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“Augustus, this is Dr. Alfie Adams. He’s my therapist.”

My brother eyes him up and down. “Got any good drugs?”

“I’m a psychologist, not a psychiatrist, Augustus.” It’s nice to hear his exasperated tone on someone other than me for a change.

My brother ducks and pulls Alfie down with him as an unknown man rounds the corner and starts shooting. He’s squatted low, and before I can move, he grabs my ankle and yanks me down on the concrete just as another shot rings past my ear. I land almost on top of him, and despite sounding a little winded, Augustus is okay.

“Jesus, you’re like a fucking concrete slab. Get off me.” He shoves me hard in the chest.

I waggle my eyebrows. “I’ve been working out.”

“Gross.” He succeeds this time in rolling me away.

“Get your mind out of the gutter, Augustus. I have a personal trainer for a girlfriend.”

“Ex-girlfriend,” Alfie notes neutrally. If my eyes could shoot daggers, I fucking would. He’s lucky I was stupid enough not to bring a weapon.

“She dumped you?” my brother asks, his face looking genuinely concerned.

Wow, are we having a breakthrough? Color me shocked.

He shuffles back against a shipping container that provides us some shelter from the repeated clunk and clang ofbullets hitting metal.

“I don’t believe this is the right time for you two to overcome your differences. And you might want to borrow this,” Dr. Alfie grits out and hands me a gun from the back of his slacks.

I stare at the loaded weapon in my palm.Where the hell did he get a damn gun from?

My brother, too impatient to deal with the crisis of my two worlds colliding, snatches the gun out of my hand and starts shooting.

Alfie and I don’t speak for a moment and wait for my brother to give us instructions. One of our guys is hiding behind some crates, using them as cover. The shots are becoming fewer and farther between now. My brother turns around and settles in next to me. His breathing is a little labored, his leg twitching, and I feel the urge to calm him down.

“About your question, she didn’t dump me. I...I told her to leave. Because of the whole Danny situation.” A lump clogs my throat, causing my voice to sound squeaky and unnatural. The words want to go back in; my heart is telling me not to trust him yet. But I want to. I want to believe that my brother is still there. But as it happens, my judgment on whom I can trust is a bit skewed right now. Just wait until I get my hands on Luca.

“Hey, you know I didn’t have anything to do with that, right? I had no idea Dad was going to do that.”

August’s face is sincere, his sharp lines softening. This could be the moment things actually improve for us. If he steps away from the business, I could bring him into mine. Sure, it’s legit and not really what he wants to do, but I could help him. We could join forces and really piss our dad off.

I nod as I see Callum ring out another shot. He yells over to someone else behind him. Using his hand to call out to someone up above on top of some shipping containers.Did he just yell Danny?

“Callum, we’re trying to have a heart-to-heart here. Can you knock it off?” I call out, trying to ease the tension.

“Fuck you, Austin.” He laughs, army-crawling toward us. “I’m out of bullets. You got anything?”

I shake my head. “Thank god you got into farming, boss, because you’re a terrible fucking gangster, I’ll tell you that.”

My initial fury is quickly extinguished when I realize how fucking happy I am to hear someone say that.

As the shouts of unknown voices come closer, we begin to crawl to the back of the shipping container we’ve been leaning on.

“My fucking suit is ruined. Whoever started this fucking gunfight is getting a dry cleaning bill at the very least,” my brother moans.

God, he really is a pretentious ass.He’s getting shot at, and all he cares about is his dry cleaning bill. The man is worth millions.

“Augustus. Who wears a Tom Ford suit to the docks? You really only have yourself to blame.”

The unsettling quiet descends, and I’m not sure if it's safe to come out. I slap Alfie on the shoulder. “Welcome to my world, doc. I bet you’re loving your office right about now, aren't you? A nice comfy couch, air conditioning in the summer, heat in the winter, and your beautiful office manager organizing your life for you. None of this chaos.”

He grimaces, and finally, I think I might be getting through to him. He needs to pull his head out of his ass and get his girl almost as much as I need to get mine.