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Noe sat in his room at the ryokan and stared at the letter on the table as if it were a viper poised to bite him. In days past, he’d have been happy to get a letter from home. Now? After all Petar had done?

Well, odds were the letter didn’t contain good news.

He’d retreated here after his class that afternoon and taken a pain reliever because he might have overdone it a tad. Right now, he regretted having done so because he couldn’t drink for three hours after taking it, and he absolutely did not want to open that letter sober.

Dammit, just rip off the bandage. No point in letting it sit—it would hover over his head like a dark cloud.

Noe blew out a noisy breath and opened it. It was three pages, which might be good, might be bad. Also in his mother’s handwriting, which also could be good or bad.

Noe,

I am so utterly wroth with you.

Ah. It was going to be one of those letters. Shit.

Your brother is now in prison because of you. He came home in shame, in tears because you refused to heed him, and he said you got hurt on the job but he was blamed for it. How dare you do that to him. We barely got a hug in before he was slapped in irons and hauled off to trial!

So, clearly Petar had spun the story so that he wasn’t at fault, which was rather typical of his brother. Petar couldn’t seem to ever take full accountability for his actions.

Knowing how this letter would likely go, Noe skimmed the rest of it to get the highlights. So, Petar had been stripped of his license and was no longer allowed to work as an engineer. He’d also been sentenced to two years of hard labor, without possibility of parole, and with a black mark against him in the construction industry. Which was incredibly lenient, considering he’d almost destroyed thousands of gold worth of materials on a site. Not to mention he’d almost gotten Noe killed in the process. They must have taken his youth and lack of a record into account during the trial.

Of course, it was somehow all Noe’s fault for not protecting his brother. She didn’t breathe one word of concern for how Noe fared. Did she not realize how serious his own predicament had been? How close he’d come to dying, and likely would have, if not for Luca?

She ended the letter saying he’d never be welcome at home again. Which was typical, as well; Noe got threatened with that whenever he did something that “embarrassed the family.”

He let out a long, gusty sigh and had to wonder, was it even worth responding? Petar had never been able to do any wrong in his mother’s eyes. Part of Noe wanted to set the record straight, but would it even be worth the effort? It wasn’t like he planned on ever going home again anyway. He and Luca had initially planned for it as a honeymoon trip, but that option had died with Petar.

The door slid open and Luca stepped in. Noe’s face must have been doing something because Luca stopped dead, one foot inside, looking Noe over with concern. “What’s wrong?”

Noe waved the letter in the air. “Letter from my mother. Somehow, Petar ending up in prison for two years and being blacklisted in the construction industry is all my fault. I’m not allowed to return home because of it.”

Luca practically slammed the door shut, expression thunderous. “How the fuck is any of that your fault? You were unconscious when I had him thrown onto that ship!”

“Oh, I’m sure Petar spun a pretty story for her before he was arrested about how none of this was his fault and boo hoo hoo. Petar can do no wrong in my mother’s eyes.”

“I was a witness to the fact Petar can, in fact, do a lot of wrong.”

“Preaching to the choir, my love.”

Luca shed coat and gloves, then crossed the distance between them in two long strides. He reached for the letter as he moved. “May I?”

Noe handed it over without a quibble because he had no secrets from this man, and what did it matter? Still, he watched with a heavy heart as Luca read through the letter, his anger visibly mounting with every word.

“I cannot believe the audacity,” he snarled before throwing the letter down. “That she would just heap all blame and responsibility on you as if you’d done something wrong. Did she really sweep aside all that was said in the trial? You were the victim here. Petar was the one who endangered your life and nearly cost us thousands in damages on the worksite.”

Noe shrugged, because what could he say? His mother was blind and deaf to Petar’s faults and likely always would be.

“Will you write to her and try to correct the score?”

“Part of me feels like I should just to stand up for myself. But what’s the point? She sat through Petar’s trial and still refuses to believe her precious baby did anything wrong.”

“All right. If you won’t, I will.”

Noe blinked up at him, somehow surprised by this. He shouldn’t be—Luca had proven time and again he would defend Noe from every antagonist—but somehow, he hadn’t expected this reaction. “Um, well…are you sure?”

“I’m dead sure.”

“Then I’d say…don’t write my mother. Write my father.”

Luca’s eyes narrowed with shrewdness. “Is he more reasonable?”

“Not blind to his kids’ faults, at least. I have no doubt my mother’s taking her anger out on me because my father’s not as outraged as she wants him to be. If you write to him directly, he’ll rein her in. I have no way of knowing what all was said at the trial, but with yours and Ren’s testimonies, they probably did something quick. No reason to extend it.”

“No, likely it was a quick in and out. It’s possible details were glossed over in the process, and the devil’s in the details in situations like this.”

Luca strode to their chest, pulling out stationery before coming back and plopping down at the table. He started writing, fast and furious, then paused. “Wait, do your parents speak Trader?”

“They do.”

“Good.” He kept writing.

Noe had a loaded Luca and he wasn’t afraid to use him…Noe snickered at the thought but kept the sound quiet. Luca truly was worse than a wolf with her cub when one of his own was wronged.

Noe watched him write and decided he couldn’t just let Luca do all the heavy lifting here. The letter from his mother made it clear Noe had no value to his parents. Sure, his mother had sent it, but his father hadn’t stopped her. Noe was under no illusions there. Both of his parents had made it transparent they didn’t support him. Clearly, they didn’t love him enough to care about him, either.

Was there any point in trying to drag this carcass of a relationship any further? Noe couldn’t see one. It hurt, relinquishing the hope that one day his parents would love him as he was. It might always hurt a little, but he couldn’t allow this situation to continue.

Noe clenched a hand over his heart and breathed out; it felt shaky, but he was determined. It was fine. He’d build a new family with Luca, right? He’d have all the love he’d need from this remarkable man and the children they’d adopt together. Noe also had Elsbet, as they were becoming quite close already, so that was more family on his side.

Time to let go.

Noe carefully shifted so he could sit at the table as well. He drew the stationery box closer and fetched out paper and pen.

Luca paused and gave him a glance. “So you’ll write to them after all?”

“I will. There’s something long overdue that I must say.”

“I have to tell you, I’m not doing any sugarcoating over here.”

“Whatever you’ve said can’t be worse than what I’m about to write.”

Luca cocked his head in puzzlement. “I’m now worried. What are you about to write?”

“That I’m done with them, too.”

Luca sat in stunned silence, and he studied Noe’s expression as if to verify how much he meant it. “Are you sure?”

“I’m tired, Luca. I’m tired of always being the scapegoat. I’m tired of being deemed the embarrassment. I’m tired of them not loving me properly. Three pages my mother wrote, and not once did she even question if I was all right. Her favorite child damn near killed me, but the thought I was hurt never crossed her mind. No matter how much the details were glossed over in a trial, surely him nearly ending my life was brought up.”

“I know for a fact it was.”

“See? She didn’t care what happened to me. I don’t need parents like that.”

Luca breathed out heavily and nodded, the mannerism sad but understanding. “You know I’ll have your back, always.”

“I know. It’s what’s given me the strength to do this.” Noe lifted Luca’s hand to his mouth, kissing his knuckles briefly, then set about writing his own letter.

He kept it succinct. Just that he’d had enough of being their emotional punching bag for Petar’s sake. He was divorcing himself from the family with this letter and would not entertain any further contact. He also added, in a fit of pique, that he hoped with his absence they’d see how much of a screwup Petar actually was. How much damage their enabling of him had done.

Then he signed it and shoved the paper away, not willing to look at it anymore.

Luca also finished, signed his, and set the pen down with a final grunt. “I’ll have it out on tomorrow’s ship. If they send any kind of a response, let’s just burn it unread.”

“I’m all in favor.”

Luca shifted about the round table to come and sit next to him, hugging Noe carefully. Noe leaned in against Luca’s sturdy shoulder, his eyes slipping closed, soaking in the comfort offered. No words were exchanged, and none needed to be. He felt every bit of the affection and concern Luca had for him in his calm, careful embrace.

Hard as this was, it was necessary, for Noe’s own sake. Luca would brace him whenever his heart faltered. Right now, that promise was all he needed.