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A ghost of a smirk pulled at my mouth as my response. Inside, my mind snapped like a shutter.

Flash .

My mother's still body.

Flash .

The raw caramel of her skin slipping off like wet paper.

Flash.

Her eyes were wide, pleading for me to make it stop.

I swallowed. No emotion cracked my face. I remained calm because panic is what Lucian wanted.

"You're right. I offered myself to you without asking for anything in return. The consequences were watching you kill her, but what I earned was family."

"Wrong!" Lucian's voice cracked through the silence.

He took a few steps closer to the bed. "You didn't earn family because I taught you family does not matter in the grand scheme of things.

You earned clarity and forethought. I locked you in that room not only to break you but to rebuild you in my image.

You hate what I am, but you've molded yourself after my methods. Structure. Sacrifice. Control."

He stopped at the foot of the bed, watching me.

"You wanted out of that room because you wanted freedom, but freedom," he scoffed. "Has a way of feeling more like chaos than liberation. I gave you walls and structure because that breeds clarity."

"I don't need clarity. Tell me who the fuck is after my brother, and I'll handle Talon for you. None of this other shit matters," I gritted.

His smile twisted.

"The answers you're looking for are ones you already have. Isn't that why you paid Honey to keep an eye on Lynx?"

I raised a brow, wondering how he could've known that.

"And here we are right back to clarity and forethought. You sensed something was off. Your instincts... rather, my instincts, were screaming at you, but you didn't say a word to your brothers. Why?"

He paused, savoring the question.

"It's because you need them to fuck up. You didn't warn them because you enjoy being the one to clean up the mess. You like being needed. It makes you feel valuable. It's never been about protecting them. It's about the position."

Lucian leaned forward, lowering his voice until it felt like he was speaking directly to a nigga's heart.

"You confuse being needed with being loved."

My jaw locked.

"Talon and Navy may be my blood, but you , Honor... you're my son." Lucian chuckled darkly, the sound echoing in the sterile room.

"In this situation, you are me, and your brothers are you. You keep them caged and dependent, all under the guise of protection, but deep down? You're afraid. Afraid they'll figure out they don't need you at all."

The silence that followed was empty but loaded. Charged like the moment before glass shatters.

"I'm nothing like you," I growled, shoving Lucian away from me. Pain ripped through my abdomen, making it hard to breathe.

"I won't convince you, but I do expect you to keep your word. Lynx and a man named Rakim have been working together to take out Crown. They were behind the first robbery, the rumors, River's car accident, the shooting at the dock, and at River's party, and the hit on Gigi."

Before I could respond, the door swung open, and Crown stepped in. His eyes locked on Lucian with a cold intensity. Lucian's smirk faltered for a moment, then he turned and exited without another word.

Crown glanced over at me, his jaw tight.

"Fuck was he doing here?"

I kept my face neutral, but inside my mind was spinning, replaying Lucian's words. I shook my head slightly.

"It was nothing. What happened at dinner?"

Crown let out a bitter laugh. "I'm losing my mind fucking with this girl. I dug her bitch ass ex up and brought him to dinner in a duffle bag."

"Crown." I sighed, fighting to keep my thoughts at bay.

"Nigga, I know." His voice dropped heavy with frustration. "This girl got me so outta my fucking body that I'm starting to see why my pops did what he did. I don't condone it, but shit, it's gotta be easier to love a woman this deeply in death than in life."

"Maybe this is how your father felt, and instead of getting help, he let it consume him."

"Navy's been pushing therapy on me for years, but I never saw myself going through with it. What do you think? You've been through worse, and I've never seen you crash out about Navy."

I heard Crown's question, but my mind wouldn't let me answer. Lucian's voice still echoed in my head.

"You keep them caged... because you're scared, they don't need you."

That shit wasn't just a whisper. It was a fucking roar inside my head.

Maybe I wasn't just protecting them. This shit was starting to feel like control.

I knew about Chosyn's pops fucking with Lucian but kept that shit to myself.

I had suspicions about Lynx after the spot got robbed.

Ember Hill was that nigga's hood, but he claimed not to know shit.

Still, I kept my suspicions to myself and pulled Honey to the side, paying her to keep an eye on him and her mouth closed.

I knew River was Sincere's ex. I kept that secret, not realizing it was a noose tightening around all of us.

What kind of man lets his family fall apart while pretending to be the savior?

"Honor, you heard me?"

"Nah, what you say?" I asked, running my hand along my jaw.

"I asked what you think about my going to therapy for?—"

"I knew." I blurted it before Crown could finish his sentence.

His body stiffened. His eyes locked on mine.

"You knew what?" he growled.

"I knew River was Sincere's ex." The words scraped my throat on the way out.

Crown took a slow step forward. "I asked you, Honor. I asked you if you knew anything about her past, and you looked me in my eye and fucking lied."

I clenched my jaw. "I didn't think it was shit for you to be worried about. The nigga was dead."

"Nah, not you. You keep shit a secret that you know is a big deal. What the fuck else you been hiding?

I stood despite the pain slicing through my side. "After the spot in Ember Hills got hit, I paid Honey to keep an eye on Lynx. Something seemed funny about that whole shit. She told me the day you killed Leah that he was working with Rakim. They're the reason River got into that accident, too."

Crown's eyes widened. The room shifted, and the weight of what I said cracked the air between us like thunder.

Crown's fist flew without warning, cracking across my cheek with a force I didn't brace for. My head snapped to the side, but I didn't fall. I surged forward, grabbing him by his hoodie and slamming him against the wall.

"Chill the fuck out!" I growled.

"Fuck you, Honor! You ain't shit."

"I'm not shit, but who's the nigga who's been bleeding for you since your fucking parents died? Huh, nigga?"

Crown shoved me back hard. My legs hit the bed. Before I could regain balance, he tackled me, and we went crashing to the floor.

Fists flew.

His rage against my guilt.

His grief against my silence.

Every blow he landed felt earned. We were locked in, fighting to rip the other's head off.

Brother against brother.

Pain against pain.

I caught him clean across the jaw, sending him stumbling back. I rose to my feet, breathing hard, fists raised, but then it hit me. Hot, deep, and blinding. My side flared up, white lightning lancing through my abdomen. I staggered, the room spinning. My knees buckled.

Crown didn't stop. His fist crashed into my face, and I hit the ground like a dead weight.

Somewhere in the chaos, I heard voices. Yelling and nurses rushing in.

The sound of monitors beeping wildly. Hands pulled Crown away, but it was fading fast. Darkness crept in around the edges of my vision. Then... nothing. Just silence.