LINDEN I talked over the phone for hours with Deirdre, Estelle’s mother. From Estelle’s childhood to her failed marriage, her sacrifices, about Star LLC, to my relationship with her daughter and pregnancy. I was enlightened. Deirdre was filled with wisdom. She admitted to failing in a lot of things and her success, but she kept her feet on the ground. When I mentioned marrying her daughter, she cried. She was happy and excited to be a grandmother, too. That was days ago. I’d said something I wasn’t proud of. I’d done something I regretted. When I made mistakes, I made amends for them. Estelle, on the other hand, was strong-willed and stubborn. I didn’t visit her, and because she was stubborn, she did the same. I didn’t check on her. She stayed in her house. I chose not to call her, and she gave me the cold shoulder. Right now, she hadn’t said a word until we pulled up in front of the house. She stood on her ground. Despite our misunderstanding, I was thrilled that our baby was per

LINDEN We arrived in Sardinia this morning. It was a long flight, but I knew we both wanted to get away from work and hassles for a while, even if this trip was not only for our honeymoon, but she didn’t have to know right now. She was exhausted, but the doctor permitted her to travel even long flights. We had the best villa with the best view of the ocean. The beach and ocean always reminded me of how we met. It always played a significant impact on our relationship. We went strolling to the private beach, and thanks to Moses’ connection, we had all to ourselves. I spread the blanket instead of the lounger. Without a word, she dropped her bag and lay on her tummy. “Baby—” “What?” She snapped, raised her head, and met my gaze. “Are you sure it’s okay to lie on your tummy?” “She’s protected with hundreds of milliliters of amniotic fluid inside my uterus and tummy. She’s floating, actually, so she’s well protected, husband.” She glared before she lay back. “Okay.” I blew a breat

LINDEN Watching Estelle cry the entire night tore my heart out. I’d never seen her sob and curl into a ball since I met her. She’d shown me her breaking point, her vulnerability, her weakness, but this was different. This time, I felt her— I felt everything she endured tonight. She was not only my wife but my other half, my heart— the love of my life. “Baby, you’re breaking my heart.” I was the kind of man who acted than speak, but I thought I’d said a lot tonight. And every time I went close to her, she pushed me away. I knew I was hurting her, and hurting her, I was hurting myself too. “It’s only just a day. You have to trust me on this. And no matter—” “What? What, Gabriel?” she admonished. “That I’m just as just emotionally messed up, and this is pregnancy hormones? You should not have married me before you plan on going on your suicide mission. Those people are dangerous, you are aware of them, but you never stop. You just keep going and going. Maybe you will only stop when

LINDEN “Any helpful advice?” “Linden, you know I always like you, but I advise you not to go there. It’s not worth it, but I know I’m just wasting my time, and you won’t listen to me or anyone. So, why bother asking for advice?” I let go of a long draggy breath. “I don’t know, Terzo. You know how this family works better than I do.” “It’s not just a family. It’s an organization. Have you heard the Absolom? Bigger than that. Think about it as The Hover without license and certification. That’s how broad and big that is. Even my father doesn’t wanna cross paths with Ilya, the son. And he’s already the bad wolf in the blizzard. That cold doesn’t bother him.” “I have to do this.” “Then did you say goodbye to your wife and your child? Congratulations, by the way. I hope you receive my gift.” “That was kind of you. Thank you, Terzo.” Terzo was a son of a bitch, but he helped us, and I didn’t thank him enough. I thought sending us a gift, a Moka pot, was thoughtful. “Then you just g

LINDEN I quickly took off my shirt, positioned my stance, and cracked my fingers. Honestly, I didn’t know how to defeat him. I didn’t know if I could. He was an MMA fighter but lost his chance of accidentally killing someone outside the ring. And this was an underground fight against killers, murderers, and gamblers— all criminal activities and ground rules didn’t apply. This was a dirty sport. But I was not going to die tonight. Aleksandr advanced forward. Of course, he did. He wanted to end this fight quickly. I moved forward but maintained my ground, focusing on his possible move. His first jab almost hit my face, and I did a counterattack to push him back. But it was just a warm-up. I took my own emotional and physical injuries in only three minutes. We had bloody faces, but I took the worse. He struck me hard with a kick on my side. I had bruised face and probably cracked ribs. Sure, I endured a broken nose, bloody mouth, and my strength was draining so fast, and I hadn’t bea