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“Sounds tricky,” Pearl said. “I’m not sure how I feel about it.”
“And I don’t want to drag you into it,” Crow said. “You have nothing to do with this. You shouldn’t risk getting involved.”
I didn’t want to dance with the Skull Kings either, but I wanted to eradicate this threat. This situation affected Vanessa, and in order to keep her safe, I needed to fix the problem Conway caused. “This situation directly affects Vanessa. I have to make sure it’s addressed properly. Since you took out the entire team that was supposed to execute Conway, they already recognize you as a serious threat. If you walk in there with me, they’ll know you have more allies than they realize. They respect me immensely. Having me by your side is only going to help you fix this mess.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Cane asked. “You aren’t obligated.”
“Yes.” I wanted to make sure this was done right. I didn’t want anything to ever take Vanessa away from me again. “So I’ll go in first. Once I get their agreement, I’ll bring in the next person. Not everyone can step inside that meeting. It’ll be considered aggressive if we bring the entire clan.” If all the Barsettis marched in there, it would be too claustrophobic. And there certainly couldn’t be any women.
“I’ll go,” Crow volunteered instantly, stepping up as the patriarch of the family. “I’ll wait outside, and you call me in. I’ll handle the Skull Kings, hand over the money, and hope for the best.”
“I will too,” Cane said. “The three of us.”
“No.” Crow turned his forceful stare on his brother. “You can’t come, and you know exactly why.”
A silent conversation passed between them, and Cane didn’t press his argument.
“Then I will come,” Conway said. “I’m the one—”
“No.” Crow didn’t look at his son, as if the idea of bringing him along disturbed him. “Out of the question. You have a pregnant wife who needs you.”
“Father,” Conway pressed. “This is my mess and—”
“You aren’t coming.” Crow finally looked at him. “That’s final, Conway.” He silenced his son with his authority, his darkened eyes adding to his volatile persona.
Conway clenched his jaw tightly, clearly pissed off that he wasn’t getting his way.
“Your father is right, Con.” Pearl moved her hand to Crow’s thigh under the table. “You need to stay here with Sapphire.”
“That’s bullshit.” Conway couldn’t keep his anger back even though his father had just silenced him. “I’m the one who fucked everything up. I’m the one who should pay the price. It shouldn’t be Father—”
“That’s how it’s going to be.” Crow turned furious again, his rage filling the entire room. “I told you how important it was to live a quiet and peaceful life, to earn an honest living and not to provoke the demons that surround us. But you didn’t listen to me. Now we’re in this mess, and I will not let anything happen to you. You’re my son, and I would rather die than bury you in the cemetery next to my mother and father. You will be a father tomorrow or the next day or the next day…and that’s when you will understand this.” He grabbed his glass and took a long drink, like he needed the booze to calm his shaking hand. “That will be your punishment. To watch your father risk his life for you—again.”
Pearl’s eyes moved to her husband’s face. “Crow…”
I watched this man come apart right before my eyes, saw the love and anger dance across the surface of his eyes. He was selfless, loving his family so much that he put himself through hell to keep them together. His kids were the most important thing to him, so important that he would continually stand in the middle of gunfire and sacrifice himself—over and over.
As much as I hated to admit it, I respected him.
And I understood why he worked so hard to keep me from his daughter.
Conway lowered his gaze, hurt by his father’s words.
I let the silence soak into my flesh, felt the tension seep into my bones. The Barsettis weren’t that complicated to understand. The two brothers constantly worked together to protect the families they’d made. Crow wouldn’t allow Cane to help him with this, knowing he needed one brother to survive to protect the rest of the family.
Now I wanted to do this alone. I wanted to protect the Barsetti family—and not just because I loved Vanessa. “Nothing will happen to you, Crow. I promise you that.”
Crow turned his gaze back to me. “That’s a promise you can’t make, Griffin.”
“Actually, I can.”
I’d just walked out the door and headed to my truck when Pearl called my name. “Griffin.”
I turned around, my shoes digging into the gravel beneath my feet.
She caught up to me, her long dress nearly touching the ground beneath her feet. Her hair was pulled back into a loose bun, revealing the sharp angles of her face as well as her pretty eyes. She wore a wedding ring on her left hand, a simple button molded into the metal.
