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“No, he just wants to be able to see his brother.”

“Fine, I’m not a monster. I’ll allow visits. Like I said, his brother will be taken good care of while he’s here. He can visit once a month,” Vincent said. “The moment he acts up, though… all bets are off.”

“I understand.”

“Oh, you are not welcome, ever. I’m sure you can understand why,” Vincent said.

“You keep your word, no harm comes to Zindel or Zaire, and we’ll continue to not have a problem,” Tiger warned. “Ze is mine.”

“I see. Since that’s the case, as a show of good faith and respect between our two families, I’ll just have Zindel work off what he owes. I was going to double the debt for the interest, but I think our two organizations can deal with this arrangement,” Vincent said. “The sooner he can pay it off, the faster he’ll be free.”

“Very well, thank you for being so reasonable,” Tiger said. He watched as Ze rolled his eyes, but he knew he had to play this smart. There was just a way you had to negotiate with the mafia if you wanted to avoid bloodshed. Especially one this powerful. Had this been any other number of outfits out there, Tiger would have gladly taken them on, but they weren’t on the level of the Castiellos.

“So, what’s today… the fifteenth? He can visit the fifteenth of every month,” Vincent said.

“Thank you. He’s on his way,” Tiger said. “What’s the address?”

Vincent gave him the location, then hung up. He told Ze where to go and what the man said.

Ze snarled. “Motherfucker!”

“You go, talk to your brother, but don’t do anything stupid,” Jimmy said.

“I know, you all made it very clear that going up against the Castiellos would be suicide. I’m not going to do anything,” Ze said.

“Ze,” Tiger said, taking his cub by the face and tilting it up to him. “I know you’re feeling helpless right now. You want to protect your brother and can’t. But he’s alive, think about that. The ball isn’t in your court, so do you want him alive or dead?”

“Alive,” Ze said.

“Alive and free in a few years, or alive and running for his life?”

“Alive and free.”

“That’s what you think about when you’re in there,” Tiger said.

“I need you to give me the strength to deal with this,” Ze said.

Tiger pressed his forehead to Ze’s. “I’m always going to choose you, Ze. I just want you to be able to live with your decisions and to have perspective. I think you do, now. I’ll drive, give you some time to calm down.”

Ze nodded and kissed Tiger. “Thank you.”

Tiger released him and looked at Jimmy. “You mind if I take him?”

Jimmy shook his head. “You two really are two sides of a coin. He needs you, so yeah… take care of my boy.”

Tiger nodded, and both he and Ze left the clubhouse. Inside the car, Ze was quiet and Tiger gave him the silence he needed to get his head in the game, so to speak. They pulled up to the club “Desire” and Tiger turned off the engine. He looked over at Ze.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

“Yeah, I just want to make sure he’s okay,” Ze said.

“Look at me.”

Ze turned toward him.

“I love you,” he said.

“I love you too, Tiger,” Ze replied.