I let Daria and Isabel off in front of the hospital, then dealt with parking my car, an ordeal that took a good twenty minutes.

By the time I strode toward the building, darkness had settled, the thick pile of clouds obscuring what few stars were visible in the light-saturated nighttime sky.

It was cold, and I shoved my hands into my pockets, head bent against the wind as I brooded over the past few hours.

I hadn’t talked to Briar since she’d called and asked if I’d go get her sisters-in-law. She’d kept in contact with Daria and Isabel, texting them both and calling Daria once. Daria kept me updated, although I suspected it was more out of a need to fill the quiet and maybe an attempt to reassure herself.

More than once, I’d reached over to awkwardly pat her hand and offer some empty bit of comfort. “He’ll be fine,” I would tell her, hoping I wasn’t lying.

Briar’s messages were pragmatic, but none of them painted a negative picture, so I felt safe enough to offer that simple assurance.

Isabel had been oddly quiet throughout the drive. Through the rearview mirror, I’d caught her staring at me several times, her dark eyes all but boring into the back of my skull with a keen intensity that left me more than a little unsettled.

Now that they were rushing up to find Brooks and Briar and the rest of the family, I breathed a little easier. I hadn’t minded picking them up—I’d been glad to do something to help Briar, even if it was something as simple as picking up the two Downing wives.

I wanted to offer to do more, but I had no idea just what I could do.

Liar, a small voice in the back of my mind muttered. There is one thing you can do.

I silenced the voice, shoving it into a small box before locking it into a closet and throwing away the key.

That chiding voice could penetrate doors and walls and boxes. It still haunted me as I sat across from Briar, sharing a plate of pretty decent fries and drinking some very shitty coffee.

She doctored hers with so much milk and sugar, it could have passed for a dessert. I wished I’d done the same, but I didn’t want to leave her sitting alone while I went back to the opposite side of the cafeteria to do it.

“How are you doing?” I asked softly.

She glanced up from the fries. With a one-sided shrug, she said, “How do you think?”

“Lousy.”

“Yeah.” She blew out a breath and took a sip of her coffee.

“The doctor seemed to think he’d be okay,” I said, wanting to reassure her, but there was only so much I could think to say.

“He will be.” She huffed out a breath. “You said it yourself. He’s tough. I just…”

Abruptly, tears filled her eyes. She grabbed a napkin and dabbed at the corners. I slid my chair closer, using my body as a shield in case anybody glanced our way. “Briar…” Laying my hand on the back of her neck, I wracked my brain for something I could say that might help, although logically, I knew there was nothing.

She dashed away a tear that had fallen.

“This is because of what they do,” she said, her voice blunt. “Their…business. Brooks isn’t even involved anymore. He told me so, and he wouldn’t lie to me. Not about this. He said he got out because of Daria. But he still got sucked back in, still got hurt.”

A flicker of fear passed over her eyes.

My chest ached, breath frozen inside. I knew exactly what had caused that flicker of fear.

It was gone in a second, and she dragged in a deep, hard breath.

When she reached out a hand, I took it without a thought. Her fingers clenched tight around mine. “They could have killed him. Whoever did this, they could have killed him. What happens if, whoever did this, decides to try something else? What if they did want to kill him, and for some reason, they were interrupted? Or what if they decide to come after Sean? Declan? My father? What if they decide to kill one of them?”

I tugged my hand free, then wrapped my arm around her shoulders, tugging her in closer.

I had no idea what to tell her, no idea what to say. Empty comfort was pointless here because she would recognize it for what it was. Empty. Meaningless.

I pressed my lips to her brow instead.

She sagged against me, the strength draining out of her.

My heart cracked.

Under the pain and misery I felt over her suffering, anger burned. It was a mix of self-directed anger and a red-hot fury that had a laser-like focus on two particular men.

Marcos and Jerrel.

I had to leave.

I felt like an ass doing it. I was abandoning Briar—at least, it felt that way.

She was hurting and scared. She finally did sit with her father, letting him hold her hand. I saw the uneasy glances Seamus and Declan shared from time to time, and the speculation on her father’s face deepened when Briar simply turned her phone off instead of answering Sean’s calls and texts.

When her younger brother started calling Declan, she wouldn’t speak to him.

But I had to see to a few things.

If Briar’s well-being wasn’t part of my concern, nothing would have separated me from her side, but each time I thought about the attack at the liquor store, the attack on her brother, worry slammed into me.

That call from Marcos.

He’d been bragging about the ‘job,’ and I’d thought it was over.

Clearly, I was wrong.

Seamus got a call, and I waited until he got up before I lifted Briar’s hand up to my lips. “Briar,” I said softly.

She gave me a tired, strained smile.

“I have to leave for a little while,” I said.

Her lids flickered. That was the only response she gave.

“I’m sorry.” Brushing her hair back, I said, “I have to cover at the shop for a little while. It’s just a few hours but I…”

“It’s okay.” She drew in a deep breath, her shoulders straightening. “It’s okay. I’m fine.”

She wasn’t, but I knew she’d maintain. Pressing a quick kiss to her lips, I rubbed my thumb over her cheek. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Jerrel wasn’t at the shop.

I didn’t waste any time going inside to try and hunt him down. He had only a few places where he tended to go, so I just headed for the next spot. He wasn’t there either.

His home was the next most likely place, but between his place and the bar where I’d just stopped was the home of a woman he spent a great deal of time with…and it wasn’t Melia.

A dog started barking the second I opened the creaking fence, and a moment after those first deep, guttural sounds, the woman’s face appeared in the window. She scowled at me, then turned her head to shout over her shoulder. I caught only a few words, thanks to the dog’s barking, but I heard enough to figure out the context. She was telling Jerrel he had somebody to see him.

Jerrel replied, and she shouted back. The dog had quieted, and this time I heard her belligerent, irritated comment. “You tell him, you big dumb fool! He ain’t here to see me.”

She gave me a hard once-over, then disappeared from view.

Jerrel’s profile appeared a moment later.

A few seconds after that, he jerked the door open and came outside wearing nothing but a low-slung pair of joggers, despite the cold night air.

“What the fuck you want?” he asked, although there was a glint of icy amusement in his eyes.

“Who’s responsible?”

He raked his nails down the light growth of stubble on his chin. “I got no idea what you’re talking about, man.”

He did, though. I could see it. The laughter in his eyes was bright, challenging me.

“Why?”

A smile kicked up the corners of his lips, and he took another step closer to me. Crossing his arms over his chest, he remained quiet a moment, then finally, he gave a slow shake of his head. “You’re no dummy,” he said in a quiet voice, dropping the heavy street lingo he usually spoke with. “You know damn well why. Marcos ordered it. I did my job.” He leaned in a little closer and added, “If you’d done yours, you’d still be working for the Castellanos. You’d still be on the inside. But you didn’t. All because of some rich, fancy pussy.”

“Careful there, Jerrel,” I said. “Last I heard, Marcos hadn’t fired me, but…let’s say he has.” I looked him up and down, then with a mean smile, I continued, “If I’m not working for Marcos, there’s nothing to keep me from beating the shit out of you…nothing to keep me from ending your sorry-ass life.”

Finally, the humor faded from his eyes. “I already said that you weren’t no dummy. You wouldn’t fuck with Marcos like that.”

“You overestimate your importance to him, Jerrel,” I said, shaking my head. “See, in the end, the only person that really matters to Marcos is Marcos. Even loyalty isn’t all that important to him. Loyalty matters to Basilio and Duardo, yeah. But you’re not dealing with them.”

Something glinted in his eyes. “It’s all the Castellanos family.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s not. Pay attention, Jerrel. Basilio’s precious daughter is married to a Downing. That man is the head of the family…and he’s old-school. Family matters. Loyalty manners. Alliances matter. What the fuck do you think that entire wedding was about?”

He had no response to that.

Turning on my heel, I started back down the sidewalk.

“You’d be smart to stay the fuck out of this,” he called to my back.

“I thought you already pointed out that I’m no dummy.” I flipped him off and kept on walking.

Personally, I wasn’t all that convinced of my own intelligence. I’d somehow gotten neck-deep into this mess, and Briar, a woman who had me all tangled up inside, was also caught up in it.

Things were getting ugly.

And I had no idea what to do about it.