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“Now you know how I felt when you were arrested,” Alex murmurs, his tone tinged with quiet humour.

They continue to speak quietly and as I watch them; I can’t help but drift to Richard Arnold Jr. Halle is not visibly strong, but I can tell there is a fierceness in her just by the way she looks at Alex.

Richard was a piece of shit, spoiled and arrogant, and I wonder whether she did kill him that night.

If she did, then she did us all a favour.

I leave them in the kitchen, slipping into my office and calling Hayden.

“Tell me you have something,” I start.

“Not yet,” Hayden replies. “Our guy hasn’t moved.”

Daniel Tang. He was Key’s contact.

Frustration flares inside me, but I stamp it down. We can’t be too careless. “Thanks for keeping an eye on this,” I tell him.

“How’s Alex?” Hayden asks.

“Are you asking because you care, or because you’re being polite?”

There’s a beat of silence. “Both,” he says. “I know you care about him, Rowan, and believe it or not, I do care about your happiness.”

The honesty in Hayden’s voice hits me harder than I expect. “Thanks,” I mutter.

“But let me ask you this,” he continues. “Is that why you didn’t kill that cop? Because of Alex? Because of what he’d think?”

The question hangs in the air. Alex has always been my blind spot; the person who softens edges I’m not sure I can afford to dull. I don’t know why, but I want to be better for him. I’ll never be good, but he is.

Despite everything, he still tries to save the people he loves. And I care about him enough to not hurt Kane—even when I know he should suffer.

“If it is?” I ask.

“It’s dangerous for anyone to hold power over The Head of The Snake,” Hayden says carefully. “Especially their Right Eye.”

My jaw tightens. My father is my mother’s Right Eye, a partnership born of convenience, not love. That’s how it’s supposed to be. Loyalty matters more than affection.

“I’m not marrying him, Hayden,” I say.

At least not yet.

But the truth I can’t admit to him is that Alex already has power over me. He makes me rethink decisions; and that is a type of influence I can’t afford to let anyone have. Love is a luxury we can’t afford.

And yet, Alex doesn’t feel like a luxury; he feels like a necessity.

“Just something to consider,” Hayden says. “But if he makes you happy, that’s a good thing. God knows we could all use a little of that.”

My chest tightens at his words. Hayden and Xander are the best brothers I could have asked for, even in the chaos of our lives, we have managed to ignore the outside noise and stand together no matter what.

“Thanks,” I say quietly. “Call me if our guy moves.”

“Of course.”

I end the call and head back to the kitchen, where Alex and Halle are huddled together, still speaking in low voices. Something about it reminds me of my brothers and me, whispering in Hayden’s room after our father punished us for failing to remember some asinine fact about The Snake.

Once Halle leaves, Alex turns to me from across the counter, a determined frown creasing his face. “I want to see Kane.”

I raise an eyebrow. He looks steadier, but the night of rest hasn’t erased the exhaustion lingering in his posture. “Are you sure?”