“What I did to make him hate me so much. Even after I would do exactly what he’d asked of me, he’d find a reason to fault me.”

I ground my teeth and took a breath through my nose. “You’re safe here. I’ll say it every day until you believe me.”

He reached out with his good hand and squeezed my arm. He was so much smaller than me, but there was strength there. “Saros, I don’t think there’s been a day in my life I’ve felt more safe than I do here.”

“Good.” I stood, grabbed his tray, and placed it on the ground. “Would you like to rest now, or would you like me to carry you somewhere else?”

He chuckled. “I’m actually tired. If it’s all right with you, I’d like to lie down.”

“Anything you’d like.”

After I leftEm in his room, I called Mike.

“Hey, Boss.”

“Mike. November’s last name is Banks. He told me that for as long as he could remember, Ramsey and Shyla were the ones he lived with but he has no idea who his parents are or were, which,makes me think he was a baby when Ramsey acquired him. Did you get my text to talk to Frazee? I didn’t want to involve him, but he’d know.”

“That’s good info. Yeah, Frazee had no idea about Em, said he never gave Ramsey anyone…which, can I just say? It’s unsettling that Frazee has a log of the people he traffics.”

“Yeah…anything on Brandi?”

“Nothin’. She went from her apartment to The Vine last night and back home. Eyes have been on her there, and maybe she knows, because no one has reported anything to me. Ericka, one of your servers, mentioned that she leaves her cell in her locker. Benny is going to slip a tracer on it for me tonight.”

“I don’t know what that means—and don’t explain it, just get me the info. She’ll likely be here tomorrow night, and it would be great to have her dealt with by then.”

“You got it.”

The rest of the day, I went over everything Benny and Cosmo sent regarding Frazee, Ramsey, RJ, Shyla, Brandi—everything and everyone. Had I become so complacent? Perhaps I needed to remind people why I was the most powerful and feared man in Eastbury.

There was a knock on the study door, breaking me from my angry daydream.

“Come in.”

Dafni strolled in with my nephew in her arms and a smile on her face. “Hey, brother.”

“Hey, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I came by to see what was up with the dinner tomorrow. Curious is all, and thought I’d stop in and say hi.”

She held Tucker out to me, and I cradled him close. He was fast asleep and just how I liked him.

“Where’s Maeve?”

“Aunt Penelope and Uncle Andrew are taking her shopping.”

She sat across from me, a serene expression on her face.

“What’s with the face, Daf?”

“Not sure what you mean. It’s my face, created through DNA or some shit.”

“You seem so happy.”

She cackled. “And that’s not allowed?”

I ignored her. She could bicker for hours, and I didn’t have the spoons.

“You look good with a baby. You gonna have one of those?”