and accents. I may have money—more than most would think from looking at me, but I’m not comfortable with this shit. I would rather be in Hayden’s rundown house. I’ve been thinking on her house. It’s not a bad place, with some work it has possibilities. I’ve been working on her porch, but I think it really needs an extension. If I add on to the back of the house, I can enlarge the bedroom and put a door in it that could lead to an outside patio. Hayden would like to sit out there and watch the sunrise…or the stars.

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting. I’m afraid I will have to keep our meeting short. I need to get back to the hospital. We’ve decided to terminate the machines today,” Victor says, coming into the room. He sits down across from me as I digest his words.

“Hayden will want to be there.”

“Is she yours?”

“She is.”

“My wife, she thought a lot of her. Enough to ask me for a favor, when she vowed to never speak to me again,” Victor says, and for a moment, he seems like he’s lost in thought. I think he might be unaware he even spoke the words aloud.

I want to question him further about Charlie, but I don’t. That’s his business. I just need to make sure that Hayden is protected and Blade stops breathing air.

“Bring her to the hospital around five. I’ll give her a few moments alone with Charlotte. I’m sure you understand I want to be the only one with my wife in the end.”

I nod my head, yes, but I don’t understand much of anything. Then again, it doesn’t matter.

“About the Dwellers—” I start, only to have Victor interrupt me.

“I’ve neutralized their club. Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to find the waste of space called Blade. I did get a confession from one of his men that confirms he was the one that ran my wife off the road and shot her. His time is short.”

“He can’t be left unfound. He’s a threat to Hayden.”

“I’ll deal with it.”

“No offense, but my men tell me he’s still on the loose this morning. I’m not waiting.”

“He may be a threat to your woman, but he took Charlotte. His life is mine.”

“Is Charlie…Charlotte the real reason you had protection over this town?”

“It is. My wife couldn’t handle the…shall we say, the business side of my life. She put up with it, but she never fully understood. I did something she found unforgivable, and then I compounded my mistake and let her leave. I was a fool,” he says and the weight of the guilt in his words reaches me.

I understand guilt and failure. Those are emotions that I’m old friends with. I probably understand Victor more than anyone. Still, it’s not changing my stance.

“Blade is after Hayden. He’s hurt her. He’s left her afraid. I’m not sitting around and waiting for you, if I get my hands on him,” I tell Victor, looking him straight in the eye. I need this ended now.

“I want to be the one to end him,” Victor says, his voice hard. His hand even slightly shakes with his anger. It’s probably the most emotion I’ve seen from the man since I met him.

“So do I.”

“You still have your woman. This filth took mine. It is my right. Anything less would make me appear weak, and a man does not live to be my age by being weak, Mr. Jameson.”

I cringe at the use of my surname. It doesn’t surprise me he knows it, I just don’t particularly like it. I’m having a hard enough time getting used to being Michael after all this time. I scratch my beard, letting my thumb seek out the indention of the scar underneath.

“If I get him, I’ll end him. It’s simple as that. I can’t allow a threat to Hayden to live, even if you have certain rights.”

“Your…Hayden. She’s pregnant, correct? My men tell me the child is this Blade’s.”

“Hayden and the child are innocent. You will not use them to lure the man to you. I will kill you first,” I growl, everything inside of me going cold at his words. I’ll rip him apart limb by limb if I have to. No one will hurt Hayden or Maggie. If I have to take on the Torasani syndicate, I will.

“Calm down, Michael. May I call you Michael?” he asks, and I grunt in reply. He apparently takes that as acceptance. “I would not harm Hayden or her child. Charlie’s last words to me were that she’d do anything to keep them safe. I will make sure they are. All I meant was that I don’t think you want to be the man to put a bullet and end the life of the child’s father. I don’t think that’s a burden you need to carry, nor something you want the child to find out later in life. Because trust me, our sins always find the light of day.”

I go over what he said in my mind. I don’t like it. I hate it. The truth of what he said is presently sitting in my gut like lead weight and it’s burning. Only, it has nothing to do with the fact that he’s trying to deny me the pleasure of ending Blade’s life. It’s more elemental than that. I don’t like that he referred to Maggie as Blade’s child. Fucking hell.

“If I find him and you’re not available, he’s not polluting the air a second longer,” I growl, giving in, but not sure why.

“Fair enough.”

It takes me a few minutes to get out of there. My mind is racing. I need time to think. I need to figure out what’s happening here. I need to get…control.

Fuck.