When we got to Noah’s place, I called Carter. I wanted him to come home. I wanted to feel him hold me, and I wanted to share everything I had figured out that night, too.

He didn’t answer my call. And after I texted him, he didn’t reply. There was no response an hour later, so I went to bed without him. I didn’t sleep well. I was waiting for him. I wanted to wake up and talk to him, but he didn’t come home that night.

Late that night, Cole’s initiation was final. He was now the head of the Mauricio family. My job was done. I had trained with him twice a day, every day, over these last few weeks. I didn’t know if he was ready, but it was done. Glancing down at my phone, I saw that Emma had called and texted, but I didn’t call her back. I couldn’t, not yet.

“Sir.”

I looked up. The door was open, and I got out of the car, heading toward the private plane waiting for me. Once inside, I sat down, and as I clipped my seatbelt into place, I glanced at the man beside me.

“This was your idea, but you didn’t need to come with me,” I told him. “I assure you that I’ll be back as soon as everything is set.” Gene had been the one to advise me to return home, make it safe and ready for the coming war.

Gene didn’t smile. He only nodded and ran a hand over the scar on his face. He did that when he was uneasy. He didn’t know he did it, and I wasn’t going to give away one of the only tells I had on him.

“I’m the one talking you into leaving your woman’s side,” he said with a grunt. “It’s common courtesy. I’ll go back with you, help as much as I can. Besides, if shit goes down, I want to be at your side.”

Gene had been a mentor and in an odd way, he was like my own bodyguard. I knew he hadn’t approved when Emma first came back into my life. I hadn’t cared then, and I didn’t now. I would do as I pleased. She was most important, and Gene knew this was how I felt. That’s why he’d been around so much before we concluded the deal with the Bartel family.

I was glad to have him back at my side. He felt like home. Grinning, I shook my head. Gene was not like home. He was large, cold, mean, and distant. Emma was home, but still, I looked over at him. He cared. That’s why he was here, and why I allowed him to be here.

“You mean if shit’s going to go down, you want to be around the person who will probably keep you alive?” I murmured.

“Don’t be a fucker.” He faced forward, his jaw clenching.

I chuckled, turning in my seat as well, as the engines were starting up.

Then he added, “Maybe.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep you safe.”

“Shut it.”

I wanted to laugh, but I didn’t. Gene was with me because he was concerned for me. Neither of us were dumb. If the Bartel family war was going to commence, I would make a good example. I’d brokered the truce, and I could end it. If they killed me, the war was officially on.

My gut had been telling me the Bartels knew about Cole. They knew he was being prepped to take over, and they’d just been waiting. If the war was going to happen, it would be soon. Either that, or we’d wait for what Cole decided the family would do, whether he would launch his own attack.

“They killed his two friends, but he killed four of theirs.” Gene looked back to me.

He’d been having the same thoughts. I nodded. “One of them was Stephen Bartel.”

“The last battle was because of Dunvan, but this is closer to the core of each family.”

“A Bartel and a Mauricio,” I said. Ours had walked away. “We have to wait and see now.”

“I don’t like it. I don’t like any of it.”

Neither did I. “We follow Cole now.”

He grunted again and shot back, “I follow Cole now. You’re out, remember?”

I nodded. “You know what I mean.”

“You scare me, Carter.”

Those words threw me. I wasn’t prepared for them, and I didn’t respond. I waited. I wasn’t surprised at what he said, just at the timing of this statement. I had been teasing him moments earlier.

“A year ago you had your hand at my throat because I disagreed with you,” he added.

That was about Emma. I narrowed my eyes. “That was different. It wasn’t family business.”

“Everything you do is about family business.” His eyes were hard. “Whether you realize that or not. You’re not out, Carter. You’re not even trying to talk like it anymore. Just now you said, ‘We follow Cole.’ You’re still in. You were never out.”

My jaw clenched. “Get to the point.”

“You’re a man in between. You’re in one world, but you’re trying to live in another. Living like that will make you sloppy, and that makes you dangerous to anyone around you. If you’re out, you’re out. If you’re not, you’re not. Choose.” He gestured to me, his hand moving in a sharp, savage motion. “You would’ve killed me last year because of her, but you’re the one who’s going to get her killed. Make a definite choice. If we’re going to war, you need to start preparing for it.”

“I am,” I growled.

“You’re not. I made a few calls. Your woman was drinking wine at one of your restaurants.”

My blood ran cold. I saw where he was going.

“She was laughing with her friend. If they weren’t drunk, they were tipsy. They drank three of our bottles. And now, where are we going?”

My eyes narrowed. “Stop, Gene.”

He didn’t. “I know about this sister of hers that’s appeared. I can make phone calls, too, and I know that’s where you’re going right now. You’re going to check out this person yourself. You want to make sure she’s the real deal before letting your woman anywhere near her. You’re running an errand for your lady when you should be stopping all of it.”

He was right. My blood turned from cold to boiling. He was right, and I hated that he was the one to call me on it. I should’ve made these decisions long ago, when I first heard about Cole’s attack. I hadn’t. I’d wanted Emma to keep living in freedom, as much as she could, but he was right.

“Send her away. She’ll be safe. Stop this fool’s errand right now. You want her to be safe, but she’s not because you’ve grown lazy.”