I understand why Anna would want to go to a place where she can’t feel. This is an agony I hoped never to feel again, but this grief is every bit as raw and helpless as when Violet died.

Maria helped raise Samuel, Carlos, and I. She was a constant. A warm presence on a cold night. When Violet died, she made food for my mother and me. She dragged us both through it. The woman was an angel, a force of nature, and she should have been untouchable.

And to kill her two sons as well…it’s too much, too far.

Dominges wanted to make a declaration of war, well he has. This city is about to run red with Sinaloa blood.

My rage is so intense, swirling and mixing with the sheer pain of Maria’s loss until I can barely breathe. I seek out Anna if only to lessen this hurt for a moment.

It’s late, and she’s already asleep by the time I find her in our room, but even her presence is enough to soothe the ragged, burning edges of my tattered heart.

I sit on the bed next to her and prop my back against the headboard. Anna rolls over, gravitating towards me the way she always does.

“Rafe?” she whispers into the darkness.

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry,” she says, placing her head on my chest and wrapping her arm around me. There’s nothing else to say, nothing either of us can say.

I wait until Anna’s breaths are deep and even before slipping away from her and getting off the bed. I have work to do. Leaving the room, I quietly pull the bedroom door shut. When I turn around, I run straight into Una. 

“Shit,” I hiss. 

“You should pay more attention. Perhaps then your cartel would be in a better state.” She cocks a brow and walks off down the hallway before stopping at the end. “Come. You and I need to talk.”

I’m not in the mood for this, but when it comes to her, it’s not like I have much choice. I follow her along the hallway and down the stairs. She makes her way to my office, letting herself in like she owns the place. I close the door and take a seat at my desk. She takes the seat across from me, kicking her feet up on the desk. 

“You said no one knew where this house was,” she says.

“They don’t.”

“And yet, a box of severed heads was just personally delivered to your gate.” She glances at her perfectly painted nails as though bored of the conversation already.

“I’m handling it,” I say through clenched teeth.

“You can’t handle anything.” She snorts. “Anna isn’t safe here. She needs to come with me.”

I always knew I’d be having this conversation with her at some point, but I can’t deal with this right now. “Anna is perfectly capable of deciding where she wants to go. She’s a grown woman.” And she’s mine. No one is taking her from me, not even the angel of death. 

“That,” she points out to the hallway, “was a declaration of war from a man who already managed to kidnap her once.” She arches a brow. “Did you think I didn’t hear about that?” I say nothing. “I have ears everywhere. Every move you make, I see it, I hear about it.” 

“Good for you.”

She takes a knife from a thigh sheaf and starts flipping it through her fingers. “You can’t keep her safe. Not from Nicholai and not from Dominges.” Her eyes lock with mine. “Not from your nature. You are the very essence of the cartel. Power and violence is the fabric of your existence.”

I grit my teeth. “You don’t know me.”

“I know enough.” She pushes to her feet and bends over the desk, bracing her palms against the wood. “You and I are creatures of the dark. But my sister is still light, despite everything, she’s still good.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” I snap. 

“You’re drawn to it. I see the way you look at her like she’s a fire on a cold night.” 

I lean forward in my seat. “You may not understand this, but I love her.” I need her, now more than ever.

“And yet, you would pull her into the dark. You would endanger her.”

“Never.” 

“Then let her go,” she growls. “If you truly loved her, you would send her to safety.”

“Anna is never going to be normal!” I shout. 

She shakes her head and looks me up and down. “Have ever considered that she might only think she loves you? You started as her captor. She’s never been free. You’re just the first man that hasn’t raped her as soon as he’s set eyes on her.”

“No. Don’t do that.” I shake my head, denying her words even as they burrow under my skin.

“What? Tell you the truth? You know I’m right. If you truly loved her, you’d let her come with me.”

“She’s free to do what she wants.” Anna hates her sister. She won’t go with her.

“You know she won’t leave you without a push.”

I swipe a hand down my face. “What would you have me do, Una? Spell it out.”

“Set her free. Truly free. And if she really does love you, she’ll come back to you eventually.” Her eyes lock with mine. “I seek only to make her strong and give her purpose. I can help her.”

"You ask too much.”

“I ask you to be selfless.”

“I love her!” I roar, so loud that it sets my pulse pounding against my eardrums. 

A small smile touches her lips, though her eyes are sad. “I know,” she whispers. “But I know better than anyone that if you love something, you sometimes have to let it go.”

Standing upright, she turns on her heel and walks to the door. “If you’d let Maria go, she and her sons might still be alive.” Opening the door, she leaves. And in her wake, I’m left with a crippling guilt. She and her sons might still be alive.

She’s right. My world, it’s toxic. And it will kill Anna the same way it killed Maria.