I don't know anything anymore, except for this suffocating feeling is growing every day that Abel is still out there. As long as he is alive, he is a danger to her and my family and anyone else around us.

Jackson made it very clear to me when we spoke that he believes the same. Abel will destroy anyone he can to get to me. Women and children are not excluded from that list, even if they are his own blood. We can’t move forward until I know he’s dead. Ivy and our child will never be safe until he’s gone, and it’s up to me to make it so.

Right now, that goal has to be my primary focus.

My phone vibrates in my pocket, signaling a text from Marco. The news I've been expecting. I check it quickly and then lean down to kiss my wife on the cheek, closing my eyes and inhaling her.

"Sleep soundly, sweet Ivy."

I rise slowly and head for the door, activating the motion sensors I had installed in the room and then the electronic lock. Ivy can come and go freely, but not without me receiving alerts any time the door opens.

Securing her inside, I return the phone to my pocket and head downstairs to greet my guest.

"Would you like me to stay, boss?" Marco asks.

"No. Thank you, Marco. You can go."

He nods and shuts the door to my office, leaving me alone with Eli.

The old man is waiting for me in one of the lounge chairs by the fire, a cane propped against his leg. He seems to be progressing in his recovery, but it has done nothing to alter the frailty of his appearance. Or perhaps that is just my perception of him.

I walk to my desk and eye the bottle of scotch before thinking better of it. When I turn to meet Eli's gaze, there is a resolve in his eyes that surprises me. He is solemn but resolute as he forces himself to sit up taller.

"If you are going to do this here, I ask that you do it somewhere my daughters won't hear it."

"You think I brought you here to kill you?" I reply coldly.

"I expect as much." He shrugs. "I may be old, but I'm not stupid. You want Abel. He is wreaking havoc on your life. I'm sure you have considered all the possibilities, but we both know there is only one way to draw him out."

"Yet you came willingly." I frown.