“I know.”

He cocked his head. “Then why bother?”

Running my hands through my hair, I twisted the black length to drape over my shoulder. “Because they won’t expect it. And the element of surprise can make a tiny knife become a sword.”

He chuckled. “Deep. Sounds like Confucius or some other metaphorical bullshit.”

I shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. I know what I mean. I know what I’ll do.” My tone slid to ice. “And I suggest you stay out of my way and keep your mouth shut.”

He laughed quietly. “Hey. As long as you stay away from me, I don’t have a problem. Always knew things would change. Ever since Kes told me what Jethro planned to do on his thirtieth, I knew my lifestyle was up.”

I froze.

He’ll never age another day.

Jethro’s corpse would forever remain twenty-nine—immortal and unchanging.

“What? What was he planning?”

“He didn’t tell you?” He crossed his arms. “I thought you were deep as fucking thieves. That was the reason all of this grew out of control.”

Breathing hard, I swallowed sadness. “No, he didn’t tell me.”

Flaw softened. “Sorry.”

I swiped at my face, dispelling any sign of tears. “So, what was he planning?”

He’s dead. But he’s still here…holding me…guiding me.

Learning more about Jethro, even though he was gone, was awfully bittersweet.

Flaw looked behind him at the open door. His face shadowed, and for a moment, I thought he’d refuse to say, but then he lowered his voice. “Once everything was his, he planned on ripping up the contracts. Ending it.”

My eyes grew wide. “Forever?”

“Yup.”

“He would have that power?”

Flaw turned rigid, his thoughts obviously on topics he didn’t enjoy. “Of course. He was a Hawk. They made the contract. They had the power to absolve it. Jethro planned to split up the estate equally between his brothers and sister and ban Cut and Bonnie from the grounds.” He rubbed his chin. “I only know that because Kes told me in a couple of years they might not require the Club to transport shipments because the shipments would stop altogether.”

“He didn’t want to smuggle anymore, either?” Wow. All this time I’d grown close to Jethro, yet we’d never shared our future together. Never lain in bed and murmured about what we wanted or dreamed.

Because our future was bleak.

Death for me. Heartache for him. Why focus on a fantasy when the reality threatened to destroy us?

Flaw moved toward the door. “Would you continue doing something illegal when you had more money than you could ever spend in hundreds of lifetimes?” His eyes darkened with nostalgia for his friends. “With the estate broken up, everyone could’ve gone their separate ways. Kes planned to take a few years off and spend it in Africa injecting some of the money taken from its soil back to its people.” He sighed. “Like I said, a good man.”

Placing his hand on the doorknob, he tilted his head. “Enough talking. They’ll be waiting. Better get you there before they suspect something.”

The cold steel of the blade wedged against my back. It gave me courage but couldn’t stop my sudden tremble. “Will you give me your word you’re not taking me somewhere for those psychopaths to hurt me?”

His jaw clenched. “I just told you insider information that could get me killed if you said anything. Doesn’t that deserve a little trust?”

“It does if it was said out of understanding rather than manipulation. I’ve fallen for the kind act far more times than I’m comfortable with.”

Flaw frowned. “Would it help to know I give you full permission to gut the next bastard who tries to hurt you?”

My heart stuttered. “Permission? You think I need your permission?” Moving toward him, I stood close enough to smell his spicy aftershave and leather from his jacket. “Give me something better than your permission, Flaw.”

He straightened. “Like what?”

“Like freedom.” I waved at the window. “I could’ve run. I could’ve somehow found my way to the boundary and vanished, but they have my brother. Bring V to me and we’ll go. I’ll take my family and disappear.”

And then I’ll come back and murder them in their sleep.

His eyes burned into mine. “You know I can’t do that.”

“So, all your talk of a better future and good men…that was what? Empty words?”

He scowled. “There are things going on that you don’t know about.”

I threw my hands up. “Oh, really? Funny, I’ve never heard that before.”

Once again, thoughts flickered over his face, secrets shadowing his eyes.

“If that’s true, tell me. What’s going on?”

He looked away. “I can’t answer that.”

I laughed morbidly. “No, of course, you can’t.”

“That’s not fair.”

My temper frayed, entirely unleashed. “That’s not fair?” I poked him in the chest. “What’s fair about me being subjected to more Hawk insanity? What’s fair about having the love of my life shot in front of me? What’s fair about waiting to die?!”

His hands fisted.

“You know what; I’m done.” Shaking my head, I brushed past him into the corridor. “Just take me to them like a good minion and get out of my sight.”