Grace sat in her room, staring at her phone as she waited for Pez to get back to her.

There has to be information on him somewhere.

Ring, ring.

"Hello," Grace answered right away. "Pez, please tell me you found something."

"Well..." Pez sighed. "Apparently, his name isn't really Roger Gibson, since they didn't exist until about a year before he joined the force."

"How is that even possible? Don't they always do thorough checks?"

"Generally, yes, and if you plainly look at the system, everything checks out. I had to dig deep to find out the name wasn't real."

"Did you find out what his real name is? What's his connection to the Kuros? He said they're family, so at least it's a place to start."

Pez stared at the picture in front of him. "His real name is Silvio Kuros; he's Zain's cousin."

"Ha... Silvio?" Grace sighed and rubbed her eyes.

"If you talk to him, you might want to make sure you still call him Roger."

"Yeah, I know. I hope I don't slipup, though."

"Grace... I know you two are... were close. Are you okay?"

"I think I'm still a bit shocked. What am I supposed to do about him?"

"I'm not sure, but you have to be careful."

"I know. It's so weird; I have to be careful with Roger, when he's the one who's always had my back for years. It's all been fake."

"Not necessarily." Pez pulled out another lollipop after crunching through the previous one. "He may want revenge on the Bertolottiss, but he didn't know you were one at first, right?"

"Supposedly."

"Which means he was probably doing his job in earnest, and you really are an important partner to him."

"Even if that's true, that all changed when he found out who I was."

"It's not so easy to forget everything the two of you have been through. I wish I could tell you to talk to him, but he sounds dangerous now."

"Agreed. Problem is, he'll probably expect me to visit soon. I was visiting him daily until yesterday."

"I doubt Zain will want you to."

"But unless he tells the others, they'll expect me to visit him as well."

"He sees your grandpa as family, and his boss; he will have to tell him, eventually."

"Is it crazy that I don't want to put Roger in danger?"

"Of course not, but he's basically your enemy now."

"I know." Grace pressed on the corners of her eyes, trying to hold back the tears.

Knock, knock.

"I've got to go, Pez."

"Okay, I'll call you back if I find out anything useful. Stay strong, Grace."

"Thanks."

They both hung up.

Grace took a deep breath and then opened her door. Her eyes widened a bit. "Grandpa?" Behind him, she could see Zain. "What's up?"

He stepped forward without a word, and she let both of them in. Zain closed the door behind him.

"Why do I feel like you have something bad to say?"

Ray looked around her room and then closed the curtain. He turned on the clock radio, cranked it up, and beckoned the both of them over.

"I knew it was always possible, but I never thought I'd have a rat in my house," Ray said, shaking his head.

"You told him?" Grace looked at Zain.

"Of course, I did. I had to. We need to deal with this, and that shouldn't be done without the boss," Zain said.

Ray gripped her shoulder lightly. "I know it might be hard to come to me still, but I wish you'd trust me, and come to me. You might think I wouldn't want to believe it, or that I'd take drastic measures, but most of the time I have a level head. I will admit to that not being true in the past, but I do now. Even if it ends up being wrong, I wouldn't blame you, Gracey."

"Wait, are you saying you think I'm wrong?" Grace frowned and sat on the edge of her bed, away from them.

"That's not what I'm saying. I'm trying to tell you that you don't have to be afraid to tell me something, anything really. We can talk things out and decide together how to continue."

Grace went silent, processing what he said. "Wait, does that mean you want to include me in family things?"

"Of course; you are my heiress after all."

"I thought I was just the link to the next head of the family for you. A way to carry on the Bertolottis bloodline."

"What? No! Why would you think that?"

"You brought me here and then tried to marry me off to the next leader; it's not like you offered me your position."

Ray was taken aback. "Considering your job, I didn't think you'd want to take over my position, not even a little bit. You were a cop—"

"But don't we have people in there, too?"

"Yes, but they were a part of the mafia first, not recruited after. And..."

"I'm a woman?"

"Well... There are women mafia bosses, but I didn't want this burden to fall on you. I wanted you to have someone strong beside you as a leader instead. You didn't grow up in this life, Gracey, so I can't expect you to come here and take over like it's easy. Like it doesn't go against your principles."

"I'm with the boss on this one; I didn't think you'd want to lead either," Zain chimed in, hoping she'd understand where Ray was coming from.

"Gracey, if you grew up with us, then you probably would've been the next boss, but you didn't, and there's no turning back time. I would've loved to have had you here, but it wasn't safe, and your other grandparents stood in to take care of you right away. As it stands, you haven't been here long enough, and don't know enough of our family to take over. While blood is a major part, it's about more than that. It's also about more than being strong physically and mentally, which you've shown to be both. To be the boss here means you have to make the tough choices, and since I've come to know your heart a bit, I know you're a bit soft to do what's needed for the family. I'm sorry, Gracey, but I don't think you should be the next leader."

Can't say I disagree, but at the same time, I'd want to prove I can do it all.

"Whatever," Grace sighed. "Since you were already told, what are we going to do about Herald and Roger?"

"Typically, I'd get rid of any rats—"

"Which would mean Herald has to go, but what about Roger? He's a bit of an unusual guest."

"Without Herald, he should have no way to communicate with the outside world, or free himself, so it's safe to keep him as a prisoner for now."

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Should I go talk to him like normal? He's probably wondering what's going on with me."

"I don't like the idea of you being in there with him anymore."

"I'm not sure I can act normal, but shouldn't we get more information out of him or something?"

"He hasn't told you about being a part of a mafia family yet, so I don't think he's going to tell you anything."

He's right. Roger was hiding something so big from me. What would he tell me now? Lies? Who knows?

Ray sighed. "I'm sorry to put you through all this, Gracey. We should've dug more into Roger's past to find out who he was. We thought he was just your partner."

"So did I, so I can't really fault you for it."

Zain looked at the clock on the wall. "They should be grabbing Herald at the door right now."

"You've already set it in motion?"

"Yes; we had to. If Herald found out we knew and told Roger, who knows what he'd do? We'll bring Herald to a different location, so there should be no way for Roger to know what's going on with him."

They heard a bunch of shouts from outside the room and outside the house. Ray pushed the curtain aside to see a few of his men running around, searching for something.

"What in the world is going on?" Ray grumbled.

Knock, knock.

"It's me," Mary said.

"Come in."

Mary closed the door behind her and came up close. "We have a problem."

"What is it? Why is there such a ruckus? Is it because of Herald?"

"No; he was taken elsewhere for questioning." Mary wrung her hands as she hesitated and glanced at Grace.

"What is it?" Ray asked.

"Roger is missing."

"Excuse me? How? He was in a securely locked room."

"I heard that when the new guard was put into the rotation, Roger got loose, knocked him out, and fled. No one's been able to catch him yet. We don't even know if he's in the house or outside."

Ray, Zain, and Grace exchanged a worried look.

"Does this mean he knows we know?" Grace asked.

"No guarantee, but most likely," Ray answered.

"But how? I only told Zain and Pez, and Zain told you."

"Pez?"

Crap... I'm sorry, Pez. "Uh... A friend I can trust."

"I remember that name. They're another cop, right?"

"Kinda, they're more forensics and computer stuff."

Ray nodded and crossed his arms as he thought, his expression stern. "When you overheard them, did they notice you?"

Grace thought back to that night and shivered. "Uh... I made a noise, and I ran away before anyone could see me."

"That must've been enough for him to assume someone overheard. And then, when someone showed up for duty instead of Herald, he must've assumed he'd been had. That's the only logical explanation here. Now, where would he go?"

"I wish I knew, but I don't."

"Back to the family," Zain said. "Where else can he go? That'd be the only safe place for him. Where are the Kuros these days?"

"I don't know." Ray sighed. "As far as I knew, their mafia family had disbanded, and those who wanted to continue were too few and were struggling to keep any ground. They went quiet years ago, and I didn't pay them any mind, so I don't know."

Zain frowned as he thought back. "They contacted me years ago, wanting me to rejoin, but I told them no."

Ray's eyes widened. "You never told me that."

"I didn't even want to think about them, so I put it to the back of my mind right after it happened. I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for, Zain; you did nothing wrong. After everything that went down, I didn't expect them to contact you."

"They gave me away willingly, so I didn't care that they came crawling back to get me to join them. They probably only want me because I'm close to you, anyway. It has nothing to do with regret or wanting me back. Do we know who is working with Roger?"

"Um, shouldn't we go searching for Roger, too?" Grace asked. "He could still be in the house. Or if we have security cameras, maybe we can see when he got out or where he was headed."

"My people will already be on that. You'd be surprised how well we work together... most of the time." Ray sighed. "But if we knew who he was working with, we can figure out where he might go. We'll have to send someone to his house to make sure he didn't go home."

"I can go; I know where he lives."

"No," both Ray and Zain said at the same time.

"I'll send someone else." Ray pulled out his phone and stepped away to make a call.

"If we need to find more of the Kuros family, then we should ask other mafia families, right? I mean, who else would know?" Grace paced around her bedroom as she thought. Pez might be able to find them, too. "I know a few informants who might know something. I should talk to them." She turned to leave and Zain grabbed her wrist, pulling her back. "What?"

"Where in the world do you think you're going?" Zain asked as he trapped her in his good arm.

"To talk to my informants, or rather the people who were my informants when I was a cop. I have a good rapport with them, so they'll still help me."

"No, you're not."

"Why not? I'm not a prisoner here anymore, right?"

"That may be so, but you're not leaving while Roger is loose."

"Excuse me? You can't seriously be trying to keep me confined to the house again."

"Zain is right. You need to stay here," Ray said as soon as he hung up his phone.

"But why? I'm not trying to run away anymore."

"We know that, Gracey. We're not worried about you running away; we're worried about Roger coming after you."

"I can handle Roger."

Zain raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that?"

"Of course."

"Roger's out to get you to use you against Ray. We can't risk you falling into his hands."

"I may not know his past, but I know his patterns. The way he thinks. I'm the best person to look for him."

"But can you kill him?" Ray asked.

"What?"

"Roger has proven himself to be a great enemy, and enemies must be dealt with. You have an attachment to him, so I'm not sure you can do what needs to be done."

Can I kill Roger? Her stomach sank at just the thought of it. He was her friend at one point. They spent so many long nights working together to catch the bag guys. "Honestly, I don't want to kill anyone."

"I know that, Gracey, but you can't be soft in this line of work."

"It's not like I haven't shot at people before, which means being ready to kill—"

"Shooting with the intention to stop them isn't the same as shooting with the intention to kill," Zain said. He brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "Remember what happened to you last time?"

"Which means I'm more ready this time. I'm a cop; I want to help."

"And that's exactly why we don't want to involve you in this. It's why he doesn't want you as the next boss. Being related to him puts you in danger, but at least here we can try to protect you. Roger is probably after you right now—"

"But since we found out about him, doesn't that mean his plans were foiled?"

"His plans may have changed, but that doesn't mean he isn't after you. You're the most precious person to the boss, and if anything happened to you..." Zain frowned and his cheek twitched. He didn't know what Ray would be capable of.

"I'd probably lose it like when I lost my other family members. I ruined the Kuros family, and I understand he wants revenge, but if anything happens to you, I'll make sure there's no family for Roger to go back to," Ray growled and picked up the glass of water she had on her nightstand, for a sip. "It's the Kuros starting things up again, but I will finish it."

Crackle. Smash. The glass shattered in his hand.

Grace shuddered in Zain's arm, and it didn't go unnoticed. "Boss, are you okay? I think you cut your hand."

Mary sighed and rushed to grab a first aid kit and cleaning supplies. "You need to stop doing things to hurt yourself," she grumbled as she came back into the room. She quickly cleaned up the glass and then pulled out a magnifying glass to check Ray's wound to make sure there weren't any shards left behind.

"Does this happen often?" Grace whispered to Zain.

"It used to. He's been calmer since you got here, but it's bound to flare up when something bad or stressful is going on."

He's been calmer since I got here? Grace frowned as she thought about it. Her eyes trailed over to Ray, who was staring at his hand as Mary fixed it, lost in thought.

"Please, Grace," Zain whispered. "Please stay here, where we can try to keep you safe." He wiggled her around a bit as he asked.

"Ugh... Fine."

"Good," he sighed.

"But..."

"Oh, no..."

"I want a laptop or something other than my phone I can use for research."

"Grace..."

She stared into his eyes, determined. "It's that or I'll go back to trying to run away. If no one can find me, then I'll be safe, right?"

"I somehow doubt you'd go into hiding." He gazed back at her until the side of his mouth quirked up into a smirk. "Always a negotiation with you, isn't it?"

"Better than constantly getting steamrolled."

"You're right." He nodded and kissed her forehead.

"H-hey... What are you doing?"

Zain chuckled. "A kiss on the forehead for good luck and safety."

"Why don't you admit that one was because you're swooning?" Mary laughed. "I've seen you with women before, but you are genuinely sweet on our princess here. And why not give her a laptop? It's better than her sneaking out, and it's not like you can't afford it."

"She right," Ray sighed and pulled his hand away. "Thank you, Mary."

"Of course. Try to be more careful." She started to clean up.

"Look, if it was about the money, I have my laptop at my house..." Grace said. Which has been long abandoned now. Glad I didn't have a pet.

"Uh, didn't we mention to you we brought all your stuff here?" Zain asked.

"Well... I don't remember. I know my clothes are here, but I wasn't sure about everything else."

"It's in another room."

"And no one told me? Why didn't you bring anything other than my clothes here?"

"We inspected the clothes quickly, but everything else is staying safe."

"Inspected?"

"We had to make sure no one bugged your things."

"Doesn't that mean my laptop is here?"

"Technically, yes, but if I remember correctly, it was super old, and you seriously need an upgrade. Besides, we like to have special ones with extra defences."

Grace narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure it didn't just get damaged when the lot of you looted my house?"

"On that note, you don't really have a house anymore."

"You got rid of it?"

"Yes, because this is your home now, and hopefully forever."

"I'll get you an appropriate laptop tomorrow," Ray said and pulled out a credit card. "I had this for a while, and should've given it to you before."

Zain finally released Grace when Ray approached her. Weird how much I've grown used to Zain's touch.

"Grace?" He held the card out to her.

"Hmm?"

"This is yours to use."

"Aren't I confined to this house, though? And I have money—"

"Gracey..." His face contorted. "You're my heiress, and no offence, but I've seen your finances, and you were outrageously underpaid. Please, take it. You can use it to shop online, too."

"But—"

"It's already set up to be yours, eventually. Whether that's tomorrow or decades from now, it will all be yours."

He'd be hurt if she refused, so she took the card. "Thank you. What's the limit?"

"Limit? You don't have to worry about that."

Zain chuckled. "I think you've forgotten who your grandpa is. Money is no issue."

"I know that; you've told me so before, but you trust me enough with it?"

"I wouldn't have given it to you otherwise." Ray held onto her hands and gave her a small smile. "I want this place to be a true home to you, meaning you should be able to decorate how you want, and add your touches where ever you deem fit. Anyway, I should go." They both knew he had to hunt Roger down and have a chat with Herald. "Please, stay in here." He patted her head and leaned towards Zain. "Please, keep her safe," Ray whispered and left with Mary.