Ulrich Drummond pulled the curtain open and gave Kelley and Mason a smile. “How big is your family exactly?”Mason smiled as Kelley pulled his shoes on. “Why?”“Well, you have thirteen brothers in the waiting room and an uncle.”“We don’t have a tv at home.” Mason’s laugh reverberated through the room and even Ulrich chuckled as Kelley’s expression remained stoic.“Your uncle, though, wouldn’t take no for an answer, he’s right outside, a Jesse Owens.”“He’s my uncle, for real.”Ulrich shook his head lightly and stepped to the side as Jesse slid past him. “Shit, Kelley, I just heard.”Jesse pulled him into a hug and Kelley’s arms clasped around Jesse’s back. “Thanks for coming but I just got discharged.”“Let’s get you home, kid.”Jesse slapped Mason on the back too and the three of them walked out of the trauma bay. Kelley’s steps faltered as Charles and Laura stood to one side with Petey’s parents. Kelley nodded his head at Mason who understood instantly and he led Jesse to the waiti

Kelley sat on the beach close to the hotel where his father had retreated to earlier. Even after vomiting, he still felt sick to his stomach. His mother had made herself a slave to Charles Alexander for seventeen years just not to own up to her own mistakes.He wondered who Marley’s father was and then another though trickled into his mind. It could be any of the elite men in Yorkdare Bay or even one of the bastards living in the city. He’d never forget the way his mother had crawled towards Charles, begging and pleading.He had betrayed the girl he loved for her, yet she had never even tried to protect him. If she went to prison though Marley would be left in Charles’s care. He couldn’t let that happen either, Marley was only a year younger, but he couldn’t condemn her to that sort of life, not if he could help it.It was a sickening cascade of emotions that went through Kelley as he watched the waves. Where in the past the crashing sound had soothed him it now only proved to add to

The next few weeks saw Mason and Kelley thrown into a new routine as Grace’s bassinette was moved into their already cramped room. Mason usually slept like the dead but during that first night they both sat up straight in their beds every time Grace made a sound.Marella offered to move to the motel but both Mason and Kelley shut her down quickly, they’d make the situation work. Lee had regarded the baby like she was a stick of dynamite, clearly afraid of touching her.For the first week Carey had woken up with them too, checking up on them before she decided that Grace was in capable hands. She did go shopping for Grace though and Mason sat on his bed, eyes red rimmed from lack of sleep as Carey unpacked baby things.“It gets better, Mason.”Mason stifled a yawn. “Does it?”“If you’re lucky within a few months.”“Shit.”“You’ll be okay.” Carey hid her laugh and smiled lovingly at her son. “You make me proud you know.”“Some days it still feels surreal, having a kid at seventeen.”“I

Jesse Owens had taken over the security department of Nascosto Scelto. He hired ex-marines and put them through a vigorous training regime before they were accepted into their ranks. He handled everyone’s personal security and he scouted locations before they travelled. Kelley, Mason, Lee and Marella were living in St. John’s City in a five bedroom house where he’d redone the entire security system and placed three armed guards on the perimeter. On Kelley’s eighteenth birthday he received his first deposit from his hotel shares and a threat from Charles Alexander. Jesse hadn’t taken it lightly. He had personally vetted and screened the live-in nanny who was also their housekeeper, an older woman named Theresa. Carey and John had received the same treatment with a live-in guard in their house. They had tied the knot in a small, private chapel with only their family present. Jesse had moved too and he’d sold his dojo. He now lived in the better part of Yorkdare Bay, central to most of

Four years later …Kelley was now twenty-four and he had successfully completed his degree in Economics two weeks earlier. He was packed and ready to move back to Yorkdare Bay to implement the next phase of his plan. It was his last night in St. John’s City and one he planned to remember.His time at St. John’s University had been fruitful. He took Grace to every game and Mason patted his heart before the time, signaling to Grace. Kelley had also resigned himself to his life and as time passed it didn’t sting as much when he thought about Jule.His decision hadn’t come lightly, he’d taken his time in thinking through it all. He vowed never to fall in love again, never to put someone’s life in danger like that again. Kelley believed that Jule had been a target with every fiber of his being. Petey had seen his opening and had taken it.They had only been together for five months before she died and he knew that at some point he’d move on. That time wasn’t now though and his plan for Pet