Carter stepped inside my study and sat on the couch across from me. His drink was already sitting there, the ice cubes fresh and the glass frosty. My elbows rested on my knees, and my fingertips rested against my mouth.

I didn’t look at him, my mind still reeling from the way my world had just shifted.

He took a deep drink before setting the glass on the cherry wood, making a thud and leaving a water ring. “How was your trip?”

“Not here to talk about that.”

“I know. I just thought we could have a good conversation before we have the bad one.” He took another drink.

The lights were low, and the sun had set hours ago. Muse and I returned to Italy shortly after my conversation with Cynthia. I had a great time, but once I knew the truth, I couldn’t enjoy myself any longer. “It was too short.”

“You were there for five days?”

Felt like five minutes. “Yeah.”

He sat back against the cushion and rested his ankle on the opposite knee. In jeans and a t-shirt, he was casual since it was past five in the evening. “I sent that girl home. I could barely get a few words out of her.”

“Good. I’m glad she’s where she belongs.”

“She gave me her name and her home address. But other than that, she was dead silent the entire time.”

“Understandable.”

“But she did want me to tell you that she said thank you.”

My eyes shifted to the floor, and I tried not to feel good about what I did. Muse thought my actions were selfless, but I considered it an act of redemption. Doing one right thing didn’t fix all my wrongs…but it helped. “I hope she’ll be more careful next time.”

“I’m sure she won’t leave the house now. And her family will probably relocate.” He grabbed his drink and finished it. The decanter of brandy was on the coffee table, so he refilled his glass. “I know why you called me here tonight. I know why you cut your trip short. So just tell me what I don’t want to hear.”

My eyes moved to his face, and my frown deepened. “His mother was pregnant with him when his father was killed by our family. His middle name is Bones, but that’s the name he prefers to go by.”

“Shit.” He ran his fingers through his hair, his shoulders slouching in disappointment. “And you’re certain?”

I nodded. “The story checks out.”

“What’s his first and last name?”

“No idea. He didn’t tell her, and she didn’t want to make it obvious by asking.”

“I wonder if we can find that information on our own.”

“Probably.”

“What do we do?” he asked. “He’s had plenty of time to hit us but never has. Maybe he’s left the past where it belongs.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t think we can take that chance.”

“You’re right. We can’t.”

“We have to talk to our fathers about it.”

He dragged his hands down his face and sighed. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“You want to drive there tomorrow?”

“I guess,” he said. “I’ve got shit to do, but I guess it can wait.”

“It has to wait.”

He finished his drink in one go. “They’re gonna break our arms.”

“Probably.”

“And leave a few dents in our skulls.”

“More than likely.”

“I would normally say we deserve it, but now, I’m not so sure. If we weren’t part of the Underground, how would we have even known about it? If it weren’t for us, we wouldn’t even know Bones had a son.”

“I don’t think they’ll see it that way.” My father respected me as a man, but he would always be a little protective of me.

“And our mothers… Oh man.”

“We’ll definitely get slapped.”

“The only time I like getting slapped is when a gorgeous woman in on my lap…”

That made two of us. “We’ll leave tomorrow and hope for the best.”

“Alright. Tomorrow. Are you bringing Sapphire?”

I didn’t want her to be part of this. I didn’t want her to worry about the shit that really happened in this cruel world. “No. She’s staying here.”

When I woke the next morning, I packed my things into a bag, careful not to wake Muse. I wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye, but the second she watched me pack, she would know I wouldn’t be sticking around.

When I finished, I pulled the zipper up.

And that’s what made her stir. She reached beside her as she searched for me on the bed. When I wasn’t there, she opened her eyes and looked around the room. Her eyes settled on me, and an instant look of relief came into her gaze.

It made me feel good and shitty at the same time.

She sat up, running her fingers through her long hair. “Morning.”

“Morning.” I moved to the edge of the bed to kiss her.

Her lips moved with mine gently, giving me more than just a quick peck on the lips. It was a warm greeting, sensual and sexy.

It made me want to stay.

When I pulled away, she noticed my duffel bag on the edge of the bed. It only took her a few seconds to process what was happening. I was already dressed to leave, and it was barely seven in the morning. “What’s going on?”

“Carter and I are going to Tuscany for a few days. We need to have a conversation with our fathers about what’s going on.”

“And why doesn’t this trip include me?”

There would be too much going on for me to babysit her. And I didn’t want to scare her, to have her see my family’s anger. “I think it’s best if you stay here. It’ll only be a few days.”

“A few days is a lifetime.”

“Invite Vanessa over.”

“You know that’s not why I want to come, Conway.” She stared at me with those piercing eyes, the emotion turbulent. She moved to her knees and sat on the balls of her feet, my t-shirt fitting her like a loose blanket. “Where you go, I go.”

We’d become inseparable over the last few months. She used to be my prisoner, but now she’d become my friend, my confidant, and my mistress. Our lives joined together in the most unpredictable way, and now we were practically a single person. Whenever I wasn’t by her side, she worried about me.

I had a woman who worried about me.

“It’s just not appropriate, Muse. Not this time.”

Her eyes lit up with frustration, but she didn’t argue against me. She kept her anger at bay. “You’ve told me about this guy already. It’s not like I don’t understand what’s going on.”

It was still a conversation for the men, not the women. “No.”

“I could at least stay at—”

“I’m not going to change my mind, Muse. You know I take you wherever I go. But this time, it’s just not appropriate. My father will be angry. My mother will be furious. My uncle and aunt will be upset… It’s not going to be a nice family get-together like you’re used to seeing. My family knows how to celebrate and live life to the fullest, but just like everyone else, we’ve got our baggage. This is one of those times. I need to do this by myself.”

She released a quiet sigh, and her eyes slowly started to relax.

“I’ll be back in a few days. It’ll be over before you know it.”

“Are you leaving right now?” she whispered.

“Yes.”

She rose onto her knees and moved her fingertips underneath my t-shirt to my torso. She felt the grooves of my abs as she drifted farther up. “Do you have a few minutes?” The pleading gaze in her eyes pierced right through my skin.

My woman wanted me between her legs.

And I wasn’t going to refuse her. “I always have a few minutes for you.”

Carter drove while I sat in the passenger seat. We spent most of the drive in silence with the radio on to fill the emptiness. Like with Muse, Carter and I were close enough that the quiet didn’t make either of us uncomfortable. We could exist together for hours without carrying on a conversation.

But in this instance, the silence was strained. We were both thinking the same thing, dreading the same thing.

Carter turned down the radio, the preamble to conversation. “I know I give you shit about it, but I’m being serious now. What’s the rundown with you and Sapphire? Is this the real deal now?”

I kept my gaze focused out the passenger window. “We’ve never talked about women before. Let’s not start now.”

“Never talk about it?” he asked incredulously. “That’s all we ever talk about.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Then that implies Sapphire isn’t like the other women we talk about, the women we pick up and brag about.”

“You’re right,” I said quietly. “She’s not.”

“So, then she is the real deal?”

I only gave him my silence.

“I’m not asking you to be a nosy prick. I’m asking because we’re family.” He glanced at me every few minutes, but his eyes were glued to the road most of the time. “Our whole family loves Sapphire. They can’t get enough of her. You’ve given her your freedom. You shower her with affection in the public eye. And now you’re taking lavish trips with her.”

I still didn’t speak.

“I guess that’s the most confirmation I’m going to get.”

When it came to Muse, I didn’t know how to describe what we had. I wanted to say she was just some woman I was fucking, but everyone knew that wasn’t the case. Even I knew that wasn’t the case. But I wouldn’t go so far as to say she was my girlfriend…even though that’s exactly what she seemed.

But a future still wasn’t on the table. I would grow bored of her eventually, and my tastes would change. My desires would shift, and so would my designs. There was nothing sexy about marriage or parenthood. I could never let Muse be anything more than a mistress.

“For what it’s worth,” Carter said. “I really like her.”

“You don’t even know her, Carter.”

“I don’t need to know her. She makes you happy—and that’s all that matters.”

We arrived in Tuscany, driving through the golden fields and eyeing the endless vineyards. Ruined castles dotted the remote land, and on a clear day like this, Florence could be seen in the distance.

“It’s time to make the call,” Carter said.

I pulled out my phone and stared at my father’s name before dialing. I was dreading this, but the dread would only increase the longer I procrastinated.

My father answered almost immediately. “Hey, son. How are you?”

Pretty shitty. “Good. Carter and I are on the road, and we’re thirty minutes from the house.”

My father paused for a while. “I didn’t know you were stopping by. What a nice surprise.”

It wouldn’t be that nice pretty soon. “Carter and I need to talk to you and Uncle Cane. And we should talk somewhere in private…”

Another pause endured, but this one much longer than before. He didn’t ask any questions like most people would. He had the patience of a monk. A sigh didn’t erupt over the phone. “Cane and I will meet you there. Should your mother be involved?”

“Definitely not.”

“We’ll meet you soon.”

My father’s office was one of the rooms in the house I hardly visited growing up. I was told to stay out of it, and even as I got older, that rule never changed. Now that I sat there on the couch with Carter beside me, I understood why.

My dad had enough scotch to last an apocalypse.

The fireplace was empty because it hadn’t been used in three months. His dark desk seemed just as untouched. He had two couches that faced each other, and on the walls were peculiar paintings constructed of buttons.

Is that why he called my mother Button? Did she make those?

My father poured four glasses of scotch and sat with Uncle Cane. The four of us faced each other, and my father and Uncle Cane stared us down with a silent coldness. Like they were meeting an enemy rather than their own family, they were harsh.

“Be straight.” My father brought his hands together with his elbows resting on his knees.

“Spit it out,” Uncle Cane said. “Or we’ll drag it out.”

I felt like a young boy again, being disciplined by my guardians. Most parents wanted to be the only ones who disciplined their children, but my father and uncle were different. My uncle had been a second father to me. If I acted out of line, he didn’t hesitate before giving me a good smack. My father did the same to Carter. “I’ll start with the important information and work backward.”

“Alright,” my father said. “What is it?”

I didn’t want to say his name out loud because I knew how much it angered my father. My father didn’t talk about the past very often, and that was for a reason. He lived through more than I knew, and I could see the pain behind his eyes anytime the past was mentioned. “Bones has a son.”

My father tensed slightly, his eyes narrowing even more than before.

Uncle Cane was a lot more transparent. Both of his hands automatically tightened into fists.

“He’s our age, give or take a few years,” Carter said. “His mother was pregnant when the older Bones died. She named her son after him, at least, made Bones his middle name.”

“But that’s the name he goes by now,” I said. “That’s what he calls himself. He’s covered in tattoos, he’s arrogant, and he’s associated with the Underground. He knows the Skull Kings, and anytime we’ve asked someone about him, there’s fear in their eyes. Once we confirmed he really was who we thought he was, we knew we had to tell you.”

My father looked at Uncle Cane.

Uncle Cane stared back.

The silence stretched, becoming heavier with every passing second.

My father spoke first. “I want to know how you even crossed paths with him. How do you know who the Skull Kings are, and how did you find the Underground? But I suspect ignorance is better at this point…so I don’t murder my own son.”

As much as I wanted to look away, I didn’t. I held his gaze, seeing the fierce disappointment in his expression. It hurt. It hurt so much that I wished he would just punch me in the face instead. An apology would fit right about now, but I knew they were just empty words to him.

“And mine,” Uncle Cane added.

Carter held his father’s gaze, but I knew he felt like shit just the way I did.

“Fuck it.” Uncle Cane rose off the sofa and helped himself to my father’s desk. He pulled out two cigars, lit them, and then handed one to my father.

My father didn’t hesitate before he took it.

“Booze isn’t gonna cut it this time.” Uncle Cane sat down again, sucking on the tip of the cigar like it was air rather than smoky ash.

“You’ve been lying to me.” My father stared me down, his hard jaw sharp enough to cut through glass. “My own son has been lying to me.” He didn’t raise his voice, but his tone was still deadly. He didn’t need to drop a single curse word to be more intimidating.

“I didn’t lie—”

“Just because you’re a grown man doesn’t mean I won’t knock your teeth out. I don’t give a damn if you’re a famous billionaire.”

I clenched my jaw and stayed quiet. Only my father could talk to me that way and get away with it.

Uncle Cane was just as angry, but he pushed the conversation forward. “Start from the beginning.”

The beginning started a long time ago. Carter and I had been doing this for years.

“I’ll give you the short version of the long version,” Carter began. “Conway and I have been buying women from the Underground for years now. The Skull Kings take women from affluent families, from people who’ve wronged someone else. It’s an act of revenge. The families of the victims contact me. They offer a price, and once we negotiate the right deal, Conway goes to the Underground and buys them. We put the girls in his lingerie shows for a short period of time, and then they’re returned to the families.”

My father pieced it together quickly. “You make a profit from rescuing them.”

It was the only time I wanted to close my eyes because I couldn’t stand his disappointment. “Yes…”

“How much money have you made doing this?” Uncle Cane asked.

“Doesn’t matter,” Carter said.

“Yes, it does fucking matter,” Uncle Cane snapped.

“How I earn my money is none of your business,” Carter countered. “I’m a grown man. I get you’re pissed at me because of this whole thing, but that doesn’t give you the right to cross the line.”

Uncle Cane looked like he might break Carter’s neck.

“We’ve been doing it for a long time,” I continued. “That’s why we’re at the Underground often. And that’s when I encountered Bones. I heard someone say his name, and I recognized it right away. I did some digging…and found out who he was.”

“Does he know who you are?” my father asked, calm and livid at the same time.

“Yes,” I answered. “One of the Skull Kings said my name in front of him.”

“What was his response?” Uncle Cane asked.

“He didn’t have much of a response,” I replied. “He didn’t react at all.”

My father stared at me coldly, considering everything I said in silence.

Uncle Cane did the same.

“We didn’t want to talk about this,” Carter said. “And we wouldn’t have unless we thought it was important. We thought you should know about Bones. Whether he’s a threat or not, that remains to be determined.”

“Always assume that he is.” Uncle Cane took another long drag of his cigar, letting the smoke out through his nostrils.

I could go for a cigar right now, but my loyalty to Muse forbade it.

My father didn’t say anything else, and neither did Uncle Cane. Our glasses were untouched in front of us. The silence became thicker and thicker. Heat burned my neck, and the tension made me sick to my stomach.

I thought we would discuss what our next move was, but our fathers were silent.

“Where should we start?” I asked.

My father inhaled his cigar before dropping it into the ashtray. “Get out, Conway.” My father didn’t look at me as he dismissed us. “We’ll finish this conversation tomorrow.”

I exchanged a look with Carter, knowing our fathers wanted to talk in private. They were both too pissed to talk tactics.

“Go,” Uncle Cane said. “And you can make your own arrangements for the evening.”

It was the first time I wasn’t welcome in the house.

That probably stung most of all.

Carter and I left the office and walked downstairs toward the entryway. My mother was in the dining room, so she heard us as we made our way to the front door. Her eyes were still full of adoration, looking at me like she couldn’t love me more than she already did. “Leaving?”

I wanted to enjoy that look a little longer before she became cold like my father. She would be just as disappointed, just as livid. Instead of greeting me with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, her palm would slap against my face. “Good night, Mother.” I walked out before she could hold me back.

“Conway.”

I couldn’t walk away from my mother when she was talking to me, so I turned around.

“You aren’t staying?” she asked sadly.

My childhood home was no longer open to me. The gates were locked, and I didn’t have a key. My father didn’t want to look at me anymore, and my mother would feel the same way once my father told her the truth. “No.”

Carter and I sat in a bar together in Florence, drinking scotch while we faced each other in the booth. We hadn’t spoken on the drive, and we still hadn’t spoken in the last fifteen minutes.

We just kept drinking.

Carter lit up a cigar and let the smoke slowly drift from his mouth to the ceiling. He switched between the booze and the cigar, two of the most important things to a man. The third was women.

I’d cut smoking out of my life, so I just stuck to the booze.

Carter finally broke the silence. “That went well…”

I knew exactly how it was going to play out, but facing my father’s real-life disappointment stung. “Yeah.”

“I’ve never been kicked out of the house before, not even when my dad caught me having a threesome with those two girls in high school.”

My father had never kicked me out either. “It’s pretty shitty.”

“I don’t think it makes us terrible people, but I feel like I’m on trial.”

“I think they’re just angry with us for getting mixed up in dangerous bullshit.”

“Like they’ve never gotten mixed up in dangerous bullshit,” he spat.

“They won’t see it that way.”

“They’re going to tell us to stop going to the Underground.”

My father would demand it. “As much as I respect my father, he can’t tell me what to do. It’s my life. I’ll do what I want.”

“So, you’re still in?”

Now I wasn’t in it for the money anymore. I felt obligated to keep going. Without me, these women would have no chance. If I hadn’t been at the Underground that night, what would have happened to Muse? She would be dead right now.

My woman would be dead.

“I don’t know,” I answered. “My point is, they can’t control what we do. I hate feeling his wrath and his disappointment, but I’m not sorry for what I did.”

“I’m not either.”

“So, we’ll just have to deal with it. Hopefully, we can get to work tomorrow. They can only be mad at us for so long.”

“True.”

We finished our drinks, paid the tab, and then walked to our hotel. We were staying at the Hotel Firenze Four Seasons, a five-star resort. We walked into the lobby together, said good night, and then went to our rooms.

It didn’t matter how nice the suite was. It didn’t compare to my old bedroom. And it didn’t matter how comfortable the bed was. It was nothing without my woman lying beside me.

I brushed my teeth and washed my face before getting into bed. I couldn’t remove the image of my father’s face from my head, the tight line of his shadow and the threat in his eyes. He wasn’t the most affectionate man, but he blanketed me with love in his own way. But now, all that was replaced by sheer disappointment.

My phone rang on the nightstand, and without looking to see the name on the screen, I knew exactly who it was. I grabbed the phone and realized she was trying to video message me. I took the call and rested my phone upright on my chest so she could see my face. “Hey.”

“Is this a bad time?” The video showed her lying in bed on her side, my sheets surrounding her. She wore one of my black t-shirts. With no makeup and her hair wild, she looked exactly as she did every other night.

Beautiful.

“No. Just got into bed.”

She stared at me with observant eyes. “It didn’t go well.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sleeping in a hotel tonight.”

“Wow… So it really didn’t go well.”

“Yeah. My father is pretty upset with me right now.”

“Why?” she asked. “You’ve saved so many women.”

“That’s not the whole story, and you know it, Muse. I make money off people’s misfortune. If people don’t pay, we don’t save.”

“Not true,” she whispered. “You just saved that girl at your own expense.”

“That was a one-time thing…”

“Say whatever you want, Con.” It was the first time she’d called me that, using an intimate nickname only my family used.

“And he’s also angry I put myself in danger.”

“Because he loves you.”

I watched her on the screen, looking at her just as I would if I were in bed beside her. But if I were really there in person, I’d be between her legs right now. There was nowhere I’d rather be than buried deep inside her. It seemed to make everything better, to make me forget all the bullshit in the world. “I hate it when he looks at me like that.”

“It won’t last forever.”

“But it’ll last a long time.”

“You should be happy he’s upset. If he didn’t care about you, he wouldn’t be angry. It shows that he cares—that he loves you.”

“I still hate it.”

“It’ll pass…”

Watching her tired features somehow softened my pain. I liked watching her beauty through the screen. I was alone in a hotel room and could beat off to porn, but I’d rather look at her. Gorgeous, exceptional, and affectionate, she was sleeping in my bed, wishing I were there. “How was your day?”

“It was okay. I helped Marco in the stables all day then had dinner. I watched some TV, and now I’m in bed talking to you.” She sighed as she turned her head toward the pillow, like talking to me was giving her a sense of peace that helped her drift off to sleep.

“I miss you.” The words were yanked out of my mouth all on their own. I never intended to say them out loud, not when I didn’t have a chance to think them. When it came to Muse, everything was instinctual. Blurting out words had become a regular part of my day. I wasn’t the affectionate type. I wasn’t gentle, kind, or thoughtful. But when it came to this woman, I was a different man.

A very different man.

“I miss you too.”

My father wasn’t any different the next day.

In fact, he seemed angrier.

We gathered together at the dining table, my father and Uncle Cane on one side, and Carter and I on the other. An invisible line was drawn through the table, dividing us like men across a battlefield.

What surprised me most was when my mother joined us. She took a seat beside my father, her expression hard, as if she knew everything that had been discussed the previous day.

I didn’t think this subject was appropriate for her, but I wasn’t stupid enough to say that out loud.

Coffee and snacks were on the table, but no one moved to grab anything. The silence was thick like smoke, and it was hard to breathe because it was so harsh on the lungs. Carter and I didn’t speak first, knowing it was smart to let them make the opening statement. If there were a jury in the room, this would look a lot like a trial.

My father finally spoke. “Cane and I did some prodding yesterday. We were able to verify all the information you received. It checks out. His mother was a mistress, not bound by marriage. After Bones died, she had her son seven months later.”

“How do we figure out if he’s a threat?” I asked. “Should we tail him?”

“No,” Uncle Cane answered. “The second Bones died, the boy and his mother disappeared off the grid. They didn’t resurface again until a few years ago. He’s connected to a lot of people, but it’s not clear exactly what he does. But he has strong ties to a lot of groups, ironclad affiliations. The fact that we can’t determine his allegiance to anything is both comforting and troublesome.”

“Troublesome because we don’t know what he believes in,” my father added. “He’s a powerful man and has had opportunities to hurt us before, but never has. Perhaps he doesn’t care to avenge his father and has moved on to better things. After all, he didn’t even know him. Since his parents weren’t married, I’m sure his mother didn’t get a dime of his estate. The blood war could be insignificant to him.”

“That would be ideal,” I said. “He didn’t seem to care that I was sitting directly beside him at the Underground.”

“And if he did, do you really think he would act on it?” my father asked coldly.

All I did was stare at him.

“Or maybe he does care,” Uncle Cane said. “He’s just been waiting for the right time.”

“We killed his father because of what he did to our aunt,” I said. “It was revenge. Even if he’s a psychopath, he must understand that.”

My mother immediately looked down. I wouldn’t have noticed the movement if my father hadn’t glanced at her at the exact same time, as if he expected her to react in some way.

What was I missing?

“He might care,” Carter said. “Why else would he name himself Bones? He has some affection for the name.”

“But he could just be using the name to his advantage,” I said. “Bones was a powerful man. Almost everyone knows that. By adopting that name, he inherits the fear his father once instilled.”

“Then should we hit him first?” Carter asked. “Eliminate him before there’s a chance to do anything to us?”

“No.” My father crossed his arms over his chest. “We do nothing.”

“Nothing?” I asked in surprise.

“Nothing,” my father repeated. “There’s a good chance he doesn’t care enough to get in our way. The Barsettis are only known for their wine now. As far as the Underground goes, we’re no longer in the criminal business. We sold our business to the Skull Kings. As far as the world can see, we’ve decided to move on from that life.”

“What business?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Carter added.

“Not important,” my father said. “But if we attempt to attack him first, before he can strike us, we might start another blood war. And that’s the last thing we want. We’ll keep eyes and ears on him. That’s the smartest thing we can do right now.”

I wasn’t expecting that, but I had to agree with him. Our lives were peaceful now. There was no sense in attacking someone when we had no idea what this man’s motives were. Maybe he despised his father.

“But that brings us to our next point,” Uncle Cane said. “No more business at the Underground.”

“Ever,” my father added.

I felt like a ten-year-old child again. My father was disciplining me for doing something stupid. But I wasn’t ten anymore. I was almost thirty—and a self-made billionaire. I didn’t want to be proud or arrogant, but my father couldn’t tell me what to do anymore. “Our business is too important.”

“It is,” Carter said in agreement. “People depend on us.”

“You’re taking money from innocent people who just want their daughters back.” My father spoke through a clenched jaw, his dark eyes piercing like two blades. “There’s nothing noble about your work. You are two cocky idiots who don’t know what the hell they’re doing. Don’t make this about the girls. This is about the money. You’re greedy, and worst of all, stupid.” Not once did he raise his voice, but his words sank into our skin like blades. “So, it ends now.”

Carter fell silent, his eyes trained on his father.

I didn’t blink as I stared into the eyes of my biggest hero. “Last time I was there, they were selling a sixteen-year-old girl. I wasn’t supposed to buy her, or anyone else. But I dropped thirty million dollars just to get her out of there. Carter put her on a plane back home. Neither one of us made a cent off her. We risked our lives and our necks to get that girl out of there. If that’s not brave, I don’t know what is.”

Instead of softening his expression and being impressed by what I did, it only made him more pissed off. “I didn’t go through hell to see my son go down the wrong path. I didn’t almost die twice to see my family repeat the same mistakes. Your mother didn’t—”

“Crow.” My mom silenced him just by saying his name.

And he listened.

“It’s my turn to talk now.” She moved her hand and rested it on top of his.

He didn’t reciprocate the affection, too angry with the world to care about the touch of his wife.

“Conway.” She looked at me with soft eyes before looking at my cousin. “Carter. Your fathers are both strong, stubborn, and very protective. Sometimes they seem to exaggerate, but trust me, they don’t. You both have accomplished so much in your young lives. Your hearts are in the right place. Whether you’re making money off saving these women, it’s still a good thing to do. However, you have no idea what you’re doing.”

Just when I thought my mother would smooth everything over, she threw a curve ball.

“The connections between these men go far deeper than you realize. The Skull Kings have been around much longer than you understand. They were once an assassination crew, taking out leaders, politicians, and anyone who had a big enough bounty on their head. They changed their business into arms dealership, taking over the sector Bones used to hold. Now, they’ve broken into the trafficking circuit. These men only care about one thing…money. And if they ever find out how much money you’ve made from selling these women back to where they came from, who will pay the price?”

I held my breath as I listened, hanging on to every word my mother said.

Carter was quiet too.

“Your fathers have worked very hard to give us the simple life we have now. It wasn’t always this way. We’ve all suffered at the hands of madmen in our own ways. We want to put this behind us. So, you must close this door, both of you. As much as you may want to help these women, it’s not worth dying for. It’s not worth risking your entire family. I know deep down inside your fathers understand. I even believe they’re somewhat proud of you. But your actions are directly destroying everything they sacrificed to protect.” She turned her gaze on me. “Son.”

I took a deep breath as she addressed me.

“I want your promise that you will never participate in the Underground—ever again.”

I held her gaze but didn’t speak.

She didn’t blink. “Conway Barsetti.”

I didn’t want to hurt my parents. I didn’t want to disappoint them. My pride wanted me to remain stubborn and deny them what they wanted. But when my mother spoke so passionately, I couldn’t deny her. “I promise.”

The air left my father’s lungs.

My mom turned to Carter. “Carter, promise all of us that this business is over.”

Carter caved quicker than I did. He nodded.

“Out loud,” my mom pressed.

“I promise,” Carter whispered.

“Now remember, Barsettis always honor their promises,” my mother continued. “If you don’t, you hurt the family name. And then you won’t deserve the honor of the name. So, don’t you ever break that vow. Understand?”

My mother reminded me of Muse in some ways. She could command a room even though she was physically the weakest person there. She earned the respect of everyone in different ways. She could make all of us obedient even when she was half our size. “Yes,” I answered. “We understand.”