I stared at him, wondering what was happening in his head. Why me? We didn’t fit. Was this really my home now? My bed upstairs? My clothes? My husband? Would I have our kids and know anything about being a mom?

God, the future looked so different now. These were things I thought would never be my life.

Instead of the direct line in front of me—a tunnel—my future seemed more like turning in a circle to find a road and instead finding only meadows and hills and mountains. So much to explore. No set path. I could walk and never step in the same spot twice.

But, for some reason, that didn’t really scare me. I wanted to dream again.

“Please, don’t hurt him,” I told him.

“I’ll try not to.”

He set me down and kissed my forehead before turning away.

But I pulled him back, whispering, “I love you, too.”

A smile flashed across his lips. Taking the back of my neck, he pulled me in again, kissing me on the lips longingly and then twice more, slowly.

Holding my eyes, he took a step back and turned to his friends. “Let’s get this place locked up like a tomb.”

Kai

Present

“This is fucking amazing, in all honesty.”

Michael strolled around the twelfth-floor room, taking in the little clues Damon had left behind—clothes, cigarette butts, a few dead cell phones—and the amount of space so expertly hidden in the building. You really wondered how something so incredible could go unnoticed. I suppose we don’t see what we’re not looking for.

“It’s a huge city,” he continued, sifting through papers on a desk. “Damon’s always been a night owl. Lay low during the day, and he could sneak out of his little hideaways at night and roam the city while we slept.”

“It’s not in his nature to be alone, though,” Will added, still hanging back in the doorway.

He wouldn’t come in. I didn’t ask why.

“Nice fucking view.” Michael sighed, looking out the windows.

I glanced at the bed, the sheets still a mess, and the pillows still where Banks and I had left them. It didn’t look like he’d been here since we were.

“Alright, come on.” I stuffed my hands into my black hoodie and walked for the doorway. “He’s not here. We’ll wait for him in the lobby.”

Hesitantly, Michael followed me out, and all of us stepped back into the elevator. It was after nine, and Damon hadn’t said where in The Pope to meet, but we’d checked the floor anyway, just in case. Plus, the guys wanted to see it.

We trailed into the lobby, and I turned in a circle, scanning the space. Rain was starting to fall out on the street, and lightning flashed through the windows, followed by a roll of thunder.

Something felt off.

We hadn’t seen him in a year. He’d been gearing up for an entrance. He wasn’t just going to stroll into the hotel and say “hey.”

My phone rang, and I let out a sigh. I pulled it out of my pocket and didn’t even bother to look at the screen.

“Where are you?” I asked.

“Right where I need to be.”

“What does that mean?”

He didn’t say anything for a moment. Then he asked, “Do you think she loves you? More than me?”

“Where the hell are you?” I squeezed the phone in my hand, feeling the guys draw close as they heard me. “We’re here. Waiting.”

“She’s a part of me,” he went on. “And I’m a part of her.”

“You share blood.” I walked to the front doors, looking out the glass. “That doesn’t make a family.”

“And that’s where you’re wrong,” he said, a bite to his tone. “Blood is the tie that binds. The knot in your soul that says no matter where you go or what you do, there’s someone in this God-forsaken, shithole-hell-of-a-world you’re forever connected to.”

“Where are—”

“It can be a curse,” he continued. “A burden. But it can also be your heartbeat. Your center, your purpose, your belonging…” He let out a breath, slowing down. “I’ve fucked up, I’ve lied, I’ve nearly torn myself apart in front of her, but she understands that that’s what family is about. Family is what life gives you to help you endure. Their place is by your side, no matter how much it hurts, they’re the people who are always by your side. It’s duty.”

Not when it was abuse. She was my family now, and he would never hurt her again.

“And unfortunately, Kai…” Damon sounded almost amused. “Nothing could tear me away from her side, either.”

“Where are you at?” I demanded.

But he just responded, “She’s mine.” And then I heard a click.

“Damon!” Empty air sat on the other end of the phone. “Damon!”

“What the fuck is going on?” Michael stared at me.

But I didn’t know. Why did he call? Why not say that shit to me in person?

Why was he jerking us around? Again?

And then it hit me.

Leverage.

“He’s not coming,” I said.

“What?” Michael inched closer.

And I turned my eyes on him. “The girls. He knew we’d leave them at the house.”

Banks

Present

“Ugh,” Alex growled, pulling her hand out of the pumpkin and whipping the orange slop off her hand and onto the newspaper.

“You said you wanted to bake pumpkin seeds,” Rika pointed out.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t know this was where they came from.”

I forced a half-smile, trying unsuccessfully to get my mind off Kai and my brother. Placing a tea light inside my Jack O’Lantern, I picked up the lighter and reached back inside, lighting the wick.

Carving pumpkins was a pathetic way to keep myself busy when all I wanted to do was jump in a car and go search out Kai and Damon, but if I left, Rika would follow, and then, of course, Alex, and I couldn’t be responsible for them. I’d bide my time until Kai called. If he didn’t within another hour, though, I was going, and I didn’t care who jumped in the car with me. I loved them both, and they wanted to hurt each other. How in the hell was I going to get us all out of this?

Lev and David strolled in, picking at the snacks on the counters as they watched us finish up. I carried my pumpkin to the kitchen windowsill over the sink and placed it facing out toward the garden.

The colorful trees blew in the wind, and I heard needles of rain drops hitting the window.

A crack of lightning flashed through the windows, and I jumped, my heart skipping a beat. Thunder followed, its hollow drum pounding overhead.

Turning around, I jerked my chin to the guys. “Storm’s coming. There’s candles, flashlights, and batteries in the hall closet. Go grab some, would you?”

“’Kay.” David stood from where he leaned on the counter, his and Lev’s smiles both on Alex before they turned around.

She offered a flirtatious look in return.

“Those are some mighty healthy-looking boys,” she teased, following them with her eyes as they left the kitchen. “Are they a team?”

I popped my head up, and Rika just shook her head, smiling as she carved her pumpkin.

“When I’m bored I think about sex.”

“And when she thinks about sex,” Rika chimed in, “somebody’s getting laid.”

Alex plopped the top back on her lit pumpkin. “It feels good, doesn’t it? Should we be ashamed of doing things we enjoy? No.”

I watched her wink at me and then saunter out of the kitchen, hopefully not in search of the guys.

Rika continued working on the eyes, and I wrapped up my newspaper, pumpkin seeds and all. If Alex wanted to bake them, then she could have at it. I’d gotten about as domestic as I was going to get today.

“I liked your dress,” Rika said, not looking at me. “It was perfect.”

My dress?

Oh, the wedding. The dress was still sitting in a pile on the dining room floor, now that I thought of it.

“Do you think you’ll be happy?” She leaned down, carefully slicing with her small, serrated knife to form an eye.