Prologue

The monitor showed the security feed of my building. Every corner, every crevice, I had eyes on. There were cameras not even he knew about. He thought I didn't see him or know what he was currently doing. He was wrong.

Malik held a gun to my only child's head. My son, who shared the same name as me. Jordan didn't think I cared. He thought I didn't love him because I kept my emotions locked down.

Now I had a situation to deal with. One involving my blood.

The man I loved could end my son's life with the pull of a trigger. I couldn't let that happen.

Attempts on Jordan's life were numerous at times. That was what happened in my world. I was the boss. Every threat affected me, especially when it involved my son.

There were few men I could still trust within my organization. Too many knew what Malik was doing and didn't alert me to his deceit. I had others on their way here. The men my son loved would arrive soon, a backup I didn't realize I so desperately needed until everything went to shit. There was a lot I could handle on my own, and most I did. Faced with this situation, I was afraid I'd lose everything.

Each step I took to get to the room they were in had my heart beating faster. Dread weighed me down, a pressing force reminding me I created this situation. Not directly, but my actions led here. I was the one who made the decisions. Who put the wheels in motion, even if I didn't foresee it would come to this. I was the one who put my son in danger.

Malik was supposed to help me protect Jordan, not threaten to end his life. He would pay dearly.

The guards I employed didn't stop me as I walked past them. They knew I'd kill them without a second thought if they did. I'd deal with them when I was certain my son was safe. If they were smart, they'd run far and fast before I could get my revenge for them following Malik instead of me. What a fucking mess that was going to be to wade through. Who to keep. Who to kill.

Reaching into my pocket with my free hand, a gun tucked into my other one, I pulled out the key card and slid it into the door. There was a soft beep and click. I eased the door open to find Malik with his gun pressed to Jordan's temple, my son's body a shield protecting someone I trusted above all others.

"Let him go, Mal," I said, my voice and hand steady, even though it was far from how I felt.

There was a tremble in his hand, shaking the gun against Jordan. "I did this for you. Do you know that?"

"Did what?" I asked. I knew the answer, as sick to my stomach as it made me.

"I wanted the flash drive. I heard you listening to the voicemail on your phone. The one you play over and over. The last one your brother sent you. He threatened you." Malik's voice broke, causing emotion to climb up my throat. I couldn't let it be seen. No weaknesses would be visible. "He said if you ever went after Perry, there was a safeguard in place. That Greer and Peyton knew about it." Perry was my nephew; someone I wouldn't hurt.

"How long have you known?"

"A couple of months."

"So that isn't why you kept Alan alive when I told you to kill him?" Alan was a plague on this earth. Once a dancer at Untouchable, the exclusive club Dexen Dremest, one of my son's partner's owned, Alan had held another dancer hostage. He should have been dealt with back then. It was my fault. I knew Malik kept him alive, but not why. I thought he had a valid reason. It was another mistake I didn't address.

"He's smart. I knew it was in our best interests to keep him above ground. He's been helping me. Hacking the Lynxes' security and whoever else he could, funneling cash into accounts we set up." Ah, yes, the Lynx brothers. Greer was my son's other partner. The brothers weren't terrible men. I just didn't like them. At all. They stood in my way. I had no use for them. Greer loved my son. Greer's brother, Peyton, was in love with my nephew. For that, I'd let them live.

"We have more money than we know what to do with now," Malik continued. "I split it with him. But you and me, we can get out of here. Far away. Just the two of us. We can have the life we were always meant to. Once we have the drive, there's nothing holding us here. There's no leverage against you. I can kill your rivals. Put fear into them like they've never seen. I have a plan to take care of it all."

"You know I can't do that," I told him, my voice quieter than before. "I have to stay in Dremest. I have a business to run. My son is here. My family."

"I'm all the family you need," Malik whispered. He wasn't unaffected. Every part of him shook. "You'd choose your son over me? After everything I've done for you? The drive is the last piece. What we need before we can take everyone else down. Then we're free." Oh, Malik, how I wished this wasn't the path you chose. My heart was shattering in my chest. Every word he said, the emotion he poured into them, was breaking me.

"The flash drive doesn't worry me. It never has." When it came to my family, my blood, they got more leeway than others did. The flash drive contained information about me that in the wrong hands would be incriminating. "If it made my brother feel better, makes my nephew feel safe, I'm fine with him having it. I won't hurt him. I won't give him cause to use it against me. This life I lead, it's full of shit I can't escape. I loved my brother. I love my nephew, even though he grates on my last fucking nerve at times."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I knew you'd try to get it." I shook my head, hating every second of the situation, of the conversation. It was destroying what Malik and I had, even though we hadn't crossed that line from him working for me to more. "You're the one who orchestrated all of this. The break-ins at Dexen's home. You went to the Lynx house and broke in there. If you think I didn't know what you were doing, you were wrong. I even knew Alan was alive. You can't make a move without me seeing it. I let it play out to try and figure out what your endgame was. Then you brought my son here." Anger replaced sorrow. My voice dropped to the low, deadly pitch I could bring forth in under a second. This was about more than Malik and me. He made it so. "You put a gun to my only child's head."

"For you," Malik rushed to say. The gun he held pressed harder against Jordan's temple. "I did this for you. For us. Fuck, can't you see how much I love you?" It took everything in me not to completely break down. The words I'd longed to hear him say finally left his lips, but under the worst circumstances.

"Mal, I've loved you for so long, but I had a feeling this day would come. It's why I never pursued anything with you. I knew how you felt, yet kept my own emotions locked down." I'd never told a soul how much I loved Malik. How I longed to hold him, to feel his heart beat beneath my palm. Malik would have been seen as another weakness, just like my son was. A way to get to me, to hold me captive in fear.

"What day?" Malik whispered.

"When I'd have to choose between you and my son. If I had given in and let myself love you fully, given myself to you, I wouldn't have been able to make the decision." There was no doubt in my mind about what I'd have to do, even if it was akin to ripping the beating organ from my chest.

There was a gasp, pulling my gaze from Malik and my son. "What?" Alan asked. "This is like watching a soap opera. Very entertaining. Continue." My finger itched to pull the trigger. To put a bullet between his eyes and finally remove him from the equation. With a gun still to my son, I couldn't do it. Alan was the least of my problems.

"I don't want you to choose," Malik said, ignoring Alan, pulling my eyes back to him.

"I made my brother a promise before he died," I told him. "It was around the same time he told me about the flash drive. He asked me to promise to watch over Perry and Jordan. To not let anything happen to them." They were words he didn't need to speak. I would always watch over my blood. "You betrayed me, Mal. You kept Alan alive when I told you to kill him. You brought Jordan here and risked his life. You're pointing a gun at my son." I couldn't keep the pain from my eyes any longer. Tears built in them. "You hurt me, Mal." I focused on Jordan and said a word he'd understand as soon as he heard it. "Goose."

Jordan's eyes went big, and he relaxed against Malik, sliding to the floor, the gun no longer pointing at his head. Malik didn't expect the move, which was why I gave Jordan the trigger word.

When Jordan was little, barely old enough to go to school, he had a fascination with Duck, Duck, Goose like most children did. So, I used it to my advantage to help protect him. I told him if I ever said the word goose seriously; he had to get down and duck. It was something I repeated as many times as it took, until he understood what to do and acted on pure instinct when I said the word.

If the word duck was spoken on TV or between the men in my organization, I would look at my son and say, "Goose." He'd nod, understanding what I meant without revealing the reason behind it. Those around us thought we were playing a childish game. Not even Malik was informed of what we were doing. It was a word that would one day save Jordan's life.

Today was the first time I'd used it in a situation like this. Today, I had to rescue my son.

With my heart in my throat, I pulled the trigger. The sound of the shot was piercing in the room.

Right before my eyes, the man I loved was killed by my own hand. Malik collapsed to the floor. The bullet I sent at him hitting the mark as intended.

With my world crashing down around me, and Malik dead on the floor, I saw there was a gun on me now. Alan still needed to be dealt with. But at least four others had joined me and were positioned at my back.

Barry was one of the few in my employment I could still trust. There was another guard here, but I didn't look at him, not wanting to take my eyes off Alan or turn from Malik. The evidence of what I'd done there for all to see. With Barry were Jordan's partners, Greer and Dexen, men I knew would kill to keep my son safe. After all, Dexen had done so time and time again.

Alan's eyes were wide as he looked at me, his gun pointed my way. Whether or not he could shoot, I didn't know. Honestly, all that mattered was getting Jordan out of here alive.

Dexen's voice broke through my thoughts. I respected him. He was a good match for my son. "Are we keeping him alive for a reason?" He was referring to Alan, the only threat remaining in the room.

"No," I whispered, barely able to get it out.

Dexen fired without hesitation. As he did, so did Alan. I didn't move, didn't fucking breathe, not knowing where the bullet would land. My life had been on the line countless times. I wasn't ready to die today, even if my heart stopped beating when I killed Malik.

The bullet didn't hit me. Instead, it went into one of my guards, who fell to the floor. I couldn't turn away to see how gravely he was injured. By the surrounding sounds, it wasn't good.

With Alan and Malik dead and Jordan safe, I could finally let my emotions wash over me. My legs gave out as I dropped to the floor, my knees slamming into it as my shoulders shook. Emotion was something I hid when I could. Now, it didn't matter. Malik was gone.

My son took me into his embrace and held me as I cried and mourned for what I'd lost. The dream of what could have been. A man I loved but hadn't told until it was too late.

The sounds of guards running up the hallway reached me, drawing Jordan and me to our feet. I still had orders to give, and an organization that needed to have the deceitful removed. Since I could still trust Barry, I put him in charge of sweeping through my men and getting rid of those who betrayed me, who sided with Malik rather than me. Those who thought they could go behind my back wouldn't walk away.

But that was for Barry to deal with, at least for the time being.

My eyes latched on to Malik and I was down again. This time, I couldn't hold back the sounds which poured from me. I reached for him, pushing his hair back from his forehead as tears slid down my cheeks.

"I'm so sorry," I told him. "I didn't want to do this. You gave me no choice." With Malik in my arms, his body limp, I rocked in place as I held him, my fingers still in his hair. "I loved you so much, Mal. You shouldn't have done this. You should have come to me. Why didn't you come to me?" I needed him closer, wanted to feel the warmth he had left in him. Hunching over his body, I brought Malik's face to my chest. "Fuck!" I shouted out my pain. Agony that would have been much worse had it been my son instead.