Carmen was asleep in my bed—right where she belonged.

It was eleven in the evening, and my phone vibrated on the nightstand with my brother’s name on the screen.

I took the call in the living room. “Hey.”

“Did she stay?” he blurted out, caring about my personal life in the way Mom would have. Ronan was indifferent about a lot of things, very easygoing and casual. But he was obsessed with Carmen staying as much as I was.

“Yes.” My mouth stretched into a grin. “She came back.”

“That’s great news. I’m happy for you.”

I was happy for me too. When I agreed to hand over the business to my brother, it was full of pain and regret. The casino had always been my baby. I worked hard for the respect I earned in that place. Now everything was slipping through my fingers. But watching Carmen walk back into my penthouse erased all the bitterness.

None of that stuff mattered anymore.

“She’s a great girl,” Ronan said. “I really like her. I want her to be a Roth.”

“I do too. But we’ve got a long road ahead of us…”

“Her family?”

“Yeah.”

“Have you decided what you’re going to do?”

“We haven’t talked about it.” After we were reunited, we went into my bedroom and never left. As if we hadn’t just made love the night before, that’s all we did, choosing to communicate with thrusts and kisses.

“When you do talk about it, let me know how that goes.”

I was dreading the next step we had to take. Cane and Crow seemed calm when they thought there was a possibility I might go away. But now that I wasn’t leaving, they might get fired up and do whatever they could to push me out.

I hoped Carmen would fight for me.

“Let me know if you need anything, Bosco.”

“Thanks, Ronan.”

He hung up.

I sat on the couch in the living room and didn’t go back to bed. I hadn’t slept much last night, but I suddenly wasn’t tired. There was adrenaline in my veins, along with dread and fear. Anytime I wanted something, I usually got it. But in this instance, there was something standing in my way.

Cane Barsetti.

“Are you alright?” Carmen joined me in the living room wearing only my t-shirt. With messy hair and thoroughly kissed lips, she looked like a fantasy.

“Just talking to my brother.”

“How is he?”

“Happy we’re together.”

She sat beside me and pressed her knees together. “Your brother is very sweet. He really loves you.”

“I know. I’m very lucky.” He had my back even when I didn’t deserve it.

“He tried to convince me to stay…tried to make sure I wouldn’t leave you.”

I nodded. “He told me.”

“I thought it was sweet that he would put himself out there like that, confront me and remind me how amazing you are…like there was any chance I would forget.”

He was the best guy I knew. I hoped one day I would be able to repay him somehow. “So, where do we start?” The only thing standing in our way was her family, and that was an obstacle that seemed impossible to overcome.

She stared at me for a long time, clearly not having an answer. “I don’t know…”

“I intend to keep working at the casino until we figure it out. When the time comes, I’m prepared to walk away…but I’m not going to do it prematurely.” She already had my commitment, so the second everything was ready, I would honor what I’d said. But it didn’t seem fair for me to give up everything when we didn’t know what would happen with her father. “I hope you understand.”

“I do.”

“Do you want me to approach your father? I will if you want me to.”

“Oh no,” she said with a slightly deranged laugh. “No, no, no. That’s a terrible idea…”

The only reason I didn’t tell her I’d already met her father was because I’d told her father I wouldn’t. If I said he marched down here and tried to pay me off, it would hurt their relationship. That was the last thing I wanted, to come between a father and a daughter. But that also forced me to be complicit in a lie. “Then where should we begin?”

“I guess I’ll talk to him…just the two of us. I don’t want to blindside him by bringing you along. I don’t even think I’ll get my mother involved in this.”

I wondered how Cane would handle it, if he would pretend he’d never met me. He didn’t seem like the kind of man who would lie, but he also wouldn’t risk upsetting his daughter either.

“I’ll talk to him first. See what he says. And hopefully…the two of you can sit down together, and we can go from there.”

We’d already sat down together, and he told me he wanted me to disappear. I wasn’t good enough for his daughter, despite everything I did for her. Maybe stepping away from this lifestyle would change his mind. Maybe it wouldn’t. “Alright.”

“Let’s talk about it more in the morning.” She patted my thigh then left the couch. She sauntered away, her sexy body shifting as she walked in my t-shirt. She headed down the hallway until she rounded the corner.

My phone started to vibrate again. This time, it was a number I didn’t recognize.

I answered. “Bosco Roth.”

His voice was unmistakable over the line. “Did she stay?” Deep, magnetic, and constantly full of threat, Cane Barsetti sounded just as harsh over the phone as he did when we spoke three weeks ago.

I dreaded the sound of his disappointment. “Yes.”

Cane was quiet, dead silent.

“She—”

Click. Cane Barsetti hung up on me, not giving a damn about anything else I had to say.