“We know what to do, boy,” Commodore says. “Don’t worry about us. Go get your woman and her family, and then we can talk about that wedding of yours I want to see happen.”

My gaze snaps to his, and for a moment, I wonder if he’s high on painkillers. “Excuse me, sir?”

“I think we all agree it’s time to end this feud for good,” he says as Magnus nods. “And that’s how we’re going to do it. We bring the families together and it’ll be done.”

“I agree,” Magnus says. “Especially because you’re not a little bitch like your brother.”

Shaking my head, I glance from one lined face to the other. A Gable and a Riscoff. Friends. It sounds like the feud was already well on its way to ending, but no one told the rest of us yet. I think back to how Commodore told me to marry anyone but Whitney Gable when she first returned to town, and even though now is not the time to be discussing this, I ask one question.

“What changed your mind?”

Commodore’s canny stare sparkles. “I’ve always liked her. She’s got spunk and heart. Your grandmother would’ve approved. Now, go get that girl and her people, and let’s get the hell out of here. Tell them we’re paying for all the transport if they need extra incentive to move that cousin of hers more quickly.”

I reach out and grasp my grandfather’s good hand. “Thank you.”

“No time for the sentimental shit. We’ve got a hospital to clear.” He squeezes my hand and then reaches for the control on his power chair. “In case I didn’t say it before, I’m proud of you, boy. Damn proud. You grew up to be a hell of a good man who anyone could rely on.”

From the look on his face, I know he’s telling me the absolute truth. Commodore Riscoff may not be a perfect man, by any stretch of the imagination, but he’s one of the best I’ve known. Under his influence, I became the man I am today. I’ve battled with being able to trust anyone, but Whitney finally broke down those walls.

Maybe I was missing the point of that lesson all along. It isn’t that trusting others is bad, but that you have to be able to trust yourself first and be strong enough for others to depend on.

Commodore took a legacy and turned it into an empire, and he gave me all the tools to do the same.

“Thank you, sir.”

With one nod at Commodore, I head for the hallway to find Whitney.

I make it only a handful of steps before coming to a dead stop in front of a doorway where someone is yelling. Someone whose voice I recognize. I look inside to see my brother, whose mangled hand is wrapped with bandages, yanking at the cuff hooking his good hand to the bed as he screams for someone to unlock him.