Self-doubt rises in his stomach like a helium balloon, pressing against his diaphragm and making it hard for him to breathe.

It’s not like these are normal circumstances either, he tells himself, grasping at self-pity. This meeting is anything but normal.

Arden lets himself in the back door, letting the screen ease shut slowly, as opposed to letting it slap the house if left unchecked—and possibly alerting Cletus’s nurse to the fact that he has visitors.

He strides down the short empty hallway and comes to a halt when he enters the kitchen. Everyone heard his entrance. Everyone is waiting for him, seated on barstools at the long kitchen island engulfing the middle of the room. From all the faces it looks like a poker game gone sour. One face stands out more than the others, and for once it’s not Carly’s.

Julio is shorter than Arden imagined he would be—though to Arden, his presence takes up the room—standing only a bit taller than Carly. He looks like her too, but with a wider face and more prominent, masculine jaw. The resentment in his eyes when he assesses Arden is unmistakable.

I guess I had my chance at first impressions when I got his sister arrested.

“Sorry I’m late,” Arden says, even though he’s not actually late at all. “Sorry” just seems to be the right thing to say at this point. Anything else might be deemed as unworthy in Julio’s eyes.

And unworthy is exactly what Arden doesn’t want to be.

Carly offers a small, anxious smile. She looks exhausted, and like she’s been crying. But then, why wouldn’t she look rough? She almost had her parents back, and then lost them all over again. How she can hold her head up now is beyond Arden.

She turns to Julio and says something in Spanish, something that ends with “Arden.” Julio nods at him, tight-lipped.

Arden reciprocates, swallowing a lump in his throat.

“Arden,” Carly says, “this is my brother Julio.”

“Tell him it’s nice to meet him.” It sounds generic, Arden knows.

“He understands you. He speaks English.” Julio simply nods at this.

“Cletus was just telling us that the best bet would be to send Julio,” Carly says. Arden can tell by her expression she’s not comfortable with this.

Arden raises a brow. This wasn’t the plan. He looks at Cletus. “And that’s a good idea because…?”

“Because none of my connections would be willing to go up against your pa,” Cletus says. He sounds winded. He probably shouldn’t be exerting himself this much so soon. “And if the wrong people catch wind of it, they’ll rat us out.”

“Cop code?” Carly says.

Arden and Cletus nod.

“But why Julio?” Arden says. “Surely there’s someone else.” Anyone else. If Carly were to lose Julio … Arden can’t imagine what it would do to her.

Carly stares into her mug of hot chocolate. “He volunteered. He wants to do it.”

“He’s a man, Carly,” Cletus says gently. “A man has to do what he thinks is best.”

Carly rolls her eyes, tears threatening the rims of them. “I get it. Manly revenge or whatever. But it’s so … dangerous.”

“I know it’s hard. But we really can’t trust anyone else to get the job done,” Cletus says.

“It’s a big risk,” Arden says, hoping to come to Carly’s defense. “Surely there’s someone else who can do it besides Julio.”

“Trust me, if there was, I’d be all over it,” Cletus says grimly.

Julio taps Carly on the forearm and says something to her in Spanish. When she responds, he shakes his head vehemently. “No,” he says clearly. “Me.” Then more words spill from his mouth, angry words that Arden wished he understood. Words that upset Carly.

“He says it should be no one but him,” Carly says quietly. “That it’s his problem.”

“Our problem,” Cletus says, pounding a fist against the table with less-than-convincing bluster. “Your problem is my problem.”

“Agreed,” Arden says, pulling up one of the metal barstools next to Carly. He stifles the urge to plant even the smallest of kisses on her lips, especially under Julio’s glare. “We’re in this together.” He nods at Cletus. “What else did I miss?”

“We’ll need cash. I’ve got plenty of that,” Cletus says to Carly, as if Arden hadn’t spoken. He raises a shaky finger at Carly when it looks like she’ll argue. “Not another word about it, hmm? I can’t think of a better investment than this operation right here.”

“He’s right,” Arden says, nudging Carly. “The old man may not have manners or all of his teeth or his health, but cash is something he’s got loads of.”

Carly shakes her head. “Fine. But we’ll need a story.”

“What’s wrong with trying for your parents again?” Arden says.

“It’s too soon,” Cletus says. “And it’s a lot of cash for Julio to get together again in such a short amount of time. It’ll make your pa suspicious. He’s a lot of things, but stupid isn’t one of them.”

“Then we’ll need a story for the cash too,” Carly says. She keeps twirling the mug around and around in her hands. Arden wishes he could comfort her somehow, pull her to him. Tell her everything is going to be alright. But Julio watches them closely. And Julio is not a happy camper.