Chapter 40 I read the text again. Matteo: I knew I didn't have a chance, but if you're happy, I'm happy. But if he treats you wrong... The sentiment was benign. Pathetic, even - especially to send to a married, pregnant woman. But the mere fact that he felt he had the right to say it, to insert himself into her life, our life, after everything...It lit a cold, familiar fire in my gut. What had Maya done to this man? Priest stood by the window, his back to me, watching the rain. He'd seen the text too. "He's a loose end," Priest said, voice low, steady. He finally turned, dark eyes flat. "That message? That's him leaving the door open. You can't leave her with options." I leaned back in my chair, the leather creaking beneath me. "He's a doctor. He's nothing." "That's how problems start," Priest countered. "They look like nothing. Then they're a nuisance. Then they're a threat. You think it's a coincidence he slides into her DMs? He see's himself as a threat to you. He's the nice guy, offering her a shoulder to lean on. That's the problem." The door opened without a knock. Caine stepped in, his presence immediately doubling the pressure in the room. He'd been staying in the guest wing for a couple of weeks-dealing with an issue tied to one of our father's old enemies. Maya had insisted we work and live together until the problem was handled. Her and her sister were close. She wanted us the same way. He took in the scene-Priest's rigid stance, my clenched jaw-and leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. "What's the problem?" he asked, his voice a quieter, deadlier echo of Priest's. "Matteo Vescovi," Priest said, not looking away from me. "Sent Maya a 'nice guy' text. I say he's a liability, his families dead because of ours. He wants Maya. Raziel says he's harmless." Caine's gaze shifted to me, cold and calculating, then back to Priest. A slow, arctic smile touched his lips."Harmless?" He pushed off the doorframe and crossed to the desk, picking up a heavy crystal paperweight. He turned it over in his hand. "There's no such thing. He looked directly at me. "Even Judas sat at the table before he betrayed the Son of God." I contemplated... Men like Priest would put a bullet in your head in a rage. Men like Caine would dismantle your life brick by brick... and make you thank him before sliding the knife in. He didn't get angry. He got even. And his version of even was biblical. I sat somewhere in between. I wasn't the unchecked inferno. I wasn't the patient glacier. I was the fault line where they met. The pressure point. I understood Priest. I respected Caine. But I wasn't either of them. I could put a bullet in a man's head without blinking.I could orchestrate the ruin of a bloodline without guilt. But I could also stay my hand. Caine set the paperweight down with a soft thud. "Priest is right. Kill him. It ties up the Vescovi mess for good. And it tells everyone you don't tolerate flies buzzing around your queen."His eyes-so like mine but colder-held my gaze."You're taking over our father's U.S. business. First lesson you should learn, little brother, is that- mercy sends a message. And the message it sends is weakness." Two against one.The logic was airtight. Brutal. Maya would've said, "the math is mathing." This was the kind of calculus they excelled at. The kind my father would've executed without hesitation. But something stopped me. I saw Maya's face-if she ever found out.She said he was nice.And I knew her well enough to know -she wouldn't want a "nice guy" dead.She wouldn't want a nice guy in her bed either.That was his saving grace. "No," I said. Final. "He's not part of this. We leave him out." Caine exhaled through his nose, unimpressed. "Sentiment," he muttered. "It's a luxury that gets people killed." Priest's jaw flexed. "You're making a mistake." The door to the study swung open. Maya stood there, holding two mugs of tea. Her eyes flicked between the three of us, instantly picking up on the tension."Everything okay in here? You look like a council of war." Priest didn't blink. "Just discussing business." She came in, set a mug in front of me, then gave Priest a look. "Yeah? What kind of business requires that face?" "Maya," I warned quietly. She ignored me, eyes moving between Caine and Priest. "What are you two trying to get him to do? You both look sneaky-eyed, and he looks bored." Caine's voice was deceptively soft. "We're ensuring your safety. Something you seem to have a reckless disregard for." Priest handed her the phone. She read the text. Her eyes flashed. "Are y'all trying to have him kill this man over a text? You trying to turn him into a jealous, paranoid sociopath like you, Priest?" Priest's expression darkened. "He should kill him before he becomes a threat. Because of you." "Stop trying to make my man like you. He's not like you!" she yelled, voice cracking. "He is!" Priest roared, making her flinch. "The only difference is, you think he's the white knight. That he's better than all of us. He's not!" "Shut up, asshole!" "You first, cokehead." Maya stepped forward, looking ready to hit him. I sighed. They didn't know how not to bicker. "Stop," I raised my voice. They all turned to me. I looked at Priest. Then at Caine. "Matteo lives. That's my final word." Then I looked at Maya. "And they're not turning me into anything I'm not already." Priest and Caine exchanged a look-a silent conversation between two men. Matteo might end up dead whether I approved or not. Caine gave a single nod. "Your crown. Your call."He turned and walked out without another word. Priest held my gaze a moment longer. Then doubled down. "I still say you kill him." Maya glared at him, then turned and stormed out. "I'm calling my sister and telling her y'all are trying to turn my man into a serial killer." Priest followed, a dark shadow on her heels. Alone, I picked up her phone. My thumb hovered over Matteo's message. But if he treats you wrong... A low sound rumbled in my chest. Pathetic. I picked up my own phone and opened a new message-to Maya, not him. Me:Tell your friend he's alive because you called him nice.I know you don't like nice.My generosity begins and ends there. Make sure he knows not to contact you anymore. I hit send. Then picked up the tea she'd brought me. It was still hot. I had spared him. But I also made sure she knew- it was a gift.A loan of a life-contingent on his continued irrelevance. And her continued good behavior. Mercy wasn't free. Nothing in our world ever was. Five-year-old Annie, who can understand animals, saved Landon Hawthorne, a wealthy businessman, from suicide. Now she's his whole world and he's her legal cheat-code against every villain fate throws ...