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Chapter 1

HUNTER

One year earlier

Losing Sean was harder than anything I'd been through He was my older brother and the one I always looked up to One day he was in ranted The next, he was dead and I realized I'd never see hiain

At first, the pain felt like it would never end

Sean's dead… He's dead…

I felt as though a dark shroud coveredto smother me with despair

But the sun rose the next day like it had the day before Life went on despite everything My pain didn't matter to the universe

A an to find our way back to soy us smile with his wit My Uncle Donny was still in custody awaiting trial on several racketeering charges

We all began to ean to spend ym Donny's boys—my cousins—talked less and less about their father's case and hts they bet on, which wo, and other mundane topics

As forback in Boston I spent weekends at the cottage, lying in the sun and drinking ht

Donny wasn't there to take the helement of Donny's properties and the work er in the service and had fallen out ofto keep in top shape for special operations forces, I lost the hard cut of my muscles and top fitness levels frorew out of the trademark Marine alls I'd worn for the past four years

One afternoon, when Conor had soht schedule, he was back in Boston showing a new gym member the ropes while Dad and I looked on I watched as Conor landed a soft punch on the flabby young h to make him pay attention

"Keep your guard up," Conor said, pushing the young her "Like this" Then Conor de man followed suit

My father turned to ht you were in s all day"