Page 91

Magnus sighed, but didn't contradict his mate.

"Rosalind, compared to the shit Nell and I pulled when we first got here, you're basically keeping with family tradition."

Addie continued, "Between the three of us, we can dismantle your chaos plot by tomorrow afternoon."

"Three?" I asked.

"You, me and Nell."

Nell made a thoughtful sound. "Probably before breakfast."

"I want in," said Astrid.

"I can help," said Ivar.

"You have an AP Calculus test next week," said Fenrir.

"You guys never let me do crime," the youngest Blackwood pouted.

As they argued about the value of education inside this crime family, my head swam. No one was turning on me. They were amused. Well, the women were. Well, all the women except Mei Ling.

"Wait."

Every thought in my head stopped. Mei Ling had finally spoken.

"The chaos can be reversed," Mei Ling said. "But Sorsha is different."

"I can handle my mother," I offered.

"I know you believe that."

They'll never trust you. My mother's voice whispered through my head.

Gunnar's hand moved against my back. I straightened away from the comfort of it. "I understand that you don't trust me⁠—"

"I believe everything you've told us," Mei Ling said. "I believe you regret what happened today. I believe you want to repair the damage you've caused. I believe that if I gave you a list of every vulnerability you created, you would work until your fingers bled dismantling every one. Because you love my son. But Sorsha is your mother."

"I don't love my mother."

"I have four blood sons and a daughter," she said. "Any one of them could betray me tomorrow. They could lie to me. Hurt me. Break my heart. I could be furious with them. I could refuse to speak to them. I could know with absolute certainty that they needed to be stopped. And I would still love them. That is what you don't understand yet, Rosalind. Family isn't logical. Love isn't a ledger where betrayal goes in one column and affection in another, and eventually one side outweighs the other. You've spent your entire life being alone. You've convinced yourself that because you can survive something by yourself, you should. You don't ask for help. You don't share the burden. You don't even tell anyone what you're carrying until it becomes too heavy to hide. You spent years trying to dismantle half the criminal infrastructure of the eastern seaboard by yourself."

"Successfully," I muttered.

Mei Ling sighed. "That is not the point. The point is you don't have to destroy your mother to earn our trust. My son trusts you, so I trust you. Only you can break that trust."

Cold spread upward, tightening my throat until swallowing hurt. I sucked in a breath, but it didn’t help. No woman had ever offered me trust.

Well, Astrid, Nell and Addie had. They were my friends. Something I was still getting used to.

But motherly affection? I wasn't sure about this. I didn’t know how to care for a mother. I’d never been taught. But maybe I could learn.

"The Ironwoods are handled," said Mei Ling. The Vanes and Lupettos can manage themselves. The Volki have enough on their plate. I'll deal with Sorsha."

"That's not⁠—"

"My house. My rules. You want to be part of this family? You'll do as you're told."

"Yes, ma'am."