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CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“Life is neither good or evil, but only a place for good and evil.”

~ Marcus Aurelius

Saros

Cosmo, Benny, and Mike were all in the dining room by the time I entered. I’d stopped by the kitchen to talk to Martha, and she said she’d get Em food and talk to him about what kind of clothes he liked so we could get more. Paulo messaged that he’d be here in an hour, so hopefully by this afternoon Em would be feeling better.

“Before we begin, I have some news.” I took my seat at the head of the table. Food was out, and we were serving ourselves.

“Something from Em?” Cosmo asked.

“Actually, yeah.” I looked at Mike. “First off, his name is November. No idea more than that, but he was born in the month of November, and I don’t imagine there are a lot of people with that name born in that month.”

“You’d be surprised how untrue that is, Boss. But I’ll do my best. I have his face, but the facial recognition didn’t pick anything up.”

“What about his blood?” Benny scooped some scrambled eggs onto his plate.

“I can ask Em if he’s okay with that. I don’t want to take more than already has been ripped from him.” I gritted my teeth. “Anyway, other news. Brandi, she might be a problem.”

“Brandi from The Vine?” Mike cocked his head.

“The very one. Apparently, she reported news to Ramsey regarding last week’s pickup that ended with Em having a broken finger and a limp.”

Mike cleared his throat. “Look, Boss, I get it. Em’s a soft spot, but how sure are you that you can trust him?”

Mike’s worry was coming from a good place, but I’d be damned if I answered to anyone. I slammed my hand on the table, cutlery and crystal shook, and all three men sat back.

“Do an updated background on Brandi. I want her followed, I want to know everything.”

“Yes, Boss.” Mike didn’t say anything further on the issue.

“So you know Em is November, but do we know how he ended up with Ramsey Brookes?” Benny began eating. “Human trafficking? Frazee might know something about it.”

It was true—Frazee dealt with that ugly shit. It was why I had the warehouses he’d taken over watched.

“He might.” I jerked my chin at Cosmo. “You got people watching the warehouses?”

“Yeah.”

“Nothing fucked up?”

“So far it’s all good.”

“If we need to, we’ll ask Frazee, but I don’t want more people in on Em’s existence if I can help it just yet.”

We were silent for a few minutes, filling our bellies.

“Mike, anything on Ramsey?”

He snorted. “He’s not happy you took Em. There’s been a lot of talk about him reaching out to people, wanting info, maybe even paying for extra guns.”

“How’d you find that out?”

Mike chuckled. “He texts from what he assumes is a secure phone, but it’s not. He’s an idiot.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “His idiocy works in our favor.”

“I got a few names of people he reached out to. Some might help; he’s offering pieces of your territories if they help kill you and return Em.”

“No offense, I like the kid, but what’s so goddamn special that he’s losing his shit?” Cos asked.

“It’s about power. Em was his in his warped little mind. Now he’s not. He wants his toy back.” I cracked my neck, relieving some of the pressure that was building.

“We know Ramsey is trying to make a move. He won’t unless he believes he has enough support. Cos, Benny, get info from Mike on who Ramsey has been talking to. Remind them why that would be a real fucking bad idea.”

“You got it,” they responded in unison.

“Mike, get info on Brandi, keep tabs on Ramsey.”

“No problem.”

“I’m going to be spending the afternoon with Em. Hopefully I’ll find more shit out.”

Benny snorted. “Like that’s the only reason you’re hanging out with him.”

I side-eyed him. I wanted to argue, but it would be a lie. I was drawn to Em; something about him settled the tornado inside me. He was a light. Some might call him a victim, but he was a survivor. He’d been thrust into a shit situation he couldn’t climb out of and too weak to grip the rope I’d thrown to him the first time we’d met. I wanted to help him…and yeah, he was beautiful. That didn’t hurt.

“Remember, tomorrow is family dinner,” Cosmo broke the tension.

“Fuck.”

“Nice, Saros. Your niece has been dying to show you her recital dance. This is the reaction you give me.” Cos shook his head.

“You fucking showed me the video. Why do I have to be subjected to that twice?”

Mike and Benny laughed, which earned a glare from Cosmo. “You don’t want to see it? Fine, you tell her.” He pushed his cell toward me.

I stared at the phone angrily and then sighed. “Fuck! Fine!”

Cos nodded and tucked it back into his jacket. “Good, Uncle Sarry.”

“You do not call me that.” I jabbed a finger at him.

The three men chuckled again. Assholes .

Around noon, after a shit-ton of phone calls finalizing the menu for family dinner with Martha and some other things, I made my way up to Em’s bedroom. I knocked and almost too quietly, I heard him say come in.

He was still in bed, but I could tell he’d showered, and he had on some fresh clothes. He shot me a small smile, and I could already see some color in his cheeks.

“You look good.”

He snorted. “Thanks. I still feel like ground-up feces, but thanks.”

“Are the clothes good?”

“Yeah. Martha came up for breakfast and asked me what I liked to wear and what sizes. I told her it wasn’t necessary, but she shut me down.”

I laughed and sat at the foot of the bed. “Sounds about right.”

“Did you have a productive meeting?”

“Productive enough. Maybe we can talk about it over lunch. What did Paulo say?”

“Said it was okay for me to leave the room, but I had to move to somewhere that let me elevate.”

I pursed my lips. “I have a conservatory.”

“Oookay.”

“It’s where I go to be alone and relax.”

His brows shot to his hairline. “Are you canceling lunch with me? Is that your way of telling me?”

“What?” I rolled my eyes. “No, I’m saying it’s a calming room. I have a couch in there so you can elevate, and you’ll be around flowers and some good food.”

“Oh…” I really loved when he blushed. “That sounds real nice, Saros. I’d like that.”

“Great. So do I carry you?” I stood, and Em gasped.

“Carry me, why?”

“Paulo said you had to elevate.”

“He also said it was okay if I moved from one place to another on my own.”

“I see.” Disappointment burrowed in my chest. “Well, I’ll help you at least.”

Em gingerly got up, putting weight on his uninjured leg. “An arm would be nice.”

I held it out to him, and he looped his through. “I’m ready.”

He smelled like vanilla and mint. Martha must have bought him some toiletries. It was easily going to be my most favorite smell in the world. And wasn’t that a dangerous thing?