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There’s never been a sight more beautiful to me than watching my woman laugh and play with our children.

Granted, her laughs are only loud enough for them to hear, but I still see it on her face.

That’s all I need to know to understand that my woman is in there.

It’s just a matter of bringing her out. The kids do a good job of that, now they just need some help.

Her being back in Coral Cay will force her to face the life she had here.

It’s going to hurt like hell, but at least this time I’ll be there to catch her when she falls.

I lean against the wall with my arms folded over my chest as I watch my family. My heart begs me to join them, but they’ve dealt enough with a man pushing himself on them. I’m content watching them find their happiness together right now.

“Another skip? So unfair,” Birdie grumbles playfully.

Legend chuckles. “Sorry, mama.”

“No, you’re not, but I still love you.”

Lovelyn looks over at me. “Will you come play with us, Daddy?”

“Yeah, Dad. Come on,” Legend adds.

I straighten from my perch and peer over at Birdie to see where her thoughts are. She shrugs, hiding her mouth behind her cards, but there’s a smile in her eyes.

Birdie shuffles the cards as I find a place around the kitchen table.

I crack my knuckles before picking up my pile of cards. “Prepare to be defeated. I am the king of Uno.”

“Nobody likes a braggart, Dad,” Legend replies.

We tease each other as we play whatever cards we can to keep the others from winning. Not going to lie, it’s the most fun I’ve had in a long fucking time. Hearing the squeals of laughter from Lovelyn and Legend does joyous things to my scarred, black heart.

We’re a few rounds into the game when Birdie’s phone rings. She jerks in her seat, her wide eyes flying to the counter.

I place my hand on her knee. “It’s just your phone, little mama.”

Legend grabs it and carries it over to her. Birdie takes it with a trembling hand.

“Hello,” she answers.

I can’t hear what’s said, but the way her face quickly loses color and terror fills her eyes is enough.

That motherfucker.

Without hesitation, I snatch the phone from her and put it to my ear.

“When I get a hold of you, what I did will feel like child’s play, you worthless, used-up cunt. Then I’m going to pass you—”

“You’re going to do what?” I drawl.

There’s a pause over the line before an abrasive chuckle scrapes against my ear. “Well, well, if it isn’t the big dog himself. How are you enjoying my wife?”

Birdie’s fear has transferred to the twins, so I shoot them a wink and climb to my feet. This isn’t a conversation they need to hear.

I squeeze Birdie’s shoulder and head toward the back door. “Frankie, Frankie, Frankie. If only you knew how many times I’ve buried myself inside her and had her screaming my name. Mine, Frankie. She forgot you the moment she came home.”

“She’s mine,” he screams.

“Is she, though? Because it seems like she’s mine. Like they all are. How did it feel to know the most beautiful part of her would never be yours? Her heart,” I taunt.

“Hmm, I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me how it feels that I had the six years of their lives you’ll never be part of? All those firsts that belong to me. Mine, Apollonos. How does it make you feel?”

He called me by my birth name. The only people outside my club who use that name are my parents, the fucking church they belong to, and Birdie. Even Gavel calls me Pope.

Instead of letting his taunts get to me, I change direction, hoping to get some information for Cypher.

“Tell me something, Frankie? How do you know my parents, Diana and Eoghan Brannigan?”

I pull my phone from my pocket and send Cypher a text to trace the number Frankie is calling from.

The silence from Frankie is weighted in surprise, as if we weren’t supposed to find that information. Did he expect my guys to not be that good, or did he think he was better?

Frankie’s laugh is knowing. There’s a chill in it that has the hairs on my arms standing up. “Now, now. It would ruin all the fun if I didn’t make you work for it.”

The tone of his voice sends a rush of familiarity over me.

What the fuck?

Cypher texts back, telling me to keep on the line as long as I can.

“Yay. I like games. If I win, I’m going to introduce you to my precious. She enjoys making new friends.”

“If I win—”

“You won’t,” I interrupt cheerfully.

“If I do—”

“You won’t, so we don’t need to pretend you will.”

Frankie lets out a snarl of frustration that has me chuckling. “I’m coming for my family.”

“Your family? Boy-O, we both know those kids came straight from my lusty loins. You were merely holding my place. Is that what pisses you off? That you’ll never be me?”

Cypher lets me know he needs another sixty seconds because the signal is bouncing all over the place.

Frankie starts again before I get the chance to speak.

“Any guesses on what I’ll do once I have them back?

I plan to introduce your kids to some very eager individuals who are interested in meeting them.

Then I’m going to record while I fuck my wife so you can watch her scream and beg for me to stop. ”

Rage chokes me as it descends over my body. A red mist coats my vision, his vile words thrumming through my head. I grab the knife I keep at my waist, twirling it through my fingers as I try to get my body temperature to lower.

“Hey, Frankie,” I say in a low tone, the undercurrent of my rage threading through it. “After I sever your head, I’m going to skull fuck it. Then I’m going to piss on your corpse before leaving it for the wolves to feast on.”

Another text comes through.

CYPHER

30 more secs

Frankie hums. “Our time has run out. I’ll be seeing you soon, brother .”

There’s an undertone to the way he murmurs the last word that sends a chill up my spine.

He ends the call with twenty seconds still to go.

“Motherfucker,” I snarl.

Frankie fucking knew we were tracing the call, or he at least suspected.

Cypher’s name flashes over the screen of my phone as it rings.

“Tell me you fucking got him,” I answer.

“Wish I could, Prez. He’s good at bouncing his signal. Just when I had a lock on him, he’d jump it to another location.”

“Anywhere close to here, or the last known location Birdie was before here?”

“No. He had it jumping to every fucking state then overseas. It bounced back and forth but started slowing down when I told you I needed thirty more seconds. Colorado, Kentucky, New York, New Jersey, and Florida were the states my program narrowed in on.”

I sigh, running a hand through my hair. “Fuck. Okay. We already know he has a connection to New York because of my parents and here in Florida because that’s where he and Birdie lived at. See if you can find any kind of tie between him and the other states. Maybe it’ll help us find where he’s at.”

“Understood. I’ll see what I can do.”

“I don’t know if this will help you out, but he called me brother the same way all of us do.”

“Interesting,” he murmurs, the clicking of the keys of his laptop coming across the line. “Just adding some parameters to my program. This will take a while. I’ll let you know when I get hits on anything else.”

After he ends our conversation, I call Manic.

“Prez.”

“I need to speak to Kyrie.”

“One second.”

He muffles his voice as he lets Valkyrie know I’m on the phone. A few seconds later, she takes over the call.

“Turd nugget,” she drawls.

I shake my head with a smile. “Kyrie, your sister is going to need you. Frankie called her.”

Valkyrie spits out a curse. “How the hell did he get her burner number?”

“I don’t know, but considering he’s intelligent enough to keep Cypher from tracing him, I’m sure it was easy for him.”

“Don’t give him a lot of credit.”

“You shouldn’t underestimate him,” I snap.

“I’ve seen what he can do, so believe me, I’m not underestimating him.

I know he’s smart. What I’m saying is he’s not on Cypher’s level, but he has someone working with him who is.

Don’t discount the people on his payroll.

He didn’t build his business on money alone.

Tell Cypher to check his business contacts. ”

“I’m sure he’s already on it, but I’ll mention it anyway.”

“We’ll be there soon,” she says before hanging up.

I shove both phones in my pocket and head back inside to check on Birdie.

The twins are sitting on the couch watching Birdie as she stares out the living room window.

She’s gripping herself tightly. It does little to control the tremors that have overtaken her.

Their worry for Birdie is in their trembling lips and watery eyes.

They huddle together, seeking comfort in one another.

Since they lack the maturity to understand PTSD, they’re puzzled by their mom’s sudden change in behavior.

As much as I want to go to Birdie, there are two little humans who need comfort first.

I squat in front of the twins, wrapping my arms around them and pulling them to me. “Your ma is going to be okay. She’s just having a hard time. Your aunt is on the way over, okay?”

“It was him , wasn’t it, Dad?” Legend asks.

“Yeah, little warrior.”

“I hate him.”

I lean away from me so I can look him in the eye.

“We don’t give people that much power over us, son.

You can not like someone—I have a lot of people that I don’t like—but hate is a powerful emotion.

We don’t put something like that in someone else’s hands.

” I run my palm over his head and place a kiss on the top of Lovelyn’s.

“I’m going to take care of your mom. Why don’t you all head upstairs to play until Valkyrie gets here? ”

Legend peers at his mom before coming back to me. “You’ll take care of her?”

“I promise, little warrior. I got her.”

“I’m trusting you,” he states so solemnly that my heart cracks.

Fuck, man.

My kids had to see too much dark too early in their lives.

I hold my pinky up to him and nod gravely. “I swear to you I won’t break it.”

Legend hooks his pinky around mine before releasing me. Then he grabs Lovelyn’s hand and, together, they head upstairs.

Once they’re no longer in sight, I climb to my feet. Birdie tenses when I get close to her. I stop when there’s enough room that I’m not touching her, but close enough that she can feel my heat at her back.

I need her to know she’s not alone this time.

“What are you doing, little mama?”

“Waiting for him to come,” she says in a robotic voice.

“You’re safe here, Birdie. There are too many people he’d have to go through. He won’t defeat us all.”

“Don’t underestimate him,” she says, repeating the words I said to Valkyrie minutes ago. “If there is something worse than the devil, then that’s what Frankie is.”

“I never underestimate anyone, baby. That’s a good way to get dead.”

Birdie shrugs. “I did.” She turns to face me. “Twice.”

The breath rushes from me as her words nail me in my chest. She steps around my dazed body and out of the room.

Lifting my hand to the middle of my chest, I rub my knuckles against the pain there. My heart constricts repeatedly, struggling to beat through the pain.

Fuck, that hurt.