Page 88 of Wicked Mafia Sinner

“Let me help you, my son.”

Rowan catches my eye over Nikolai's shoulder. He nods. Soren, Cristian, and Drake cross the lobby with quiet coordination and close around Nikolai.

"Take him to Harlon. Tell him I will come later."

Nikolai pulls back from the embrace. Blood and tears streak his face. "Just like old times, right, Dad?" His voice catches. "Ship me off. Let me be someone else's problem."

“No, son. I’m keeping you safe and others. We will see each other again.”

Rowan's jaw flexes and he turns the ring on his finger over as the three men guide Nikolai toward a hidden elevator tucked behind a wall panel I never noticed. The doors open. Close. The lobby goes quiet.

Rowan turns, looking for me and I fall into his open arms.

"Where are they taking him?" I ask against his neck.

Rowan watches the closed doors. "Somewhere he can never hurt anyone else. He needs help."

“And we will see to it that he gets it. But what about after? We know what he's done. How do you balance the love you have for someone even though you know their sins?"

"Sometimes the darkness wins."

"True." I take his hand. His knuckles are split from the fight, blood drying in the creases. "But when you stop long enough to let some light in, the darkness fades."

“That’s how we save him.”

He looks down at our fingers laced together, his silver ring smeared with blood pressing against my skin. "I will work on that for me. And my son."

"That's all I can hope for."

Luca pulls his hair back in a knot. "Looks like we'll have to patch up the place again."

He surveys the lobby with his hands on his hips. There’s a resigned expression on his face that says he’ll hate every minute of it.

"This isn't the first shootout?"

Drake shakes his head. "Sort of. Last time it was bombs."

"Oh." I nod slowly. "Cool. Very normal work environment. Love the culture."

Rafael approaches, calm and measured. "Everyone okay?"

Rowan straightens beside me. "Rafael. I'm sorry for the damage my son has caused."

Rafael's gray eyes sweep the lobby, cataloging the broken glass and bullet holes and overturned furniture. "Family reunions. Always unpredictable, huh?"

I purse my lips and rock my head back and forth. "Yeah, but the coleslaw doesn't usually try to kill you."

Rafael’s smile is breathtaking. "True."

The two men share a look that carries twenty years of shared history and the humor men forge when they survive enough chaos to find it funny. Rafael grips Rowan's shoulder and holds it for a few beats. Then he walks away without another word.

He gets about ten paces away before I ask Rowan, “Is that normal?”

“He’s not a big talker.”

“Like someone else I know.”

The lobby hums with the aftermath. Security streams in and I suspect a few will be losing jobs. Massimo speaks into a phone, coordinating repairs with contractors I assume don't ask questions about bullet holes. Raine crosses to Soren and he takes her arm with a gentleness that sits at odds with the violence he just helped contain.