I fix shit. It’s what I’m good at. It’s the reason all my brothers come to me with their problems. This current problem, though… Yeah, I don’t think even I can fix it. I know Gio wants to just get rid of it. Forget it was ever there. That’s my big brother’s way of dealing with shit.

Most of the time, I’d agree with him. Encourage it even. But this problem is our mother, and despite what Gio says, I know he wants answers. We all do. We all have questions for the woman who left us. And those questions need to be answered.

I just need to find a way to get through to him. We need to have a meeting with her. Just one, long enough for all five of us to interrogate her, so we don’t have to live the rest of our lives wondering why and how a mother—our mother—could walk away from us.

She knew. She was married to the asshole. She had to have known what we were destined to endure growing up under our father’s thumb. Fuck, what Vin had to endure.

Anger courses through me at the thought of what that sick bastard did to my little brother. I slide out of bed, careful not to disturb Daisy, and make my way through the house in the dark until I reach the kitchen.

I don’t know what to do. I always know what to do, and it’s fucking killing me right now that I don’t know how to fucking fix this problem. There’s no manual on what to do when your mother returns from the dead.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” The light flicks on at the sound of my wife’s voice.

“Nothing. I didn’t want to wake you.” My arms wrap around her, and her head falls onto my chest.

“I would rather you wake me than have you sit here in the dark, drowning in whatever bullshit is going through your mind. We are a team, Gabe. That means we work through shit together.” Daisy pulls back and smiles up at me. “Also, I happen to be an excellent listener. I’ve got a framed piece of paper qualifying me in just that.”

I press my lips against hers and wrap my arms tighter around her. “You are the best listener, babe, but I’m not going to burden you with my problems, especially in the middle of the night. Come on, let’s go back to bed.”

“Let’s. But you need to talk to Gio. Tell him what needs to happen for you all to move on. Or do it without him,” Daisy says as I lead her out of the kitchen.

Do it without him?