“Fuck going pro. Do you know how much money you make me, Carter!” Sebastian chimes in, now grinning like the Cheshire Cat, because it's true. Sebastian and I have made a lot of money from Carter's fights. We never bet against him. He wins every time. I feel sorry for the poor guys who step into the ring with him, because I would never want to.

“When is your next fight?” I ask him, knowing he always has one lined up.

“Not sure. We need to find this asshole first, because I want the family safe before I step back into the ring,” Carter says, sobering the room.

I nod to him in admiration that he puts the family in front of himself. We all do it, but it was how Sebastian and I were raised. Carter is different, but no less part of our family, and he shows us his commitment each and every day.

“How is Annie, anyway?” Carter asks, and all three of them look at me. Sebastian has a sly smile, clearly reading me like a book.

“She is fine,” I reply, not really wanting to elaborate.

“Just fine?” Carter presses, trying to goad me into biting. Clearly, he needs to fight if he is trying to pick one with me.

“Why don’t we talk about your woman for a moment, shall we, Carter?” I say to him, willing to entertain him this once. Carter doesn’t have a woman and has never had anyone serious, but I like to tease him, regardless.

“Oh, so Annie is your woman now?” Carter asks with an eyebrow raise, quick to pick up my words and slam them back into my face. He is good at it. Due to his history of growing up on the streets, he had to hustle, had to learn to sway things his way in order to survive.

“Let’s get to work,” I say gruffly, changing the subject, and Carter laughs, shaking his head, knowing he won this battle. He and Nico sit down, and we get busy, strategizing about how to get Dominic and put an end to this shitshow of a situation.

Later that day, I am in my office, going through the list of new soldiers that are coming to New York. Tension is high because we need men, and we are very selective on who we take. But given the trouble we are having at the moment with trying to find Dominic, and needing manpower now more than ever, I have to broaden our scope and take in men who I am not confident are ready for the challenge.