Fury. It’s an emotion I know well. Usually, I’m able to channel it into doing something useful, but right now it’s calling the shots.

Red. It’s the only thing I see as I sit across from Rosa in the kitchen while she tells me that the husband she left is responsible for the state she’s in.

White. My knuckles are pale and bloodless from how hard I’m clenching my fists under the table.

Her hand shakes as she holds a glass of water, sloshing some of its contents onto the table.

Each word from her lips seals this fucker’s fate. I’m going to make him pay. There’s no doubt in my mind.

I want to hear him scream. I want him to beg for mercy.

I want his last shuddering breath to be done in agony.

I want to watch the life drain from his face. And for him to know that the hell he’s going to rot in for eternity will be a paradise compared to the torture I inflict.

“I was trying to protect Ethan.”

I snap back to the kitchen. “Ethan?”

“I… He’s my son.” She takes a deep breath. My hand curls around her trembling fingers, trying to give them a soft reassuring squeeze. The action is stiff and probably useless, but I need her to know that she can lean on me. That I want her to lean on me. Where the fuck that’s coming from, I don’t know, but that doesn’t make it any less true.

“That’s why you were quitting?”

Her head bobs, and the urge to caress her face grips me. I shove it down. The last thing she needs is for me to press into her wounds.

“He’s staying with a friend. I was on my way to see him.” I can hear her voice crack, and my heart clenches in my chest. The pain in her voice is like a knife to me. Slicing at me bit by bit. “I need to know he’s okay.”

“I’ll make sure of it. Right now, you need to rest.”

“I can’t! I need to get Ethan to safety.”

“I’ll make sure he’s safe. I swear on my life nothing will happen to him while there’s a breath left in my body. I need to talk to my brothers.”

Her hand clutches onto my forearm, and my body tightens. It’s the first time someone other than my family has clutched onto me like this. The first time in a long time that someone’s touched me without expecting me to come swinging. And I don’t understand the feelings that are surging through me.

Her desperation is rolling off her in waves as her hand trembles against my skin. “No one else can know! Please—”

“You’re safe here. I promise. But I have to tell them.”

I watch her gnaw her already raw lip, and my mind begins to formulate the perfect plan to get the fucker who did this to her. How fucking dare he lay a goddamn hand on her.

“What will Marco do?” she whispers.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“I don’t know,” I tell her honestly. “But you’re safe with me—and I’ll make sure that your son is too.”

Without letting go of Rosa, I use my free hand to get my cell out. I hit speed dial to each of my brothers in turn. Marco detests being woken up, but I don’t care—he can chew me out later.

“I need you. Now. Kitchen.” That’s all I say when Marco answers.

Then I do the same with Alessio. “Kitchen. It’s urgent.” Then I hang up.

We only have to wait a matter of moments before we hear footsteps thundering down the staircase.

My brothers burst into the kitchen.

Both are bare-chested, their muscles gleaming under the electric lights.

Marco has a knife in each hand, his teeth bared. Alessio is brandishing his revolver. Both are ready for battle.

As Marco’s eyes fall on Rosa, they widen with shock—and something else.

Anger.

“What the hell happened?” he snarls as he stands there in just his boxers, his muscles tensed, and his razor-sharp knives still fisted in his hands.

Rosa is plastered to my side, cowering from the fierceness in his words.

My jaw ticks, and I grip her hand a little tighter. She’s not mine, but I’m damn well not going to let anything happen to her.

“Rosa has a son. He’s in danger.” I explain in as few words as I can what Rosa’s just told me.

“What the fuck!” Marco roars, making Rosa jump out of her skin.

“You’re angry,” she chokes.

She’s right. He’s fucking furious.

I know Marco too well. It’s not how she thinks. “It’s not that you lied about having a son,” I say gently. “It’s because you’ve been separated from him.”

I can see the pain in Marco’s eyes. He’s a dad now, and the anguish of being separated from his kids is something he’s going through at this very second with the women and kids forced to stay in Italy.

Alessio is standing with his arms folded across his chest and his gray sweatpants slung low on his hips. “Tell us everything,” he says. “Start at the beginning.”

With a reassuring squeeze to her hand, I urge Rosa to tell them.

This time I can’t hide the rage that bubbles through me when she talks about what happened. About the night he cracked her rib and her fleeing with her son. About tonight in that fucking alley.

A rough hand drags down Marco’s face, and he curses under his breath.

It’s a fucking mess, but I refuse to let her face this alone.

“We’re bringing him here,” I growl in a fierce voice that brooks no argument. “Rosa’s son. He’s coming here. Tonight.” I catch Marco’s eye. And he gives me a small nod. I can see the determination behind his gaze—he’s just as angry as I am.

“He’s okay where he is, but I just need to check on him. I can’t impose on you.” Rosa’s voice is tiny. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to be a problem.”

“I’m not going to repeat myself, Rosa,” I say in a low voice.

“But—”

“We’ll keep you both safe until this shit is sorted,” I grit out.

Her sob echoes around the room. And I swallow hard. I want to pull her into me and rock her. Comfort her in some way that’s new and terrifying all at once.

But I don’t know how.

Between hiccups and gasps, she thanks us all, over and over.

We should be treading extremely carefully due to the business relationship we have with Rosa’s father. But I can’t do that, not now that I’ve learned about all this. “About the business side—” I start.

“Fuck that,” Marco snarls. “Just get her boy to safety. That’s all that matters—that her and the boy are here with us and safe.” Conor Davis has derived his wealth from a variety of business assets which include a pharmaceutical company. And through his plant, we’ve been able to produce more drugs in the States after problems getting product from Colombia due to more government crackdowns. And with Grayden Devlin being his son-in-law, things have the potential to get very messy.

I give him a nod of gratitude. Marco can sense this is important to me—and I can always count on the support of my brothers when I need them.

“Let’s go and get the boy,” Marco says, already barking orders down his cell phone for soldiers to meet us at the main gate.

“Ethan,” I tell my brother. “His name’s Ethan.”

“Ethan,” Marco echoes. He gives a brief nod, and then, he’s gone.

I can see the uncertainty in Rosa’s face. It’s understandable after everything’s she’s been through. She doesn’t know who she can trust.

“Nothing will happen to your son. My brothers and I will make sure of it. Give us ten minutes to organize everything, and then we’ll be ready to leave. We’ll need you with us—Ethan doesn’t know us, and I don’t want him to be scared. Are you up for another journey tonight?”

“Yes,” she whispers, her eyes shining. And I can see that the conviction behind my words is enough to give her some reassurance.

While Rosa cleans herself up and gets ready to leave with us, I stride into the office to talk to Marco.

“I want his fucking head,” I snarl.

“If I say no, you gonna do it anyway?”

“I. Want. His. Fucking. Head.” I repeat the words, leaning forward so my fists are braced on the desk. “With or without your permission.”

“Thought so. And her?”

“What about her?”

Marco shakes his head. “I’m not telling you not to do it. Just be careful, and for God’s sake, think it through before you do it.”

I drag a hand through my hair, disheveling the thick strands. I hate how I feel around Rosa. Weak and out of control.

And yet, it’s the most liberating feeling I’ve had in a long time.

I really don’t know if I should be taking relationship advice from Marco. After all, he got Juliana to marry him by kidnapping her after a bloody wedding. He’s always been impulsive and a maniac; however, even that was pretty unhinged for him. But striding to the door, I linger at the threshold, letting out a deep sigh. “Thanks, man.”

As he nods in reply, my thoughts are already turning to how I’m going to make Grayden Devlin pay for ever laying a finger on Rosa.

A grin stretches across my face at the thought—because I want him ruined in every sense of the word. I’m going to make a plan as soon as the opportunity arises. And he’s going to learn just what it means to fuck around with what’s mine…