I jerked awake, my hand instantly grabbing my gun from under my pillow when I heard the cabin door open. I already had it trained on James when he stepped inside the cabin, the safety clicked off.
“You almost got your goddamn head blown off,” I harshly whispered to him. I gently removed my arms from around Juliana and tucked the blankets more around her before getting up from the mattress. “What are you doing here?”
I put a couple more logs onto the fire, watching as the flames blazed a little higher, casting a beautiful, orange glow over Juliana’s face.
“Outside,” James whispered.
I nodded and stood up, shoving my feet into my boots before pulling on my jacket, following my older brother outside onto the porch. I quietly closed the door behind me before turning my attention to him. “Start speaking,” I ordered.
He grinned at me. “Always surprises me that you have so much patience to fuck around with enemies, and yet when it comes to family, you have none.”
I just shrugged. I liked toying with those beneath me.
My family, however, was not beneath me.
“You’re safe to come back home,” James told me. “I wanted to deliver the news myself that everything has been taken care of. But I also needed to let you know something before you two come back to New York.” He ran a hand through his hair. “There’s not a single soul left behind to take over everything that once belonged to Andres,” he inclined his head to the cabin door, “except for his daughter.”
“Fuck,” I swore. I pinched the bridge of my nose, suddenly feeling like the weight of the world was on my shoulders once again when I’d just gotten a reprieve. “She’s not going to want it,” I told him, “and even if she did, she would have no idea how to run a fucking empire like he had.”
James nodded in agreement. I paced to the end of the porch and back. “Fuck,” I snarled. I glared at him. “I never wanted this kind of fucking responsibility, James.” And it would become my responsibility because Juliana was my woman.
He sighed. “I know, brother. But never forget that I’m still your family. I’ve always got your back. I can promote Jaxon – make him one of us to help lessen your burden. He’ll work for both of us, Darren – not just me. Jaxon likes getting his hands dirty, and he knows the family – knows us. And he knows the ins and outs of this shit.”
I nodded and shoved my hands through my hair again. I stared out over the dark, snow-covered ground for a moment, trying to wrap my head around this shit. “My name and face can’t be blasted all over this shit,” I told him. “I’ve got two years of parole left.”
James shrugged. “I can make that parole disappear if you want me to.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Then why the fuck haven’t you?” I demanded.
He grinned. “Because I like getting on your nerves,” he teased. I lightly shoved him, a soft laugh falling from my lips. “I’ll make it disappear, Darren. When you come back home, you’ll have a lot more responsibility on your shoulders, but never forget, you can turn to me when you need to. I’ve been the don for many years now. I know the ins and outs of this game better than anyone.”
“I know, brother,” I said quietly. I drew in a deep breath. “I don’t want it,” I told him, shaking my head. “And I can’t do this to Juliana. She’s just escaped the clutches of the Mexican cartel. She can’t handle more. And her man being the head of that family? It’ll make her regress.”
“So, what’s your move then, brother? Let it fall?” James asked.
I shook my head. “Everything goes to you – that is, if you want it.”
He shrugged. “More control? Fuck yeah; I’ll take it.” I laughed. He grinned. “You sure this is what you want, Darren?”
I nodded. “I won’t let my woman be tied to that shit any longer than she already has been. And I don’t like being in charge of that kind of empire. That’s not my taste. I like getting my hands dirty – not being stuck in stuffy suits and business dealings all goddamn day.”
James rolled his eyes at me before clapping a hand to my shoulder. “I’m heading back down the mountain,” he told me. “Jaxon will lead you and Juliana down at first light. Get some rest before making the trek down.”
“Sure you don’t need rest?” I asked him.
He shook his head. “Emmaline made sure I had plenty of fucking energy.”
I shoved him off the porch. He laughed as he caught himself at the bottom. “Fuck you, brother.”
I flipped him the bird over my shoulder before I stepped back into the cabin, shucking off my jacket and shoes before crawling back under the blankets with my woman.
It was our last few hours out here by ourselves before we were expected to come back to civilization.
And honestly, I wasn’t all that ready to return yet.