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Con went to the opposite side of the table after washing his hands and then stepped in Luca’s path He said so softly to my brother that I couldn’t hear, then put his hand on his shoulder too Luca remained stiff for several beats, then nodded Then he was returning to the chair across from me and Aleks

Con… ever the peacekeeper He’d played that role e’d been kids too He’d usually been the first to get between ht on the rare occasions when Luca and I hadn’t stopped on our own And since he’d kno to kick ass better than the rest of us, the irony had never been lost on us… and we’d learned early on that when Con told us to knock it the fuck off, we needed to listen

God, as shitty as my childhood had been, I’d take those days back in a heartbeat

My eyes met Con’s and I said, “If you really want to help one”

I held Con’s gaze, even though I could practically feel Luca’s eyes burning a hole through me

“So you’re going to keep running?” Con asked He looked at Aleks “Is that what you want, Aleks?”

I ed not to answer for Aleks, despite my instinct to tell Con that what Aleks wanted was his life back

I looked at Aleks, who see for a response

“I… I want my family to be safe”

“They will be,” I said automatically

“No, they won’t,” Luca interjected

I snapped my eyes to Luca and was about to rip him a new one when Con put his hand on Luca’s where it was resting on the table, likely in the hopes of silencing him But Luca was Luca and said exactly as on his mind

“He won’t ever be safe, and neither will his fa for him!” Luca said impatiently to me

“And you expect me to believe that’s why you sent your men after him?” I bit out “To keep him safe?”

“No, I…”

“What?” I yelled when his voice unexpectedly dropped off “You what?”

Luca opened his , then snapped it shut His look was icy as he eyed aze to Aleks I putin his lap because I knew the fear Luca could instill in a person with just a look I half expected Aleks to push ers around mine instead

“Luca,” I warned, but my brother only looked at me for a split second, then his eyes were back on Aleks

“They had orders not to hurt you,” he said, his voice surprisingly soft

I was about to speak when Aleks’s fingers squeezed mine hard