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Javi sighs and strokes a hand through his hair. “I hate this too, okay? I tried to talk my parents out of it but my mother was insistent and my father always takes her side. They wanted to come themselves, but I thought this would be easier for everyone.”

“He’s not going with you, what don’t you get? Tell Mom and Dad they can bring their son home and get him killed, or they can leave him with us and let him be safe.”

“I tried that,” Javi says, sounding desperate. “Come on, Mari. You think I want Ruben to hurt Cruz?”

“I think you’re a spineless⁠—”

“Marisol, please.” I tighten my grip on her arm. “You aren’t helping.”

“I’m not trying to fucking help. I’m trying to protect my brother from this jellyfish coward piece of shit.”

Javi shakes his head. To his credit, he doesn’t look angry. A lesser man would rise to Mari’s insults and fight back.

Instead, he only seems sad.

“You really did try to talk them out of it, didn’t you?” I ask, doing my best to keep my tone level and neutral.

“They think you’re corrupting him or something stupid. I don’t know, it’s a bad idea my mom got in her head and she’s too obsessed to let it go now.”

“This is Don Nardo,” Mari cuts in sharply. “Him and Ruben.”

“I don’t know,” Javi says. “But please, Mari, don’t make it harder than it needs to be.”

“You realize the position you’re putting us in,” I say as I work to keep Mari from jumping him and strangling him to death. “I can’t let Cruz leave, not if my wife doesn’t want me to. But they are his parents.”

“If it were up to me, he’d stay.” Javi opens his mouth to say more, but stops, looking over my shoulder.

I turn as Cruz comes down the steps. He looks young with his mop of dark hair and his baggy sweats. Marisol wrenches from me and goes to him. “Hey, you should get back upstairs, we can deal with this.”

“No, Mari, it’s okay.” Cruz waves her off. “I don’t want to be a problem.”

“You’re absolutely not a problem.” She glares at Javi. “He’s the issue here.”

Javi looks like he wants to argue, but he keeps his mouth shut.

Cruz shuffles past his sister and looks at me. “I’m sorry I’ve been a burden, Bass, and thanks for letting me crash here for a while, but I gotta go home.”

I tense as Mari shouts at him, tugging him back, but Cruz holds my gaze. I know what the boy’s thinking, and it breaks my heart. It’s the same thought Ray had, the same thought I have all the time: protect the people he cares about.

And staying here won’t help me and Mari. If anything, it’ll only be another liability.

“You’re welcome here,” I say and I mean it. “I swear it, I’ll make sure nobody can force you to do something you don’t want to do.”

“I know. Thanks.” He pulls Mari into a hug. That partially stops her from berating him. “And thanks to you, sis, but I gotta head back.”

She’s crying when he walks across the room and nods at Javi who nods back sadly. Cruz steps outside onto the porch, and Mari jerks forward to stop him, but I hold onto her arm again.

This time, she doesn’t try to escape.

“Fuck you,” she whispers, glaring death at Javi. “This is your fault.”

“I’ll keep Ruben away from him. I swear, Mari. I really will.” Javi looks deeply ashamed as he turns away. “Thanks for watching out for him, Bastiano.”

Javi leaves with Cruz, the pair of them heading for a truck parked with the other staff vehicles.

“Why?” The word rips from Mari’s throat. She stares at me, bereft, tears running down her face. “Why, Bass?”

I dismiss my guards with a wave. They file from the room quickly as I take my wife’s hands in mine. “He made his choice.”