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Locked.

This time I pounded, determined to have a single decent conversation with him. While the music wasn’t shut off, the door was jerked open and I jumped back in surprise.

His grin indicated he was happy he’d caused my reaction. “What is it?”

“I wanted to see how you were.”

“You mean after being kidnapped?” he snarled at me as if I’d ordered the kidnapping.

I stood my ground, taking a step closer and folding my arms. He knew my temperament. I wasn’t going away that easily. Finally, he opened the door, shrugging before backing away.

“Please turn the music down,” I told him.

“Why should I?”

“Because I asked you to.”

He glared at me warily but did as I asked. When he did, I took a deep breath. I could tell by his expression this was going to be even harder than before. “I’m sorry about what happened to you, Marco. I never want you hurt in any of this.”

“My father would never have allowed me to be taken. Never!”

My initial kneejerk reaction was to lash out at him, but I had to remind myself not only was he still a boy to a degree, he’d also gone through two ordeals in less than a week.

“Do you think I wanted that to happen? Don’t you know how terrified I was that you were taken from right under my nose?”

He hissed and even that sounded sarcastic. “If you were, why didn’t you come home last night? Why didn’t you kill the fuckers who did that to me?”

I could lie to him, but maybe he needed to hear the truth. He wanted to be an adult so badly, risking his life becoming a soldier so he deserved to know everything. “Because I made a choice, your life for mine.”

At least that caught him by surprise.

“What does that mean?”

God, the kid was arrogant. “I mean in order to save you, I was taken and kept overnight instead.”

“By Jago Torres.”

I nodded. “Yes. The same man who ordered you to be taken from the funeral.”

“Why?”

“Because he wants to broker a deal with me.”

He was a highly intelligent young man whether he liked to show it or not. He knew exactly what I was getting at. “Either take our father’s empire by force or you agree to work with him.”

“Yes.” At least I could tell by the look in his eyes he understood the gravity of the situation.

Marco turned away, staring at nothing, but I could see his wheels churning. “You’re going to do it.”

“I’m not certain I have another choice.”

“You always have choices!”

Cringing, I rubbed my eyes. “If only that were true. Yes, Papa raised us to believe that, but, in some cases, when you have your back against the wall, you must make difficult decisions. I don’t want this any more than you do.”

“Then let me lead. I’ll kill the son of a bitch. He can’t force you to do anything.” Just the way he moved his head toward me, utter venom in his eyes let me know he cared even a little.

Lead. The hunger to be recognized and respected was mostly what this was about.