Cane drank his scotch and rolled his eyes at the same time. “Just let it go. The guy doesn’t like us, and he’s not gonna change his mind. His family and the Barsettis are like oil and water—they don’t mix.” He set the glass down on the table in between us, his jaw tight with annoyance. “Leave it alone.”

Button sat beside me, her legs crossed underneath her dress. She wore a deep blue dress that stopped above her knee. With her hair pulled back and her diamond earrings exposed, she had the grace of a queen.

My queen.

She’d aged like a fine wine, becoming more graceful and potent as the years wore on. Her confidence only heightened her beauty, and those sharp blue eyes never faded despite the decades of stress we’d both endured.

She turned her gaze on me, silently beckoning me to address what my brother just said.

It would be easy to give up—but not for me. “I’m not gonna stop. Not until water and oil finally mix.”

“But they can’t mix,” Cane spat. “They always separate.”

“Well, I’ll make it happen.”

He shook his head as he refilled his glass. “Dumbest thing I’ve ever heard you say. And you've said a lot of dumb things over the past few decades…”

Button narrowed her eyes on his face, her lips pressed tightly together. “Not nearly as many as you.”

I couldn’t hide the slight grin that formed on my face. She was my wife, the person at my side forever. She always defended me even though I didn’t need her to do it. But she was also a member of this relationship, a sister to Cane who fit perfectly. We’d defeated Bones Sr. together, saved each other’s asses more times than I could count. It was the kind of bond that allowed insults to fly all the time.

Crow swirled his glass before he shrugged. “True. But this is still stupid. You’ve made your attempt. We’ve got to move on. If he doesn’t want to be the bigger man, then whatever.”

“Be the bigger man?” I set my glass on the table, my hands coming together. “He always was the bigger man. Despite the shit we put him through, he warned me about Conway. On top of that, he put his neck on the line and saved all of us.” I pointed between him and me. “We’d be dead right now if it weren’t for him. It would have been easy for him to ignore that information. I bet you he considered it for a moment. All he would have to do is wait for us to be killed off before he took Vanessa. We’d be out of the way for good, and he would get exactly what he wanted—Vanessa and the rest of us dead.”

My brother held my gaze, still slightly swirling his drink.

“He already was the bigger man.” My eyes moved to the table between us. “He proved it a million times over. I’m in debt to him for the rest of my damn life. I don’t even give a shit about my life that much, not compared to my only son.”

“And mine?” he asked in offense.

“You know what I mean,” I spat. “He saved my son. He saved my daughter-in-law. He saved my grandchild. It’s my turn to be the bigger man. It’s my turn to put up with his bullshit until I finally earn his respect.”

Cane leaned back against the leather chair, his drink sitting on his thigh. A sigh erupted from his lips and filled the room.

Button nodded. “Crow is right. We have to keep trying until we make it right.”

“But he doesn’t want anything to do with us,” Cane said. “That’s the part you don’t understand. All he wants is Vanessa. He wants to be left alone. You trying to make this right is only annoying him. If you really want to respect him, just stop bothering him.”

I shook my head. “No. I get that he’s angry at us, particularly me, but this needs to be mended. He’s a strong guy, but he needs more in life. He needs a place where he belongs. I never thought I would try to be a father figure to him…but that’s what he needs. That’s what Vanessa wants me to be for him.”

“A father?” he asked incredulously. “The guy is thirty years old. He doesn’t need a father.”

“My son needs me,” I countered. “When he was taken, I stepped into the open and prepared to die to save his life, just for the slim chance he could get away. When he didn’t know what to do about Sapphire, he came to me for advice. When he raises his kids, he’s going to come me. He needs me as much now as he did when he was a child, just in different ways. Carter and Carmen need you too.”

Cane fell silent and drank his scotch.

“Sometimes I think I make some progress with Griffin, but then we take ten steps back.” When I met him in the bar, it seemed like he was slowly opening up to me. It seemed like his walls were coming down. But then he came over for dinner, and that trigger went off and pushed him away all over again. “I asked Vanessa to ask him to meet me halfway, but she refused. She said she can’t ask any more from him, which I understand. So, I’m on my own.”

Carter stared into his glass, swallowing his annoyance. “I hope I don’t go through anything like this with Carmen. I always make jokes about putting her in a nunnery, but Jesus, I’m serious now.”

My only daughter dating my biggest enemy was the worst heartache I’d ever experienced. There was so much hate in my veins, so much frustration. It would have been so much easier if she’d just settled down with Matteo or Antonio, two fine gentlemen, either of whom would have made her happy. But she chose someone else, a man hard like me. “It’s not so bad, Cane. I know he would do anything for her, and that’s enough for me.”

“If Carmen dated someone like him…” Cane shook his head. “I don’t even want to think about it.”

“As much as I hate to admit, she found someone like me.” Griffin and I looked nothing alike, but we were similar in our hostility and mannerisms. He was fearless, strong, and passionate. With very little to say, he announced his presence in silence. After Button pointed out the similarities, I couldn’t stop seeing them. “Carmen might find someone like you.”

Cane scoffed. “Over my dead body.”

Button looked at him. “As much as we don’t want to admit it, Barsetti blood is tainted with blood and violence. We have a specific palate when it comes to our partners. We don’t want an average person. We need someone like us. Carmen probably wouldn’t be happy with an average man. She’ll likely always want an extraordinary one.”

“That’s why the nunnery is such a good idea.” He downed the contents of his glass before he set it on the table. “Because my daughter is so damn beautiful. She looks like Adelina, but with Barsetti eyes and height.” He shook his head. “I wish she were ugly…”

Button chuckled. “No, you don’t.”

“Yes, he does,” I said. “I’ve been there. But now that I know Vanessa’s going to spend her life with Griffin, I’m not worried about her. She has the perfect man to protect her. I never have to worry about her…and that’s all I wanted.”

Cane shrugged. “I don’t think any man out there will ever be good enough for my daughter.”

I nodded. “I know what you mean.”

Cane refilled his glass before he changed the subject. “I know you’re trying to kiss Griffin’s ass right now, but we’ve got to do something about the Skull Kings. I haven’t heard a peep about them, but after ordering a hit like that, I don’t think it will end quietly. If they’re anything like the way I remember, they’re insanely ruthless. I’m sure killing the entire team they dispatched made them realize they underestimated us…but I don’t think it’s over.”

It’d been on mind for the last few weeks. Their quiet surrender sounded too good to be true. Things like that never dissolved into nothingness. “Neither do I.” Now that my son was going to be a father in just a few weeks, this war needed to be dead and buried for good. I didn’t want my grandbaby to come into the world in the midst of a battle. They should only know peace.

“Griffin has some kind of relationship with the Skull Kings,” Cane said. “Based on what Conway said about the Underground. He was there one night, whether he was buying a woman or staking out the place. He might be able to help us.”

“Perhaps he can talk to them about dropping this feud,” Button said. “We aren’t even certain what instigated this provocation in the first place. Conway doesn’t seem to know what the problem is.”

“They must have realized that Conway was buying and freeing the slaves,” I said. “Maybe someone ratted on him. That’s the only thing that makes sense. They probably don’t appreciate the fact that Conway was making a fortune of their products.”

Cane nodded. “Probably. And I don’t think that’s something we can discuss calmly. The Skull Kings aren’t calm. They’re psychopaths.”

“Griffin might have something that could help.” He was a powerful man with a lot of connections. Maybe he had a special relationship with them and could arrange a peaceful negotiation. “Outright attacking the Skull Kings is the only other choice—and it’s a terrible choice. We’ll be fighting that war for three more generations.”

“I don’t like that idea either,” Button said. “Not when we only want peace.”

“Griffin will help if you ask, right?” Cane asked.

I felt pathetic asking him for help after what he did for my family. He didn’t owe us anything, not any longer. I hated to admit that I needed him, but I definitely did. “Since this concerns Vanessa, yes. I prefer to wait until Griffin and I have established a better relationship because I don’t want him to think I’m only behaving this way because I want something…”

“Well, you’re going to have to get over that,” Cane snapped. “Because we don’t have time for that shit. We need to pull him in now.” He tapped his fist against the table. “We’ve already wasted enough time.”

“I agree,” Button said. “Griffin is a smart man. I’m sure he understands that these are two separate issues. Since he loves Vanessa, I’m sure he wants to bury this as much as we do. He craves the same quiet life that we do…with our daughter.”

I’d hoped I could make progress with Griffin before I asked him for a favor, but that didn’t seem possible. Right now, protecting my family was the most important thing. I didn’t just have Vanessa, but a son, a daughter-in-law, a niece, and nephew…and so much more. “I’ll talk to him.”

“When?” Cane pressed.

“I’ll make the drive tomorrow,” I answered. “Ask him out for a beer or something.”

“Should I come along too?” Cane asked. “So we can get to work right away?”

“No.” I was the one who ruined everything with Griffin in the first place. I was the father of the woman he loved. It had to be me. “I should go alone.”