Vanessa walked into my shop first thing in the morning. “I called you twice last night.”

I hadn’t looked at my phone until I left for work today. “I know. I didn’t notice it until I got out of the shower this morning.”

“Because…?” With both hands on her hips, she walked toward me, her attitude shining in her eyes. “Were you busy last night?”

She wasn’t going to rest until she heard the words fly out of my mouth. I set my tools aside and sucked it up to tell the truth. “I was with Bosco last night.”

“Oh my god, so you’re staying?” She leaned against the counter as she looked at me, her belly a little bigger every single day.

“Yeah.”

Vanessa sighed. “What about everything you decided on?”

“Well…” I told her that his drivers took me to the house he’d bought, along with the box that contained his letter and the diamond ring. “He said he was willing to give it all up for me…so I came back.”

Speechless, Vanessa stared at me with her mouth gaping open. “Oh my god…”

I couldn’t believe it either, even when I was staring at the words on the page.

“He’s gonna walk away from everything?”

“Yes…once we’re in the clear.”

“In the clear?” she asked.

“With my father…your father…the entire Barsetti clan.” Each member of my family was just as close to me as all the others. No one felt distant. Conway felt like my brother as much as my own brother did. Our closeness was both a blessing and a curse.

“I see,” she said. “Add Griffin to that to-do list too.”

“Are you at least on my side?”

She shook her head slightly, like I’d asked a stupid question. “This guy offered to walk away from his world for you. I think he’s redeemed himself in my eyes. Plus, he didn’t attack my husband even when he had every right to. The guy is a saint. Of course, I’m on your side. But when it comes to our fathers, I’m not sure how much that will help you.”

“You know what will help me?” I asked, an idea popping into my head.

“Hmm?”

“Griffin. If Griffin vouches for him…that could completely change everything.”

Vanessa shook her head again, but this time, it seemed like she wasn’t cooperating. “I have a lot of influence over that man, but I can’t make him do something he doesn’t want to do. We just had an argument about how I can’t be around Bosco without him there. I don’t think it’s likely his support is gonna happen.”

“What if I talk to him?”

She shrugged. “You can try, but I don’t think it’s gonna help.”

“What if we all went to dinner? Maybe that would soften Griffin a bit.”

She laughed. “Griffin loves food, but not that much.”

“Well, do you have any better ideas?” I had to make this work, and I had to give Bosco the best chance possible. Having Griffin’s support could make a huge difference.

Vanessa must have seen the heartbreak in my eyes, because she finally caved. “I’ll get Griffin to come to dinner. But that’s the best I can do. Have Bosco explain that he’s decided to give up everything for you. If that doesn’t please Griffin, at least it’ll make him respect Bosco.”

“Thank you so much. Your father and Griffin are connected at the hip now. If we have Griffin helping us out, Uncle Crow could help persuade my father to get on board with this. It’s better than nothing, right?”

“Yeah, you’re right. You helped Griffin and me at the start of our relationship. Of course we’ll do anything we can to help you.”

When I asked Bosco to dinner with Vanessa and Griffin, he didn’t put up an argument.

He wore a gray V-neck, a black blazer, and dark jeans. His watch was on his wrist, and a spray of his cologne made him smell potently masculine. He was tall, dark, and so handsome it hurt sometimes.

He stood near the elevators and looked at his phone as he waited for me, still running the business as usual. He hadn’t gone in to work since I came back to him, and he probably had Ronan handling everything in the meantime.

He looked up at me when he heard the sound of my boots. His eyes roamed over my body in my tight jeans and sweater, affection deep in his gaze. “You look beautiful.” His arm hugged my lower back, and he brought me in for a kiss on the corner of my mouth.

He was the one who looked beautiful. “Thanks.”

He kissed my forehead before he entered the code on the wall. The doors opened, and we stepped inside. “I wonder if Griffin is gonna punch me this time.” He made a joke without smiling, doing his best to lighten the mood even though the comment wasn’t funny.

“He won’t. I won’t let him.”

“I would rather you let him hit me than get in the way.” His arm wrapped around my waist. “It’s a nice way to break the tension. You know, the way men communicate.”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s barbaric.”

“No, Beautiful. You’ve seen men be barbaric.” Without spelling it out, he was referring to the ring when he beat The Butcher into submission. It was like watching wild animals rip each other apart, for sport as well as for glory.

I didn’t want to think about that night. “You need to win Griffin over, Bosco.”

“Not possible.”

“Well, you need to try.”

“Griffin isn’t the kind of man that changes his mind. That’s not a bad thing. He’s stubborn and hardheaded because he bases his decisions on instinct. That’s what makes him a good killer—because he can read situations so well.”

“He’s not a killer anymore.”

He shrugged. “Still has killer instincts. I know I’ll always have them.”

We got into the car and were driven to the restaurant. Bosco held my hand in the back seat as he looked out the window, watching the cars pass on the road and the pedestrians on the sidewalk. It was a clear night and the stars were visible, but that also meant it was particularly cold.

We arrived at the restaurant, and Bosco took me by the hand as he guided me inside. We found Vanessa and Griffin in the corner, sitting at a private table far away from the other diners.

That was best for everyone in the room.

When we reached the table, I hugged Vanessa then hugged Griffin.

Bosco steered clear of Vanessa, not even being polite by shaking her hand. All he gave Griffin was a subtle look and a nod before he pulled out the chair for me.

I sat down, disappointed this was already off to a rough start.

Bosco sat beside me, directly across from Griffin. Unafraid of the beefy man, he held his gaze with a relaxed posture. “Griffin, long time no see.”

Griffin didn’t seem quite as hostile as before, probably because Bosco didn’t go anywhere near his wife. “It hasn’t been long enough.”

Bosco actually chuckled. “You’re a man of few words, but you make every word count.”

Vanessa held my gaze then sighed quietly.

Maybe this was a bad idea.

Bosco didn’t seem personally offended by Griffin’s coldness. He didn’t care what anyone thought of him—except for me. “How’s Max?”

Griffin’s eyes narrowed. “The business has been fine without me.”

“Glad they could carry on without you since you were such an integral piece of the team.” It wasn’t clear what Bosco’s angle was, other than to remind everyone, including Griffin, that he used to kill people for a living.

“I only killed people because they paid me to,” Griffin said. “You killed people because you wanted to.”

“Because they earned the punishment.” Bosco handled the conversation with perfect ease. “And I didn’t kill them myself. Each opponent had equal odds of success. But I have killed men with my bare hands…but I assure you, they earned it. Maybe my deaths were worse than yours because I didn’t get anything out of it besides retribution…or maybe not. I guess we’ll never really know.”

Vanessa cleared her throat. “Could we not talk about killing people over dinner?”

“There’s nothing else to talk about, then,” Bosco said. “Because that’s all Griffin and I have in common—because we’re the same.”

Griffin narrowed his piercing blue eyes, clearly provoked by that statement.

So much for Bosco getting Griffin to like him.

“I’m handing the casino over to Ronan,” Bosco said without preamble. “We’ve made our financial decisions, and I’ll be stepping away from the business permanently—settling down out of the spotlight for good.”

Griffin had just as good of a poker face as Bosco, so he seemed indifferent to that statement. “If you’re still getting checks, then you’re still part of the business.”

“He’s buying me out,” Bosco explained. “The business will be entirely his.”

Griffin still didn’t have anything else to say.

“Just as you walked away from your business, I’ve walked away from mine. We’re the same—making sacrifices for the women we love.” Bosco had carefully cornered Griffin, so there was no way Griffin could refute anything he said.

“We aren’t the same,” Griffin said in his baritone voice. “We’ll never be the same.”

Vanessa spoke up. “You are the same. You may have done different things for a living, but the degree of your crimes is similar. At the end of the day, you both gave up what you loved most for something you ended up loving more. How about we just agree on that?”

Griffin clenched his jaw but didn’t argue with his wife in front of us.

“Cut Bosco some slack,” Vanessa continued. “The man is doing everything he can to be with Carmen—and not just for a night, but a lifetime. You were persecuted for every little crime you committed by my father and everyone else, but those sins were irrelevant when it came to our love. Bosco just told you he made the ultimate sacrifice to prove his love for Carmen, and you continue to sit there like it’s meaningless.” She kept staring at her husband. “Let it go, Griffin.”

Bosco smiled when Vanessa finished her speech. “I like your wife. She reminds me of Carmen.”

Griffin growled so loudly that the rest of the restaurant must have heard.

“I meant that as a compliment,” Bosco said. “Didn’t mean it in any other way.”

“Don’t worry about him,” Vanessa said. “If any man besides my father says my name, Griffin is offended.”

Griffin kept up the same hostile stare, confirming what she’d said.

Bosco turned to me and lowered his voice. “And you thought I was protective…”

I was grateful Vanessa said all that she did because she put everything into perspective for Griffin. “It would mean a lot to me if you would accept Bosco. And it would mean even more to me if you vouched on his behalf to my father.”

Griffin wouldn’t look at me.

Bosco shook his head. “Beautiful, don’t put him on the spot. You can’t make a man like another man. That type of affection has to be earned—over a long period of time.”

“Tell me why you don’t like him,” I challenged Griffin. “Give me one good reason that you have nothing in common with him.”

Griffin shifted his gaze to me, silent.

I waited for a reason, a justification for his behavior.

Griffin couldn’t give a single example. “Just because he and I are similar doesn’t mean I have to approve of him. Carmen, I want the best man for you. You’re beautiful, smart—”

Now it was Bosco’s turn to growl.

Vanessa chuckled. “Two can play that game, Griffin…”

Griffin kept talking. “You deserve the best. You’re a Barsetti woman. And Barsetti women deserve—”

“Strong, fearless, and loyal men,” Bosco finished. “I’m all of those things. I killed a man in her honor. I protect her every single minute of every day. I provide the kind of life a queen would envy. Not only that, but I’ve made sacrifices to earn her, bent over backward just so I could have the honor of loving her. There’s nothing more I can do to prove myself to you. The least you could do is admit that I’m not a threat to her or any of you. You don’t have to like me, and I don’t care if you never do. But you have to be honest about my qualities and give me the respect that I’m due.” We hadn’t even ordered our drinks yet, and Bosco was making speeches that turned everyone silent. “You’re the kind of man that doesn’t lie, so go to Crow and Cane, and when they ask what you think of me, you have to say I’m not a threat to Carmen or anyone else. You have to tell them I love her—because you see it written all over my face.”

The end of the dinner was just as intense as the beginning. The men split the bill, and then we walked outside into the frigid air. It didn’t seem like the hostility between the two of them had subsided.

But at least Griffin didn’t object to him anymore.

“I’ll see you later,” Vanessa said. “Let me know when you talk to your father. You know I’m going to want to be prepared for the questions my father will bombard me with.”

“Yeah, I will.” I hugged her back before I moved to Griffin next.

To my surprise, Vanessa moved to Bosco then hugged him. “Even if everyone never likes you, just know that I like you.”

Bosco hugged her back awkwardly, clearly tense that Griffin was staring right at them.

Griffin hardly hugged me because he was too focused on what he was looking at.

Vanessa pulled away then rolled her eyes at her husband. “Get over it, Griffin. He’s a nice guy. Now let’s go home because I need to take my vitamins.”

Griffin watched her walk away for a moment before he caught up with her, not saying another word to either of us.

Like magic, Bosco’s men pulled up to the curb, and we got inside the car.

I was happy to be inside the warm vehicle with the heated leather seats because the winter air was chilling. The summer could be hot and unforgiving, but I missed it so much now. The only nice thing about the winter months was having a man to keep me warm.

We headed back to the penthouse in silence.

“I think that went well,” Bosco said in a teasing manner.

“I think you made as much as progress as you’re going to make.”

“He knows I’m right. He might not like me, but he doesn’t have a justification to reject me. He won’t be a problem for us.”

“You don’t think so?” I asked, a note of hope in my voice.

He shook his head. “No. I treat you well. I take care of you. I clearly love you. Regardless of his personal disagreements, he really has no case anymore. I wouldn’t worry about him. He won’t oppose me. He may not vouch for me…but silence is better than his objection.”

“Then I guess I’ll talk to my father next.”

“When?” He turned his head toward me, watching my expression.

It didn’t matter where or when the conversation took place, my father wouldn’t be happy about Bosco. It would take him a while to calm down, but I had to start somewhere. The sooner I started, the sooner it would end. “Tomorrow. I’ll go by his office.”