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  “He had his men hold you somewhere until Hades came to rescue you.” It pained me to say all of this, to feel disloyal as I spoke.

  He didn’t say anything, but he dropped his gaze, which wasn’t a good sign.

  “Then Heath took me and locked me in a cage as part of a ploy to get back at Damien, but he let me go. He said he couldn’t go through with it. I didn’t see him again for a while, and when we bumped into each other, we just had the right chemistry. I told him I didn’t want to be with him, but he wore me down…and never told me what he did. I found out later—and left him. I didn’t want to be with a man who moved against my family like that. I tried not to care about him. But then I realized…he’s not that man anymore. He would give his life to protect mine, to protect anyone I loved. He’s different…and even Damien acknowledges it.” I waited for him to look at me.

  He didn’t.

  I was hoping this would go better, but I’d been too optimistic.

  “I wanted you to know the truth. I didn’t want to lie about any of it.”

  Nothing.

  “But he’s not that man anymore. He’s saved Damien’s life, he’s saved mine… He takes care of me.”

  My dad wasn’t a quiet guy. He usually had something to say, lived for the opportunity to have a conversation because he was lonely. But now he was silent, processing everything I’d said. “I’ve got to be honest, sweetheart. I was expecting you to say something completely different…”

  “I know it’s a lot to take in…”

  He was so disturbed that he pushed his lunch aside and rested his hands on the table, his fingers interlocked. His eyes were still down, deep in thought. “I wasn’t expecting this man to be a criminal mastermind.”

  “That’s not all who he is…”

  He shook his head slightly, sighing quietly.

  Heath and I hadn’t gotten this far just to trip over the finish line. “Dad, he’s different now. I know what he did was wrong. It took me a long time to look past it. But he’s the man I love, the man I want to spend my life with, and it would mean the world to me if you could keep an open mind.”

  His thumbs gently brushed together, his eyes watching his movements.

  “You said I wouldn’t love this man unless I had a good reason, that you trust my judgment.”

  “I know what I said, sweetheart. This is just a lot to take in at once. Honestly, I didn’t expect you to want a man like Damien, like the men in his world. I pictured you with a successful man, but someone more ordinary.”

  “Well…I guess I don’t like ordinary.” Now that Heath had put the thought in my head, I couldn’t imagine spending my life with a mediocre man, one who just went to work in an office or something and was always home by five. I came from a line of criminals. “And Damien lives in that world, but you don’t blink an eye over it. You did too—”

  “Yes, but we’re men—”

  “That’s sexist,” I snapped at my father, the first time I ever had in my life.

  He was just as stunned.

  “It’s unfair for me to be excluded just because I’m a woman, Dad.”

  “But you can’t take care of yourself—”

  “Heath can take care of me just fine. Isn’t that what you want? A man who can take care of me? Physically, financially, emotionally…he can do it all.”

  He bowed his head with a sigh. “It doesn’t sound like he’s similar to Damien, who makes a product and sells it to shady characters. This man is much higher on the food chain, and the more eyes on you, the more enemies you have. I bet this man has a target on his back every single day.”

  That was true. He did.

  “That’s my issue, Catalina. He’s the Skull King, isn’t he?”

  All I could do was blink because I couldn’t believe he even knew what that was. He’d been out of the game for decades.

  He didn’t need me to confirm it. “That’s a whole different level, Catalina. As long as you’re with him, you’ll have a target on your back too. Yes, he can protect you, but he’s also the reason you need protection. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t want that.”

  Hope slipped through my fingertips. “If you meet him, you’ll feel differently.”

  “No, I won’t.”

  I sighed loudly, disappointed. I thought Damien would be my biggest hurdle, not my sweet and loving father. “Please try…for me.” I pleaded with him with my eyes, needing this to happen, needing his approval to be happy.

  He stared at me with a cold gaze, no longer the man I knew.

  “Please…I love him.”

  He sighed just the way Damien had, his nostrils flaring. Their features were never more similar than when my father was angry. The vein thickened on his forehead, and his skin tinted red, just the way his son’s did. “I want to talk to him.”

  I had no idea if that was a good thing or a bad thing. “He’s outside.”

  He leaned back in the chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “Then bring him in.” His body was rigid, the muscles flexed through his layers of clothes. The kindness in his eyes had vanished along with all of his affection. He seemed to fall back in time, back to his youth, back to the time when he intimidated people for a living.

  I hadn’t expected this conversation to go this way, so I felt terrible that Heath would be put on the spot without any time to prepare. But he should be able to handle it. He’d probably done worse things than meet a potential father-in-law. “Alright…I’ll be back.”

  I got into the truck.

  “Went that bad, huh?” he asked, barely looking at me.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “You look like snow.”

  I stared straight ahead before I had the courage to turn to him. “No, it didn’t go well…”

  His eyes fell with disappointment.

  “He said he wants to talk to you.”

  He gave no reaction.

  I kept staring at him.

  “Right now?” he asked calmly.

  I nodded. “I told him you were outside.”

  He sighed quietly, his chest rising with the air that filled his lungs.

  “I know this is unexpected. We can come back at a later time—”

  “No. He challenged me—and I’m not going to decline.”

  “I don’t think he’s challenging you—”

  “He put me on the spot. That was intentional. Trust me, I know what he’s doing. It’s a test—to see how much of a coward I am.”

  “You aren’t a coward…”

  “Exactly.” He opened the door. “Which is why I’m going in there.”

  Seventeen

  Heath

  I was in jeans and a long-sleeved olive-green shirt. It was too casual to make a good impression, but it was all I had. I stepped inside, and Patricia immediately recognized me from the time Damien had marched me inside with my hands tied behind my back. She stilled on the spot, unsure if she should scream or run.

  “Richard asked to see me.” I kept my distance, kept my voice low so she wouldn’t be scared.

  She nodded to the large archway past the entryway. “He’s in there.” She probably wasn’t privy to family drama, but the help always knew the intimate details of the people they served. She probably already knew Catalina and I were together.

  “Thanks.” I moved farther into the house, having been there before. But I’d been marched to the left, and now I was headed in a different direction. I passed through the archway and entered a large dining room, a table that could easily accommodate twenty people. Cathedral-style windows were on the wall, letting in the faint light from the overcast day.

  Richard sat there, his hands together on the table, his eyes on me.

  I moved farther into the room, holding his gaze with confidence and toning down my naturally intimidating persona. It didn’t feel right to try to shake his hand, to be polite when this wasn’t a normal meeting between two men on good terms. I dropped into the chair facing him, taking the spot my fia
ncée had previously occupied.

  I hoped she was still my fiancée. I didn’t buy her that two-hundred-thousand euro diamond ring for nothing.

  Patricia came into the room and cleared the plates, placing a cappuccino in front of me even though I didn’t take my coffee with sugar or cream.

  Richard stared at me the entire time, not saying a word.

  I held his gaze, listening to Patricia’s footsteps fade until she returned to the kitchen on the other side of the house.

  I didn’t know what to say.

  Catalina hadn’t shared details about their conversation, so I walked straight into the dark. I assumed he didn’t like me one bit, and somehow, I was supposed to change his opinion in a simple conversation. I had a tiny bit of hope, because he wouldn’t have asked me to otherwise.

  When he spoke, he didn’t sound like an old man. He sounded confident, as if his youth had returned to his veins like muscle memory. “I don’t care that you attempted to have me executed. It was just business. I get it.”

  That was the last thing I’d expected him to say.

  “If Damien can drop his prejudice when he’s had to deal with you firsthand, then I don’t see why I can’t too.”

  Maybe this wasn’t so bad after all.

  “I believe men can change. I know I did.”

  The coffee in front of me released steam that rose to the ceiling, smelling like fresh espresso beans.

  “But I don’t like you for my daughter.”

  It was a terrible blow. A bat was in his grip, and he smacked me hard with it, just as Damien did in the basement, spilling blood everywhere.

  “I’m going to give you one chance to change that.”

  Jesus, talk about pressure.

  “Don’t blow it.”

  “I don’t need more than one chance, sir.” I loved her and would do anything for her. That was all that mattered.

  He didn’t react, but his silence showed that he approved of that response. “What kind of life can you give my daughter?”

  “Whatever life she wants.” I sounded like a pussy, letting the woman tell me exactly what was about to happen, but that was how it was. I folded for her, took the knee for her, allowed her to take my power because she was the queen I wanted to serve.

  “Be more specific.”

  I didn’t see the necessity. “I’m not going to sugarcoat who I was. I was greedy, selfish, egotistical…nothing to be proud of. My life was filled with money, women, and booze. But then I met Catalina, and I think that very night I loved her. Everything changed. I changed. Now, I would do anything for her, make any sacrifice, if it made her smile.”

  “I want you to put your money where your mouth is.”

  I had no idea what that meant.

  “You want my daughter?” He raised his forefinger. “Here’s your one and only chance to prove yourself.”

  I kept a straight face, but my chest rose with the breath I needed.

  “You step down as the Skull King. Now.”

  Was not expecting that.

  “My son is a kingpin in the drug world. But he’s not the leader of the underworld. You can’t be both. You can’t keep her safe if people want you dead. You can have my daughter, have my approval, if you do this.”

  I wanted to argue that I could keep her safe even as the Skull King, that she was safer with me than anywhere else. But this was a test I couldn’t fail, and if I argued, I would lose my only chance. This was his sole demand, my chance to prove that I would sacrifice anything to be with his daughter—and that would make me worthy of her. “Alright.”

  He couldn’t hide his surprise, as if he expected me to argue, expected me to try to have it both ways.

  “I want to marry her.” A part of me was glad her father was a former criminal, someone who understood my world. If he were some average guy, he would never understand anything. He would be ignorant and scared.

  “I’ll consider your request—after you step down.”

  I didn’t want to walk away from my position. I expected to continue to be the Skull King for a few more years, until Catalina wanted to start a family. This was short notice. My reign had barely begun. “I need time to prepare.” I couldn’t just put in my resignation on the spot. I hadn’t even decided who would replace me.

  “I said now.”

  “And you know that’s a ridiculous demand. I need a successor. I need to wrap up loose ends. I will fulfill my promise. I want to marry Catalina as soon as possible, which I don’t want to do without your blessing, so I will take care of it as quickly as I can.”

  He didn’t argue with me, but he didn’t look happy either. But he did give a nod in agreement.

  I had to make a big sacrifice to keep her—but at least she was my prize. “You don’t want to interrogate me?” He hadn’t asked me about kidnapping her. He hadn’t asked me about my beef with Damien. He hadn’t asked me anything personal.

  “No.”

  I sat there, surprised this conversation was so brief.

  “My daughter told me she loves you. She wants to spend her life with you. I trust her judgment. All the details about who you are, your past, all that stuff doesn’t matter. All that matters is how much you love her. And you just proved that to me by giving me what I asked. For a powerful man, that wasn’t an easy sacrifice to make. I know because I’ve personally done it.”

  I didn’t ask what he used to do, but I assumed it was significant if he left it to be with Catalina’s mother, to be a father to Catalina and Damien. It was probably difficult for him, but a necessary sacrifice if he wanted to keep his family safe. It was the biggest test he could give me—and I passed. “I like you.” He didn’t need my approval, but I said it anyway.

  He didn’t react to my words.

  “Your personal feelings toward me and my crimes are insignificant. All you care about is your daughter’s happiness, and I respect you for that.” His reaction was completely different from Damien’s, showing a man who possessed maturity he had accumulated through both time and experience.

  His hands remained linked together. “Make my daughter happy. And someday…I might like you.”

  Catalina immediately fired off questions when I got into the truck. “What happened? What did he say?”

  I started the engine and drove away. “It’s fine.”

  Her eyes burned into the side of my face from her position on the other side of the truck. “What? It’s fine? What the hell does that mean? What did he say?”

  I drove through the streets and headed to my place.

  Our place.

  “He said he accepts me.”

  “How did you pull that off?” she yelled. “What did he ask you?”

  I kept my eyes on the road. “Said he trusted your judgment.”

  “That’s not what he said to me…”

  “So, he asked me to prove myself.”

  “Okay, what does that mean?”

  “Asked me to do something—and I agreed.”

  “Well, what did he ask you to do?” she asked. “How could a fifteen-minute conversation be enough to resolve all of this?”

  I shrugged. “Guys don’t say much.”

  “Heath,” she said with a growl. “Why won’t you just be straight with me?”

  I turned down all the right streets, getting closer to the home where I shared my life with her.

  “Heath, what did he ask you to do?”

  “I’ll tell you when we get home.”

  She sighed, furious she couldn’t get what she wanted on the spot.

  I drove in silence the rest of the way, feeling her grow more anxious by the minute. When I pulled into the underground garage, she was on me again.

  “We’re home.”

  I hit the clicker, and the garage closed behind us. Then we sat together in the dark, quiet now that the engine was off.

  “Why won’t you answer me?”

  I unfastened my safety belt and turned to her, feeling like I was betraying her father by
telling her the truth. But there was no way to hide it from her. “He told me to give him what he wanted—and he would let me marry you.”

  “And that was…?”

  “He told me to step down.”

  Her expression focused as she heard what I said, taking a few seconds to make the conclusion.

  “And until I do it, I can’t marry you. I agreed.”

  She released the breath she was holding. “So, you aren’t going to be the Skull King anymore?”

  I shook my head. “I just need to find a replacement and tie up loose ends.” Vox was my loose end.

  “I can’t believe he asked you to do that.”

  It had shocked me at the time, but once the element of surprise had passed, it wasn’t that unreasonable. “Those were his terms.”

  “I just…I know that must be hard for you.”

  I shrugged. “Living without you is much harder.” It was a bit difficult to be forced into retirement when I was young and in my prime, but I didn’t need the money. Boredom would be a problem, but I could find something else to do with my time.

  Her eyes softened. “He didn’t ask you anything else?”

  “No,” I answered. “He said the past doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is how much I love you—and I proved that to him.”

  She moved to the center seat so she could hook her arm through mine and rest her chin on my shoulder. Her hair fell down my chest, her perfume mixing with my cologne.

  “I like your dad.”

  “Yeah?” she whispered.

  “Now I know where you get it from.”

  “Get what from?”

  I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Everything.”

  Eighteen

  Catalina

  I sat on the couch alone because Heath wasn’t home.

  He was at work.

  The TV was on, and I twirled my hair, the diamond ring on my left hand still so heavy that it was hard to sleep with it. I wondered if I’d get used to it, but I suspected the weight was such that it was impossible to ever feel normal.