Page 92 of Forgotten Vows

I will sacrifice anything—everything—to make sure they're safe and happy.

The promises settle into my chest, and I know I'll keep them. No matter what it takes.

Carefully, so as not to wake her, I slip out of bed and pull on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. I need to move on this now, before anything else can go wrong.

I need to prove to Adriana that I mean what I said.

I leave the bedroom and head down the hallway to my office, pulling out my phone as I go. Declan picks up on the second ring. "Lachlan?"

"I need you to come to the penthouse," I tell him. "Now. We need to talk."

There's a pause. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah." I run a hand through my hair, glancing back toward the bedroom. "Everything's fine. I just need to talk to you about something important."

"I'll be there in twenty."

He hangs up, and I pocket my phone, heading into the office to wait. The room is quiet, the city still waking up outside the windows, and I pour myself a cup of coffee, trying to organize my thoughts. This conversation needs to go right. Declan needs to understand what I'm asking of him, and why.

He arrives exactly twenty minutes later, looking tired, his leather jacket still damp from the morning air. He's got a bruise on his jaw from the fight at the safe house. "You look like shit," I tell him, and he grins.

"You should see the other guy." He drops into one of the chairs across from my desk and leans back, studying me. "So what's this about?"

I take a sip of my coffee, buying myself a moment, and then I set the cup down and meet his eyes. "I'm stepping back."

He blinks. "What?"

"I'm stepping back from the operations," I say firmly. "I'm done being on the front lines, Declan. I'm done with the violence and the bloodshed and the constant threat of war. I have a family now, and I need to protect them. And I can't do that if I'm the one putting them in danger."

Declan stares at me for a long moment, and I can see the confusion in his eyes, the disbelief. "You're serious. You just got here, Lachlan. You literally just took over."

"I'm serious." I lean forward, resting my elbows on the desk. "I want you to take over for me now. Full control of the operations.You'll be the one making the calls, handling the deals, managing the men. I'll advise and handle the legitimate businesses, but I'm out of the day-to-day."

He's quiet, and I can see him trying to wrap his head around what I'm asking. Finally, he says, "Why me?"

"Because you're the best man I know. I trust you with my life, and I trust you with theirs. I've got good men around me, but I've known you since we were kids. I feel this is right, in my gut."

"I don't know, Lachlan." He shakes his head, and I can see the doubt in his eyes. "That's a lot of responsibility. What if I fuck it up? What if I make the wrong call and people get hurt?"

"You won't. You're smart, you're capable, and you've got good instincts. You've been making calls for years, Declan. This is just a new level of it."

He's still hesitant. "I don't know if I'm ready for this."

"You are. I wouldn't be asking you if I didn't think you could handle it."

I can see the conflict in his eyes. "What about my club?" he asks finally. "I can't just leave them behind, Lachlan. They're my brothers. They've been with me through everything."

"Then bring them with you. They can work under you, help you run things. You don't have to leave them behind, Declan. You just have to lead them in a new direction."

I can see the wheels turning in his head, the possibilities opening up. "You'd do that? You'd let my club come here?"

"Of course I would." I cross my arms over my chest. "You're my brother, Declan. You've been my brother since we were kids, and I'm not going to ask you to choose between me and them. Bring them with you. You'll need your own men. This will all be yours. You can make that choice like all the others."

He's quiet for a long moment. "Why are you really doing this, Lachlan? Is it just about Adriana and the kid, or is there something else?"

I think about the question, and I decide to give him the truth. "I saw my son with a gun in his hand last night. I saw him aiming it atGio, ready to pull the trigger. And I realized that if I don't stop this, he's going to become exactly what I am. I can't let that happen, Declan."

Declan's expression softens. "You're doing this for him."