Now his fury emerged. “You mean, make a fool out of you.”

I swallowed the insult like a man. A big pill without water. “We still have to do something. We have to take that camp back. We can’t just let them overrun our business like this.”

Magnus cocked his eyebrow and released words dripping in sarcasm. “So, after all this…you still care about money?” He shook his head in disbelief. “Fender, you need to let it go.”

Unable to remain subdued, I lashed out like a knife at his throat. “This man killed all my men and almost killed my brother. Do you think I’m gonna let that go?” We were the same man, but we rarely agreed on anything anymore. That man tried to execute someone I loved, so no, I was not letting that shit go.

“Do you want to take the camp back for revenge? Or do you want to take it back so you can run business like usual?”

I gave no answer—because I wasn’t sure of the answer anymore.

The disappointment he gave me was brutal, like his opinion of me somehow sank even lower. “If your answer is the second one, or both, don’t expect me to help you.”

I massaged my knuckles because they suddenly felt broken.

“I will only help you if you run the camp differently. You set the girls free and hire people to do the labor. If we can’t come to an agreement on that, I’ll walk away.”

I stared at him in silence, knowing it wasn’t a bluff. Everything had changed now, and for the first time, I was starting to truly understand the error of my ways. My arrogance had made me complacent. My insatiable revenge had made me stupid. My obsession with the past had compromised my future. I’d lost Gilbert. I could have lost the love of my life as well. And to top it off…I’d almost lost the man across from me—a man I would die for.

“We do it my way. Or we don’t do it at all.”

I chewed the inside of my cheek and gave a slight nod. “Well, my way obviously doesn’t work…” I admitted, defeated. I raised the white flag of surrender and let it blow in the breeze. My reign had come to a halt—and it had been a long time coming.

Now, he looked at me the way he used to, showing the same pride he showed in Raven.